Essential Reading: “On Facebook, you can be as mean as you want.”
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Readings, bullying | No Comments »I realize not everyone receives The New York Times. Or if you're like me, sometimes you don't get around to reading it thoroughly. So I refer readers to this long, thoughtful, well-researched article from June 27, 2010. It explores the ...
The Reading Feeds the Writing
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 Posted in Readings, the writing process | No Comments »I read with a pen in my hand. Mark up the pages, underline passages, use check marks and asterisks, write in the margins. It's one of the things that makes me uneasy with library books, because I lose that activity, ...
Spring Is Sprung: Poetry Friday
Friday, April 2nd, 2010 Posted in Readings | 1 Comment »I can't hear this poem without thinking of my former father-in-law, a wonderful man named Ed Buhl. He recited it often. Reading up on it, I discovered that was a common thread: people remembered a grandfather saying it, or some ...
A Comment from Geoffrey Hayes: Books for Boys
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 Posted in In the Classroom, Readings, The Gender Gap in Reading | 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 ...