When I set up this blog awhile ago robbterranova.wordpress.com was not available. I don’t know why that was the case. Maybe I wanted terranova.wordpress.com, which is not available. Either way, I just discovered it’s available. For that reason, I’ll be transitioning this site to http://robbterranova.wordpress.com during the next couple weeks, after that you’ll find me over there exclusively. Of course you could always stop at the parent site, robbterranova.com. Anything I write will be there.
Home » 2013
Yearly Archives: 2013
A Mosquito and Goldie Hawn
http://robbterranova.com/?p=1730
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”*
Then again, happy 
families are all alike only because they’re always giggling. If they’d stop with the giggling, just for a second, they’d see they actually fit into that unhappy category. All families are unhappy at some time or another, unless they never stop giggling. It’s the damn giggling that drives me crazy.
I used to start giggling for no reason at all. Pretty soon I’d be laughing and all my brothers and sisters would be giggling or laughing, too. Eventually, someone would turn the TV on and that would end that unless, of course LaughIn or Mork and Mindy was on. Then we’d be giggling again.
That Goldie Hawn, she sure loved to giggle. Made us all a really happy family. If we’d have been able to record her and keep playing her back, over and over and over we’d there would never have been a sad moment for any of us, at least not while we were in the house. Head out the door for the school bus… Now, don’t get me started. I’m the one who had a teacher who taught her brother how to pitch and he was a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.
I giggle every time I think of that because there was the time she hauled off and threw an eraser at me. Would have hit me smack dab diddle in the middle of my face if a mosquito hadn’t bit me the
night before and the bite chose that moment to start itching. For the kid behind me it was like when you’re driving behind somebody and they suddenly change lanes, leaving you hitting your brakes because the guy who is now in front of you is loaded with chalk, if you know what I mean. Kinda funny, isn’t it?
*Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
giggling, Goldie Hawn, Mork and Mindy, Mosqitoes, Zumbling
First Lines
http://robbterranova.com/blogs/first-lines/
I have many favorite children’s books. It’s easy to recognize them just by their first lines. I’ve collected 15 of them. See if you can match the beginning with the book.
An interesting thing about these. In most cases I can tell the older books (published more than a dozen years ago) from the newer books. The reason is that picture books have become extremely condensed. For that reason newer books tend to follow three rules:
- The story should begin at an interesting place (usually where the action begins).
- The first sentence should get your attention.
- The main character will usually be introduced within the first few sentences.
Anyway, see how well you can do. These are all classics and/or best sellers. The first sentences are at the top. The authors and titles at the bottom.
1) Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs. Or at least they think they do.
2) On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly on my bed
I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly. I was listening for a sound — a sound a friend had told me I’d never hear — the ringing of Santa’s Sleigh.
3) The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him, “WILD THING!”
4) Many, many years ago in Sorrento there lived a small boy named Giovanni who had no mother and father. He dressed in rags and begged his bread and slept in doorways.
But he was happy, and he could do something wonderful.
5) In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.
6) Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were looking for a place to live. But every time Mr. Mallard saw what looked like a nice place, Mrs. Mallard said it was no good.
7) A mother bird sat on her egg. The egg jumped. “I must get something for my baby bird to eat!” she said. So away she went.
8) “A told B and B told C, I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree.”
9) In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon.
10) Lazlo was afraid of the dark
11) We were all sitting around the big kitchen table. it was Saturday morning, Pancake morning. Mom was squeezing oranges for juice. Henry and I were betting on how many pancakes we each could eat.
12) Not so long ago, before she could even speak words, Trixie went on an errand with her daddy….
13) Now remember, Mother said, “your father and I are bringing some guests by after the opera, so please keep the house neat.”
“Quite so,” added Father, tucking his scarf inside his coat.
14) A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
15) I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running….
Okay, match ‘em up
___ a) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bill Martin Jr.
___b) Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
___c)The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
___d) The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
___e) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
___f) The Dark, Lemony Snicket
___g) Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans
___h) Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
___i) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
___j) Knuffle Bunny, Mo Willems
___k) Are You My Mother?. P.D. Eastman
___l) Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
___m) Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
___n) The Clown of God, Tomie dePaola) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Judy Barret, Ronald Barret
Actually, not too difficult, right? The real question is: Which ones do you want to read most?
Just in case you’re not sure about one or two of your answers. Here’s the answer key.
1 = d; 2 = c; 3 = i; 4 = n; 5 = g; 6 = l; 7 = k; 8 = a; 9 = h; 10 = f; 11 = o; 12 = j; 13 = b; 14 = m; 15 = e
beginnings, Picture Books, writing
A Note to Myself
http://robbterranova.com/humor/1637/
A couple mornings ago I awoke and found this note on the nightstand.
Obviously I had an idea for something, probably a story. I didn’t remember having written this.
Beyond that it doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s undecipherable. Sometimes it doesn’t even look like my handwriting. It’s as if an alien landed nearby, had to make a note for himself, found my pen and pad of paper, but forgot to take his note.
I checked the cabinets. The peanut butter is still there. I’ve heard aliens love peanut butter.
handwriting, notes, peanut butter
How to Identify Conflict
http://robbterranova.com/blogs/prompt/how-to-identify-conflict/
Here’s a little writing tip I just learned.
Write a synopsis of your story. You know, tell what happens ( Dorothy is suddenly caught in a tornado that carries her to a faraway land called Oz). If at anytime you insert the word ‘but’ in your synopsis, you have conflict. If, however, you cannot insert the word ‘but’ anywhere, then you have no conflict and you have no story.
