What to do today?

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I submitted a proposal for a book that DAN BURR and I want to do. He and I haven’t worked together since I wrote and he illustrated PIRATES (2008) and COWBOYS (2012) for Boyds Mills Press.

PIRATES, especially, received recognition, including Kansas State Reading Circle, NCTE Notable Poetry Book, Nominated for Cybils Award, selected for VOYA’s Nonfiction Honor List, Texas Bluebonnet Master Reading List, Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Master Reading List, and selected to represent the state of Missouri at the National Book Fair in Washington D.C. I would love to get a new book in the works with Dan.

I also sent a proposal for a book with TIM RASINSKI. We’ve already done the work and leased rights to use it in schools in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Now we’re thinking we might see about getting it published instead of marketing it ourselves.

Also submitted a new story I wrote with JANE YOLEN to a publisher neither of us has worked with before. I need to start thinking about something else I might do for that house.

Jane and I haven’t done anything together since RUM PUM PUM (Holiday House, 2019), which I loved doing.

Also checked signals with KATE COSGROVE about a book we’re interested in doing together. THE DIRT BOOK continues to do well and we love working together.

I think today I’ll work a bit more on the idea to do with Kate. I need to move that one along enough that I can submit it somewhere.

Elsewhere, Tim Rasinski, LYNNE KULICH, and I continue to wait for the readers to report in about the proposal we submitted several weeks ago for a new education book.

LAURA ROBB, Tim Rasinski, and I expect to get a pub date anytime now for a book we’re just completing for Teacher Created Materials. I hope to see that one come out late this year.

Last suggestions and an update

Hi everyone,

This morning at nine o’clock central standard time I’ll zoom with LAURA ROBB on an interview with SAM (DR. SAM) BOMMARITO to be posted on his excellent blog at https://doctorsam7.blog/about/ sometime soon. During his 50 year career in education Sam taught every grade K through graduate school. Bommarito is retired from full time teaching but continues to be active in the literacy world. He is Co-Editor of the Missouri Reader, he has served  on various International Literacy Association boards/committees, and is a past president of both the St. Louis and the Missouri ILA boards. For our interview we’ll be discussing our book for Corwin, GUIDED PRACTICE FOR READING GROWTH, which is written to support reading improvement for students who have fallen seriously behind their reading level.

When I reported the other day that THE DIRT BOOK has been named by the New York City Public Libraries to its annual list of best books for children, I think I mentioned that the list contains 145 books for all genres Yesterday I look more carefully and learned that there are only six books of poetry on the list: by Joyce Sidman, David L. Harrison, Nikki Grimes, Pablo Bernasconi, Maria Jose Ferrada, and Ibi Zoboi. https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/kids?year=2021&f%5B0%5D=terms%3APoetry

I’m going to add a few more title suggestions for my holiday list and move on. Like those posted yesterday for older kids, these have all won something and/or been on state or national reading lists. I’ll start with a pair of nonfiction poetry collections, COWBOYS and PIRATES, illustrated magnificently by DAN BURR. These books present fact-based poems about the life and times of the namesakes, with back notes that provide further information as well as a bibliography for additional reading.

CAVE DETECTIVES is about a real cave discovered in Springfield, Missouri on 9-11 and how, during a thorough exploration, it slowly revealed its secrets. It contains some of the oldest ice age fossils of any cave on the North American continent. I felt privileged to write this book and am proud to say that a copy of it was buried in a 100-year time capsule in a city part.

MAMMOTH BONES AND BROKEN STONES tells the story of the search for who we are. Where did we come from? When? How? There have been a number of answers suggested from the findings of archaeologists in both North and South America. I am especially happy with how the book turned out. This one is for an older reader or a precocious student with a good vocabulary and an interest in science.

Thanks for the picture, Nathan Papes, Springfield News-Leader

I’m going to stop here. If anyone has a question about anything else of mine, let me know. I hope these lists are useful. With warmest wishes for Christmas and the holiday season, David.

The gift of Rob Shepperson

Hi everyone,

I’ve been blessed with the chance to work with a number of wonderful artists over the years such as Dan Burr, Betsy Lewin, Rob Shepperson, Kate Cosgrove, Julie Bayless, and numerous others. Rob Shepperson was my partner on two books: BUGS, POEMS ABOUT CREEPING THINGS and VACATION, WE’RE GOING TO THE OCEAN.
One reason it’s fun to work with Rob is that his sense of humor comes through in one drawing after another, each time taking my words and adding something more, something for the reader to smile or giggle over.

BUGS even made it onto the stage of a youth concert orchestra performance in Philadelphia when the evening was dedicated to bugs and poems were read from the book during the performance. In addition to his work on books, Rob’s witty art has appeared in major publications for years. I hope very much to work on another project with Rob one of these days.

But there’s still more to Shepperson’s work than his humorous drawings. He’s an artist with great range and from time to time he makes some of his paintings available on his website. He’s currently offering some discounts on selected pieces of his work, which you can find here: https://www.robshepperson.studio/paintings I can’t show you his work on my blog but you can click on his site and see for yourself. The holidays are coming up.

No more Pirates

Hi everyone,

I’m looking down the list of titles that Boyds Mills just took out of their line. I’m going to miss PIRATES and those wonderful paintings by Dan Burr. Its recognitions included: Kansas State Reading Circle List, 2009; NCTE Notable Poetry Books, 2008; nominated for Cybils Award; VOYA’s Nonfiction Honor List, 2009; Texas Bluebonnet Master Reading List, 2010-2011; Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Master Reading List, 2011-2012; selected by Missouri Center for the Book to represent Missouri at the National Book Fair in Washington D.C., 2013.

Dan and I introduced PIRATES at Texas Library Association in 2008. We had no idea who the guy dressed like a pirate was. He just appeared and stood in behind us for the picture. The Center for the Book held a reception in Warrensburg for Dan and me. Here’s the link. What a great party that was! http://books.missouri.org/content/david-harrison-and-dan-burr-book-signing I didn’t attend the National Book Fair in Washington, D.C. Sandy said I should have gone. Cheryl Harness did you go the year your book was chosen? I think I heard that more than 100,000 people go to those affairs. Here's a poem from PIRATES, published by Wordsong, 2008, (c) by David L. Harrison, all rights reserved.

WHAT’LL THE KING SAY, CAP’N?

Nice and easy, Cap’n.
Do nothing you’ll regret.
We’re helping ourselves to all your gold
And we’re not finished yet.

I’ll have your pistol, Cap’n.
Your knife will also do.
Ah, those rings are pretty things!
Hand them over too.

What’ll the king say, Cap’n?
Seems you lost his loot!
Seems you lost your pistol, Sir,
Your knife and rings to boot.

What’ll the king say, Cap’n?
Your kindness can’t be matched!
Let’s hope the king’s as kind as you
And leaves your head attached.

Thanks, Dan Burr!

Hi everyone,

I’ve told you about the enormous grass carp that prowl the shallows of Goose Lake and crowd out native fish vying for the same vegetation. My thanks to Dan Burr for showing off the one he recently caught on one of his own outings in Idaho. I’m guessing that ours are approximately the same size. One afternoon I stood on our bank and counted thirteen of them within fifty yards of us, some a few feet away.

If you aren’t familiar with Dan Burr’s work, check out PIRATES and COWBOYS, which we did together. PIRATES went on to be chosen by Missouri Center for the Book to represent Missouri at the National Book Fair in Washington D.C. Dan and I want to do other books together but haven’t come up with the right idea yet.