Laura Purdie Salas

Writing the World for Kids

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Thankful for… Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary

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I’ve had a lot going on in life lately, and my online community has been so supportive, which I greatly appreciate! But I feel whiny, and I want to concentrate for a bit on something each day that makes me smile. I want to make sure I appreciate all that I have. Today, I’m appreciating […]

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Books That Were My Mentor Texts

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Teachers, do you use mentor texts in your classroom? So do professional writers! I’m guest posting today at ReFoReMo (Reading for Research Month) with a brief post listing some books that have served as my mentor texts for my Can Be… books, If You Were the Moon (Millbrook, 2017), and If You Want to Knit […]

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I’ve Had Better Days

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Oi. Yesterday, three worrisome/bad things happened. First, I learned that a friend of my husband’s from his college days died Friday. I only knew him a little, but he was a kind, lively, funny guy–only 52. Second, my younger daughter flew off for several weeks in a couple of Asian countries that are not known […]

Essential: Update on My Word of the Year

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I figured it was time for a Word of the Year check-in. And then I realized I couldn’t remember my Word of the Year. Oi. That tells you right off the bat I haven’t been thinking about it much, doesn’t it? On the plus side, even though I haven’t been thinking of the word itself, […]

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Writing & Reading About Hard Topics

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[Hi, educators–I’m in the middle of a technology crisis! Please forgive me for possibly not responding to comments the rest of this week. I will be reading them! In fact, they will cheer me up. But it’s likely I might not be able to respond. :>(   ] I definitely have a melancholy side, an awareness […]

The Buzz of Self-Doubt for Writers (Not Just Students)

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I’m a fairly confident writer. But even though I know I can write, I never know if any particular person will like it. So, when I turn in a piece of writing to an editor, I hold my breath. It’s like turning in a school assignment and waiting for a grade. I just turned in […]

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My Word of the Year: Essential

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First off, congratulations to ALL the creators and publishers of the books honored by ALA yesterday! I sat at my laptop, listening and cheering along with the crowd there, and it was just as exciting as usual. Extra congratulations to Matt de la Pena for Last Stop on Market Street, which won the Newbery–a picture […]

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It All Comes Back to Books

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I went to the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota a few weeks ago, and everywhere I looked I felt connected to friends–both human friends and book friends. In a special exhibit on peregrine palcons, they had an Audubon print of one, and looking at the detail and ferocity and truth […]

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