Author Archives:

14

Oct. ’11

YA Best-Selling Author Pseudonymous Bosch in Houston 10/16/11

Here’s some big news from our friends at Inprint. Young adult author Pseudonymous Bosch will this Sunday, October 16 at 3pm (doors open at 2:30pm) at Johnston Middle School, 10410 Manhattan Drive. This event is FREE. Here’s the scoop:

“Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People” presents this event with the award-winning young adult author, who will read from his fifth book of the New York Times bestselling “Secret Series” called You Have To Stop This. Bosch launched the “Secret Series” in 2007 with the novel The Name of This Book Is Secret; in his current book, a trip to the local natural history museum turns dangerous. Each of the novels in the series is based on one of the five senses—smell, sound, taste, sight and touch – and You Have To Stop This currently ranks #3 in children’s books under the category of mysteries, espionage, and detectives on Amazon.

Pseudonymous BoschPseudonymous Bosch’s publisher maintains that his identity is a secret. According to www.pseudonymousbosch.com, “Not much is known about him other than that he has a passionate love of chocolate and cheese and an equally passionate hatred of mayonnaise. Rumors of Boschian sightings are just as frequent and about as reliable as reports of alien abductions.” To this day, many continue to conjecture about his true identity. It is known that the “Secret Series” is copyrighted by Raphael Simon, who has written episodes for programs on Nickelodeon.

Bosch will present his work, followed by a Q&A with the audience and a book sale and signing, giving families a chance to visit with the author. Admission is free and open to the public. “Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People” is presented by Inprint, a Houston-based nonprofit fostering the art of creative writing with the mission to inspire readers and writers.

Posted by . Categories: education, event, Houston, Reading, writer, writers in the schools. Tags: , , . Leave a comment

03

Oct. ’11

Getting Poetic on the Web 2

Here are some fun poetry games made just for kids:

1) The Funny Poem Machine is a mad-lib type of application. Fill in a short list of questions–crazy adjective, awesome verb, etc. And the machine will give pack a poem guaranteed to make you laugh.

2) The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) provides an app to help you create an acrostic poem. There’s even a brainstorming step built into the process.

3) Scholastic Books offers up a free Poetry Idea Engine on their site.

Writing is fun, and these applications might make it even moreso!

Posted by . Categories: creativity, education, humor, poetry, student, writers in the schools, writing prompts. Tags: , , , , . Leave a comment

30

Sep. ’11

Public Poetry at Discovery Green, Saturday at 2 pm

Public Poetry — which was just named the best reading series in Houston by the Houston Press– offers up its next event on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 2 pm at Discovery Green park in downtown Houston. To kick off the event, there will be a performance by The Mighty Orq. The featured poets will be Rich Levy, Martha Serpas, Eva Skrande, and Deborah “DEEP” Wiggins Mouton. WITS Third grader Helena de la Cruz will join the group. The reading is provided in partnership with the Houston Public Library. It is a free event, and the public is welcome.


Posted by . Categories: event, Houston, writer, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

29

Sep. ’11

Getting Poetic on the Web 1

There are fun versions of the refrigerator magnet poetry game all over the web. Here are a few sites that will allow you to express your inner “you.”

1) Twitter Magnets. Try this app if you’re hoping to wax poetic on Twitter. It even keeps track of your character count so you stay with the bounds of the allowable 140!

2) If you’re lucky enough to own an iPad, check out the Poetry Magnet app or the Poetry Creator on the iTunes site.

3) If you’d like to play online, the official Magnetic Poetry site has loads of fun features, including a special section just for kids.

If you have your own favorite poetry game on the world wide web, please let us know about it in the comment section.

Posted by . Categories: creativity, poetry, writers in the schools. Tags: , , , , . 1 Comment

21

Sep. ’11

Houston Writers Write Houston


WSCHwhite  

  From Hip Hop to SugarHill

 Marco Cervantes, “Transforming Jail Route”

Bao-Long Chu, “2600 Travis”

David Theis, “The Ruins of Houston”

Roger Wood, “Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios:

The Story of a House”

Thursday, September 22, 2011, 7:00 pm

Bohemeo’s, 708 Telephone Road, 77023   

Free and open to all!

