{"id":5451,"date":"2012-04-30T01:38:35","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T06:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asuen.wordpress.com\/?p=5451"},"modified":"2012-04-30T01:38:35","modified_gmt":"2012-04-30T06:38:35","slug":"nonfiction-monday-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/30\/nonfiction-monday-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonfiction Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"

El d\u00eda de los ni\u00f1os\/El d\u00eda de los libros<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today’s the 16th anniversary of El d\u00eda de los ni\u00f1os\/El d\u00eda de los libros, Children’s Day\/Book Day<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lola Reads to Leo<\/a>
\nby Anna McQuinn (Author) and Rosalind Beardshaw (Illustrator)<\/p>\n

Booktalk:<\/strong> Lola becomes a big sister in her latest story celebrating books and reading. From potty time to bath time to nap time, Lola knows just the right book to read to baby Leo.<\/p>\n

Snippet:<\/strong>
\nLola and her mommy read together a lot.
\nLola chooses stories the baby will like.<\/p>\n

BONUS! See the D\u00eda Celebrations video<\/a>!
\n__________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Picture Book of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat<\/a>
\nby Susanna Reich (Author) and Amy Bates (Illustrator)<\/p>\n

Booktalk:<\/strong>This biography introduces the iconic American chef Julia Child to a new audience of young readers through the story of her spirited cat, Minette, whom Julia adopted when living in Paris. While Julia is in the kitchen learning to master delicious French dishes, the only feast Minette is truly interested in is that of fresh mouse! This lively story is complete with an author\u2019s note, a bibliography, and actual quotations from Julia Child and comes just in time for the 100th anniversary of her birth. (It\u2019s the first-ever\u00a0children\u2019s book about the beloved chef.)<\/p>\n

Snippet:<\/strong> Minette Mimosa McWilliams Child was a very lucky cat, perhaps the luckiest cat in all of Paris.<\/p>\n

And now a interview with author Susanna Reich<\/a>. Her\u00a0awards include the NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor, Tom\u00e1s\u00a0Rivera Award, International Latino Book Award, ALA Notable, ALA Best Books for Young\u00a0Adults, and Best Books of the Year honors from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus,\u00a0Scripps-Howard, and the Association of Booksellers for Children.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. When did you start writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A.<\/strong> I started writing children\u2019s books in the early 1990\u2019s, but I\u2019d done other kinds of writing before that. My first published article was actually about Polynesian dance. I have a B.F.A. in Dance from N.Y.U.\u2019s Tisch School of the Arts and had done some graduate work in Dance Ethnology at the University of Hawaii, so the subject came naturally.<\/p>\n

After dancing in New York for a few years, I switched careers and worked as a florist. Before long I was writing about floral design. I published an article about wedding bouquets in Bride\u2019s <\/em>magazine, and another about the flower arrangements I created for Julia Child\u2019s 80’th birthday party.<\/p>\n

By the early 90\u2019s, I was married and had a young child. My husband, Gary Golio, and I \u00a0were reading a lot of picture books. We were also studying T\u2019ai Chi with the children\u2019s book illustrator Ed Young, who often talked about his work and about the world of children\u2019s books. I became more and more intrigued and began to experiment with picture book texts. I joined SCBWI , went to conferences, submitted manuscripts \u2013 and got lots of rejections.<\/p>\n

It seemed like everyone was trying to write picture books (this was before the current YA craze), so I figured it would be easier to break in with something different, like nonfiction. My local children\u2019s librarian told me there was a need for biographies of women, and my mother, a music historian, suggested Clara Schumann. At first I said, \u201cOh, Mom, that\u2019s your thing!\u201d Then I thought about it and realized it was a good idea. I worked on a biography of Clara for about three years before selling it. That became my first book, Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. \u00a0Describe your writing process.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A.<\/strong> Most of my books are biographies, so my process begins with figuring out who to write about. Since Gary also writes biography, this is something we talk about a lot!<\/p>\n

A subject has to meet several criteria. First, it has to be someone with whom I want to spend a lot of time, someone whose work interests me and has had a significant cultural impact. Second, there has to be sufficient source material. Third, and perhaps most importantly, I have to be able to find an angle that will interest young readers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once I\u2019ve chosen a subject, the research begins. I read the adult biographies on the subject and study the subject\u2019s work by visiting museums, listening to CDs, watching videos, going to performances. I pay special attention to primary sources \u2013 like personal letters, memoirs, photographs, archival newspapers \u2013 to ensure accuracy and to find good quotes. I also read background material to get a feel for the historical context \u2013 for example, Mexican history and dance history for Jos\u00e9! Born to Dance,<\/em> and Native American tribes and languages for Painting the Wild Frontier<\/em>. Researching Julia Child was especially fun because I got to read cookbooks and try recipes. I even researched the history of cat food!<\/p>\n

