About viviankirkfield

Writer for children - Reader forever - Mom of 3, educator, author of FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN: AN ANIMAL COUNTING BOOK (PomegranateKids, PIPPA'S PASSOVER PLATE (Holiday House), SWEET DREAMS, SARAH (Creston Books); MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: THE INSPIRING FRIENDSHIP OF ELLA FITZGERALD AND MARILYN MONROE (Little Bee Books); FROM HERE TO THERE: INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED THE WAY THE WORLD MOVES (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jan 19, 2021); PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER: Annie Londonderry, First Woman to Bike Around the World (Calkins Creek/Astra, Feb 20, 2024) picture book junkie, lover of travel, hiking, fly-fishing, cooking, and playing Monopoly with my grandson.

PPBF: Millions of Cats and some awards

Posted on February 17, 2012 by viviankirkfield

English: Wanda Gág (1893-1946), American autho...

Image via Wikipedia

Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday where I link up with Susannah Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of writers who contribute a picture book review and related resources.

My selection today is another classic picture book…this one from 1928…the author/illustrator, Wanda Gag, won the 1929 Newbery Honor Book Award. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Gag pioneered the double page spread in this book. “She used both pages to move the story forward, putting them together with art that sweeps across the entire page spread.”

Millions of Cats is the oldest American picture book still in print!

Millions of Cats

Written and illustrated by Wanda Gag

Publishers: Coward McCann (1928 original edition), Penguin (more recent editions)

Ages: 2 – 8

Themes: Celebrating the uniqueness of each individual, caring for pets, companionship

Opening: “Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman. They lived in a nice clean house which had flowers all around it, except where the door was. But they couldn’t be happy because they were so very lonely.”

Synopsis: A lonely old couple want a pretty little cat to keep them company. When the husband finds a hillside FILLED with cats, he has trouble picking the prettiest…and all of the cats follow him home. “Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere. Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

When the man and his wife leave it up to the cats to determine who is the prettiest, mayhem breaks out and the couple run into their house! Will the cats be able to choose who is the prettiest? Will the old couple get the cat that they want?

Why do I like this book:

The Rhyme!

The Rhythm!

The Illustrations!

The fact that this book is over EIGHTY years old and adults and children still love it and it is still in print! Kudos to Ms. Gag!

The Story! The results of the catfight are somewhat grisly…but the underdog (or should I say, undercat) wins out…through modesty and non-violence…definitely an important message for today’s world!

Related Activities:

New Hampshire Public TV has a kid-lit site where Caldecott Award winning books are read. You can hear Millions of Cats here: http://video.nhptv.org/video/1688016012/

Anita Silvey’s Children’s Book-of-Days Almanac has a wonderful review of the book and additional information about Wanda Gag and her groundbreaking picture book work here: http://childrensbookalmanac.com/2010/12/millions-of-cats/

Scholastic has a page that provides some guidance for parents and teachers on how to use the book to encourage discussions about caring for others here: http://westonwoods.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/study_guides/millions_of_cats.pdf

Last week I shared the Valentine Boat made from a shoebox. Plain brown paper bags also make very versatile (and inexpensive) craft projects for kids. I found this awesome cat made from a paper bag here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mbagcat.htm Dltk-kids.com a wonderful resource for craft ideas.

You will need: Plain brown (or white) paper lunch-size bag, 2 pieces of construction paper (one should probably be black for the eyes and whiskers and the other can be pink…or any other color your child would prefer), glue, scissors, crayons or markers.

1. Cut from the black paper: 2 pupils for the eyes and 6 whiskers.

2. Cut from the other color paper: 2 eyes, oval stomach, nose, 2 triangles for ears, several small circles for the paws and a small triangle for the mouth.

3. Place the closed bag with the open end down and attach the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, paw pads and whiskers with glue.

4. Use marker or crayons to draw the line from the nose to the mouth and add other lines to make the bag more cat-like.

When dry, this cat-bag can be used as a puppet for role-playing or as a snack bag for a special book-reading picnic where Millions of Cats is read aloud!

This post is part of a series for parents and teachers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays hosted by Susannah Leonard Hill. Click on her link and find lots of other picture book suggestions with summaries and activities.

I also wanted to thank Catherine Johnson, one of my new kid-lit picture book writing blogging friends for giving me the Liebster Blog Award and the Kreativ Blogger Award…you can see what she’s up to at: http://catherinemjohnson.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/campaign-trails-and-blog-awards/

This award comes with instructions to pass it along to others:

Bern at Momto2Postlildivas: http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/ for her Sunday Showcase link-up that provides parents and teachers with an unbelievable array of crafts for kids.

Barbara at Spanish for Kiddos: http://www.spanish4kiddos.com/

D at Spanish Pinay: http://spanishpinaynanay.blogspot.com

Danae Farias at Believing Unbeliever: http://www.danaefarias.com/

Heather at Saved by Love: http://www.heather-riggleman.com/

PiP at Piglet in Portugal: http://pigletinportugal.com/

I hope you will take a few minutes and visit these great bloggers…they all have important things to say…and they say them very well!

