PRESENTATION OF THE FOCAL AWARD for SIMONE written by Viet Thanh Nguyen, illustrated by Minnie Phan

FOCAL Award Presentation at the Los Angeles Public Library to Viet Thanh Nguyen and Minnie Phan

On Saturday, May 30th, friends, family, and members of FOCAL (Friends of Children and Libraries) gathered at the Mark Taper Auditorium of the LAPL Central Library for the annual FOCAL Award presentation, this year to Viet Thanh Nguyen (author) and Minnie Phan (illustrator) for their book Simone, a picture book about a young girl and her mother whose home is threatened by wildfire. 

In the tradition of the award, the author and the illustrator were presented with a puppet of the main character of the book. A third identical puppet will go on display in the children's room of the library, joining puppets from previous years. The puppets were created by Jesse Kingsley and Moira MacDonald.  

Jesse Kingsley and the three Simone puppets.

The program was introduced by Marilyn Robertson, FOCAL President. After a presentation by Viet and Minnie about how they came to write and illustrate. the essay contest winners were introduced by Sandy Schuckett. 

Sandy Schuckett, Chair of the Judging Panel for the student essays.

The three students read their excellent essays to the audience. They wrote about how they responded to the book, a favorite part or character, and why they would like to meet the author. Then there was a question and answer session with the audience, hosted by Dewi Reyes, Chair of Social Media. (See first photo.) Then we all enjoyed delicious Vietnamese sweets in the library patio.

I have been a member of FOCAL for many years. In order to be awarded the FOCAL book award, the book must be of the highest literary and artistic quality, and must have California content. I know how hard it is to choose a winner–I served on the committee for four years. This year’s choice is excellent and a fitting book to celebrate.

Note: In the past, the FOCAL award ceremony has been held in the fall. However, beginning with this year, the FOCAL Board has decided to hold the ceremony in the spring, giving teachers and students more time to read the book and for the students to write their essays.

REMEMBERING EVE BUNTING: My Friend, My Mentor, My Role Model

Eve Bunting, 2017. Santa Cruz, CA

More than forty years ago I was invited to a party to celebrate the publication of Eve Bunting’s 100^th book. I was in awe. How could anyone write, much less publish, one hundred books! Eve kept writing, surpassing 250 books and winning countless awards. Last week, at age 94, Eve passed away. Her first book, published in 1971, was The Two Giants, an Irish tale. She is a giant among today’s children book writers and will be sorely missed.

I first met Eve Bunting in 1977 when I heard her speak at the summer conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers—SCBW—at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. (The “I” for illustrators was added some years later.) Eve was already a prolific author and as she spoke in her lilting Irish accent, I said to myself, if she ever teaches a class in the Writer’s Program at UCLA Extension, I will take it. The following spring, her class in writing middle grade fiction was offered, and I signed up, along with twenty other fledgling writers. Week after week we each brought chapters of our novels to class. Eve read them aloud and we learned about voice, point of view, setting, character and all the elements necessary to write a compelling story. But probably the most important advice she passed along was the role of a writing group. She often mentioned her own writing group, Lunch Bunch, which had grown out of the writing class she took as a beginning writer. So, like Eve and her classmates had done, at the end of our ten-week class, we formed our own group. We met once a month thereafter, critiquing one another’s writing, sharing news, and soon celebrating our own publishing successes.

It was in Eve’s class that I met Herma Silverstein. (Herma and I subsequently collaborated on two books and she also published a number of her own.) For many years, Herma, Eve and I celebrated our birthdays together, exchanging small gifts, eating lunch at a nice restaurant and then going shopping. I don’t remember how this tradition started, but Eve always liked to go out to eat and  loved to shop, especially if we could find bargains! Eve’s birthday is December 19^th, and I have many fond memories of arriving at her house in Pasadena all decorated for Christmas, before we went out for our birthday lunch. Eve’s husband Ed, after he retired, was always there with a smiling face to greet us at the door. At our lunches Eve would always share her newest books and publishing news and be eager to hear ours. After Herma moved to Palm Desert, we met less often, but Eve and I did go on an expedition together to see her new house and go out to lunch there. (Herma passed away several years ago.)

The last time I saw Eve in person was in 2017 after she moved to Santa Cruz to be closer to her daughter. It was on a day trip to Santa Cruz from Oakland with my friend and fellow writer Joanne Rocklin. (Joanne had also been a student in one of Eve’s UCLA classes.) Not surprisingly, Eve had some new books to show us. Again, we went out to lunch, but instead of going shopping afterward, we took a walk along the ocean cliffs on the path that began just outside the door of Eve’s house. 