Dorothy, a farm girl, finds herself transported to a faraway land called Oz. BUT an evil witch wants to Dorothy. Before she can return to Kansas Dorothy has to deal with the witch and a wizard.
inspiration, pitch, plot, writing tip
Quotation: Trenton Lee Stewart
http://robbterranova.com/blogs/quotes/1696/
We writers of literature for children like to think of children as good, kind and sweet. For the most part they are, or can be. That’s the way we tend to portray them. However, they often usually lack inhibitions. So they are known to do what they want to do, say what they want to say.
A number of years ago a woman who lived above me sent one of her children down to borrow my curry powder. I was boiling some cabbage at the time.
Before the boy asked about the spice he said, “Wow, it really stinks in here.” I think I’d like to write a story about him
childhood, rudeness, Trenton Lee Stewart, writing
Children as Young as Nine Can Experience Peer Pressure
I was surprised one day when my daughter didn’t want to eat a vegetable she had always enjoyed
before. The reason she no longer liked this vegetable was because one of her third grade classmates told her it was ‘yucky.’ My daughter at the vegetable after we pointed out that maybe her friend didn’t like it because it wasn’t cooked the same way we cooked it.
A University of Maryland-led study has found that the seeds of peer pressure are sewn when a child is about nine years old. At that time the child is still able to deal with peer pressure, but it doesn’t take long before the effects of peer pressure can be too difficult to deal with, especially when it means acceptance or rejection.
Peer pressure can be a form of bullying that leads to some form of injustice. Children usually want to be fair, but they also want to be liked. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your nine or ten-year old is just imagining things or that there might not be a problem if he or she is uncomfortable with something. A parent who makes it a point to communicate with the child will often recognize the effects of peer-pressure and can help the child realize that the vegetables might not have been cooked differently.
Picture Books and Eating
Years ago I often saw two different but similar bumper stickers: ‘You Are What You Eat’ and ‘You Are What You Read.’
I’ve been working on a children’s picture book with vegetables as one part of the tale, that’s why this article in the Mercury News attracted me. As I read it, however, I thought of those two bumper stickers. So, for me that’s the theme of the article and the two bumper stickers come together.
You eat what your read.
You read what you eat.
Three books featuring food are discussed: “Yummy Yucky’ about foods that are yummy and foods that are not. Unfortunately, the yummy foods tend to be sugary. The second book is a Sesame Street book, ‘Ding Dong Elmo’s Here’ has the Sesame Street puppets looking at platesful of mostly fruits and vegetables. The third book, ‘The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond’ is actually an alphabet where the author’s intention was to get children familiar with the vocabulary of healthy eating.
When my daughter was seven she was afraid to eat mushrooms and beans because a friend had convinced her that both of them were ‘dirty.’ It took us a little while to convince her that by the time we cooked them they weren’t dirty anymore. The point is, though, that children are influenced by what they are told about food and books have a part in that.
12 Cute Letters From Kids to Veterans
These are more than cute, these are special.
I don’t know how our troops feel about letters like these, but when I was in the Army I saw only a handful of letters like these. They came in one envelope and it was the only time during my three years that I saw any letters from children back in the States. I was in Germany so maybe the guys in Viet Nam saw more of them, but probably not very many. The value put on being in the military back then wasn’t anywhere near as great as it is now.
The letters were passed around and most of the guys laughed at them, at the naiveté of the third graders, at their poor spelling and grammar. I thought that was a shame because some of the guys who were laughing were probably embarrassed because they couldn’t spell much better, perhaps not even as well. Of course we were all pretty young and naive ourselves and unable to really understand the curiosity and concern those children were expressing.
The letters didn’t impress us, didn’t touch our hearts. We saw them as just one of those class projects designed by well meaning teachers to kill for students who had no real understanding of what they were doing. We were asked to pick out a letter and respond so I quickly found one I liked (“Do you like football?”) and wrote a nice letter inviting another letter, but I never saw one. I sometimes wonder if the child ever saw it.
I hope the guys who see these letters are touched by them and ignore the spelling and take into account that these are children writing, children who probably do care about them.
Children’s Media Diets
Okay, here’s your shocking fact of the day: According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children are now spending an average of seven hours a day 
on entertainment media, including televisions, computers, phones and other electronic devices. How much time does that leave them to play with other children? Are they interacting at all with their parents or siblings? And what about being outside, is their sunshine coming from a screen?
I used to rush home from school to watch my favorite TV show, The Lone Ranger. I would have sat there until dinner watching whatever came on next, but my mother turned off the TV and told me to do my homework or go outside.
An LA Times story a few years ago indicated that children 2 to 5 years old spend close to five hours a day watching TV and kids 6 to 11 fill up on more than 28 hours of TV every week. And that’s just television.
I’ve heard too many stories of parents handing their child an iPad or Kindle to keep them quiet. Sure, the things can be educational, but so can a book or the back-yard.
Most kids complain that they get too much homework, and maybe more than 2-2.5 hours worth per day is a bit excessive, but perhaps the reason they’re complaining is because the homework is infringing on their screen time.
I’ve said this before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. Too often parents take the easy way out by putting their child in front of a screen instead of finding a way to involve their child in life. It’s much easier to let the TV talk to the children than it is to talk with them and be curious about who they really are. It’s much easier to be a caretaker than it is to be a parent.
via Parents adopt own rules to curb children’s ‘media diet’.
Robb Terranova 