Laura Purdie Salas

Writing the World for Kids

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BookSpeak, Old-School!

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Last week, school librarian Karen Bentall shared a wonderful photo of a BookSpeak display in the Oak Ridge Elementary School library in Arlington, VA. Wow! It’s beautiful! I asked if I could share this cool artwork here and if she could tell me a little more about it.     Here’s what Karen said: Smart […]

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My Biggest Fan

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If you know me, you know that my husband, Randy, is always bragging on me, supporting me, and celebrating my writing. Today is Randy’s birthday, and I’m spending the whole day celebrating with him! He gets so short-changed, having his birthday right before Christmas. And even at Christmastime, he finds ways to cheer on my […]

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License Plate Poetry

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Yesterday, I was sharing the opening poem of BookSpeak! and how it came to be the opening poem. Well, last week was my birthday, and Randy, my husband, and I were spending a few days up on the North Shore of Lake Superior–one of my favorite places in the whole world! We had just parked […]

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Happy World Teacher’s Day!

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It’s World Teacher’s Day! I spent Friday with fantastic educators at the Minnesota ITEM conference (#mnitem), reminded all over again how thankful I am for our passionate educators here in Minnesota, the U.S., the entire world. My memories of my own teachers, from Mrs. Gracey reading us Where the Red Fern Grows to Mr. Rom […]

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“Hello” to a Magazine Merit Honor

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I had a lovely message a few weeks ago about my poem “Good-Bye, Hello!” It’s a back-to-school poem that appeared in Highlights magazine last year, and it is the runner-up for SCBWI’s 2015 Magazine Merit award. Yay! And, I’m happy to say that Michelle Heidenrich Barnes of Today’s Little Ditty was the winner for her […]

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Booklist Gives Rocky Love

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Delighted to share that Booklist has given A ROCK CAN BE… a lovely review! “[N]atural guessing game…challenging children…broaden their thinking…beautiful picture book…” What is not to love here? Thank you, Booklist! (The highlights and bold were added by me:>) A Rock Can Be . . . Salas, Laura Purdie (Author) , Dabija, Violeta (Illustrator) Mar […]

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I’m Nerdy!

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WATER CAN BE… was named a Nerdy Book Award winner in the Poetry category. Woohoo! This means a lot, not only because of the way these awards are chosen, but also because of the fabulous other Poetry winners. This was also a big surprise. I had thought that WATER, if it got any votes at […]

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A Leaf Can Be… Chinese?

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I got home from an evening out with kidlit friends last night to discover an envelope?from Lerner on my porch. And when I opened it…there was A Leaf Can Be… in Chinese! It’s a simplified translation in paperback published a few months ago in China. I am so curious about the translation. Does it still […]

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[Nifty stuff] Kids and Clay Can Be… an Art Project

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Six weeks ago, I got a nice email from a lovely third-grade teacher in Kingston, Ontario named Anne Powers. She told me about her students–the Terrific Threes. Her class loved A LEAF CAN BE… and wanted to create some clay art based on another children’s illustrator’s work, share the art, and record students reading the […]

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[Nifty Stuff] Book Cover Cookies

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My husband is the best. A box arrived Friday marked “Perishable.” Oh, that can only be good things. Turns out Randy ordered me cookies (cinnamon shortbread!) from Baking for Good, an online bakery that creates treats and donates some proceeds to the cause of your choice. So check out the Snapshot Cookies Randy got me. […]

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