The Whole Megillah- Mid-Week Field Notes | April 14, 2021Three quick things this week: Because I’m revising verse and because it’s National Poetry Month, I’ve ordered two books each from CavanKerry Press and Dos Madres Press for inspiration. Blog interviews are beginning to emerge about my middle-grade novel in … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 15In the past week, I’ve revised a non-snapshot essay about a friend who died, trying to understand our relationship, and how perhaps her sometimes erratic behavior was driven by her illness that she didn’t talk about, at least not to … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes | April 7, 2021Three quick things this week: For the next few weeks I will be deep in revision on various projects, especially my bio in verse. I’m reading other novels in verse and just good poetry to keep me inspired. Any suggestions? … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 14I think the trick to fueling these snapshots, at least for me, is research. I wanted to revise my piece on the basement of my childhood home. Rumor had it that the basement had been a speakeasy. Using Ancestry, I … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | The Woodcarver’s Daughter by Yona Zeldis McDonoughMcDonough, Yona Zeldis. The Woodcarver’s Daughter. Kar-Ben, April 2021, 128 pp. The Whole Megillah (TWM): What inspired you to write The Woodcarver’s Daughter?Yona Zeldis McDonough (YZM): I had gone to the Museum of American Folk Art to see a show … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes | March 31, 2021Three quick things this week: My books arrived! Summer plans: I’ll be working on my database of Holocaust children’s literature, expanding it from the 1960s and through 2021. Then, I’ll take guidance from a statistician colleague to code the database … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 13I think I may be running out of steam on #52snapshots. I need some breathing room to jot down a list of questions I have about my own family history–what do I want to know more about? It could be … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes | March 24, 2021Four quick things this week: I’ve signed up to support Amherst Writers & Artists in their Write around the World fundraising event. I’m facilitating a session on May 9. I received an offer of publication for my bio in verse … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- #52snapshots–Week 12I know I will have to bring my “basement” piece through a revision process to find a core throughline and finesse it to a literary level. When I will do that, I just don’t know. This Week I’ve been wondering … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Thursday Links | March 18, 2021Here are this week’s links: Want to know what to do with flotsam and jetsam of raw creative writing material you generate? Check out Emily Stoddard’s demonstration at Ruminate Happenings. What do you consider when sending your creative work out … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Field Notes | April 14, 2021
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Author’s Notebook | Eli Stutz
This is Part Two of an Agent/Author interview. Last week, The Whole Megillah featured agent Elana Roth of the Caren Johnson Literary Agency. Today, we feature her client, Eli Stutz, author of Pickle Impossible (Bloomsbury USA, 2010). The Whole Megillah … Continue reading
Agent’s Notebook | Elana Roth, Caren Johnson Literary Agency
This is Part One of an Agent/Author interview. Elana is Part One and her client, Eli Stutz, author of Pickle Impossible (Bloomsbury USA, 2010), is Part Two and an upcoming Author’s Notebook feature. Elana Roth is a literary agent with … Continue reading
Posted in Agents
Tagged Caren Johnson Literary Agency, children's book agents, Elana Roth, Eli Stutz, Pickle Impossible
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Librarian’s Notebook | Linda R. Silver
For August 2010, The Whole Megillah Librarian’s Notebook features an interview with Linda R. Silver. Linda is a librarian and a specialist in Jewish children’s literature. She has written two books on the subject as well as speaking, teaching, and … Continue reading
The Whole Megillah Mourns
My brother-in-law died suddenly of a heart attack Tuesday evening. He was only 56. Because we are now in mourning and because I’ll be on retreat, The Whole Megillah is taking a break and will resume with librarian, agent, and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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A History of Jewish Children’s Books—Part Three
Adapted from a talk given by Lisa Silverman, Library Director of Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, May 23, 2010 at the Highlights Founders Workshop, “Writing Jewish-themed Children’s Books” Genres of Jewish Children’s Literature—Realism in Jewish Family Life The first book in … Continue reading
Tagged Are You There God, Bette Greene, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, Deborah Garfinkle, Highlights Foundation, How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, Judy Blume, Lisa Silverman, Our Eddie, realism in Jewish family life, Sarah Darer Littman, Simone Elkeles, Storky, Sulamith Ish Kishor, Summer of My German Soldier, Writing Jewish-themed Children's Books
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Book Review: Once
Once Written by Morris Gleitzman (Henry Holt and Company, 2010–previously published in Australia) In the author’s note, Morris Gleitzman said he had read a book about Janusz Korczak, a Polish Jewish doctor and children’s author, who helped run an orphanage … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged Holocaust literature, Janusz Korczak, Morris Gleitzman, Once
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The Whole Megillah Grows
Thanks to everyone–Jewish children’s book writers, librarians, editors, agents, and publicists–who have helped make The Whole Megillah a success. Given the great response, I’ve been thinking of expanding The Whole Megillah to offer: Workshops and retreats–I’m exploring a four-day workshop/retreat … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Jewish children's books, National Yiddish Book Center, The Whole Megillah
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