A Comment from Geoffrey Hayes: Books for Boys
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 Posted in In the Classroom, Readings | No Comments »I don't usually highlight a reader's comment in this way, but comments to old posts tend to get lost in the slipstream. I recently heard from author/illustrator Geoffrey Hayes, recent Geisel Award winner, in response to something I'd written a ...
Suggestions & Cautionary Hints: Rereading “The Elements of Style”
Friday, January 8th, 2010 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations, Readings, the writing process | No Comments »The slim book does not need my praise, so I'll refrain from making a testimonial. But every once in a while I'll remember that it exists, usually by virtue of keeping the physical object in plain sight. Lately it's been ...
A Favorite Line from Charlotte Zolotow
Thursday, December 10th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations, Readings | No Comments »I busted out the scanner to give you all a gander at a favorite page from a collection titled Snippets, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Published in 1993, Snippets is exactly that -- forty-one brief passages gathered from Zolotow's ...
And So It Goes: Rereading Vonnegut, and a quote on semicolons
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 Posted in Family, Greatest Hits, Interviews & Appreciations, Readings | No Comments »Listen: I've been on a little Vonnegut kick lately, and it's been a happy time. I just reread Breakfast of Champions, and I'm halfway into Cat's Cradle, after tearing through this one, published posthumously: While I've got you -- as my father ...
What’s Going On?
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 Posted in Around the Web, Music, Readings, the writing process | 1 Comment »Some quick hits today: * "Ritual" would be too big a word for it, too religious; "tradition" doesn't feel quite right either. But when I begin a new book, I go to my local CVS and buy one of these bad ...
Bullies and Bystanders
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 Posted in Bystander, Greatest Hits, Readings | 3 Comments »Photo: Igor Dutina There was a good article in yesterday's Science Times section of The New York Times. Written by Perri Klass, M.D., it looks at bullying from a pediatrician's point of view, and provides news about how the American Academy ...
Worst Book Cover Ever: Passover Edition
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 Posted in Readings | 1 Comment »A few faithful readers might recall this October post, which nominated a title for worst book cover ever. Well, my friend Alan recently emailed with another strong contender -- and just in time for Passover. Um, gee, no thanks. I’m not really ...
My Ten All-Time Favorite Baseball Books
Monday, March 30th, 2009 Posted in Greatest Hits, Interviews & Appreciations, Readings, Six Innings | 9 Comments »I always like to read a baseball book around this time of year. So I just ordered Ron Darling's new one, The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound. Here in upstate New York, we're in ...
Obama’s Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 Posted in Readings | No Comments »I liked this short piece, written by Andy Borowitz and published by The Huffington Post online, "Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy." It reads in part: In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a ...
That First Sentence: Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Monday, November 17th, 2008 Posted in Greatest Hits, Readings, the writing process | 2 Comments »A while back, I had the genius idea of posting about Great Opening Sentences. It struck me as a neat platform from which discuss writing in general. You can find that entry here and, as a brief follow-up, here. A couple ...