As I research, I take extensive notes and begin to formulate the book\u2019s structure. I\u2019m looking for that child-friendly angle and developing a narrative thread for my story. If it\u2019s a book for which I\u2019ll be providing images, I\u2019m doing illustration research at the same time.<\/p>\n

Only once I\u2019ve completely immersed myself in the person\u2019s life and times, and feel like I know the person really well, do I begin to write. At that point, the words flow pretty easily, though I do a lot of revising as I go. I\u2019m very attentive to details of structure and style, and tend to write and rewrite until I\u2019m satisfied. Of course, after the manuscript is sold I get editorial feedback, and then there\u2019s more writing and revising.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. Tell us about your latest book.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A.<\/strong> I come from a family that loves to cook and eat, and I\u2019d wanted to write a picture book about Julia Child for a long time. The challenge was to find the right approach. I didn\u2019t want to just write about how Julia Child learned to cook boeuf bourguignon.<\/p>\n

Then I read that Julia was a cat lover who got her first cat, Minette, when she and her husband, Paul, lived in Paris. Minette ate Julia\u2019s leftovers, but there were also mice in the apartment. Now, I\u2019ve lived with cats my whole life, and I know that no matter what you give them to eat, you can\u2019t compete with fresh mouse\u2014even if you\u2019re Julia Child! So that became the premise for Minette\u2019s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat.<\/em> I didn\u2019t have to invent any of the anecdotes about Minette or any of the dialogue. All of the quotes in the book are things Julia actually wrote in her memoirs and letters.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never had so much fun writing a book. Julia was a joyful, enthusiastic, energetic person with a great sense of humor. I tried to channel that into Minette\u2019s Feast.<\/em> And Amy Bates\u2019 illustrations are perfect. They\u2019re both historically accurate (we worked on that a lot!) and full of feeling, and they really capture the look of Paris in the late 1940\u2019s, as well as Julia\u2019s warmth and personality.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

BONUS!<\/strong> We’re celebrating the launch of the book with a giveaway, courtesy of Abrams. Readers can enter to win a free, signed book by sending an email with the subject line “Minette’s Feast giveaway” to\u00a0susanna@susannareich.com<\/a>. Winners will be selected on May 31.<\/p>\n

Blog Tour Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday, April 30 – Booktalking<\/a>\u00a0– interview with Susanna<\/p>\n

Tuesday, May 1 – Books Together<\/a>\u00a0– interview with Amy<\/p>\n

Wednesday, May 2 – Tales from the Rushmore Kid<\/a>\u00a0– interview with Susanna\u2019s cat<\/p>\n

Thursday, May 3 – The Fourth Musketeer<\/a>\u00a0– interview with Susanna<\/p>\n

Friday, May 4 – Original Content<\/a>\u00a0– review and discussion of creative nonfiction<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 6 – Great Kid Books<\/a>\u00a0– guest post by Susanna about reading as a child<\/p>\n

Monday, May 7 – Shelf-Employed<\/a>\u00a0– interview with Abrams art director Chad Beckerman<\/p>\n

Tuesday, May 8 – Readerkidz<\/a>\u00a0– \u201cDear Reader\u201d guest post by Susanna
\n_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Nonfiction Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Nonfiction<\/p>\n

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up<\/a> host is GatheringBooks<\/a><\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Nonfiction Book Blast 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Seymour Simon booktalks Butterflies<\/a><\/p>\n

on the Nonfiction Book Blast<\/a> blog today…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Save the date!<\/strong> June 23, 2012 Nonfiction Book Blast<\/a> 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Literary Link<\/strong><\/p>\n

Need a great Mother’s Day gift?
\nMay 2-June 20 (online) children’s book writing workshops<\/a> begin this Wednesday!<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

STEM Haiku<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Share your own haiku<\/a> about a STEM topic on this last<\/em> day National Poetry Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(STEM<\/strong> is S<\/strong>cience, T<\/strong>echnology, E<\/strong>ngineering, and M<\/strong>athematics)<\/p>\n

30 in 30: a body of work<\/em>
\nthirty poems in
\nthirty days: one poem a
\nday–isn’t math grand!
\n\u00a9 2012 Anastasia Suen<\/em>
\n_____________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Site<\/a> Read and Write Sports: Readers Theatre and Writing Activities for Grades 3-8<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

El d\u00eda de los ni\u00f1os\/El d\u00eda de los libros Today’s the 16th anniversary of El d\u00eda de los ni\u00f1os\/El d\u00eda de los libros, Children’s Day\/Book Day Lola Reads to Leo by Anna McQuinn (Author) and Rosalind Beardshaw (Illustrator) Booktalk: Lola becomes a big sister in her latest story celebrating books and reading. From potty time … Continue reading Nonfiction Monday<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,15,16,17,18,19,20,22,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-booktalks","category-giveaway","category-interview","category-literacy","category-new-book","category-news","category-nonfiction-monday","category-picture-book-of-the-day","category-video"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asuen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}