Reflections

Hello –
I’m excited to have a page to share reflections on teaching, good books, authors and their work, gardening, food (had to include that!), the wonderful people I meet when visiting schools and conferences, and, of course, writing – the glorious art of writing.

Stay tuned. Future posts will appear at least twice a month, sometimes more often.

LIFETIME Debuts!
09/23/2013
Lola Schaefer is a children's book author

Tomorrow is the day! Many more children besides Ben will be holding LIFETIME, reading it, and hopefully . . . thinking about the amazing numbers in animal lives. It's great to receive positive reviews. It's lovely to hear colleagues say it's a wonderful book. But the best reward of all is when children carefully read the information, study the illustrations, count the number of eggs or flowers, and marvel. That's the reason I write!

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A Great Nonfiction Book
09/21/2013
Lola Schaefer is a children's book author

I just read HOW BIG WERE DINOSAURS? last night and was instantly charmed. This is a perfect nonfiction book for all those children who love dinosaurs, and those who want to know more. Each spread is devoted to a different kind of dinosaur and its size. The author/illustrator does a great job with kid-friendly comparisons that truly paint a clear picture in the reader's mind, from "no bigger than a baby rhinoceros" to claws "longer than a man's arm" to

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Great Nonfiction!
09/02/2013
Lola Schaefer is a children's book author

Since I write nonfiction and informational text and I offer coaching in schools on how to construct these, as well, I’m always reading the latest in children’s books. The quality (and variety) is the best it’s ever been. Here is a list of current titles that will engage your young readers.
Children of all ages will enjoy these, but I have grouped them by appropriate grade levels for teachers. However, some books appear on both lists. What can I say? Some books entertain and inform all of us, no matter our ages. Other than that, there is no reason for the order in which they appear.

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Keeping It All Straight
08/17/2013
Lola Schaefer is a children's book author

As you all know, LIFETIME (Chronicle Books) will debut in just a month. It's a great book and I'm proud of it for many reasons. Conceptually, it's unique -more my editor's doing, than mine. Actually the initial idea was all hers and I'm thrilled that she shared it with me. But to be honest, never in our wildest dreams did we think the realization of that idea would take so many emails, phone calls, hours of debate, and days, weeks, and months of thought on our parts. Sometimes it's best not to know just how much time a book is going to take.

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Camp Schaefer 2013
06/24/2013
Lola Schaefer is a children's book author

Ted and I always look forward to Camp Schaefer. We realize that in just 5-6 days we will be exhausted from all of the FUN, but it's one of our best summer treats. Our niece Leah (10) and our nephew Spencer (8) arrived this year on Friday evening after our traditional stop for ice cream. Saturday was a whirlwind. In the early morning we packed up and accompanied Ted to the Big Canoe Festival to set up his woodworking booth. Both kids decided they were his junior sales team.

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