craft Archives - Page 25 of 41

The Eye of Midnight
by Andrew Brumbach (Author)

On a stormy May day in 1929, William and Maxine arrive on the doorstep of Battersea Manor to spend the summer with a grandfather they barely remember. Whatever the cousins expected, Colonel Battersea isn’t it.

Soon after they settle in, Grandpa receives a cryptic telegram and promptly whisks the cousins off to New York City so that he can meet an unknown courier and collect a very important package. Before he can do so, however, Grandpa vanishes without a trace.

When the cousins stumble upon Nura, a tenacious girl from Turkey, she promises to help them track down the parcel and rescue Colonel Battersea. But with cold-blooded gangsters and a secret society of assassins all clamoring for the same mysterious object, the children soon find themselves in a desperate struggle just to escape the city’s dark streets alive.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

Grandpa isn’t home when the two cousins arrive, so they go looking for him. Soon they end up in the cluttered basement:

And one detail in particular was impossible to ignore: in shape, the crate was very much like a coffin. As the cousins’ eyes met, there was no doubt they shared the same impression.

“What’s Grandpa got in there?” asked William uneasily.

The lid was pasted with several shipping labels and a conspicuous yellowed tag, which Maxine dusted off with her shirtsleeve.

“Noli me tangere,” she read.

“Is that Greek?” asked William.

“Latin, I think,” she replied. “I’ve seen it before in a book at school.”

“What does it mean?

Maxine traced the words with her finger, racking her brain, and the translation came to her suddenly from the depths of her memory.

“Touch me not.”

Notice the action / reaction pattern. The cousins see the crate:

And one detail in particular was impossible to ignore: in shape, the crate was very much like a coffin.

And then readers see their reaction:

As the cousins’ eyes met, there was no doubt they shared the same impression.

Dialogue is next:

“What’s Grandpa got in there?” asked William uneasily.

The dialogue is followed by description and a new action:

The lid was pasted with several shipping labels and a conspicuous yellowed tag, which Maxine dusted off with her shirtsleeve.

“Noli me tangere,” she read.

That leads to a new question:

“Is that Greek?” asked William.

And a new answer:

“Latin, I think,” she replied. “I’ve seen it before in a book at school.”

Which leads to another question:

“What does it mean?

And the search for an answer:

Maxine traced the words with her finger, racking her brain, and the translation came to her suddenly from the depths of her memory.

The chapter ends with an answer that leads to even more questions:

“Touch me not.”

Art For All Seasons: 40 Creative Mixed Media Adventures for Children Inspired by Nature and Contemporary Artists
by Susan Schwake (Author) and Rainer Schwake (Photographer)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

A well-thought-out handbook of nature-inspired art adventures that can be explored over and over with different results each time. Perfect for parents, teachers, grandparents or anyone working with children making art! The nature-based lessons are beautifully illustrated with more than 400 full-color photographs of the process and additional inspirational images of contemporary artists’ work. Included is information on how to set up a simple home studio, a comprehensive list of materials, how to display and save kid’s art work and ideas surrounding making art with others.

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

The GET READY! section introduces the Rainbow Shapes lesson on page 24:

Sitting at a window watching Spring rain fall in droplets in a fascinating way to pass the time. Each drop is formed in the air and when it hits the ground, the shape changes completely. You can capture this experience with a watercolor brush and watercolor paints on paper to “save for a sunny day.”

Nature’s inspiration is mentioned first:

Sitting at a window watching Spring rain fall in droplets in a fascinating way to pass the time.

Then the science is explained:

Each drop is formed in the air and when it hits the ground, the shape changes completely.

The paragraph ends with the art adventure:

You can capture this experience with a watercolor brush and watercolor paints on paper to “save for a sunny day.”

The promise made in the book title, Art For All Seasons, is clearly conveyed in the text.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!