Silver Medal Eureka! Award for Red Bird Sings!

We are delighted and thrilled to announce that Red Bird Sings has won the Silver Medal Eureka! Award from the California Readers Association (CRA). Indeed, this is a real honor!

The California Reading Association established this award to celebrate and honor nonfiction children’s books and to "assist teachers, librarians, and parents in identifying outstanding nonfiction books for their students and children."  Eligible books required to be non-fiction but written in any genre.

Please visit  http://www.californiareads.org/awards/eu/2011-eureka.htm for a list of other winners.  Note what an amazing job the CRA does to promote reading for California children.

Red Bird Sings Book Launch!

We are delighted to share with you the Red Bird Sings book launch held at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop in LaVerne, Ca. Our special thanks to Andrea Vuleta and Judy Nelson for allowing us the opportunity to share the publication of our book with family and friends. We are forever grateful to you!

Also, our amazing violinist, Asha, who performed period music of the 1800's on her violin.

With regard,

Gina and Q

Red Bird Sings Wins Gold Medal Award!

We are delighted to announce that Red Bird Sings has won the Moonbeam Children's Book Award gold medal for Multicultural Picturebooks. 

The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards contest is designed to honor the year's best children’s books, authors and illustrators. The awards are presented by Jenkins Group and Independent Publisher magazine.  The guiding factor behind the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards is noble as these awards "bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. Awards are given in 38 categories covering the full range of subjects, styles and age groups that children’s books are written and published in today"

Both Q and I are honored and thrilled to recieve this gold medal award for Red Bird Sings!!

SCBWI-OC Features QL Pearce and Red Bird Sings

Just a little note on the SCBWI-OC Editor's Day in which both QL Pearce and I participated in.  One of our previous posts we mentioned that Red Bird Sings won the RAM Grant from the SCBWI.  And, while QL Pearce would never mention it, the grant is a direct result of her efforts.  She did, however, give a talk on the subject and offered advise as both a grant administrator and grant recipient.  

In the meantime, enjoy Q Pearce's overview on the wonderful SCBWI-OC Editor's Day!

Last weekend we held our thirteenth Editor’s Day!  We made several changes this year but the biggest change was our new venue, the Titan Theater at Cal State Fullerton. It was lovely and we were able to use several smaller rooms for our new breakout sessions.

            Our guests were Ruta Rimas, associate editor at Margaret K. Mc Elderry; Cindy Loh, Editorial Director of Splinter/Sterling; Daniel Nayeri editor at Clarion; and Greg Ferguson, editor at Egmont; Sara Scioto, agent at Full Circle Literary; and Gina Capaldi, author/illustrator of Red Bird Sings. Marilyn Scott-Waters and Q were spotlight speakers.

This was one of the most delightful groups of editors we’ve ever hosted. They were all so knowledgeable and approachable. The day included our traditional first pages panels and lunch with the editor, plus several new features that worked well. The pitch sessions were very popular. The attendees who signed up for a session each had five minutes with an editor or agent. That gave them time to pitch their manuscript and get feedback.

            Our illustrators participated in a terrific workshop with Gina Capaldi. In her last two books Gina has used a lovely technique of painting onto unique backgrounds and incorporating collage elements into each illustration. A couple of weeks before the event, Gina assigned each illustrator a page from Little Red Riding Hood and asked them to prepare a basic illustration. At the workshop she demonstrated her technique and then the participants had time to use collage to enhance the illustration they had prepared. Everyone seemed to love it and the only complaint we had was that the workshop wasn’t long enough. No one wanted to leave when it was over!

            All in all it was  great day.

Thanks Q for the overview...special thanks to Regional Advisor, Francesca Rusackas, for doing such a spectacular job!

(Photos by QL Pearce)

Red Bird Get's Starred Review!

We are so happy to announce that our book, Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Sa, earned a starred review from the School Library Journal!  (October 2011)

CAPALDI, Gina & Q. L. Pearce, adapts. Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Ša, Native American Author, Musician and Activist. illus. by Gina Capaldi. 32p. photos. bibliog. further reading. CIP. Carolrhoda. Oct. 2011. PLB $17.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-5257-0; ebook $13.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-7159-5. LC 2011003014. 
Gr 3-6–This picture-book biography of Zitkala-Ša, a young Sioux girl born in 1876 in South Dakota, adapts and paraphrases some of her own autobiographical writings to trace her life from youth to adulthood. Born Gertrude Simmons, she was sent to an Indian boarding school in Indiana when she was eight, and it was through this education that she discovered a love and talent for music, writing, and public speaking, among other things. Her journey took her ever farther east, from college in Indiana to teaching in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, to finally fighting for Native American civil rights in Washington, DC, in the early 1920s. Each spread shares moments from her life as she struggled to survive in two very different worlds: the familiar Sioux reservation and the Anglo world that was opened up to her. While the text is modified for clarity for young audiences, it is still lyrical and compelling, drawing readers into the woman’s life and work. The accompanying paintings are textured and sometimes layered with maps, pictures, and magazine pages that provide a rich complement to the story, conveying both emotion and depth. This unique format brings Zitkala-Ša’s intriguing story to life, and engenders further exploration. Extensive back matter includes suggested readings, useful websites, and a bit more detail about Zitkala-Ša.–Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

Red Bird Sings Wins Grant

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Regional Advisor Marketing Grant is designed to support marketing efforts for a selected book each year. We are thrilled and honored to announce that Red Bird Sings is the 2011 SCBWI RAM Grant winner. SCBWI Executive Director, Lin Oliver, graciously called the marketing program for Red Bird Sings, "A worthy agenda for a worthy book."

New Book 'Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Sa

                                                   Written by Gina Capaldi and QL Pearce

Launch date, October, 2011
 Adapted by Gina Capaldi and QL Pearce.  Illustrated by Gina Capaldi

As the adapters of her life story, our goal has been to maintain the spirit and to celebrate the life and achievements of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa) American Indian, writer, musician, and activist. To paint her story we have adapted three serialized semiautobiographical essays she wrote for the Atlantic Monthly in the early 1900's.

Beginning with Zitkala-Sa's own words, we have woven additional primary and secondary sources into the text. We have reworked her language and substituted modern phrasing for clarity. There is so much about Zitkala Sa we wanted to share. In an attempt to do so, I used the illustration medium as a form of documentation. The illustrations are mixed media. Various materials were applied to each spread to support both an historical and a personal story. These include period newspaper articles, ads, postcards, and so on. Flora, indigenous to South Dakota, was applied to add authenticity to images of the region. Period railroad maps were the backdrop for two spreads. I also added human hair to the cover, boarding school, and violin spread (Graduating White's). With this idea I went a step further and applied real bow strings made of horse hair…and, real violin strings.  In addition, doll house curtains were incorporated into the night scene. String, fabric and even a ribbon and medal from Earlham College were used in the process.