Delta Kappa Gamma Literacy Award (or, Speaking of Imagination)

If you don't already know, The Adventures of the Brothers Brave & Noble is basically all about imagination. Speaking of imagination...

There are a lot of Albert Einstein quotations I like, but one of my favorites is from an interview he did for The Saturday Evening Post in 1929 in which he said:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, while imagination encircles the world."

Through education we gain knowledge. Education, however, must leave room for imagination. All of creativity and imagination, and the practices that embrace them, are the seeds to a truly rich education.

Through literature, and in experiencing a great story, our brains are fed with endless possibilities and the chance to go somewhere, do something, that we most likely otherwise will not find in our own reality. Literature is important. Imagination is important. And it's been my privilege to share these important things with students. Visiting with classrooms and with children in libraries has been the highlight of my writing adventure.*

All that being so, it was truly my honor to be a recipient of the Delta Kappa Gamma, Beta Epsilon Chapter, Literacy Award last night for efforts in promoting literacy. Half way through the meeting I leaned over to my Good Man and whispered, "I love these women!" I was surrounded by educators who love books and reading, and are making sure classrooms are rich with those important things.

It is a treasured privilege to be recognized by these world-impacting leaders -thank you DKG Beta Epsilon Chapter Members, for sharing my belief in literature in education, and the importance of getting a good book into the hands of school kids! 

From under the kitchen table,

clh xo

*If you're a school or library representative and would like to schedule an Author Q&A for your classroom, Book Fair, or Fine Arts Night, please contact me at clh@cynthialhampton.com

Makeovers in May!

This month marks the one year anniversary of the day The Adventures of the Brothers Brave and Noble: The Existence accidentally, and in its own very serendipitous way, was self-published! What an entertaining and memorable May Day that was. I wrote about it in the inaugural post of this blog here, if you haven't yet heard the story, or perhaps are just in need of a good little chuckle, I encourage you to go check that out.

I'm so grateful for all that has happened since then. Opportunities were opened up to me as an author that would have never happened if it hadn't have been for this novel that I hold so dear to my heart, and honestly sometimes consider our 5th child. (Now those of you who know me go, "Oh that's why there's that window between the big boys and the little kids! That's where the word baby goes!") Six and a half years ago I told Brennan and Liam a bed time story, and now it's grown into a much bigger tale, with even more friends who love it. So we thought maybe The Adventures of the Brothers Brave and Noble deserved a makeover after all that being born and growing and getting introduced to the universe and everything. Ta da!

I love it so much! I love the colors, I love the font, I love that Deemle Finnick, the Horse who radiates heat and light, seems to be glowing right off the cover, throwing some of his light and energy onto the brothers in front of him, and I love, especially, that the main backdrop of the entire image is an artfully edited* copy of the picture I took while standing on the actual hill in Georgia that inspired Noble's Hill. The original cover art never received a whole lot of attention, it was after all only ever going to be a personal gift, a treasure for our family to have, right? ;)

Now, as gorgeous as this new cover art may be, if you are wishing you'd gotten to have one of the truly first-edition blue books, I have another exciting announcement! I've written before about how important where I write is to me (here). That place goes by a lot of names at our house; I'll say, "My office," and Liam will say, "Where they have the best wraps," but we all know we're talking about Dead Poets, and I'm super excited to announce that Dead Poets Espresso, Ltd. has added The Adventures of the Brothers Brave and Noble to their 'Local Authors' shelf! 

So, local Quad Citians, or those of you who might be passing through, if you want a rare blue cover copy, head over to Dead Poets and get one of the six remaining copies -and then get yourself a house coffee of the day (if you're lucky it'll be Blueberry Cobbler or Peanut Butter Crunch), and one of "the best wraps."

From under the kitchen table,

clh xo

*A huge THANK YOU to Gregg Hampton the best #goodman around for this beautiful-and-just-right new design!

National Poetry Month || Part One: Reading Poetry

April is national poetry month! I love poetry. I love reading it, writing it, listening to it, reflecting on it- I just love poetry! I’ve been looking forward to this month in the blog for so long because it is all poetry focused.

I’ll be sharing poems I’ve written, along with favorites from well-known poets, and easy ways you can make poetry a part of your day-to-day-life, should you be so inclined! (And you should be. Poetry is good for you. I promise!)

