Carmen had a great time with the kids at Burnside Elementary School the other week! If you have pictures from your school visit, send them to EGrace.Escritora@gmail.com and we will put them up on the website!
Summer Storytelling Workshops with Bil Lepp!
Beginning and experienced storytellers alike are invited to join seasoned storytellers Carmen Agra Deedy and Bil Lepp in 3-day storytelling workshops this summer, 2012. With Bil’s skill at creating and developing tall tales and Carmen’s knack for exploring truth through personal stories, participants are bound to walk away with a better understanding of the art of storytelling and the tools to revise and perform their own unique works.
Participants will be expected to have one story that they wish to work on over the course of the weekend. Carmen and Bil will focus on story structure, language, and performing skills. Participants can expect small group sessions as well as one-on-one coaching sessions with Carmen and Bil.
Workshop 1: July 27-29, 2012
Workshop 2: August 3-4, 2012
Maximum Participants: 20
Location: Decatur, GA.
For additional information, please contact Carmen’s business manager, Erin Grace, at: EGrace.Escritora@gmail.com or 404.333.2260.
Filed under Uncategorized
Just a Normal Day at Work
Telling stories to the kids at McEver Arts Academy. Thanks to Brenau University for bringing Carmen to the school today!
Filed under Performances
E.B. White Read-Aloud Award
Those of you that have heard Carmen tell her story, Love in the Library, already know that Carmen has a special place in her heart just for E.B. White and Charlotte’s Web. It was the book that really made her love reading, which makes it mean that much more to be on the Middle Reader Honor Award list for the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award. You can view a complete list of winners and honor books here. Thank you to everyone that nominated and voted for The Cheshire Cheese Cat!
Filed under awards
Exciting Things are Happening!
Artwork by Mo Willems (I LOVE him!)
So many wonderful and exciting things have been happening! For starters, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, won a Cybil in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category! It always means a lot when the readers pick your book, especially when you’re up against so many other fabulous titles (I’m looking at you A Monster Calls!).
To top off the excitement of winning a Cybil, The Cheshire Cheese Cat has been nominated for an Indies Choice award in the Middle Reader category! It is in great company, so be sure to check out the whole nominees list here.
Lastly, SLJ’s Battle of the Books has officially started! Unfortunately, The Cheshire Cheese Cat did not make it to the next round. Sy Montgomery had a tough choice between two very different books. Chime went home the winner of the round, but Montgomery had some lovely things to say about The Cheshire Cheese Cat. 
“The book works on several levels. The literary allusions are hilarious for those in the know. The fast-paced plot has as many twists as London’s alleys. The authors (one of whom, Randall Wright, is a bit of a Dickens scholar) let loose with some fabulous words here (Ready for some hookem-snivey? There’s plenty to be had in these pages.) And along the way, readers will find that enemies can become friends, learn how to make a good apology, and discover the power of the pen—even if the actual writing implement is really….well, you’ll see.”
(excerpt from Battle of the Books Review. Read the whole post here.)
Filed under awards, Uncategorized
SLJ Battle of the Books
That’s right, folks! The Cheshire Cheese Cat is a part of School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books! Sixteen books are chosen and fight through four rounds to crown the ultimate champion. Judges are chosen in each round to read two books and chose one to move to the next round in March Madness style brackets. In round one, The Cheshire Cheese Cat is up against the YA fantasy Chime by Franny Billingsley. Check out the brackets below and be sure to visit the Battle of the Books website. www.battleofthebooks.slj.com
Filed under Contests
Happy Birthday Charles Dickens!
Today marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens! In celebration of the man who helped inspire The Cheshire Cheese Cat, I give you a list of little known facts about Dickens.
- Charles Dickens was epileptic and made some of his characters (like Oliver Twist’s brother) epileptic.
- He was also a mesmerist, which is basically healing through hypnotism. He even claimed to have healed several of his friends.
- He was friends with Hans Christian Andersen. When Andersen famously overstayed his welcome in the Dickens home, Dickens let him know it was time to leave by hanging a sign on his mirror that read, “Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks, which seemed to the family like AGES.”
- Dickens thought very highly of himself and referred to himself as ”the Sparkler of Albion.”
- He nicknamed everyone, from characters in his novels (Pip) to his own children (Skittles and Plorn).
- At age 12, his father was imprisoned for debt and Dickens was sent to work in a factory. While he rarely spoke about his experiences, they heavily influenced his writings.
- David Copperfield was his favorite work and the most autobiographical.
- He was obsessive-compulsive, to the point where he obsessively fixed his hair, would clean his friends homes, and always made sure his bed was aligned north-south. He also touched objects three times for luck.
- He had a secret room in his study hidden behind a bookshelf. All of the books on that shelf had clever names like, Noah’s Arkitecture and a nine-volume series called Cat’s Lives.
- In June 1865, Dickens and his mistress were in the Staplehurst rail crash. He was on one of only 8 cars that did not end up in the river. They helped other passengers before Dickens ran back for the manuscript for Our Mutual Friend.
Filed under Misc.
