A Writer's Moment: 'The Magic of imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The Magic of imagination': “I discovered writing children's books was a way to keep living in my imagination like a child. So I wrote a number of books before I st...

'The Magic of imagination'

“I discovered writing children's books was a way to keep living in my imagination like a child. So I wrote a number of books before I started 'Magic Tree House.' Then, once I got that, I never looked back because I could be somewhere different in every single book.” – Mary Pope Osborne

 

Born in Oklahoma on this date in 1949, Osborne has authored more than 100 books for children and young adults, including novels, retellings of mythology and folklore, biographies and mysteries.  She is best known for her award-winning Magic Tree House series, now translated into 35 languages with nearly 150 million copies in print.   Her writing, she said, has opened doors for her to the world and allowed her to experience some of the thrills of traveling. "Without even leaving my home, I’ve traveled around the globe,” she said.

 

An ardent advocate and supporter of children’s literacy, Osborne created the “Magic Tree House Classroom Adventures Program” with the mission of inspiring children to read.  Free of charge, the program provides a set of online educational resources for teachers and allows for Title 1 schools to apply for free Magic Tree House books.   In partnership with First Book, her program has donated hundreds of thousands of Magic Tree House books to underserved schools.  

 “I love reading all kinds of books. I usually have about ten books going at any one time - books about the past, the present, novels, non-fiction, poetry, mythology, religion, etc.,” she said.   “Reading is my favorite thing to do.”

A Writer's Moment: 'At the least, be a nuisance'

A Writer's Moment: 'At the least, be a nuisance':   “The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.” – Margery Allingham   Born on May 20, 1904 into a British writing family (her mothe...

'At the least, be a nuisance'

 

“The optimism of a healthy mind is indefatigable.” – Margery Allingham

 

Born on May 20, 1904 into a British writing family (her mother and father were both journalists), Allingham said she probably started putting pen to paper before she could even walk or talk.  By age 10 her first poems had been published and two of her plays had been performed in nearby community theatres. 

 

By her early 20s, Allingham had turned from poetry and theatre to crime and mystery writing, creating  Detective Albert Campion in the process.  Ultimately, Campion became one of the most well-known crime detective characters of the mid-20^th Century after being added to her first novel – The Crime of Black Dudley – almost as an afterthought.  But he was such an optimistic and interesting character that her publisher demanded more stories focusing on him.  

 

With that encouragement and her creative, imaginative mind, she wrote nearly 30 novels with Campion as her centerpiece character.  To try one of them out, I recommend The Tiger in the Smoke, 14^th in the series and an amazing example of Allingham’s writing style. 

 

Allingham died at age 62 from breast cancer but ever the optimist, she laid out ideas for several more novels “just in case they’re wrong and I’m not really dying,” bugging everyone around her to keep the faith and help her keep writing.  

 

Just a few days before her death (in June of 1966), she wrote: “If one cannot command attention by one’s admirable qualities, one can at least be a nuisance.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Good morning to Life'

A Writer's Moment: 'Good morning to Life':   “Being in this fine mood, I spoke to a little boy, whom I saw playing alone in the road, asking him what he was going to be when he grew...

'Good morning to Life'

 

“Being in this fine mood, I spoke to a little boy, whom I saw playing alone in the road, asking him what he was going to be when he grew up. Of course I expected to hear him say a sailor, a soldier, a hunter, or something else that seems heroic to childhood, and I was very much surprised when he answered innocently, 'A man'.” – W. H. Davies

 

Born in Wales on May 19, 1871, Davies spent a significant part of his life as a hobo, both in the United Kingdom and United States while also becoming one of the most popular poets of his time.

 

Davies’ lyrical observations about life's hardships, the ways in which the human condition is reflected in nature, and his own tramping adventures – including losing a leg while trying to hop a train –  resulted in his writing a remarkable 60 books of poetry.  For Saturday’s Poem here is Davies’,

 

A Greeting

Good morning, Life - and all
Things glad and beautiful.
My pockets nothing hold,
But he that owns the gold,
The Sun, is my great friend -
His spending has no end.

Hail to the morning sky,
Which bright clouds measure high;
Hail to you birds whose throats
Would number leaves by notes;
Hail to you shady bowers,
And you green field of flowers.

Hail to you women fair,
That make a show so rare
In cloth as white as milk -
Be't calico or silk:
Good morning, Life - and all
Things glad and beautiful.

A Writer's Moment: 'Hope' that memory is never lost

A Writer's Moment: 'Hope' that memory is never lost:   “We use the word 'hope' perhaps more often than any other word in the vocabulary: 'I hope it's a nice day.' 'Hop...