During the Pandemic it was not possible to visit in person, but Eve and I kept in touch by email. In my last email from her, when she was 93, and recently moved to a retirement community, she wrote:

I am well.  I enjoy where I am and know how lucky I am to find such a place.  I’m not writing.  ...  My last little PB has done well. “Hello, Baby, I’m your Mom.”  So who knows…maybe I’ll do another!

Love, Eve

I don’t believe that Eve wrote another picture book since that email. But I wouldn’t be surprised to hear she that she is coming up with new story ideas up in Heaven!

Eve was my friend, my hero, my role model. I will miss her.

Caroline, Herma, Eve, 1995.

Note: Eve's many accomplishments are highlighted in this article from Kirkus Reviews.

A longer obituary appeared in Publisher's Weekly.

IN MEMORY OF CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR, JOAN HEWETT (1929--2022)

My good friend, children’s book writer Joan Hewett, author of more than 20 books, passed away last week. (Joan’s obituary is in the LA Times, Sunday, October 16.) Joan’s books, illustrated by her husband, photographer Richard (Dick) Hewett, are carefully crafted, the words and pictures working together to tell real-life stories--life as an immigrant, actor, or animal trainer, building a subway, running for office, rescuing wildlife, baby animals growing up at the zoo, and other topics. In 1986, after the terrible fire at the Los Angeles Public Library, Joan helped recruit other children’s book authors and illustrators, including me, in an effort to raise money in support of the Children’s Literature Department.

I first met Joan in 1977 in a writing class at UCLA Extension. She and Dick had just published their first book, The Mouse and the Elephant. We became friends and went to the SCBW conference together that summer. (There was no “I” in “SCBW” at that time.) A few years later, when I needed a photographer for my book Pets Without Homes I started working with Joan’s husband Dick. The rest, as they say, is history. Dick and I did nearly 50 books together, but at the same time he continued to do books with Joan, as well as other photographic work.

One of Joan’s projects in the last few years has been finding a permanent home for Dick’s photographs—both his magazine work and children’s book illustrations. The photos are now archived in the Los Angeles Public Library photo collection and are being prepared for an exhibit.  Joan’s family has suggested that anyone who would like to make a donation in memory of Joan can donate to Photofriends.org, the support group of the library photo collection.

The last time I saw Joan was a few months ago when I visited her and shared my new book. Her mind was sharp and she was eager to talk about books and news of the day. I have so many good memories of time spent with Joan—in writing groups, at SCBWI conferences, at author festivals, at her home in Eagle Rock, at family events. Joan was an excellent cook. We watched each other’s children grow up and shared news of our grandchildren. I learned so much from Joan about the craft of writing and creating photo picture books. Even though she is gone, she will be long remembered. I will miss her very much.

 

REMEMBERING FLOYD COOPER, JR, 1956-2021, Author/Illustrator

Author/Illustrator Floyd Cooper, Jr.

Floyd Cooper, Jr., 1956-2021, whose paintings and stories transformed people's lives, was remembered by family, friends, editors, librarians, fellow authors, and others that knew him in a virtual celebration of his life and legacy on Friday, January 7. Although I had never personally met Floyd Cooper, I had heard him speak at a children's book festival and was impressed by his art and ability to connect with children through his stories. As one speaker said of him: he encouraged young children to become change agents.
The memorial program, sponsored by the Highlights Foundation in partnership with The Brown Bookshelf, included video and audio clips of Floyd and his work, special guest tributes, and celebrations of his art and legacy.  
Floyd was the award-winning illustrator and author/illustrator of nearly 100 books for children.  His real and beautiful depiction of the Black experience, his signature “subtractive process,” and his genuine spirit of kindness and mentorship will forever be an important part of the children’s publishing industry. He will be sorely missed.

Click HERE to see the VIDEO of the memorial program and learn more about Floyd Cooper's legacy.

RAY BRADBURY, my Neighbor

Gate to the property where Ray Bradbury once lived.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of Ray Bradbury, the author of The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 and so much more. Until his death in 2012 he was my neighbor. I never saw him, but I often passed his modest yellow house in Los Angeles, just a few short blocks from mine, as I drove home from the supermarket. I remember loving his books when I read them in high school and college. In 2012, when I read in the paper that he had died at the age of 91, I wondered what would happen to the house that had been his home for more than fifty years. Then one day, as I drove by, I saw bulldozers knocking it down. Over the next year, in its place, a striking modern architectural edifice rose up and filled the property. Ray Bradbury fans were appalled, but it was too late. (For a time line of the house’s history, click HERE.)

