Still need a daisy? 6 years of Raizy

May 21, 2014beccakinla A Dozen Daisies for Raizy, advice, art, art project, Jewish, jewish motherhood, Jewish writing, Judaism, klempner, kosher, preparing, recommended reading, shavuos, Shavuot, stories, students Tags: a dozen daisies for raizy, art, art project, book, class, creative jewish mom, daisies, flowers, har sinai, holiday, homeschool, idea, ideas, jewish, Jewish Mom, kveller, lesson, lesson plan, mt. sinai, parent, picture book, preschool, preschooler, project, raizy, school, shavuos, shavuot, teacher, tie-in Leave a comment

My picture book, A Dozen Daisies for Raizy, has now been out for six years. With Shavuos just around the corner, I know that parents and teachers will be teaching about the holiday –some using my book, some not — and I thought I’d provide a few links to help them. Continue reading →

You’ve got to be a reader to raise a reader: My take on recent research on teens and reading

May 14, 2014beccakinla advice, literacy, parenting, reading, recommended reading, teachers, teens Tags: adolescents, advice, book, common sense media, habit, kids, kids reading material, library, literacy, literature, media, parenting, reading, reading habits, teaching, teens Leave a comment

Common Sense Media recently issued a report about kids and teens and their reading habits. The four principal findings (I’m going to quote CSN directly) were these:

Reading rates have dropped precipitously among adolescents.
Reading achievement among older teens has stagnated.
There’s a persistent gap in reading scores between white, black, and Latino kids.
There’s also a gender gap in reading across ages.

The NY Times and NPR are both aghast at the findings, but their responses focused more on the problem — and how it has arisen — than on solutions. Common Sense Media itself has offered several strategies to increase reading, but I’m going to suggest my own. Continue reading →

An interview with author Batya Ruddell

May 8, 2014beccakinla advice, authors, HaModia, inyan magazine, Israel, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, magazines, Orthodox, serial, writer, writing, writing process Tags: advice, author, Batya Ruddell, binah, binah magazine, Chareidi, english, fiction, hamodia, hareidi, interview, Inyan, Israel, jewish, journalist, media, orthodox, serial, writer, writing 4 Comments

Today, I have the pleasure of sharing with you another interview. In this post, you’ll meet the funny, talented Batya Ruddell. For those of you who read Binah Magazine or Hamodia, her name will certainly be familiar. Batya is one of the foremost writers in the Hareidi world today, and her work is beloved both by readers and other writers. Next week, she’ll be presenting at the Jerusalem Writers’ Conference, and this week, she’s answered a few questions for me via email.

RK: How long have you been writing? First, as an amateur, and then professionally?

BR: I think I was writing in the womb!! Seriously, for as long as I can remember I’ve had a pen in my hand. Writing was always my passion but a botched attempt at getting into Journalism school (I knew NOTHING about politics or current events, LOL), led me down a different path to a career as a pediatric and neonatal intensive care nurse. I worked in this field for almost three decades before switching tracks to my initial dream a few years ago and becoming a professional writer.

Continue reading →

Announcing a class for beginning Jewish writers in L.A.

May 5, 2014May 5, 2014beccakinla advice, authors, California, los angeles, writer, writing, writing groups, writing process Tags: article, author, beginner, Chareidi, class, course, hareidi, jewish, Jewish children, Jewish magazines, Klempner, magazine, novel, novice, orthodox, picture book, picture book idea, rebecca klempner, serial, short story, workshop, write, writing, writing workshop Leave a comment

Do you have a picture book idea?

Have you always wanted to write for the Jewish magazines, but didn’t know how?

I will, G-d willing, be teaching a workshop on writing for Jewish tots, tweens, and teens later this month.

A possible student for my workshop?

Audience: Ladies ages 15 and up are welcome to participate.

Date:May 25th

Time:10 am – 1 pm

Location:Private home in L.A.

Cost:$25, $18 if you refer a friend and they also commit

To sign up: Please fill out the form below.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Telling kids about storytelling

May 1, 2014beccakinla advice, author visit, authors, children, kids, stories, students, writer, writing, writing groups Tags: children, elementary school, fisherman, fishing, kids, process, skills, story, storyteller, storytelling, students, teaching, writing, writing process Leave a comment

I’m very excited to be visiting one of the local day schools tomorrow. For a change, I won’t be doing a read-aloud of Raizy. Raizy may not even come up, due to the age of the kids involved. Instead I’ll be talking about “Storytelling,” to coincide with the current unit the students are studying in school.

Fishing for a few stories on this fine morning

Breaking down storytelling in forty-five minutes will be challenging, especially at the upper-elementary school level. After a little intro, I plan on making an extended metaphor connecting storytellers to fishermen. I’m hoping it will be both instructive and age-appropriate. I’ve spent quite a bit of time preparing and concocted a whole series of visuals, and the like.

How is a good storyteller like a fisherman?

The truth is, everyone is a storyteller. Continue reading →

What you got cooking? Making dessert first

April 13, 2014beccakinla advice, writer, writing, writing process Tags: advice, cooking, first step, get ready, help for writers, Passover, Pesach, prepare, recipe, sweet, warm up, writing, writing process Leave a comment

So, now that the kitchen is all ready for Passover, I’m on to the cooking. The funny thing I just noticed is that I’ve finished making all the desserts, and even the charoset (also sweet), but have not cooked one main dish, side dish, kugel, soup, or salad.

Why my freezer is full of dessert:

My Passover desserts tend to freeze easily. If I make them ahead and freeze them, they’ll taste just as good. They tend to have few ingredients, and — with the exception of meringues — take very little time to prepare. Also, my kids were home on Thursday and Friday, and they get more of a kick from making granita or fudge than baking a chicken or boiling meatballs — especially if I let them lick a spoon or two.

It’s like a warm-up for the main event. If I get into the cooking groove with a few relatively painless, simple, and fun desserts, then preparing more complicated, time-consuming, and savory dishes suddenly seems more appealing.

Sometimes, in our writing, it’s good to start with the sweet stuff first.

When you’re having trouble getting motivated to write, pick something fun and easy. A poem, a short essay, a journal entry, and email, the inside of your grandmother’s birthday card. Choose the project you want to do, rather than the thing that you have to do. If time is a concern, you can always set an alarm.

Eventually, though, you’ll need to prepare the meat.

After you’ve got a few sweet little morsels under your belt, it’ll feel good to hit the main dish: that article or essay or web copy that is initially less appealing, but will bring in the paycheck.

Rebecca Klempner

Author page of Rebecca Klempner

advice

Still need a daisy? 6 years of Raizy

You’ve got to be a reader to raise a reader: My take on recent research on teens and reading

An interview with author Batya Ruddell

RK: How long have you been writing? First, as an amateur, and then professionally?