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Photo Gallery of Students from MLK Charter School in NOLA

11 Dec

Cheryl Hudson Shares Stories at MLK Charter School in New Orleans

10 Dec

Continuing Our Author Visit to Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School, New Orleans, LA

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

In association with PEN Children’s & Young Adult Book Committee

I entered Ms. Bryant’s first grade class at 9:30 am armed with my computer notebook, and a big red bag filled with props, books, and paper handouts. My idea was to set up the computer with my PowerPoint presentation, read from either Bright Eyes, Brown Skin or My Friend Maya Loves to Dance, answer a few questions about how a book is actually made, and then explain in 10 minutes or less how my job was actually 3 jobs in one: an author who write stories, a creative director who puts authors’ words and artists’ illustrations together to make picture books and a business partner with my husband to market and sell books and get them to readers.

Clothes I Love to Wear by Cheryl Willis Hudson, illustrated by Lauara Freeman, published by Marimba Books.

It was an ambitious plan to cram into 50 minutes and 18 anxious faces were eager for me to start. After Mrs. Bryant and the IT manager hooked up my notebook to the big screen  projector, I realized that it was keyed to the wrong PowerPoint presentation. Jazz music was playing as background to a trailer for another title, Clothes I Love to Wear and the children were responding in unison, “Ooooh!”

So what did I do? I chucked my original plans, improvised and asked questions: “How many of you use your imagination?” “How many of you like to play dress up or make pretend?” I began reading Clothes I Love to Wear instead of the title I had originally planned.

Cheryl Willis Hudson reads Clothes I Love to Wear with Mrs. Bryant's first grade class.

The students were so enthusiastic, I barely had a chance to get the props out of my bag. (derby top hats, magic wands, tutus, masks butterfly wings, and kente cloth that I planned to use for My Friend Maya loves to Dance.) Then the students volunteered to help me hold the big book version of Bright Eyes, Brown Skin.  They joined in the call and response:

Bright eyes, brown skin

A heart-shaped face, a dimpled chin.

They demonstrated along with me skin, eyes, ears, fingers, nose, toes, and very special hair and clothes. I was energized and impressed by the students because they had read several of my books before I came. They and their kindergarten schoolmates had even prepared individual drawings to illustrate that book.

Mrs. Karen Ott's kindergarten class made drawings of my book, Bright Eyes, Brown Skin.

When it came time to read My Friend Maya Loves to Dance, I asked for volunteers to dance with me. One young man shouted out, “I didn’t know that dudes could take ballet!”

First graders demonstrate ballet positions.

“Of course they can and they do,” I replied, showing them the detailed and realistic paintings done by Eric Velasquez.  Before I could say, “Laissez les bons temps rouler,” I was surrounded by boys and girls demonstrating dance positions with me. Boy was that fun!

Pencil sketch by Eric Velasquez, My Friend Maya Loves to Dance.

Photo of live models based on Eric's sketch. Photo by Stephan Hudson.

This is the final illustration that appears in the printed book, My Friend Maya Loves to Dance.

My Friend Maya Loves to Dance by Cheryl Willis Hudson, illustrated by Eric Velasquez, Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Briefly, I explained the differences between concept books, board books, paperback picture books and hardcover titles using title such as AFRO-BETS ABC Book, Good Morning, Baby, and Construction Zone to demonstrate.

A is for apple, alligator and Africa.

AFRO-BETS ABC Book is a concept book.

When the students saw the photograph of the big caterpillar on the cover of Construction Zone they immediately related it to construction equipment in the Ninth ward and all over New Orleans where buildings were being razed, rehabilitated and constructed from new foundations.

Construction Zone, photos by Richard Sobol, text by Cheryl Willis Hudson, Candlewick Press.

After talking about my writing process as an author, I told the children that my other job was to help other people tell their stories by publishing them as books through our publishing company, JUST US BOOKS. That concept was a little bit harder for them to grasp, but showing them a little mini-biography of Wade and myself and our company helped to make it our role a little clearer. Using an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper folded twice, I demonstrated the covers, copyright page, title page and formats for interior pages of a book.