View of the house from the front gate

On a recent daily walk, I passed the property and saw it up close for the first time. Much of the new house is hidden behind dense shrubbery. At the entrance is an elaborate iron gate whose design is made of intersecting letters. As we passed, I noticed a small sign. It reads:

Ray Bradbury, American author and screen-writer, wrote many of his greatest works in the home that once stood on this site. To pay homage to his life and spirit, the design of this gate incorporates his words.

“Living at risk is jumping off a cliff and building your wings on the way down.”
"I never ask anyone else's opinion. They don't count."  
"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity."
“Stuff you eyes with wonder,” he said, “live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds.”
"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said." 

Then, as I looked closely, I could see the words embedded in the gate design. While individual words and letters are discernible, it is a bit hard to distinguish the whole quotes among the surrounding metal. Even so, the fact that they are there to connect us with Ray Bradbury and his work means he is still part of our neighborhood.

After finding the sign, I wanted to read Ray Bradbury’s books again. When I went to the Los Angeles Public Library website I discovered that many of his books are available to borrow as digital copies. I checked out Dandelion Wine (1957), his semi-autobiographical book about his growing up years in Waukegan, Illinois (renamed Green Town in the book) and downloaded it to my computer. As I have been reading the stories–about making dandelion wine, the pleasure of fresh cut grass in the summer, his elderly neighbors and their “Green Machine”, and more–they bring back memories of childhood visits to my grandparents' house in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a similar midwestern town just up the road from Waukegan. While the time period of Bradbury’s stories about Green Town is nearly a century ago, the essential human qualities of the characters are universal.

A side gate to the property is also embedded with Ray Bradbury's words. Behind it is a glimpse into the densely planted garden surrounding the house.

I never would have discovered the sign on the gate if it hadn't been for the need to get out of the house in our self-isolation in response to the corona virus. My perspective has changed as I take my daily walks through my Cheviot Hills neighborhood in West Los Angeles. I see things up close. I have more time to linger and take a second look. I hear the birds sing and the noisy flocks of parrots foraging in the eucalyptus trees overhead. I see my neighbors’ houses and the diverse ways that they have landscaped their front yards. And I have rediscovered Ray Bradbury, one of America’s greatest writers.

(Republished from my travel blog The Intrepid Tourist 5/4/20.)

HERMA SUE SILVERSTEIN: In Memoriam

Herma Sue Silverstein, 1945--2019

I first met Herma in the spring of 1978 when we both took a class taught by noted children’s book author Eve Bunting in the UCLA Writer’s Program. Soon after Herma and I became writing partners and co-authored two books together. After that Herma went on to write many of her own books and I continued to write as well. In 1997 Herma graciously hosted a party for me at her house in Santa Monica celebrating my 100th book.
Herma and I always got together to celebrate our birthdays and were often joined by our friend and teacher Eve Bunting. Many of our gifts to one another had writing themes, or in Herma's case, a connection with her beloved pet dogs. One year Herma gave me what I thought was a rather unusual birthday gift–a small artificial pine tree to decorate the living room of my new house. During most of the year the tree sits in a corner, but at Christmastime I bring it out and decorate it with lights and ornaments. It will always remind me of all the good times I had with Herma.
A few years ago Herma moved from Santa Monica to Palm Desert and we met less often, but we still kept in touch. Every year I send a Christmas card to Herma. This year the card came back so I looked her up on the internet and discovered on her Facebook page that she had passed away on May 23, 2019. The announcement was made by her brother, who wrote that her illness was unexpected. He wrote that she went into hospital in early March and was in hospice care by mid-May. Herma was always so full of life. I loved her Texas accent and infectious laugh. I will miss her.
When I looked up Herma on the internet, the first thing that came up was her books, listed on Amazon. She will live on through her writing and in the memories of her family and many friends.

SING THE AUTHOR SONG

In the hallway at Kipp Raices Academy, Los Angeles, CA

Recently, when I was visiting one of the kindergarten classes at Kipp Raices Academy in Los Angeles, I asked, “Who can tell me what an author does?” and hands shot up with the answer. It turned out that the children knew what authors do because they had learned the Author Song earlier in the year, which they proceeded to sing enthusiastically. And when they finished, they sang the Illustrator Song. They were so excited to have me visit and meet a real live author and illustrator. I was excited to be there! I never knew there was an author song and illustrator song for children until they sang them for me.

