I own a paperback copy of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Oxford University Press). Lately, I’ve turned to it for creative inspiration–flipping through pages at random and seeing which poems and artwork capture my fancy. Many of the poems are of the same title but completely different and each version is placed under the theme of innocence or experience.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience contains fifty-four plates which Blake personally hand-etched and colored. A blurb in About.com states that William Blake “created his own mythology, wrote epics and children’s rhymes, and made illustrated books that are admired icons centuries after his death.” I’m simply drawn to his work. I love reading his old english poetry although I struggle to comprehend its meaning and syntax. Fortunately, my paperback copy provides a brief explanation in the back of the book and much can be found on the web, such as here and there .

Here is a poem from Songs of Innocence:

Spring
By William Blake

Sound the Flute!
Now it’s mute.
Birds delight
Day and Night.
Nightingale
In the dale
Lark in Sky
Merrily
Merrily Merrily to welcome in the Year
Little Boy
Full of joy.

A poem from Songs of Experience section:

The Voice of the Ancient Bard
By William Blake

Youth of delight come hither,
And see the opening morn,
Image of truth new born,
Doubt is fled & clouds of reason,
Dark disputes & artful teazing.
Folly is an endless maze.
Tangled roots perplex her ways,
How many have fallen there!
They stumble all night over bones of the dead:
And feel they know not what but care:
And wish to lead others when they should be led

(Note: The artwork above is a frontispiece from Songs of Experience.)

How Are Families Doing on Food Stamps? Members of Congress Shop and Eat Their Way to the Answer

I know, this is not directly connected with kid lit, but this involves our most esteemed literary audience: children. The care and feeding of our nation’s children is in the best interest of everyone. Rather than relying on research and sitting around debating the subject, members of congress are finding out what it’s like to shop and eat using foods stamps. It’s called The Congressional Food Stamp Challenge. From May 15th to 21st, they are trying to subsist strictly on a typical food stamp budget. Imagine that! Congress men and women, standing in the shoes of people in our nation’s lowest income bracket for a whole week! They are recording their thoughts and findings on blogs and other media outlets. It’s a fascinating “study,” deserving of national attention. Check out an example from Jan’s Blog: The Food Stamp Challenge:

Shopping was really hard. Here’s what I learned. It is much easier to afford pasta and bread than it is fruits and vegetables of any kind. It is hard to buy much of anything for $3 a day. It is impossible to get a Starbuck’s coffee or a Diet Pepsi if you don’t want to run out of money pretty quickly. I also learned how miserable it would be to live on food stamps for any length of time.

Here’s hoping that the findings and personal observations from this challenge will lead to better policies and greater success in feeding our nation’s kids and improving their nutrition.

Note: The above illustration, Boy and Dragon, was inspired by my son when he was a toddler.

In Hawai’i, I discovered that The Sleeping Giant was nominated for a Ka Palapala Po’okela Award, to be judged by the Hawai’i Book Academy. I am standing next to a Ka Palapala display in Borders Books at Ward Centre.

Tied into the Ka Palapala is the Reader’s Choice Award, where you can vote for your favorite book among the nominees. Feel free to vote for my book ;-)! Deadline is May 11. The Hawai’i Publishers Association will announce the winners on May 18.

Just around the corner is the 3rd Annual Hawai’i Books and Music Festival in Honolulu. I’ll miss out on the fun but my publisher, BeachHouse, will be there.

Besides the author visits and signings, I enjoyed island life all over again. I consumed plenty of fresh papaya (ono!):

…and mango, nene awa (my first time drinking it), shave ice, chicken lau lau, lomi salmon and poi (of course!). I attended a memorable 30th Anniversary Brothers Cazimero May Day concert at the Waikiki Shell.

On Kaua’i, I stayed in a cute studio cottage complete with kitchenette and indoor plumbing…

and outdoor shower!

I was even interviewed last-minute on Kaua’i Community Radio, KKCR, by DJ Tracy:

Tracy’s such a pro. She kept the conversation flowing with good questions about my book while plugging my school, library and Borders appearances. ‘Twas good fun!

The book tour was followed by family gatherings and a wedding and reception for my big bro’s middle son, Chris and his lovely bride, MaryGrace, at Lanikuhonua, a beautiful Hawaiian cultural center at Ko’Olina:

In spite of the busy-ness, I enjoyed plenty of R&R, both alone and with family. Some of us got together at Waimea Bay on O’ahu’s north shore the day after the wedding:

Island life has a way of slowing you down–taking you along a meandering path in which you lose yourself to nature. (Or actually get lost, like I did a few times in Kaua’i!) Traffic moves slower. People are more laid back. I’d been out of the island frame-of-mind for so long, I’d forgotten it. However, this trip resonated with me, reminding me to take pause, savor the moment and simply…hang loose.

I just returned from a terrific book tour on the islands of Kaua’i and O’ahu. My Kaua’i journey was, in my mind–a mini book launch–celebrating the actual presence of The Sleeping Giant on the island and the release of my book. I put on presentations and read my book at Waimea, Lihue and Kapa’a libraries. (Stay tuned for photos from these events and more in my upcoming Kaua’i Spring ‘07 Page.)

Here are some kids and parents learning a sitting hula at Kapa’a Branch Library:

I visited a 5th grade class at Kilauea Elementary and performed assemblies for five classes of 4th graders at Wilcox Elementary in Lihue, Kaua’i. Here I am with Wilcox School librarian, Marlene Morimoto:

My Kaua’i experience culminated with a presentation and reading at Borders Lihue which went “smashingly” well! Pardon the adverb, but it’s true! Kids and adults showed up for my presentation, reading and signing. Plus, I had the pleasure of meeting Bill, the manager,…

…bookseller, Helen, and Roberta, owner of Gaylord’s Kaua’i:

On O’ahu, I had an all-day appearance at Kamiloiki School in Hawai’i Kai, presenting to grades K thru 5 :

Students at Kamiloiki even wrote about my visit in their journals. You can read some of their entries on the school’s website (please scroll half-way down—it’s below the May Day pics).

Throughout the tour, I met some of the nicest people on the planet–students, parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers–all kinds of wonderful folks! I visited exquisite beaches and coastlines on both islands and I now have a new favorite beach on Kaua’i:

Sorry, I won’t divulge its name online–I don’t want to spoil its beauty with an onslaught of visitors!