Writing & C/Siting Houston brings together writers, folklorists, and scholars to create written portraits that explore the ways and the wheres through which Houstonians know and cherish their hometown.

Posted by . Categories: essay, event, Houston, memory, place, Reading. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a comment

02

Sep. ’11

Nose

Class 3 Nose

Image via Wikipedia

Way at night when you are asleep

And you are way done counting jumping sheep

Your nose jumps down into your jeep

It drives around, collecting smells

from lights, posts, signs, and bells,

and from rocks and stones and limestone shells

It may get off at Target or the Gap

to lure those smells into its trap

The smells travel through the holes,

like earthworms, like underground moles

to fill the tank up is one of its goals

And when the morning sun rises

the nose goes back with big suprises

It goes back to you in your bunk–

Oh, no!

It brought the smell of a skunk!

by Santiago, 4th grade

Posted by . Categories: humor, poetry, student, writing. Tags: , . 1 Comment

29

Aug. ’11

How To Stay Young Forever

Measuring Spoons

Image via Wikipedia

Ingredients:

2 cups green goop

1 tablespoon squishy mud

1 teaspoon gravel

1 cup of water from a tree

1/2 cup of a man’s red beard

1 squiggle from the sun

1 1/2 cup paper

Instructions:

1.  Go to the beach.  Collect lots of seaweed. Squeeze into a container until you have 2 cups.  (If it’s too much, drink some.)

2. Go to the woods and find dirt.  (If you get too much, feed it to a caterpillar and watch it blow up!)

3.  Find a tree and squeeze the bark to get a cup of water. Put it into the dirt. Mix to make 1 tablespoon of mud.

4.  Go to a graveyard. Brush the gravestones and measure a teaspoon of gravel.

5.  Go to your dad and tell him to grow a beard. If it’s not red, dye it!

6. Get on a flying pony and head for the moon. Take a bite of the moon. Mix it with spit and put it in a water bottle.

7.  Go home and tear up paper to get 1 1/2 cups.  Mix well with the mud and gravel mixtures. Stir in the man’s red beard.

8.  Add the moon and everything else.  Stir thoroughly.

9.  Microwave for 300 years.

10. Mix well and eat.  You’ll stay young forever.

by Lauren, 3rd grade

Posted by . Categories: humor, poem a day, poetry, student, writers in the schools, writing. Tags: , . Leave a comment

24

Aug. ’11

Train Station

thetrainiscoming

Image by csaavedra via Flickr

When I go to

the train station,

trains are speeding by

with powerful noises

that can make you deaf,

and as they speed by

oranges and yellows and whites

suddenly clash together

and my sight becomes a blur.

And then the train screeches

to a stop and the colors bounce

back into place.

by Christin, 4th grade

Posted by . Categories: writers in the schools. Leave a comment

19

Aug. ’11

Reasha’s Song

These kids REALLY can dance . . .

Image by Lady-bug via Flickr

I like when the sun rises in the East to

get me out of bed. I like how the cool

wind blows on my face. I like when new

flowers open and bloom in the morning. I

like reading encyclopedias. I like serving

food to my family on Thanksgiving. I like

playing with my baby cousin. I like

cheering for teams I want to win.  I like

planning parties. I like the smell of

summer air. I like the season of spring.

I like dancing in the night under the stars

and I like moving to music. I like doing

other people’s hair. I like how flowers

and doors close at night. I like how my

family loves me. I like the way the moon

puts me to bed when it’s dark and I’m sleepy.

by Reasha, 3rd grade

Posted by . Categories: family, Holidays, Houston, memory, nature, poetry, self-portrait, writers in the schools. Tags: , . Leave a comment