PhyllistheAuthor

Could you write a novel in a month? Every November for the last several years, writers around the world have taken up the challenge, registering on line, and reporting their daily progress.

Since this is a very busy month for me with mulitiple programs and presentations that I am responsible for, I really doubted that I could take up the challenge. However, that is just the point of the challenge. There is never enough time.

I began my latest novel for kids many months ago, and it has been sadly neglected. So I have decided to take the plunge, sign up for the challenge, and see how I do.

I recently had a monarch butterfly visit my flowers. He or she must have been very hungry since I could come very close without the monarch flying away. Monarchs pass through Williamsburg every fall on their seasonal migration.

What happens to monarchs in a hurricane? Do they get carried along by the wind like a run-away kite? Or are they able to hide somewhere to weather the storm? I had visions of this poor hungry butterfly flying all the way to Virginia and then being blown back to Pennsylvania.

Yesterday we went to see the new exhibit at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk. The curators discovered many overlooked paintings in the museum's warehouses. One of the pictures may even be a Rembrant.

The new exhibit focuses on treasures that the museum has owned for years and that have not been displayed or have been forgotten. It was well worth the drive to Norfolk.

I haven't put a poem on line for a while and I am wondering if kids today know this poem. It has always been a favorite of mine.


The Duel (The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat) by Eugene Field

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went " Bow-wow-wow!"
And the calico cat replied "Me-ow!"
The air was littered,an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimney place
Up with it hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
(Now mind: I'm only telling you
What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed,"Oh dear! What shall we do!"
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
Employing every tooth and claw
In the awfullest way you ever saw-
And oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
(Don't fancy I exaggerate! I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole the pair away!
But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
(The old Dutch clock, it told me so,
And that is how I came to know.)

I have been asked to be on a panel for the Virginia Library Association Conference this week concerning ethics in children's literature. The dictionary says that ethics is the study of the rules or standards governing conduct.

Since I write for middle grade readers, I've been reading books for kids eight to twelve with ethics in mind. What I have found is a lot of lying, cheating, and stealings in kids' literature. Sometimes such moral failings are justified. Let's say, for example, that it is okay to lie if the Nazis are looking for your mom. But what I am finding is that in a number of books, there is no real necsessity for kids to lie, cheat, or steal. But they do so without consequence. That is very upsetting because my gray hairs have taught me that actions have CONSEQUENCES.

I've been working pretty intently the last couple of weeks on obtaining historical illustrations for my fourth book. A lot of material is available from the Civil War period, but not all of it is in the public domain. Material that is copyrighted or privately owned can't be used in a book without obtaining special permission and many times a cost to the writer.

How do I find material? I research photographs and prints on the Internet and in libraries. It is frustrating to find a great illustration and yet not be able to get permission to use it. Sometimes I just can't find a picture I'm looking for. For example, I've looked and looked for a photograph or lithograph of the Baltimore and Ohio train depot in Washington during the Civil War. Although I've seen a couple of pictures of the depot, I haven't been able to find a good one I can use.

Why do I bother? Some people say the past is unknowable, a foreign country. I believe, and my readers agree, that period pictures help to bring the past alive.

I am reading a book called Huck's Raft by Steven Mintz (Harvard University Press, 2004). It's a fascinating history of American childhood. The author gives many examples of how kids actually participated in our history. I haven't finished the book, but I am learning that it has never been easy being a kid or being a parent.