Reading anything is beneficial. The science is there: they’ve proven you could be 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease by reading daily, cognitive neuropsychologists say reading can reduce stress up to 68%, and other studies have shown reading regularly will also improve memory function.

But this is a poetry post; so reading is good for you, great –what about reading poetry? Do the benefits change? Yes!* In preparing for this blog, I came across two articles, “Science Shows Something Surprising About What Reading Poetry Does to Your Brain,” and “4 Reasons Poetry is Good For Us,” and both shared scientific studies involving poetry specifically and how it effects our health. Most of the same benefits came as would from prose, but they saw those results amplified when the subject matter was poetry. Especially those benefits which related to memory and emotion. They sited the positive effects of poetry in the treatment of depression, the healing process, and memory illnesses.

But even if it weren’t for the science backing it, poetry is, to use a cliché, good for your soul. It’s a time of self-reflection and sparks our minds into thinking deeper about things. There isn't a lot going on in our modern day lifestyle that does this. Poetry seems to capture beauty, and the simple things that matter, in a way buzfeed and Disney Channel never can. (I mean Girl Meets World definitely comes closest of all, but still, it’s got nothing on A Children’s Garden of Verses).

Turning on the TV or scrolling through Facebook is easy, but because of today’s technology poetry is more accessible than ever, too. If you’d like to read more poetry, but don’t know where to start, here are some great resources:

• Every year, the publishing house Knopf celebrates National Poetry Month by sending a poem a day to your inbox for the month of April. Click here sign up for a free poem-a-day from Knopf.

• Poetry Magazine is making this month's issue FREE in honor of National Poetry Month. Click here to download this month’s issue of Poetry Magazine for your smart phone, or a PDF version on your computer.

• Click here to follow the Children’s Poetry Foundation, they post a poem everyday 

At our house the kids love Shel Silverstein, and Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too is probably their favorite of his. The boys all have this one memorized. A couple of mine are If by Rudyard Kipling, and i thank you God for most this amazing by ee cummings. I want to know the poems you love to read. Share them in the comments section! 

From under the kitchen table,

clh xo

*Guys, these are just interesting ideas and antidotes I came across on the Internet. I, in no way shape or form, am prescribing poetry for your health or illnesses, nor do I dare raise the thought that I could be one whose opinion on those topics should matter or be taken too seriously. It’s just something that made me go, “well that’s neat, I want to share this with others!” ;)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

American writer and illustrator Dr. Seuss was born on this day, March 2nd, in 1904.

Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't just writing for children, but also for the adults who were reading out loud to them. 

Let us all hear the Who, and speak for the trees, with our head full of brains and our shoes full of feet!

Happy Birthday, Theodore Seuss Geisel!!

Give Thanks || Give Books

Happy Thanksgiving. We're giving thanks and giving books this week! That's right- it's an Adventures of the Brothers Brave & Noble give away!

Head over to http://tinyurl.com/braveandnoblegiveaway and click the link to follow me on Twitter. It's that easy! All new followers will be entered for a chance to win a FREE copy of The Adventures of the Brothers Brave and Noble: The Existence.

It's awesome to me that this year one of the things I have to be thankful for is this book being out in the world, and for you taking it in and entering this story with me and my family. Thank you, dear reader.


From under the kitchen table,
clh xo

All Saints' Day {the Richmond's Orchard Party}

It's All Saint's Day. This picture is from an article entitled "All Saints' Day and All Souls" over at Local-life.com, highlighting the tradition of beautiful displays of lights in glass jars that are put out at cemeteries, specifically in Poland, remembering the lives of those buried there.

Traditions are important to the Hewlett's, and so are friends. This is why November 1st is one of their favorite days of the year; November 1st is All Saints Day, and their best family-friend's annual Orchard Party. Every year on November 1st, Roxanne Richmond makes all her best treats, and Tessa is in charge of making the property look magical and cozy in such a way no one else can. Friends, family, and neighbors all gather in the Richmond's orchard to enjoy the bonfire, the company, and the food, as they welcome in the approaching Holiday Season, celebrating the beauty and comfort of being a part of a body of believers that traces back thousands of years.