                                 Author Song
               (sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus)
The author is one who writes the words,
writes the words,
writes the words,
The author is the one who writes the words,
all through the book.

                                Illustrator Song
               (sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus)
The illustrator likes to draw and paint,
draw and paint,
draw and paint,
The illustrator likes to draw and paint,
all through the book.

FOCAL Award Luncheon Honoring Author Uma Krishnaswami for Her Book STEP UP TO THE PLATE MARIA SINGH

Uma Krishnaswami, Author of Step Up to the Plate Maria Singh

Last Saturday was the 39th annual FOCAL Award Luncheon, held at the elegant Smereldi's Restaurant at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. (FOCAL–Friends of Children and Literature–is the support group of the Los Angeles Public Library Children’s Department.)

Uma Krishnaswami and Caroline Gill, FOCAL President

This year’s honoree was author Uma Krishnaswami for her middle grade novel Step Up to the Plate Maria Singh, about a young girl living in Yuba City, California, during World War II, who wants to play baseball on the school team.

Book sale table and committee member Meredith McGowan

Maria copes with the disapproval of her traditionalist Mexican mother and the many financial worries of her doting Punjabi father as she tries to fit in with the other students at her school. In her excellent speech accepting the FOCAL award, Uma Krishnaswami told us how she got the idea for this historical fiction story and the background of this little known culturally blended group in the Yuba City area of northern California.

Student winners of the essay contest: Rachel Hume, Christopher T. Redekopp, Olive R. Sanders. With Sandy Schuckett, Essay Judge Chair and Uma Krishnaswami

I always enjoy going to the FOCAL Award Luncheon. It is an opportunity to see friends, hear the student winners of the essay contest read their insightful essays about why they would like to meet the author, see the wonderful book theme centerpieces made by the art students of Ray Moszkowicz at Nobel Middle School and the puppets created by Jesse Kingsley and Moira Lael Macdonald, and, of course, to enjoy a delicious lunch.

Jesse Kingsley and his puppets of Maria Singh. One was given to the author and the other to the Children's Room at LAPL

For four years I served on the Award Committee and I know how hard it is to select just one book for the award.

Carol Raby, Chair of Award Committee

Nominees are books for children that take place in California or shed light on some aspect of California life or history. (For a list of past winners, click HERE.)

Renny Day, VP Correspondence, Membership, FOCAL Points Editor and Barbara Metzenbaum, Past President

I thank all the hard working members of the 2018 Award Committee for their excellent choice, the judges of the Essay Contest and the students and their parents and teachers for their enthusiasm for the book, and the members of the FOCAL Board for their support of the library and for putting on another excellent Award Luncheon.

Centerpiece depicting Maria playing baseball; made by students of Ray Moszkowicz at Noble Middle School

CELEBRATING LOCAL AUTHORS at the Mar Vista Library, Los Angeles, CA

Caroline Arnold and Susan Casey at the Mar Vista Library Local Author Celebration

Last Saturday, October 14th, I joined a dozen other authors at the Mar Vista Library in Los Angeles to celebrate the wealth of creative writers in our local community. (Although I don’t live in Mar Vista, I am only ten minutes away.) We sat with our books at tables in the library meeting room as people came by to chat and look at our books.

Eleanor "C-Pass" Jones and Gretchen Woelfle

Then. each of us had a turn to tell a little bit about ourselves and our lives as writers. We were a wonderfully diverse group ranging from children’s book authors, to comic book producers, to novelists, to poets, to biographers, cookbook and health writers, each with a fascinating and unique story to tell.

Verdel Flores, librarian, Mar Vista Public Library

I thank Verdel Flores, adult librarian at the Mar Vista Library for organizing this inaugural authors’ program. It was an honor and a pleasure to participate!

Authors at the celebration

Participating authors:
Adult books: Carol Davis, Melissa Guzzetta, Eleanor Jones, Lilly Padilla, Ramon Resa, M.D.
Young Adult books: Arthur J. Gonzalez, Jeremy Lasman
Children’s books: Caroline Arnold, Susan Casey, Aileen Leijten, Gretchen Woelfle
Publisher representatives: Monica Faulkner, Elyse Wietstock

AMAZON CENTRAL AUTHOR PAGE

I have recently updated my Author Page on Amazon Central and have a new link www.amazon.com/author/carolinearnold . You can find all my books–both print and digital–that are available at Amazon on the page, as well as a short bio and links to my blogs and videos. Enjoy!

