Student Reflection Papers
Following my author visit to Scandia Elementary School on March 28, 2018, third grade teacher Kelly Duncan asked her students to write “reflection papers” about my visit.
Tag Archives: The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea
Through the Purple Door on St. Patrick’s Day
In which I meet with a family whose ten-year-old daughter. Audrey, adores sock monkeys. She read The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea and loved it.
Finger Sandwiches
Where do writers draw their inspiration? From many books, articles, trips, conversations, and recipes! In Chapter 23 of The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, “Tea Party,” Annaliese hosts a tea party for her three cousins and their sock monkeys. Nora, Nadine, and Nell Ann have a surprise for Annaliese … their mother gave their sock monkeys away!… Read More
Petit Fours
In The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, Annaliese hosts a tea party for her cousins, Nora, Nadine, and Nell Ann. She also invites their sock monkeys so Throckmorton can meet them, but Annaliese and Throckmorton are soon startled by her cousins’ revelation. In Chapter 23, The Tea Party, the food Annaliese serves is described this way: “A… Read More
The Hat
People often ask me if I am a part of the illustration process for my books. That’s not typical. Authors and illustrators usually don’t talk to each other until the book is done. Sometimes there are details in the writing that must be translated into an illustration. What did the author have in mind? Here’s… Read More
True-to-Life Details Woven into a Manuscript
I recently received a couple of questions about Olivia, a character in The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, and the music that she sings. If you haven’t read the book yet (and you really should), this won’t give away too much. Maybe it will even entice you to read this book about two families (one human, one… Read More
The Lost Art of Letter Writing
In The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, Annabelle can figure out parts of the mystery because she reads letters written by her family members. There’s no way to do that with texts and e-mails. How will we solve our mysteries? Writing letters to family and friends is a way of saying how much you care about someone,… Read More
Sew-Your-Own Sock Monkey
When I wrote The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, I often thought of my own sock monkey. There are many sock monkeys in the book, of course, so I asked my friend Millie Dosh to sew more monkeys for me. I have quite a group. Some nights I could swear they’re having a party. Are you inspired by… Read More
A Celebrity Sock Monkey
Find yourself in need of more books starring sock monkeys? Cece Bell has a trio of books starting with Sock Monkey Goes to Hollywood: a Star is Bathed (Candlewick, 2015) that are fun. In this first, Sock Monkey, who is an actor, is nominated for an award. To attend the ceremony, he must take a… Read More
Reading Aloud and Signed Books
During this season of gift-giving, I—like so many other grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends—turn to books as the perfect present for a special child. Nothing gives me more pleasure than knowing that a book I’ve selected might become his or her favorite, destined to be read over and over again. But… Read More