It's elver season in Maine, beloveds, where's my notepad.
Okay, another eel report! It really is elver season in Maine, so get your dip nets and elver licenses. Or lottery. Idk. Maybe in a future newsletter I will tell you about the time I thought I would go clam digging with zero knowledge or clam digging experience. But I’ll save that for when I run out of eel content.
This is How I Breathe, Jennifer
I don’t remember why I was talking about moray eels on a highway in California, but I was sharing that moray eels always have their mouths open because their gills are like inside their bodies.
Imagine me telling a story to my old college roommate, but also trying to demonstrate eel-like mouth breathing while sitting in the passenger seat of her SUV. She’s honestly seen weirder from me. It’s fine.
So all the meme-worthy or just surprised and a little bit terrifying photos of moray eels with their mouths open is because that is how their fish bodies breathe.
“Most fish breathe by closing and opening their gill covers to force water over their gills. Moray eels don't have gill covers, so they constantly open and close their mouths to breathe.” (Source)
So some basics:
Fish breathe through their gills. Most fish have gill covers. Gill covers help protect fish organs, but they also help pump and move water over the gills. Moray eels do not have gill covers, so to move water over their gills, they keep their mouths open. They are mouth breathers. Mouth Breathingᵀᴹ to Live (would be an excellent title imo). It’s science. Maybe it is not evolution? Because gill covers are a big part of fish evolution? Or evolution in general? I don’t know.
But the important thing is, that no matter how weird they look, those eels are just breathing. They might bite you, but they might just be breathing. Which basically describes my cats or all cats. Or the past few years. I just look like this, but I am breathing. This is how I breathe, Jennifer. Move along.
Crocodile Spon
It’s been over a month since Crocodile Hungry published! It is really fun to get photos and videos of Crocodile Hungry being shared with little ones. That is the best part of all this picture book making process. Photos of classrooms with crocodile hands and little videos of kids reading along. Reading magic and Joy. It’s good stuff.
If you want to pick up a copy of Crocodile Hungry, I’ll personalize copies from BookPeople of Moscow. Or if you are a library user, you can always request your local library to purchase a copy.
Tundra Books, the publisher for Crocodile Hungry, created a #TundraTime Activity sheet to go along with the picture book if you’re looking for an activity or the beginning of a discussion guide, check out this free download.
Crocodile in the Canadian News
When I wrote Crocodile Hungry, I was hoping it would be a fun read aloud for story time, so I was honored and delighted to see Crocodile featured here with other active read aloud titles.
“It’s impossible to read this book aloud without changing your voice to a growly tone that suits the crocodile’s abbreviated speech pattern as he looks for a meal.”
One hundred percent recommend reading Crocodile in a growly Cookie-Monster like voice.
Reading
I haven’t been reading a lot this past month. I think it’s the uptick in family activities and the arrival of Spring, but I’ve mostly had brain power for only picture book reading. But that’s okay, because all these picture books pack so much depth and emotion that they more than make up for their shorter page and word count.
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill was my only novel reading in March. A book I read slowly but that meant so much to me in seeing how a community rebuilds itself. With so much going on in the world right now (and in the past five years), I love that Kelly gave readers this generous book— a how-to in care, community, and repair.
Rodney was a Tortoise by Nan Forler and Yong Ling Kang is a very Canadian book. There’s Crokinole! (my favorite obsession, aside from eels). And Budgies (which are parakeets). But there’s also sadness, grief, and friendship, which goes beyond all borders.
Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura is a beautiful book about finding hope and humanity in a place meant to crush both of those things. It’s a true story about the author’s grandparents finding each other and love in Minidoka, a Japanese Internment Camp in Southern Idaho.
John’s Turn by Mac Barnett and Kate Berube is just a perfect picture book. Mac Barnett does a fantastic job of not overwriting, so that Kate’s illustrations can carry the bigger emotional moments. I love the vulnerability and joy that John shares as he dances on his day to share his gift with his class.
Varenka by Bernadette Watts is my mom’s favorite picture book. Shout out to my mom who reads this newsletter, and always sends me edits after it has been published. I leave those grammar errors in this newsletter for you mom. Varenka has been out of print for forever, but my mom was beyond excited to tell me it’s being reissued later this year. NorthSouth is reissuing this timely story about war, wartime refugees, faith, and what it means to stay behind and care for whoever may need shelter.
Just a Smidge of Writing
With Crocodile Hungry publishing and preparing for what that experience would be like along with classroom visits and bookstore events, I didn’t really worry too much about writing the past month or two. No pressure, the book release was taking precedence, and I knew my writing time and energy wouldn’t realistically go towards writing new things or revising older projects.
So how do you return? How do you begin again after a break?
If I had answers, I would willingly share them and package them up with a large bow just for you. But I’ve been trying this writing thing for long enough that I know that the habits and practices frequently change. Just when you think things have been figured out, a routine shifts, a story becomes stuck, you become bored, and writing becomes nonexistent. And new practices and new routines need to be developed.
So this Spring, I’m working to discover new writing practices. Trying 10 minute exercises to begin again and find the words. Even if those exercises ARE the writing practice and not a warm-up. And I’m going to celebrate those moments, those words on paper, and new story beginnings.
Here’s to new rituals, new beginnings, and catching writing time no matter how slippery that can be. Thanks for reading.
- Eija Sumner