great day

The Brooklyn Museum Book Fair was FABULOUS!  Kudos to the thoughtful organizers and thanks to everyone who came out to support so many wonderful authors and illustrators.  We sold nearly all the books at our table, and sitting with Shadra and Greg Christie made the time (four hours!) fly by.  Afterward I went to the [...]

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good news

Sometimes the news can get you down, but here are some uplifting stories you don’t want to miss:  check out G. Neri’s impact on a middle-aged man over at Crazy Quilts, and then read this short NPR article about the power of librarians to turn one reluctant reader into a lifetime learner…(cover art by the [...]

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Something like an open letter to the children’s publishing industry

In 1986, poet/activist June Jordan published a brilliant essay titled “The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America: Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis Wheatley.”  I taught this essay in my course on black women writers; I revisit it often and especially when I am feeling disheartened and demoralized by the publishing industry.  Unlike some, [...]

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try a little tenderness

I’m sure that as a child you were taught, as I was, not to say anything unless you have something nice to say.  I learned that lesson over in graduate school, when my favorite professor announced to the class: “You can not critique this text until you point out its strengths.”  Phil knew there was [...]

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perfect Brooklyn day

I don’t twitter, because I figure no one’s really interested in all the mundane things I do day after day.  For example, today was one of my best kind of days, and reaffirms my love of the city: I *walked* everywhere I needed to go!  To the post office (to mail back my license plates), [...]

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winds of change

I woke up around 5am this morning–a sudden, severe storm blew across Brooklyn, complete with booming thunder.  Then the rain subsided and the birds started their early morning conversation…I love birds, but they chatter more than tweens and always when I’m trying to sleep!  On Sunday I drove up to MA for the last time, [...]

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every little bit helps…

It’s a sunny morning here in Brooklyn and Susan over at Black-eyed Susan has a sunny way to start off the summer: donate to the Alternatives for Girls library!  They’re especially looking for “new releases in children’s and YA literature, graphic novels, comics and biographies.”  Check out her post for more information on AFG, the [...]

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my perfect rainy day

Not surprisingly, yesterday ended with a migraine, but I did manage to get my seniors’ grades in on time.  I also had a great workshop with more students at the Crispus Attucks School in Bed-Stuy.  My workshop was scheduled for Macon Library, but the invited class had to cancel so children’s librarian extraordinaire, Mark Waldron, [...]

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bird at my window

Things were starting to get hectic: family conflict, grades due at 4pm, library workshop at 1pm, gotta sell my car, gotta clean out my office, gotta redeem myself after *forgetting* dinner plans with friends last night…and then I heard the birds outside my window.  I’m so glad we have a tree in our back alley; [...]

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happy

Since 2am I’ve been in pain; it never fails–the semester ends, and my immune system just lets go…all the health issues it kept at bay come crashing down, reminding me that self-care is important.  The miracle, however, is that as soon as I started my workshop at Brooklyn College this evening, the pain disappeared…I completely [...]

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