Prototype dummy books

My Own Story template side one

My Own Story template side two

The hour flew by so quickly, but there was still time for everyone to stand and one-by-one share the title of a story or a book that they had recently read. It was clear that these students loved to read!

Mrs. Bryant's class poses with Cheryl Willis Hudson and some of the books she helped to create.

Mrs. Bryant’s entire class could have been poster kids of Bright Eyes, Brown Skin. I was inspired by their warmth, curiosity, enthusiasm and genuine joy for reading books. I can hardly wait for them to share their creative writing assignment with us in the future.

Mrs. Bryant teaches a 1st grade class at MLK Charter School, New Orleans.

For my presentation for the 2nd grade, two classes of about 40 students filled the space in another classroom down the hall from Ms. Bryant’s. The 2nd graders had read Glo Goes Shopping. And they were familiar with My Friend Maya Loves to Dance as well. For this group I went into a bit more detail about the value of brainstorming an idea and the importance of telling your own story. (Who indeed could tell it better? Who could best tell it from your point of view?)

We talked about the building blocks of stories; how alphabet letters are basic; letters form words; words form sentences; sentences form paragraphs and together they become the vehicles for writing and telling a story that may eventually become a book.

Every story begins with a seed of an idea and the 2nd grade students had plenty of them!  They knew stories could be about family, friends, neighbors, pets, field trips, or something entirely imaginary!

Author Cheryl Hudson speaks tro Ms. Kelly's and Mrs. Ford's 2nd grade classes.

For example, the students liked Glo’s story because she went shopping (something they all liked to do) for a friend, but during the process she found out a few interesting things about herself and learned about the value of sharing and of friendship. The students agreed that the best gift that Glo could give was something that she could really share with her friend, Nandi.

This illustration from Glo Goes Shopping was created by artist, Cathy Johnson

When I asked the children if they used their imaginations to think about their individual gifts and what they wanted to become when they grew up, a young lady sitting directly in front of me replied without hesitation, “I want to be the president of the United States!”

Cheryl Hudson reads My Friend Maya Loves to Dance with 2nd grade volunteers.

Other children wanted to be a princess, an African chief, an entertainer, a doctor, a lawyer, a king, a tap dancer, a writer, an illustrator and a mayor. Together, they enthusiastically acted out each scene for their fellow classmates as I read My Friend Maya Loves to Dance.

Students demonstrate a line from the text of My Friend Maya Loves to Dance. "She holds her arms high to reach for the sky."

Toward the end of our session, one young man, Julian, volunteered to share a story he had written about a big pumpkin. He retold a story they had studied in class but gave it with a different ending and rewrote it using new vocabulary words. We agreed that one day he might become a published author. If he took his story, re-wrote it and put it into the template, made copies of it and distributed it to a larger audience his work would be “published” or made available to the public. It could be a printed book or even an e-book if it were published online!

Julian volunteered to read his Pumpkin Story to the class.

I ended the session by handing out templates the students could use to create their own mini-books, awarding certificates of participation and taking photographs of Ms. Kelly, Ms. Ford and all of the students. I’m not certain that I made all of the points I had planned for this presentation, but I certainly learned a lot by sharing with all of the Martin Luther King Charter School students. I’m anxious to come back to New Orleans so we can share even more stories that the children have created themselves.

Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Ford are 2nd grade teachers at MLK Charter School.

Student artwork decorates the halls of MLK Charter School.

Thank You Very Much from Wade and Cheryl Hudson, founders, JUST US BOOKS.

Next Blog: Photos of 1st and 2nd grade students at author visit, MLK Charter School, New Orleans, LA

Sharing Our Stories at MLK Charter School in New Orleans

9 Dec

Our Author Visit to Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School

New Orleans, LA

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

In association with PEN Children’s & Young Adult Book Committee

We began preparing for our visit to Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School months before actually reaching New Orleans. We knew that we’d be doing double duty as both authors and as publishers and we were pretty much prepared for that.  But there was added excitement surrounding this particular visit because in a sense, Wade would be returning home.

A native of Louisiana, Wade had attended Southern University in Baton Rouge during the 1960s and was familiar with the area and the culture of New Orleans. Other PEN members had visited MLK in the past two years, but Wade would be the first black male author to visit MLK and would perhaps relate to the students in a more personal way because of their common backgrounds.

