January 6, 2009
Happy New Year! �Feliz a�o nuevo! In spite of strife in the world and serious economic challenges in the U.S., there's hope in the air as we enter 2009. I love the word epiphany, so chose today, on Christian calendars the Feast of the Epiphany, to begin revising my manuscript of letters to educators-teachers, librarians, parents-all of us who care about the young and want to be creative in helping them shape lives that sustain them in many ways. This morning, looking through old notes, I discovered that the book was suggested on a cold Boston night, way back in 2002 by my then editor, Deborah Chasman.
I feel great excitement when I begin a book whether for adults, teens or children. All day, in spite of the snow on the ground and the cold wind, I've felt a warm buzz. I feel so blessed to be a writer. It's work but joyous work.
I love to communicate with people in person, on paper, or now through the web. My web site offers regularly updated information about my books, presentations, and literacy advocacy. I'd like my blog to be a way to create a bookjoy community, an electronic avenue for us to share why and how we experience bookjoy and also to chat about how and why we share it. I hope you'll send your thoughts, ideas and questions. This is my first e-newsletter, a third electronic way, to keep in touch with those of you who signed up to hear from me. I deeply appreciate your interest. I also appreciate the help of Laurina Cashin, my e-newsletter editor.
Let's inspire one another to live lives that light up the world.
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How do YOU Share Bookjoy? |
Tell us and win free books!
Pat loves talking about books with family, friends and audiences. Libraries, classrooms and book clubs are some of the natural settings for the bookjoy experience as is lunch with a friend. We'd like to begin collecting ideas and sharing them with the larger Bookjoy community by posting ideas on the Bookjoy blog. Be one of the first 25 people to submit an idea, and you'll be eligible to win a signed copy of one of Pat's newest books. Here's an idea to help you begin brainstorming if you share bookjoy with a group. Remember that we welcome all kinds of suggestions whether you're sharing bookjoy with a friend or 2,000 people.
Read aloud selections about different winter holidays, enjoying the rich diversity of so many religious and cultural traditions. Ask your group of listeners to write down their own favorite holiday experiences.
Tell us your idea about sharing Bookjoy today - send an email to webcontact@patmora.com. We'll notify you if you're one of 3 winners from the first 25 submissions. And we'll credit you when we post your idea on the Bookjoy blog. |
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House of Houses |
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"Ut rosa flos florum, sic est domus ista domororum. As the rose is the flower of flowers, so is this, the house of houses."
Is your book club looking for suggestions of good reads for 2009? Maybe it's time to try a memoir, a different kind of memoir that melds the past and present in a unique way. In Pat Mora's richly textured family memoir, House of Houses, ancestral spirits mingle with the living through the months of a calendar year.
After reading, these questions may help guide your book discussion.
- Talk about the ways House of Houses differs or is similar to other memoirs you've read.
- Name the person you connected to most in the book and describe the reasons why.
- The author asks "Why do certain events become central memories, part of the core life story we create about ourselves?" (page 24) Answer this question for yourself.
- Spanish words and phrases are used liberally throughout the book - how does this affect your reading and understanding of the memoir?
- How is your family like and unlike the Mora family?
- Look through family photographs taken before you were born; choose one and write a page about it, and then share it with your group.
Read more about the book here. |
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Join Hands! The Ways We Celebrate Life |
Join Hands! The Ways We Celebrate Life, one of Pat's new books, is a wonderful tribute to community. She weaves the repeating lines of a pantoum, a Malaysian poetic form, into a joyful celebration while George Ancona's energetic photos capture the ways of enjoying good times with others. Activities for the book, as with all of Pat's picture book titles, are posted on the website.
- The poem describes "ways we celebrate life." Ask the children to share some of the ways they celebrate life in their family and community.
- Name ways to celebrate life with books. Try starting a Mother-Daughter Book Club; donating "gently-used" books to children's hospital; making your own alphabet book; or acting out a story from a children's book.
- Joining hands is a way of showing togetherness. Name other ways of being together with family and friends.
More activities for Join Hands! - click here.
All activities - click here. |
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Latino Authors and Illustrators |
Recent statistics on publishing for children and young adults tells us that only a small percentage of the total number of trade books published in 2007 had significant Latino content (3%) or were created by Latino authors and/or illustrators (1.5%)*. Who are those authors and illustrators? We've recently updated the list of Latino authors and illustrators on Pat's website. The writer's birthplace and current residence is given as well as a link to their website if they have one. It's not a comprehensive list but it's an extensive one and a good resource for tracking new titles from these writers and artists - check it out here.
* These statistics are from the introductory essay written for the CCBC Choices 2008. | |
Share Bookjoy! Tell your friends and colleagues about this newsletter. Signup is quick and easy at www.patmora.com. Pat will send her book brochure to those who sign up for the newsletter if you include your snail mail address. |
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book� · joy noun, a love of books and the pleasure of reading.
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Where is Pat?
Pat may be presenting a workshop or speaking at an event close to you. Click here for a schedule. | | |
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