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My Debut Picture Book!
I’m very excited that my debut picture book is coming out September 3, 2019 from Millbrook Press. You can pre-order a personalized copy from my local independent bookstore, One More Page Books. Click here for the pre-order link.
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Back Matter in Picture Books
Carrie Charley Brown is hosting ReFoReMo (Read for Research Month), a time when writers challenge themselves to read picture books as mentor texts to improve their writing. I’m the guest author/educator there today talking about back matter in picture books. Hop over to her blog and give it a…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: A Little Help From My Friends by Pat Miller
One thing is for sure, I couldn’t do this series “Mentor Texts for Writers” without a little help from my friends. I have been so fortunate to have amazing writers post about their experiences using mentor texts. Pat Miller and I both blog on the GROG blog. I also…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: Meet My Mentor Texts by Linda Bozzo
I’m so excited that Linda Bozzo is on my blog today because I’ve actually met her in REAL LIFE. Linda and I met at the WOW Conference in Georgia last summer. I always learn so much by how others study mentor texts, and Linda is no exception. …
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Mentor Texts in the Classroom: A Second Person Point of View Writing Challenge
I love it when my day job and my writing life merge together–when research and studying in one feeds the other. I was working on a post for ReFoReMo on second person point of view (which you can read here) in my writing life. In my teaching life, I…
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Mentor Texts for Writers: Building a Picture Book Biography
Recently, I have been writing a picture book biography. I love the topic, I love the research, but I do not love how it’s structured at this point. I haven’t yet captured the essence of the story through the way I’m telling it. So, I began investigating unique ways…
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NF 10 for 10: Nonfiction Poetic Picture Books
I’ve been reading a lot of nonfiction picture books lately because we are doing a nonfiction mentor text book study at my school using FINDING THE HEART OF NONFICTION by Georgia Heard. One of the things I admire about nonfiction is an author’s ability to convey facts…
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Baseball Books as Mentor Texts: BARBED WIRE BASEBALL by Marissa Moss
Barbed Wire Baseball By Marissa Moss Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu Abrams, 2013 Kenichi Zenimura loved to play baseball. He play baseball for years. Until World War II, when he and other Japanese families lived their lives in internment camps. But inside that bleak camp, Zeni made a baseball field.…
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Baseball Books as Mentor Texts: MIGHTY JACKIE by Marissa Moss
Mighty Jackie: The Strikeout Queen By Marissa Moss Illustrated by C.F. Payne Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2004 Jackie had been pitching her whole life, even getting coaching and encouragement from a former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher. But girls couldn’t play major league baseball. Her team played an exhibition game against…
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SHE SANG PROMISE by Jan Godown Annino, Mentor Text Lesson Plan
SHE SANG PROMISE: THE STORY OF BETTY MAE JUMPER by Jan Godown Annino Illustrated by Lisa Desimini A few weeks ago, I featured SHE SANG PROMISE as a mentor text on the Grog site. This week, I’m debuting the full length lesson plan. SHE SANG PROMISE MENTOR TEXT LESSON…