Although we had visited Louisiana a number of times for teacher and library conventions and to visit family, we had not returned to New Orleans since the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

Scene from River Walk in New Orleans, LA.

Would we recognize the city? Would we feel comfortable staying in tourist digs near the French Quarter and then traveling to the still devastated Ninth ward the next morning to visit the only school in that entire area of the city that was open and functioning? How would the staff and students receive us?

Any doubts or fears dissolved when we were greeted and received literally with open arms by the staff and by the students. We went to New Orleans as representatives of Just Us Books—prepared to “Share Our Story” but we both came back energized, renewed in spirit and with many more stories to share.

Author-publisher, Wade Hudson.

I was born and raised in Louisiana and attended Southern University in Baton Rouge. So I was anxious to visit my home state, and the city of New Orleans and speak to students at the Martin Luther King Charter School. Although I had visited New Orleans several times since I moved from Louisiana, I had not been there since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

Mrs. Karen Ott, a member of the MLK School staff, picked up my wife Cheryl and me from our hotel to take us to the school.  On the drive to Caffin Avenue, she showed us some of the areas of the city that

Mrs. Karen Ott was our liaison at MLK.

had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Some of these areas had rebounded in a strong way from the devastation and destruction.  That was especially true of the French Quarter.

But in many other areas, it seemed that much still needed to be done, especially in the Lower Ninth Ward where the MLK Charter School is located. Yes, there was some home construction taking place, but it appeared to me that the

Some new housing in the Lower Ninth Ward, sponsored by actor Brad Pitt and his not for profit organization.

Lower Ninth Ward was quite a ways away from being a bustling, viable community—alive and vibrant. My spirit was a little low as we continued to ride around the area and saw so many boarded-up churches, schools and other buildings.

This post by Tracie Gallagher, which appeared on Fox News.Com on August 23, 2010, really says it all.

“Five years after Katrina many parts of the lower 9th ward look like the flood waters just receded yesterday.

Many of the damaged and destroyed homes have not been touched at all, in fact many still have those infamous red Xs painted on the front, indicating the date the homes were inspected and how many bodies were found inside.

Clearly the recovery and rebuilding process is moving at a snail’s pace.

Before Katrina there were 5300 homes in the lower 9th ward. Every single one of them was flooded and uninhabitable. Now only 1200 have been repaired or rebuilt.

The main reasons more people haven’t come back to the 9th ward is because there are only three volunteer organizations building homes, and they don’t have enough money or resources to build faster.

And the infrastructure in the lower 9th is still almost nonexistent. No fire department, no hospitals, no grocery stores, and only one elementary school, the other students are bussed miles away.

But the people who have returned are proud and passionate. And when the 9th ward rises again, (and it will indeed rise) it will be those who came back first who inspired those who came back eventually.

When we arrived at the MLK School, however, I perked up. As I looked at the structure, it stood as a beacon of hope for the Lower Ninth Ward, a clear example of how the communities of the Ninth Ward and New Orleans can come back even stronger.

8th graders at MLK created this rendering of community in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Banner in the hallway entrance of MLK Charter School.

Wade Hudson, Principal Doris Hicks and Cheryl Willis Hudson.

Mrs. Ott escorted Cheryl and me into the building where we were treated to coffee and doughnuts and were serenaded by a recording of the school’s song. Soon Mrs. Doris Hicks, the school’s dynamic principal, came to greet us. We were already aware of the tremendous role she has played in bringing MLK School back following the hurricane and flood, and how she has overcome so many obstacles and challenges in her mission to make MLK a stellar academic institution.

After our chat with Ms. Hicks, Mrs. Ott escorted Cheryl to a first grade classroom, and then led me to the school library where I was to make my presentations to two fifth grade classes.  The library serves a dual role. It is a part of the New Orleans Public Library System and is open to the community, and it is used by the MLK School.

My first group of fifth graders had read Anthony’s Big Surprise, the third book in the NEATE series I created for Just Us Books. The second group had read Book of Black Heroes: Scientists, Healers and Inventors, a title in the Book of Black Heroes series I developed for Just Us Books.

