Since its black history month, I’m sharing my DNA results. Not because it only revealed my African ancestry but because it also reveals my non-African ancestry. 500 new cousins also share some versions of my DNA, according to ancestry.com. I connected with some via email. I’m very pleased about that. Afterall, aside from learning where in the world one comes from why would you not want to make connections.
Being adopted, I learned why one would not want to connect. I imagined numerous scenarios about my biological beginnings before I got my DNA results. None of them reflected the actual results of my DNA spit test.
What my DNA results confirmed for me – Why?
Love the color green
Adore to Irish / Gaelic music
Love to hear bagpipes
Crave Corned beef and Cabbage on March 17th
I’ll look forward to more connections but in the meantime, I will reflect on what I’ve learned so far.
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. I remembered to purchase cards thatI’ll mail out on Monday. I even send my husband’s in snail mail. I do keep a backup card in case snail mail is too slow. That’s a lesson learned kind of thing…
I’m happy to say that I’ve also remembered the Valentiny Writing Contest that author SUSANNA LEONARD HILL hosts. It’s the 3rd Annual, I’m not sure where I was for the last two – but I’m in now! With Hopeful Heart! – The 3rd Annual Valentiny Writing Contest!!! Here is my contest entry – wish me luck!
Cleo’s Wish
Cleo was sitting with her grandmother and her three older sisters in the hospital waiting room.
Their parents were with the doctor in the labor room and odds were that the new arrival was going to be another girl.
The girls chatted and giggled about the new baby girl. “We could play dress up and dolls,” said Stella. “Tea party would be so much fun,” added Julia.
Cleo stared out the window. “Oh how I wish for a baby brother,” Cleo thought. She imagined playing baseball, tag, and fort. Cleo whispered, “If only the baby would be a boy for Daddy and a brother for me.”
The door to the labor room opened and the girls eyes opened wide with anticipation.
The girls gathered around the doctor all asking questions. “Does she have curly hair?”, “Are her cheeks rosy?”, “Are her eyes green like mine?”
The doctor lead everyone to the nursery window. Their father met them there. The sisters all took a spot at the window and a surprised look appeared on their faces, even grandmother.
“I can’t see!” exclaimed Cleo. Her father lifted her up to look through the glass.
“I knew it! I knew it!” shouted Cleo. “Daddy look, we have a boy!”
This year I’m proud to be participating in the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, January 27, 2018. In celebration of that special day, I am posting a review of not one but two beautiful picture books. Check out all the wonderful Multicultural titles available with the links posted below.
#ReadYourWorld
Pam’s Review
Hats of Faith – Written by Medeia Cohan and Illustrated by Sarah Walsh.
Published by Shade 7 Publishing 2017.
Hats of Faith Written by Medeia Cohan Illustrated by Sarah Walsh
In Hats of Faith, Medeia Cohan starts a basic conversation with the youngest of readers about religions and culture.
What parent hasn’t found themselves scrambling to answer that question, “What’s that on her head?” or “Why is that man wearing a hat in the summer?” As any parent knows, kids ask questions all the time – waiting on line in the grocery store, on a bus or simply walking in the park. Hats of Faith is a concept/board book that helps provide a simple platform to discuss, with respect, the varied articles of clothing worn as head coverings and pairs them with their specific religion. That connection helps make the book complete and meaningful. The phonetic pronunciations provide confidence for parents or readers throughout the board book.
Sarah Walsh created beautiful, colorful illustrations that help focus attention on the unique head coverings with simple text that helps open communication and give parents a tool to help answer the most curious children.
Diversity in our world is as necessary as air and water. We need both air and water to survive as much as we need diversity to help us thrive. Hats of Faith helps us start at the beginning to teach diversity and ultimately empathy.
Pam’s Review
Wash Day – Written by Barbara H. Cole and Illustrated by Ronald Himler.
Published in 2004 by Star Bright Books.
Wash Day Written By Barbara H Cole Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Ms. Cole has captured a world where blacks and whites coexist very naturally. Yes, Miss. Ett, is black and is working for a white family as a washwoman but the commonality of life in this story is that they are all poor and they look out for each other. Wash Day uses parts of our history and finds a warm story to share. Miss Ett goes about her job with care and pride. The Grandpa, of the white family for which Miss Ett is working, shares his love of music with his granddaughter but also Sherman, the grandson of Miss Ett. Even Miss Ett is touched by his music, noting that the work is harder once the music stops because he is not able to play any longer.
Wash day may be just another day of the week…sure; but this story is a warm, reflective, gentle story. Mr. Himler’s beautiful watercolor illustrations are full of joy.
As the daughter of a WWII Veteran, I found the details of the American flags on every grave familiar and comforting. Himler’s soft and muted colors are a fabulous paring to the words of Ms. Cole.
