How well do you know SARAH & KATY AND THE IMAGINATION BLANKETS? Try your hand at this quiz to find out!
SCORING:
Forget the New Year’s resolutions this year!
(Although really, I could afford to lose some weight…)
But never mind the weight thing. This year, my plan for 2015 is a reading challenge.
In 2014, I participated in the Goodreads Challenge, which allows readers to set a goal for a number of books to read. I set my goal at 30 books (and fell short by six … perhaps I should have read fewer 400+ page books).
For 2015, I ran across this excellent reading challenge at Goodwill Librarian’s Facebook page:
This challenge is way more interesting than simply tallying how many books I’ve read in a year.
And let’s face it: This also is more fun. It’s a scavenger hunt for literary selections, folks!
Best of all: It encourages readers to step outside their usual reading patterns as they find titles to fit each category.
I already have my picks set aside for a few categories:
If you have any recommendations or want to share books that fit a certain category, do tell! I would love to hear your top picks and favorites.
This artwork originally appeared in the book “Clifford Takes a Trip” and has been circulating social media after Clifford creator Norman Bridwell died Dec. 12.
I said farewell to a friend this week.
I call him “friend” even though I never met him.
(To be honest, I didn’t know what he looked like before yesterday. I had never bothered to search Google for his face.)
But I knew him well by his words, by his art, by his imagination.
And by his name, which was on the cover of many of my favorite books.
Norman Bridwell.
Like me, many know him better as the man behind Clifford the Big Red Dog.
The Associated Press reported Bridwell died Dec. 12 at age 86. He created the iconic oversized, floppy-eared, bright red dog in 1963 with a book simply titled “Clifford, the Big Red Dog.”
(The New York Times reported Clifford’s name originally was meant to be Tiny; thankfully Bridwell’s wife encouraged her husband to name the dog Clifford, after one of her childhood imaginary friends.)
Bridwell wrote and illustrated more than 40 Clifford books that sold more than 120 million copies worldwide. Clifford became an icon in other media as well, including cartoons, a feature film, a musical, stuffed animals, key chains, posters and stickers.
I befriended Clifford at a young age. The school library was full of book-bound characters whom I learned to know and love: Clifford, Arthur, Amelia Bedelia, the Berenstain Bears.
Of each series, I had my favorite. There was always that one book I would check out over and over again.
With Clifford, it was “Clifford Takes a Trip,” its cover showing Clifford lying atop a city bus, much to passengers’ dismay.
(I confess, I judged a book by its cover. That was my favorite Clifford book cover as a kid.)
“Clifford Takes a Trip” also is the book that first featured an illustration of Clifford’s owner, Emily Elizabeth, sadly hugging him goodbye before the family left for a vacation.
That same illustration has made its rounds on social media this week, stamped with the words, “We’ll miss you, Norman” and shared on the official Facebook page for Clifford the Big Red Dog.
The page featuring that illustration broke my child heart with each reread.
Emily Elizabeth narrates the scene: “Last year was different. Last year we went to the mountains. Mommy and Daddy said it was too far for Clifford to walk.”
On the next page is Clifford, lying with chin on paws: “So we left him with the lady next door.”
And then the next page, Clifford’s nose in the air, howling at the moon with drooping sad eyes: “That night Clifford was so lonely he began to howl. He howled and he howled and he howled.”
I was saddened every time.
And I was saddened one more time when the illustration landed in my Facebook feed with the news of Bridwell’s death.
Farewell, Norman.
Thank you for making childhood a little brighter. (Bright red, in fact.)
Thank you for telling stories that teach us about friendship, compassion and kindness.
Most of all, thank you for making my imagination as big as Clifford.
[Editor’s note: This column also was published in The Times newspaper (Ottawa/Streator, Ill.) on Dec. 22, 2014.]
Image courtesy of Brule media kit.
I had the privilege to attend a Brulé concert Saturday night.
The contemporary Native American group describes its music as “a mergence of cultural rock and theatrical instrumentations” that features “the same contagious excitement as Trans Siberian Orchestra, Celtic Thunder, and Riverdance — but with the emotional impact of the American Indian culture.”
The performance includes traditional Native American music blended with modern rock, as well as Native American dancers who perform contemporized versions of traditional dance with elements of traditional garb.
Brulé received rave reviews in my home region of Starved Rock Country after a 2013 concert, so I made sure the husband and I got tickets for the 2014 show performed Dec. 6 at La Salle-Peru High School.
A noticeable portion of the audience was children. Several sat in the rows in front of the husband and I.
I was skeptical when I first saw the makeup of the crowd. Would two hours of Native American music and dance hold a child’s attention?
I needn’t have worried.
One little girl in particular — I would estimate her to be 5 to 6 years old — captured my attention as much as the dancers onstage.
Whenever one of the Native American women would perform a dance, the little blond girl in front of me would stand up on her seat and mirror the dancer’s hand gestures. She was completely captivated by the dancers, and at every opportunity, she pretended to be one of them.
Introducing children to other cultures and performances opens the gateway to imagination. I witnessed it happening Saturday night as the little girl watched wide-eyed, absorbing every moment, then reliving it in her imagination.
I watched as the family exited the auditorium, and every few steps the little girl would stomp a few Native American-inspired dance steps, mimicking the arm gestures she followed so faithfully during the performance. My own imagination ran away with her, picturing her the next afternoon tucking a feather in her hair and some Christmas jingle bells in her hands, performing her own version of the jingle dance (a Native American healing dance) over a stuffed animal or doll.
The Brulé performance serves as a bold reminder to introduce children to other cultures as often as possible. Not only does the introduction expand the reach of childhood imagination, but also through imagining, it helps them remember, internalize, and bond with that culture.
Below, for your enjoyment, is a video of a previous Brulé performance:
Thanks to all who were able to attend this morning’s book signing at the Book Mouse in downtown Ottawa, Ill.!
Bev Parsons (right) stops by the Book Mouse to get a copy of SARAH & KATY AND THE IMAGINATION BLANKETS signed by Julie Stroebel Barichello (left).
Photo courtesy of Tim Kelleher
It was especially nice to see the many relatives, friends and coworkers who showed their support, as well as the many new faces who are kind enough to give this book a chance. The highlight of the day, beyond all others, was meeting 8-year-old Marissa, from north-central Illinois. Her smile over meeting an author was humbling.
Meeting the readers is a vital reminder that the readers are one of the most important components of the writing process.
Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to tell you a story.
Julie Stroebel Barichello | Author 