Inspiration

Grateful

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 22, 2023 in Inspiration, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Today I’m grateful for the way books develop empathy. They are the best tool that I know of for learning to live inside other people’s minds, hearts, and stories.

Every step we take outside of our own experience is valuable, worthwhile, and hopeful.

A Story of Plague

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Mar 13, 2020 in Historical Fiction, Horror, Inspiration | 0 comments

Since nobody is thinking of anything but pandemic, I thought I’d post about one much worse than what we’re experiencing–the Black Death and the village of Eyam.

It was 1665, and the plague had struck Eyam. (Fleas in a bundle of cloth imported from London are supposed to have been the culprits.) Forty-two people died in four months, and the rest were ready to flee. The village rector knew that if they did so, they’d take the plague with them. He made the former rector, his rival, into an ally, and together they convinced the people of Eyam to stay where they were.

Amazingly, they did it. Almost no one broke quarantine for fourteen months, even though two hundred and sixty people died in a community whose total population did not reach one thousand. People from neighboring villages brought food and left it at the village boundary for the survivors.

If the people of Eyam hadn’t stayed and faced death together, the plague would have killed thousands more. It’s an amazing story of heroism. Maybe I’ll turn it into a book on day.

In the meantime, wash your hands…stay home if you can…be careful and safe!

Thankful For…

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 28, 2019 in Children's Literature, Inspiration, What I've Been Reading | 0 comments

Readers.
Readers who take a chance with a new book they might just like.
Readers who cling to dogeared favorites with covers worn shabby and soft.
Readers who cry when a favorite characters dies.
Readers who cry when the dog dies. (That’s me.)
Readers who can’t wait for the next book in the sequel.
Readers who make my job possible.
Readers who will turn into the next generation of writers.

Thank you.

Imagine a Classroom

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Aug 29, 2017 in Educators & Librarians, Inspiration, PIcture Books | 0 comments

The creative and thoughtful and marvelous second graders of Barrett Ranch Elementary School created a wonderful project–their own version of Imagine a Day. Theirs, however, is Imagine a Classroom. Now I want to go to school where there is a giant waterslide on the roof and giraffes in the classroom, where magic paper instantly corrects my mistakes and no one ever feels left out!