Although it takes place in the Depression-era United States, current events of 2018 make Wash Day a good resource illustrating that caring for the people around you, no matter the color, race, or other physical difference they may have is an important life lesson.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in the home and on school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.
Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
This year I’m proud to be participating in the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, January 27, 2018. In celebration of that special day, I am posting a review of not one but two beautiful picture books. Check out all the wonderful Multicultural titles available with the links posted below.
#ReadYourWorld
Pam’s Review
Hats of Faith – Written by Medeia Cohan and Illustrated by Sarah Walsh.
Published by Shade 7 Publishing 2017.
Hats of Faith Written by Medeia Cohan Illustrated by Sarah Walsh
In Hats of Faith, Medeia Cohan starts a basic conversation with the youngest of readers about religions and culture.
What parent hasn’t found themselves scrambling to answer that question, “What’s that on her head?” or “Why is that man wearing a hat in the summer?” As any parent knows, kids ask questions all the time – waiting on line in the grocery store, on a bus or simply walking in the park. Hats of Faith is a concept/board book that helps provide a simple platform to discuss, with respect, the varied articles of clothing worn as head coverings and pairs them with their specific religion. That connection helps make the book complete and meaningful. The phonetic pronunciations provide confidence for parents or readers throughout the board book.
Sarah Walsh created beautiful, colorful illustrations that help focus attention on the unique head coverings with simple text that helps open communication and give parents a tool to help answer the most curious children.
Diversity in our world is as necessary as air and water. We need both air and water to survive as much as we need diversity to help us thrive. Hats of Faith helps us start at the beginning to teach diversity and ultimately empathy.
Pam’s Review
Wash Day – Written by Barbara H. Cole and Illustrated by Ronald Himler.
Published in 2004 by Star Bright Books.
Wash Day Written By Barbara H Cole Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Ms. Cole has captured a world where blacks and whites coexist very naturally. Yes, Miss. Ett, is black and is working for a white family as a washwoman but the commonality of life in this story is that they are all poor and they look out for each other. Wash Day uses parts of our history and finds a warm story to share. Miss Ett goes about her job with care and pride. The Grandpa, of the white family for which Miss Ett is working, shares his love of music with his granddaughter but also Sherman, the grandson of Miss Ett. Even Miss Ett is touched by his music, noting that the work is harder once the music stops because he is not able to play any longer.
Wash day may be just another day of the week…sure; but this story is a warm, reflective, gentle story. Mr. Himler’s beautiful watercolor illustrations are full of joy.
As the daughter of a WWII Veteran, I found the details of the American flags on every grave familiar and comforting. Himler’s soft and muted colors are a fabulous paring to the words of Ms. Cole.
Although it takes place in the Depression-era United States, current events of 2018 make Wash Day a good resource illustrating that caring for the people around you, no matter the color, race, or other physical difference they may have is an important life lesson.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in the home and on school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.
Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
Well, it has been a while since I’ve posted anything and I’m feeling guilty about that. I’ve been keeping busy reading and writing. I received the first round of edits for my upcoming picture book a couple weeks ago. I was excited to receive them but a bit worried at some of the suggestions (revisions). There was one that I felt I could not change and I sent a quick email to my publisher to weigh in on that change. Luckily, she was ok with me not using that suggestion. What a load off of my mind that was. Instead of going to work on the rest of the revisions, I decided to let them simmer in my head a bit. I finally got the revised manuscript out and now I’m waiting to hear if there are additional revisions.
Next came Christmas and I was not prepared. I generally bake a lot for Christmas and I had let everything go until practically the last minute. I even ran out of sugar – what kind of a baker runs out of sugar? A disorganized one for sure.
My brother’s family made it easier for me, gathering in one location this year, so I only needed to ship one box! Very considerate, but still I was behind.
Cranberry Scones and Green Mountain Coffee – Christmas 2017
Now that I’m catching up I’ll be posting some book reviews for the Multicultural Children’s Book project. #ReadYourWorld
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 (1/27/18) is its fifth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.
I’m thrilled to be a participant this year.
Keeping myself on track should be my resolution for 2018 but since we’re still a week away, I’m not going to commit to anything just yet.
This has certainly not been an easy breezy summer for me. I’m continually asking myself, “what am I supposed to be doing now?” There are so many things competing for my attention both in my writing and in the rest of my life. Please don’t get me wrong, this is not a post about being too busy. The alternative scares me, but I do need to buckle down and focus. My way of re-focusing is compiling a to-do list and working through it.
So here goes:
I accepted an invitation to speak at an SCBWI-PA sponsored event in August.
I’ve worked on a couple of picture book manuscripts, new and revised, but I feel stuck.
Looking for a new project to help get unstuck.