Love Makes the World Go Round

Posted on February 16, 2012 by viviankirkfield

They say that love makes the world go round.

It definitely makes going round the world more pleasant!

Love is an essential element in our lives. We can share our feelings with those we love on Valentine’s Day, of course. But we can and should also find ways to say “I love you” to parents, children, significant others, friends, family members, pets…on a daily basis.

One way to say I love you to your children is to share past experiences with them. Earlier this week, I did a guest post on Bob Brody’s Letters to My Kids blog, sharing with my children how I met their dad.

Dear Jason, Peter and Caroline,

Your future dad and I met as freshmen in college. I sat in front of him in English 1.1 and he sat in front of me in Social Science. Both of us were dating other people pretty seriously. And so for the first two months of the Fall semester, we were just classmates who spoke with each other as we walked into or out of the room.

Then came November 22, 1963. The intercom crackled. “The President is dead!” a voice declared.

For several moments no one reacted. And then everyone did. Screaming. Crying. Young men pounding their fists on their desks.

As we all exited the classroom, your future dad was right behind me.

“I’m going to walk home!” I exclaimed to no one in particular. “I can’t face sitting on the bus squashed between hordes of people!”

“I’ll walk with you,” the voice behind me said. “Where do you live?”

As it happened, we lived only four streets away from each other.

By the way, there are some girls who look fantastic even when they cry. If only I were one of those. Whatever eye makeup I was wearing was smudged and probably dripping onto my cheeks and chin. Plus, my nose was red and my skin blotchy. Hardly attractive!

No matter. Your future dad and I walked and talked for over an hour till we reached my house. And when we looked at each other, I know we saw into each other’s souls and we wanted to walk and talk together forever.

Our relationship grew stronger and closer during that next semester. By the summer, we were dating each other exclusively. We got married as soon as we graduated from college. And our relationship has flourished ever since. To this day, we remain the most loyal of soul-mates.

Out of tragedy, then, came an unexpected opportunity for love. In a sense, sad to say, it took a death to bring you all to life. We’ve never forgotten that, and we never will. And neither should any of you.

Love,

Mom

Children love to hear about how their parents met. They want to know about their parents’ childhoods…did dad get into trouble for misbehaving in school…did mom play with dolls or tag after an older brother. Kids enjoy hearing about when they were babies. Writing letters to your children helps give them the knowledge of experiences and strengthena their feeling of belonging…a very important component of self-esteem!

What kind of letters will you write to your children or other loved ones?

Please come by tomorrow for Perfect Picture Book Friday!

VOTING DEADLINE: If you have the time, please visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog where you can VOTE for one of the six finalists in the Unlikely Valentine Contest…I’m honored to be among those six…but I can honestly say that there were dozens of awesome stories and poems entered…what a talented community of writers! The poll closes Thursday, February 16 at noon…so hurry over, read the six Unlikely Valentine stories and VOTE!

Valentine’s Day Contest

Posted on February 11, 2012 by viviankirkfield

Image via Wikipedia

Several weeks ago, children’s author, Susannah Leonard Hill, announced a contest: write a children’s story, in poetry or prose, about unlikely Valentines.

To tell you the truth, ever since the second week in January when I decided to participate in Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge, I am never without a piece of paper and a pen because I never know when a picture book idea will suddenly descend upon me. Often, in the wee hours of the morning, a picturesque phrase pops into my head…and if I don’t write it down immediately, it disappears. Of course, reading what is on the paper in the light of the morning is sometimes impossible…my handwriting is not the best and writing in the dark definitely does not improve it.

So here is my entry into Susannah’s Valentine’s Day Contest…as I read each verse, I can visualize the illustrations that might accompany this story. I hope you all enjoy it and I welcome your feedback and constructive criticism…but please, be gentle…today is my birthday!

A Story of Unlikely Valentines

Whom Do I Love? by Vivian Kirkfield

Whom do I love?

Quizzed the cloud-covered moon.

I love the dish that ran off with the spoon.

Whom do I love?

Posed the run-away dish.

I love the silvery stream-swimming fish.

Whom do I love?

Slurped the shimmering trout.

I love the rock-hopping toad that jumped out.

Whom do I love?

Croaked the hip-hopping toad.

I love the waddling duck on the road.

Whom do I love?

Quacked the web-footed duck.

I love the pig on the rusty farm truck.

Whom do I love?

Oinked the curly-tailed pig.

I love the floppy-eared dog that can dig.

Whom do I love?

Barked the diggity-dog.

I love the bee in the hollowed-out log.

Whom do I love?

Buzzed the bumblely-bee.

I love the mouse that lives under the tree.

Whom do I love?

Squeaked the scurrying mouse.

I love the curly-haired boy in that house.

Whom do I love?

Asked the sweet little lad.

I love my momma and I love my dad.

I’m excited to read the other entries that link up to Susannah’s Valentine’s Day Contest…we learn so much when we share our thoughts and encourage and support one another.