Tips for Conquering Writer’s Block, at Author Joanne Rocklin’s Blog

Do you want some great advice on how to conquer writer’s block and get answers to other questions every writer faces? Then go to Joanne Rocklin’s blog on her newly updated website and you will find a long list of useful tips. Joanne and I have been friends and colleagues for many years and I was honored that she asked me to contribute to her blog. I passed on a tip suggested by one of my editors when I was writing my book A Guide Dog Puppy Grows Up--and that was to think about telling the story in the present tense. Here’s what I wrote:

My book A Guide Dog Puppy Grows Up tells how dogs are trained to work with blind people by following one puppy from birth to graduation.  My first manuscript had all the facts but seemed to be missing something. Then my editor suggested changing the tense from the past to the present. I did and suddenly the story came alive, making us feel as if we are participating in the action. So, if you are stuck in your story, take a look at the tense and see if changing it makes us see your story in a new light.

Go to Joanne’s website. You will find lots of other tips and information about Joanne’s wonderful, award winning books. Her most recent title is I SAY SHEHECHIYANU, illustrated by Monika Filipina, a beautiful picture book suitable for all Jewish festivities, celebrations, and the proud “first times” of childhood.

FOCAL Luncheon Honoring H. Joseph Hopkins, Author of TREE LADY

H. Joseph Hopkins with puppet of Kate Sessions created by Jesse Kingsley

On Saturday, December 6th, 2014, the annual luncheon honoring the winner of the FOCAL Award was held at the Border Grill in downtown Los Angeles across the street from the Los Angeles Central Library. As always, it was a gala event with delicious food, great company, and an inspiring program. The tables were decorated with wonderful centerpieces created by students of art teacher Ray Moszkowicz at Noble Middle School after reading The Tree Lady.  A looping slideshow created by Mara Alpert at LAPL of past FOCAL winners played at the front of the room.

Centerpiece depicting Kate Sessions planting a tree created by Noble Middle School students

As a member of the award committee I had the pleasure of sitting at the head table with the author, H. Joseph Hopkins, and the four winners of the essay contest, who had won the opportunity to meet the author and engage him conversation over lunch. The students (grades 3, 4, 5 and 8) read their essays as part of the program. I was impressed at the excellent job the students had done. As one of them wrote: "Kate Sessions was a woman with guts." Clearly she is a role model.

Tribute to Puppeteer Carol Onofrio

A special part of the program this year was a tribute to puppeteer Carol Onofrio who, until this year, had created all the puppets inspired by the winning book–one to give to the author and another for the permanent collection of the Children’s Literature Department of LAPL’s Central Library.  Sadly, Carol passed away this past year.  This year’s puppet, a wonderful rendition of Kate Sessions, the “tree lady” of the book, was created by Jesse Kingsley. After receiving the award, H. Joseph Hopkins gave a presentation about how he created the book and about the life of Kate Sessions.

Renny Day, VP Correspondence and Membership, and Caroline Gill, President of FOCAL

After four years as part of the FOCAL Award Committee and I am going to miss reading the books and going to the meetings. But I will always look forward to the luncheon. And I want to thank the award committee and  Caroline Gill, Renny Day and all the members of the FOCAL Board for all the hard work that makes the luncheon such a success and one of the highlights of my year.

The FOCAL Award was instituted in 1980 and is presented annually for a book of merit that features some aspect of California history and/or geography.
Friends of Children and Literature (FOCAL) is a support group of the LAPL Children’s Literature Department at the Central Library.

CLCSC Fall Gala Featuring Author/Illustrator Bryan Collier

Martin's Big Words by Bryan Collier

A week ago on Saturday it was a pleasure once again to participate in the annual Fall Gala of the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California honoring outstanding authors and illustrators and the winner of the Dorothy C. McKenzie Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field of Children’s Literature, this year given to much loved Dr. Claudette S. McLinn, Director, Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature. The featured speaker was author/illustrator Bryan Collier, recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration for several of his books and the 2002 Caldecott Honor Award for Martin’s Big Words.  In an entertaining and passionate speech he spoke about his childhood and the strong influence of books like Harold’s Purple Crayon and Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats on his own work.

This year the Gala was held at the Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge in a large hall near the entrance to the gardens. The morning began with a delicious breakfast and introductions. I was one of many authors attending the event. I enjoyed the opportunity see old friends and to chat with the librarians sitting at my table. After the event was over, my fellow author Joan Graham and I took a lovely walk through the gardens and visited the small art museum, which had a water themed exhibit. Although the weather was warm, the shady paths were pleasant as we walked through the various habitats on our way to the museum.  All in all, it was a lovely day!