MLK 5th graders read Anthony's Big Surprise.

As the students assembled in the large library reading room one asked a question I could not quite hear. I was told that he wanted to know “where my wife was.”  I was also told that the student was relating us to President Barack Obama and his wife, first lady Michele Obama. The President had paid a visit to MLK during the 2009 school year. The question made me realize further how important role models are. Because of our visibility as writers and publishers, many people see my wife Cheryl and me as role models. Over the years, we have readily accepted and embraced this position. But being mentioned in the same sentence as the first African-American President, his intelligent, beautiful and charming wife and family brought a smile. I understood the association, but the responsibilities and challenges Cheryl and I face are quite minor compared to those faced by the first family.

Author Wad Hudson readers to 5th graders at MLK Charter School in New Orleans.

The students sat attentively as I shared with them my story. I was born in a small town nestled in the northwestern section of the state, south of Shreveport. Mansfield was and still is a small rural town. I grew up during a time when most cities and towns in Louisiana and in the South were segregated and Jim Crow Laws still governed life for blacks and whites. (Ironically, even today, many communities and schools in New Orleans and around the state of Louisiana are still segregated.) The Civil Rights struggle had begun to make a big difference, but major changes still needed to be achieved in the fight for racial equality and justice.

Powerful Words by Wade Hudson, published by Scholastic, Inc.

I shared how our all-black schools received books that had been previously used and discarded by the students at white schools in my hometown. These books had virtually nothing in them about African-American history, culture and experiences. Our school library was void of books that included stories about black people or books written by black writers. So for me, and many of my peers, great writers such as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston and Gwendolyn Brooks didn’t exist. As a youngster growing up, I told them, I enjoyed writing and often wrote poems and short stories. I never considered writing as a career. I knew it was a gift that I had been given, but, at that time, I didn’t see writing as a vehicle for me to make my contributions to the world.

Pass It On edited by Wade Hudson, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, published by Scholastic, Inc..

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if I had had the opportunity to read the works of great black writers such as Hughes, Ellison and Hurston? They would have been ideal role models for a little black boy discovering the gift with which he had been blessed. It wasn’t until I entered Southern University in Baton Rouge that I learned about black writers who had made significant contributions to the worlds of literature and history. It was then, that I realized I too could have a career as a writer.

I told the students that I have written nearly 30 books for children and young adults. That I also penned plays that have been produced professionally, worked as a newspaper reporter and in public relations where I have used my writing skills. Many of the books I have authored were on display in the library for the students to see. Then I shared how, in 1988, my wife Cheryl and I started our own children’s book publishing company, Just Us Books, Inc. to produce children’s and young adult books that spotlight, highlight, explore black culture, black history and black life experiences.

Poetry from the Masters: The Pioneers, edited by Wade Hudson, illustrated by Stephan Hudson,   published by Just Us Books.

I told the students how important it is that they learn about the history and culture of their ancestors. That it is important that their experiences be shared to help educate as well as entertain others and make others aware that we have a world shared by many different races, ethnic and religious groups. That it is crucial for any child or young adult to see characters that look like him or her in books, on television and in movies and in all others modes of communication.

Near the end of my presentation to the first group of students, I read from Anthony’s Big Surprise from the NEATE series. The series features five African-American eighth grade students who live in the same community and attend the same junior high school. Determined to support and encourage each other, they use the first letter of each of their first names to name their group – N for Naimah, E for Elizabeth, A for Anthony, T for Tayesha and E for Eddie.  Anthony’s Big Surprise focuses on 13-yeaar-old Anthony, who is being raised by a single mother. Anthony’s mother has told him that his father was killed when Anthony was very young. When the story opens, Anthony is receiving expensive anonymous gifts. He eventually finds out that the gifts are from his father, who, in fact, is not dead. I read from the scene where Anthony finds out that his father isn’t dead, the heart-wrenching and challenging moment where he first meets his father in the principal’s office.

Anthony's Big Surprise by Wade Hudson, is part of the NEATE Series published by Just Us Books.