For the new project, I’ve logged several hours in the library for the research I started for a historical fiction picture book on a local (local to Long Island) African-American poet. A fellow picture book author suggested the topic during a discussion a couple of months ago. Over the years I have collected several articles and documents on this local poet to satisfy my general curiosity but never thought of him as a picture book subject until that discussion. – Thanks, A.L.
Information Overload – Exposure to or provision of too much information or data.
That is what you can get when research includes genealogy. Dates, places, names, occupations, marriages…
There seems to be no end to the genealogy loops that I’ve entered into.
I’m researching African-American characters from the mid-1700’s for a historical fiction picture book. There are gaps where African American facts are concerned, for sure. Some of that is just due to the fact that African slaves were considered property, not people. For the research that I’m doing, there was a lot of documentation and it has connected two of the largest northern “plantations” on Long Island. It helps that the slave owners were highly influential people. Their records have now become part of history maintained in libraries and museums. This is going to be fun!
I finally got a chance to get away for a quick weekend. My husband and I traveled up to our favorite spot in northwest Connecticut. Quaint town squares, mountain views, long walks and the sound of the rushing Housatonic River.
I had time to read for research and take in the sites. I even took a couple photos – although not as many as I used to; I’ll have to work on that. I was thrilled to see a friend’s blog post with the Daily Post Photo Challenge subject: BRIDGE
I’ve photographed this bridge in all four seasons. Fall is my favorite, but the weather this summer has been spectacular so I’ll post this summer as my favorite for the moment!
The Housatonic River runs under this bridge as it sits on a scenic route along Route 7 in Connecticut. This is my entry for the challenge.
Much has transpired since I last posted. Much of that has been the reason that I have not blogged anything or written since early May. We lost my father-in-law to Alzheimer’s on Mother’s Day. It was a very long road for him and we’ll miss him a great deal, but his suffering is over and that is what we all wanted for him. He is finally at peace. I’ll just say this one thing – the Hospice care that he received was outstanding. There are tremendously generous people in the world that can provide that type of care to an individual and family and they are much appreciated. They made the transition an easy one for all involved – and they do it day after day. Amazing!
I’m going to get back on track slowly with my writing. I’m thrilled to have volunteered for SCBWI-LI. It’s wonderful to have a chapter so close to home. Participation is helping my get back to work and I am thankful for it. I have several items due to my own critique group that I’m working to have done by the July 4th holiday. Fingers crossed!
I’ve been taking some R & R time on the beach I and was able to get these photos of eggs in a nest for a pair of Killdeer Plovers.
Killdeer Plover nest
Not a rare Plover, but beautiful just the same. The nest is just feet from my back door and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the four baby plovers.
Killdeer on beach
Their parents swoop in and out all day long checking on the nest.
Canadian Goose and goslings
It’s wonderful to see nature’s natural parental instincts on display. My words of wisdom – Stop and take part in nature’s celebration of life.
It is always amazing to me how fantastic I feel after a writers retreat or conference. Last weekend was a wonderful writing experience for me. I started early on Long Island with a Meet & Greet event with our newly established local Long Island Chapter of SCBWI. That was a fun evening and I got to see some familiar faces as well as some new.
The very next morning I was off to Pennsylvania via ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport Connecticut. Ok, I’m sure that makes no sense to those of you who know the area, but I like to AVOID bridges when I can and this is a perfect way. I live east of Port Jefferson so it makes a lot of sense to me. Since I still read actual maps, I’m happy to plot out a course on my own and let the GPS catch up to me.
Once I departed the ferry, I headed north to Danbury and made a left towards Pennsylvania. Four hours later I arrived. GPS said it would have been the same if I had gone through New York City – Ha! –
Anyway, once I arrived at the Highlights facility. It really felt like home and they work very hard to make it so. Kudos to the entire Highlights Staff, Faculty, and Family for a wonderful weekend event.
The SCBWI Eastern PA Poconos Retreat celebrated its 25th year. Although I don’t belong to the Eastern PA chapter I was made to feel welcome and very much a part of their event.
I left the retreat knowing more than I did when I arrived.
I have more writing and industryconnections.
I have more writing courage.
I have raised my writing bar.
As an SCBWI member, I encourage anyone to attend an event outside of their chapter. You gain a broader network and knowledge base. You get a chance to see new ideas and processes in action.
Go, do, see, write.
Speaking of which, I’ve got some revisions to work on.
imagined numerous scenarios about my biological beginnings before I got my DNA results. None of them reflected the actual results of my DNA spit test.
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. I remembered to purchase cards thatI’ll mail out on Monday. I even send my husband’s in snail mail. I do keep a backup card in case snail mail is too slow. That’s a lesson learned kind of thing…
Cleo’s Wish
ghts Staff, Faculty, and Family for a wonderful weekend event.
Pam Jones-Nill - Children's Author 