Watch my hands, My arms, As I tell of the sea Fingers curve, unfold, reach, Surf tumbles over, washes, crashes, Palm fronds wave farewell Wind whispers Telling the tale of lovers parting Telling the wisdom of old ones warning. Watch my feet My toes As I tell of war drums pounding Heels up, stomp down,…

People everywhere love to eat. And there is something else we love and seek,  another kind of nourishment. We love a good story. “In my canyons the Ancient Ones built their homes, painted pictures, carved messages, and left handprints.” Everywhere and throughout the ages, people have created ways to tell their stories. This is the…

I was nervous about meeting the Piestewa family. I had sent the family a copy of my Soldier Sister, Fly Home. Lori’s Mom and Dad had been enthusiastic and supportive in every way. Now I wanted to ask them if I could dedicate the book in honor of their daughter. Lori Piestewa had been the…

For your Mother’s Day celebrations this coming weekend, consider a gift of First Laugh, Welcome Baby!. Think of the discussions you might have with your friends and family about baby-welcoming traditions the world over (presented in the back matter of our book), but especially the Navajo tradition that focuses on laughter, kindness, and sharing. Karl…

In March, I received a note from UNICEF USA, with my favorite video about access to clean water. I thought immediately of my poem in Water Runs Through This Book (page 40). Every time I read it, I feel a sense of how real it is for this child, these women, that water is life. For…

TRY THIS: A LIMERICK! There once was a fellow named Willy Some people thought him quite silly He put down a nickel To buy a dill pickle Slurp!  It slid down to his belly. Who cares if it doesn’t make sense? Word play has no rules! Laura Elizabeth Richards wrote this silly wonderful rhyme years…

From Sand to Stone Ages ago, I began as a tiny grain of sand At the bottom of the sea. Millions of other sand crystals surrounded me. The ocean’s water pressed And pressed until We cemented into stone…sandstone! You began as one tiny cell, as small As a grain of sand. From one cell, you…

Crying and Healing.  Water lets us weep. Crying helps our bodies clean away stress.  Our tears contain the chemicals produced by sadness or stress. When Water Weeps Drops Falling From my eyes Flow down my face This is how I say I care. — Nancy Bo Flood from Water Runs Through This Book Or if…

What if you had to walk a mile for that glass of cold wonderful water…and when you finally got it, the water was warm, muddy, and with weird things floating in it?  Yuck! Over a billion people on our earth spend most of their day walking for water.  Some, especially girls, may spend their entire…

We both have observed again and again that children who have difficulty with reading have difficulty with school. The love of reading—and the skills needed for reading—begins at home when a child snuggles next to Mom, Dad, Grandma or an older sibling with a book or a magazine.

Participating in the Poetry Rodeo is something I look forward to for months. You’ll see the joy on the faces of the poets taking part. Not only did we have fun, but we shared inspiration and important information about poetry with educators and librarians, encouraging them to use poetry in their work every day. Some…

Imagine standing next to a stack of 427 books. Imagine reading them one at a time, begin in January and end in December. Now choose the twenty-five best from all these different books—picture books, novels for young readers and older readers, fiction and nonfiction, and poetry. How would you choose the best? As a member…

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from Percy Piestewa to tell me that her husband, Terry, a Vietnam veteran, had passed on. Percy’s phone call meant so much to me.  Terry and Percy welcomed me into their home when I was writing Soldier Sister, Fly Home, a middle-grade novel dedicated to…

Arizona State Library has chosen Soldier Sister to become one of their audio selections for the Arizona Talking Book Library. They asked if I would do the reading because patrons prefer listening to the author. We started last week, and so far, it has been a very positive experience. I sure was nervous! The audio…

Recently, I visited Utah schools to talk about Water Runs Through This Book and the live-giving water cycle. It was a wonderful week! A favorite moment: I was talking about why we need glaciers and ice caps at the poles (getting to the discussion about powering the water cycle) and I asked the second graders…

Veterans Day. Everyone has a part, helping or riding. Families prepare all week. Veterans groom their horses so even the hooves shine. Soldiers from any war or conflict—both women and men—clean and polish tack, get uniforms out, and prepare to ride. Before sunrise I fed the horses that would stay behind, old Chaco and Bandit.…

“I believe that although cultures differ, the human heart does not.” I hope you’ll enjoy this interview with my editor, Yolanda Scott, published by CBC Diversity. Thank you, Yolanda, for the opportunity to share how I came to write Soldier Sister, Fly Home, and why I think books like this are essential for our young readers.

I agree with Tim Tingle that even if one does not “know” another culture, sharing one’s perspective is important and valid. The most important research is the experience of participating. Someone once said you don’t begin to know a culture until you hold their babies. I agree.

We Americans, not they or us, but all Americans, we grieve. Every life matters.

“The cure for anything is salt water. Sweat, tears, or the sea.” —Isak Dinesen

Not bullets.

Have you read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park? It’s been on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for 40 weeks as people around the world take to heart the lives of people in the Sudan who must walk for hours each day to get the water that sustains their live

Here’s a good video, from Chance of Science, to show when your class reads Water Runs Through This Book. “Incredible close-up photography features dozens of these amazing life forms, including amoeba, paramecia, euglena, rotifers, water bears, and many more.

In the middle of Iowa, in the middle of corn fields newly plowed,
is a wondrous roller-coaster.
A mysterious structure made for us to terrify ourselves.
Like life. Like the writing life.

Imagine, you turn on the faucet in the bathroom. No water. Same in the kitchen, no water. You ask your neighbor, what’s happening? No one has running water. Now you need to go to the bathroom. No water in the toilet to flush. You want to wash your hands. You are thirsty.

To begin a conversation between children and water, I presented my Water-Write-Workshop to teachers and parents at The Leonardo Museum, Salt Lake City. The workshop was held right in the middle of the museum’s amazing, inspiring water exhibit. We were surrounded with images, sounds, and words about water.