Children’s Writing Web Journal

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It’s Wednesday and time for more great blog posts!

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Now, here’s the video (if you have any trouble playing it, go directly to the Youtube page).

Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog:  The WBBT, Day Two: D.M. Cornish

Class of 2K8: The Perks of Being a Librarian

Bees Knees Reads: Cowboy Andy

Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves: The King, the Mice and the Cheese

Miss Erin: WBBT Interview: Tony DiTerlizzi

There are elections that do little to change the status quo, and then there are seismic events disguised as elections.

We’re in the midst of the latter, and the results will impact future generations in ways we can only imagine.   I assume that, as children’s writers, every one of you is concerned about young people, the challenges they face and the future they will confront.  And yet, some of you will not bother making it to a polling place on Tuesday.

This is beyond senseless.  It’s tragic.

Please, vote.

If you’re not going to vote because it’s raining, bring an umbrella.

If you’re not going to vote because the lines are long, bring a good book.

If you’re not going to vote because the lines are really long, bring your laptop and write a good book.

If you’re not going to vote because you’re convinced your candidate is a shoo-in (or dead meat), you might be wrong, so go and vote.

If you’re not going to vote because you think your vote doesn’t matter, ask some folks in Florida circa 2000 about that.

On Tuesday night, I do believe that the tectonic plates of this republic will shift, and that we’ll find ourselves at the dawn of a challenging, exasperating but, ultimately, grand era in our nation’s history.  I’ve already had my say in the matter.  Will you?

Vote.

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To see what others in the kidlit world are saying about the importance of voting, visit Blog The Vote.

And here’s a video from children’s author Tina Coury on why she votes:

In my book, the ultimate Halloween Treat:

Alice Cooper and The Muppets singing Welcome to My Nightmare.

We recently offered up a meaty 20% discount on all our stuff ’cause the financial world was collapsing all around us in tiny little shards.  Things haven’t gotten a whole lot better, but I’m tired of being so preoccupied with gloom, so I’ve decided to change the reason for the discount — which we’re keeping in place until November 7.

OK, 20.  That’s the percentage of the discount, and it’s also a pretty important number to me.  You see, Laura and I just marked the 20th anniversary of our first meeting.  I’d love to tell you it was a romantic encounter on a moonlit beach, and that I rode up on a horse and swept her off her feet.  Yeah, I’d love to tell you that but I can’t.  Actually, the fateful moment that led to a wonderful marriage, a happy family and, yes, to the very existence of Children’s Book Insider and Write4Kids, was made possible by the goofiest rock song of all time.

Yes, now it can be revealed, future generations of the Bard family tree, it all began because of Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf.

Fall, 1988.  Your humble correspondent is standing glumly in an oldies-themed club on 43rd Street in Manhattan (named, with delightful 1980s’ understatement, Shout!) when he spies a beautiful girl with long reddish hair in a rose colored dress.  Incredibly, she’s standing alone.  Knowing that it’s only a matter of seconds before some Wall Street yuppie descends, he leaps into action.  Heart beating fast, he makes a beeline toward this vision in red and somehow manages to blurt out “Hi.  Wanna dance?”  She wants to dance.  Your humble correspondent is elated.  Just then, the Motown song that was playing fades out and he hears the opening blasts of guitar.

Na-na-na-nana. Nanana-nana…..

Dear god, it’s Paradise By The Dashboard Light. A song about a guy’s infatuation with a woman that ultimately morphs into a marriage so bad he literally prays for death.

Worst.  Omen.  Ever.

But sometime around the moment when Phil Rizzuto starts shouting “He’s rounding third and heading for home!”, your narrator realizes that he and this ravishing beauty are laughing hysterically over the fact that their “song” would forever be Paradise By The Dashboard Light.  And so it is today.

That was twenty years ago.   And now you have a much happier reason to enjoy this:

20% off across the board on everything at Write4Kids.com.

Subscriptions, renewals, ebooks, whatever.

Click this link:

http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=35139&AdID=60546

You’ll be brought to our product page and the 20% discount will show up in your shopping cart.  (If, for some reason it doesn’t drop me an e-mail and we’ll make it right.)

And Meat Loaf, if you’re out there reading this, thanks bro.

Nice piece in today’s paper about a classroom in Vail, CO using a yellow Labrador named Moose to get kids into reading.  Students take turn reading to the pooch, who (as any Lab owner could tell you) adores the attention.  The dogs are “reading certified” as part of a program called “Wagging Tales”.

I liked this part:

Moose has a calming effect on students and allows them to loosen up when they’re having trouble reading a passage.

“When they read it to me, they have a little more anxiety,” Dekanich said. “With a dog, there’s no criticism or judgment, and no laughter if the child makes a mistake.”

Here’s the link for the full article