At the end of The Adventures of the Brothers Brave and Noble, we find the Hewletts at the Richmond's Annual Orchard Party, but this year's proves to be a very special one, for reasons I cannot disclose in this blogpost so as not to ruin a wonderful ending if I do say so myself. So in honor of a very important November 1st in the lives of our friends (capital F and otherwise), I've decided to bring to you a little treat of my own. The following are 728 words, unpublished until now, on my understanding of how the Fort in the woods came to be. This was part of the original rough draft manuscript, which was basically colossal and full of all kinds of stuff the readers didn't particularly care about or need to know. But I needed to know these things. Because I needed to get to know Peter and Tessa, and their woods. So here's that little backstory, in honor of belonging to a Greater backstory myself.

From under the kitchen table,
clh

The Fort

He’d been working on it secretly for a while and the day he finished he came into the house giddy with the glimmer of youth in his eyes. He breathlessly accosted Contessa, who was lounging in her chair with the newspaper,

“Hey, come with me to the woods.” At the time, she was incredibly pregnant; Brave was due any day. She just chuckled, honestly thinking Peter was joking. When she noticed he remained standing in front of her with his hand held out, nearly leaping out of his skin with excitement, she peered over the paper at him,

“What’s going on?”

“C’mon, I have to show you something.” She took his hand, setting down the paper, and he helped her up. As she walked over to the door and slid into her sandals she asked Peter,

“Should we bring hot water and blankets incase I deliver on the way back?”

“Ha…Ha,” Peter answered sarcastically.

“You’ll be fine. I’m not sure if flip flops are the best choice though.”

“Oh please, don’t make me bend over to put on real shoes.” She was leaning against the open doorway with her hands resting on her big belly. Click. Peter snapped a mental photograph. It was one of those moments he wanted to capture in his mind forever. She looked adorable in his old cable knit sweater (one of the only things still fitting her these days) and the rest of her body seemed completely overtaken by her swollen middle. Yet there she stood, willing to humor her husband by hiking through the woods in her flip flops. After gazing long enough to let the imaginary film develop into his permanent subconscious, he took Tessa’s hand and closed the door behind him, grinning like a little boy on his way to the ice cream shop.

Tessa couldn’t even waddle at a normal pace and so it was slow-going towards Peter’s surprise in the woods. The Fort wasn’t but just four or five minutes from their backyard, but being pregnant, a five minute walk through a forest was a major undertaking for her. Peter noticed that her waddle was slowing . and promised,

“We’re almost there.”

“Where are we going again?”

“It’s a surprise, I can’t tell you, then it’d be ruined. Besides, you can nearly see it now anyway.” Peter peered through the woods and Contessa tried to aim her eyes in the same direction. At first she noticed nothing out of the ordinary, but then the twinkling candles in old jelly jars caught her attention. The candles marked the path up to the Fort and were also lined up against the front wall of the structure. If they hadn’t been there the Fort would have blended right in with its surroundings since Peter used mostly the branches and materials from felled trees to construct the front of the large lean to style fort. Noticing the candles and following their trail up to the new structure in their woods, Contessa froze still.

“OH!” She lifted one hand to her open mouth and let the other steady herself against Peter’s chest. Tears came into her eyes as she smiled and whispered,

“Peter...NO WAY!”

He laughed at her reaction. As her hands went up to her forehead in amazement and surprise she quietly said,

“It’s perfect. It’s beautiful.” She had newly discovered energy and was walking briskly now, but since she had to watch where she was putting her flimsy flip flops, and at the same time hated to miss the breathtaking view before her, her gaze darted back and forth between the twinkling Fort and the ground. Peter laughed at her excitement.

“Careful!” Tessa began giggling too, she had worked herself up to enough of a trot that she had to hold up under her belly bracing it against her bouncing up the path. The couple looked like little kids as the trotted towards the Fort. They stayed inside their secret hiding place a long time. The sun had just started setting when they’d begun their journey and now it had gone down completely. Except for the candles decorating the inside and outside of the Fort, Peter and Tessa were surrounded by dark. They laughed as Peter recounted how ridiculous Tessa looked romping toward the Fort and watched her big belly bounce and move with the rolls and kicks of Brave inside her.

“He’ll love this,” she said, patting her stomach, “I mean, it’ll be hard sharing, but...”

“Oh we’ll have a good three or four years before he has to know about it.”  Peter teased back, "For now it's ours."

Happy Meme Monday!

I do love The Existence's motto.