ReFoReMo Day 6: Author/Library Media Specialist Matthew Winner Finds Meaning Beyond Words

By Matthew Winner

In 2015 I invited participants to READ and REFLECT with me. In 2016 I asked that participants THINK like a reader. With 2017 was the invitation to OBSESS over words, and last year in 2018 I emphasized the strong START, strong END companionship.

Today, I share a set of books whose words carry more weight than their combined space on the page. These are lines and phrases whose implications are deep and moving and revealing and affirming. These words, like those you’ll write in your own story, have the power to reach readers, change readers, stay with readers.

These words and these stories have stayed with me.

A LIFE’S WORK TAKING ROOT IN MANY OTHERS’ LIVES

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar

START: It is 1921. Pura Teresa Belpré leaves her home in San Juan for a visit to New York. Words travel with her: stories her abuela taught her.

END: The seeds she has planter, the roots that grew into shoots into the open air of possibility, have become a lush landscape into which she steps, as though she has never left.

WE MAKE OUR OWN FUTURES

Born Bad by C K Smouha and Stephen Smith

START: Wolf wasn’t happy being Wolf. When he looked in the mirror, he looked bad, and when he looked bad, he felt bad, and when he felt bad, he acted bad.

END: “I feel good!”

NO CAPES REQUIRED

Super Satya Saves the Day by Raakhee Mirchandani and Tim Palin

START: It was a loud day, on a loud street, in the very loud town of Hoboken.

END: But she knew her day was super because she was… Super Satya!

POWER IN TAKING BACK WORDS

Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel and Shane W. Evans

START: Greet the sun, bold and bright! Tiny hands up!

END: As one we say, “HANDS UP!”

WHAT WE HOLD ON TO SO THAT WE CAN REMEMBER

Finn's Feather by Rachel Noble and Zoey Abbott

START: On the first day of spring, Finn opened the front door and discovered a feather on his doorstep.

END: The feather was no longer white. No longer perfect. But it was still amazing.

ALL OF YOUR HEART IS YOURS

My Heart by Corinna Luyken

START: My heart is a window

END: Closed or open… I get to decide

SOME FRIENDSHIPS ENDURE ALL

Iver and Ellsworth by Casey W. Robinson and Melissa Larson

START: Ellsworth is a rooftop bear. Underneath him, a factory hums and a man bustles. The man’s name is Iver. Iver and Ellsworth are good friends.

END: “Good.” Iver nods. “Very good.”

YOUR WORDS FOR YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS OF ALL

Honeysmoke: A Story of Finding Your Color by Monique Fields and Yesenia Moises

START: Simone wants a color.

END: The next day she sees her color written in the clouds, in the tree leaves, and on the grass, and she writes it on her schoolwork, on the classroom window, and in chalk on the playground.

LISTENING, HEARING

The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome

START: The bell rings, and no sun in the sky.

END: Free like the birds. Free like Moses. No more bells.

DISCOVERING YOURSELF IN THE JOURNEY YOU TAKE

The Real Boat by Victoria Semykina and Marina Aromshtam

START: A paper boat was sailing in a pond.
END: At last, he was a real boat.

Matthew is giving away a 30 minute Skype session on a topic of your choosing. Brainstorm story ideas. Critique a manuscript. Build a strategy for expanding your social media presence. Develop a personalized recommended reading list to support your writing and story developing. You name it. To be eligible for prizes throughout the challenge, you must be registered by March 4, comment on each post, consistently read mentor texts, and enter the Rafflecopter drawing at the conclusion of ReFoReMo.

Matthew Winner is an elementary school librarian living in Howard County, Maryland. He is the host of The Children's Book Podcast, a weekly podcast featuring insightful and sincere interviews with authors, illustrators, and everyone involved in taking a book from drawing board to bookshelf. In 2013 Matthew was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker and was invited to the White House as part of the Champions of Change program. Matthew currently teaches library media at Swansfield Elementary School in Columbia, Maryland. Visit Matthew online at www.matthewcwinner.com/blog or on Twitter at @MatthewWinner.