Skylar's Fountain

Check out this dream fountain from Skylar, another participant in the West Warwick Public Library's summer book group.

Looks like a fun place to play, climb and swing on a hot summer day in Rhode Island.

Thanks for sharing, Skylar!

Any more ideas out there? Send your videos, drawings, poems, stories, etc. to youthrari@gmail.com. See them here on the blog! Thanks!

Matthew's Fountain

Check out this fountain from Matthew, a participant in the West Warwick Public Library's summer book group. Looks delicious! Which drink would you choose?

• Coolata?
• Smoothie?
• Milk?
• Ice Tea? Sweetened or Unsweetened?
• Hot Chocolate?
• Water?
• Orange Juice?
• Apple Juice?

Thanks for sharing, Matthew.

Drew's Fountain

Fountain design by Drew, participant in the Share-A-Story Book Group at the East Smithfield Public Library.

Drew's fountain includes:
*A tree house with giant water tubes attached to the sides
*Water ladder
*Tire swing with a hose on the top to cool you off
*Tree house in the middle of the pool
*In the pool are mini-volcanoes that shoot out water
*On the side of the pool are vending machines with any kind of drink known to man!

Thanks for sharing your dream fountain, Drew.

Now, readers, what are your ideas? Email them (video, photos, poems, stories, etc.) to youthrari@gmail.com. Have fun dreaming!

Sarah's Fountain

Sarah described her fountain for us.  Send us a description of your fountain.  It can be written or a video.

Make a Splash! with Kate Klise, Part 6 (a message for the grownups!)

One more thought from Kate Klise (in her own words) ...

P.S. One more thing: And this is more to the adults than the kids: I wrote Regarding the Fountain when all I really had was time - and a library card. I didn't have a publishing contract. I didn't even have a job. Worse yet, I had no real prospects for a job. I had recently ended a relationship, and had no prospects in that department, either. I had very little confidence in myself or my writing because the newspaper editor who had fired me had done so in a letter in which he outlined all my faults as a writer. I didn't even have very much food in my house because this was during an ice storm, back before I had a four-wheel-drive vehicle. I couldn't get out of my little Missouri valley to buy food. All I had was coffee, Diet Coke, microwave popcorn ... and time. I also had a newspaper article I'd torn from the business section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about two guys who designed fountains. I wrote Regarding the Fountain book in one week for no other reason than that it amused me. Of course I had to spend a year and a half rewriting it, but I think there's something to the power of finding time, making time to do things that simply amuse us. Kids are better at this than we are. But I know I'm at my best when I stop thinking like a 47-year-old and start thinking like a 10-year-old who just wants to have fun and make a splash

Make a Splash! with Kate Klise, Part 5

How can you make a splash this summer? It's easy, says Kate Klise, author of Regarding the Fountain. Kate was in Providence recently to kick off our summer reading program. While here, she shared with us some cool ideas for splash making. Here's idea #5:

5. Start and Finish All Your Holiday Shopping.
Huh? It's only June. Why should you be thinking about holiday shopping now? Well, because next Sunday is Father's Day. And then it's the Fourth of July. And then a few weeks later the Christmas season kicks off. But I have a shopping tip for you. Go to the library and check out some books of poetry. Memorize a poem for your dad for Father's Day. Memorize a poem for your grandfather, too. Memorize ten poems this summer that you can five to your parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters and cousins next December. They can be funny poems or serious ones. Try Billy Collins or Jack Prelutsky. Copy the poems you think your friends and family might like in your own neat handwriting on fancy paper. You can deliver the poems on paper, but then be ready to recite them, too. Because that's the gift - the fact that you've memorized a poem in someone's honor. Do you think if you memorized ten poems this summer, you would make a splash with your parents? Yes, you would?

So those are just five ideas. If you have time and a library card, you'll find LOTS of ways to make a splash this summer. Have fun!  

Story Starter from Kate Klise!

Want to write a book this summer? Here's a prompt Kate left for us. See if you can write a book that begins like this:

For years my life was wonderful. I had __________________ and __________________ and plenty of ________________ . I even had _______________________. 

But then one day _____________________ came to town. And everything changed ... for the worse.

P.S. If you write a story and want to share, please put your story in the comments for others to read and enjoy! Thanks ... and have fun.

Make a Splash! with Kate Klise, Part 4

How can you make a splash this summer? It's easy, says Kate Klise, author of Regarding the Fountain. Kate was in Providence recently to kick off our summer reading program. While here, she shared with us some cool ideas for Splash making. Here's idea #4:

4. Fake It Till You Make It.

Speaking of stealing, do you know the saying, "Good writers borrow, but great writers steal"? Well, it's true. The first book I ever wrote was a gentle rip-off of Stuart Little. I was ten years old. I had just read Stuart Little. I loved it. So I wrote a book about a mouse who goes around the country stealing Cheetos. Okay, so it wasn't very good. But I know enough to imitate a master like E.B. White. My sister Sarah did the same thing. Sarah illustrated my first book and still draws all the picture for my books today. She's a terrific artist now, but when she was your age she wasn't. She just knew she liked to draw. So she went to the store and bought a pad of tracing paper. Then she went to the library and checked out Stuart Little - after I returned it. Then she sat on her bed with that book and tracing paper, and spent the summer learning how to draw a mouse. If you like to draw, get some tracing paper and some books from the library. I know sometimes kids think it's cheating to use tracing paper. But this is how you learn how to do it. You won't need tracing paper forever - just until you develop your own style. Writers do the same thing. We imitate the writers we like until we find our own style. Because once you find your own style, that's when you can really make a splash.