“Anthony was getting confused. The name was right. The instrument was right. Could this man really be his father? If so, that would mean his father wasn’t dead. But wait, a family friend could know that much. In fact, anybody could know as much as this stranger knew. But why would anyone who wasn’t Anthony’s father want to go through all this?”

Following the reading I engaged the students in a lively discussion. I asked questions such as, “If you were Anthony what would you do?”  “Would you accept a father who has never been a part of your life?” Most of the students had strong opinions. Many of them were being raised by single mothers and could relate to Anthony’s situation. Most of the students said they wouldn’t accept a father who has not been there for them. The father, they felt, should earn an acceptance.

MLK 5th graders listen to author Wade Hudson's presentation in the library.

Book of Black Heroes: Scientists, Healers and Inventors by Wade Hudson, published by Just Us Books.

For my second presentation of the day, I read from Book of Black Heroes: Scientists, Healers and Inventors. The book was written to introduce young readers to some of the many African Americans who have made important contributions to science, medicine and invention. I thought this would be particularly appropriate given the MLK Charter School’s focus on science and technology.

I really enjoyed my visit to the MLK Charter School. The students were well-mannered, inquisitive and bright. They asked provocative and well conceived questions. A generation ago, I was in their shoes, eager and anxious to learn as much as I could, looking forward to a brighter future beyond situations that would paint a bleak picture of what lay ahead for me. I felt a real connection to these students. As I signed copies of my books each of them held, I had an opportunity to chat with some of them and to look into their faces and share smiles with them. As I left the library following my last presentation, I felt assured, in the hands of these students, the city of New Orleans would be just fine.

Author-publisher Wade Hudson speaks to 5th graders at MLK Charter School in New Orleans.

For the Joy of Dance and Books about It

19 Oct

Last week I happened to see a review of one of my books on Goodreads that caused me to pause. The review was not particularly flattering and I thought the reviewer entirely missed the point of the book. I decided (for the first time in my career as an author) to respond to it online. Following is the review and my response.

Library Lady wrote:

Why can’t an African American girl who loves ballet just dance ballet, and ballet alone?

Why does she have to dress up in kente and cowries to offset her ballet class? Would an Asian child have to wear a kimono or a Jewish child have to be shown dancing the hora?

This is a beautiful ballet book. The lines of the illustration are pitch perfect. The correct ballet terms are used. And if you insist on being politically correct, Maya’s teacher is also African American, a grownup black ballerina!

But adding the other dance bits seems to say, “It’s okay. Maya is an African American girl who likes ballet, but she’s still a homegirl.”

It’s gratuitous. It’s unneeded. And it does injustice to girls who love ballet, no matter what the color of their skin.

This is my response.

As the author of My Friend Maya Loves to Dance my perspective is quite different from that of the reviewer.  I wrote and Eric Velasquez illustrated a story called My Friend Maya Loves to Dance. What Library Lady has done in a few short sentences is to misconstrue the title and content (the title is not My Friend Maya Loves Ballet). In so doing I believe she has shifted the focus of the review from coverage relating to the authenticity of the real story to a commentary that expresses her own views on political correctness and how diversity should or should not be depicted in this particular title or perhaps in books in general.

Maya loves to dance. Period. Since music is her muse and she loves all kinds of music, Maya loves all kinds of dance. Ballet and western music are part of her repertoire but they are not the basis of it. Maya loves jazz, blues, rock, reggae, and gospel. She loves praise dancing, tap and ballet. Those facts are clearly stated in the text. Incidentally, through the art, it is apparent that all of these forms/styles of dance are being offered in the dance studio where Maya takes lessons and/or she engages in them outside her lessons.  Clearly, Maya loves to dance!

Maya is a homegirl. But that is positive terminology for her, not the negative jargon the reviewer’s words seem to suggest. Dance is core to Maya’s being and she expresses joy in her African American heritage naturally and innately, not in opposition to or as an offset to another standard. The fact that she studies ballet is simply that. Maya takes ballet lessons. She dances because it brings her joy.

I am somewhat reassured by Library Lady’s words: “This is a beautiful (ballet) book. The lines of the illustration are pitch perfect.”  (The words are hers but the parentheses are mine and I’d suggest deleting the words “ballet” from the first sentence). “The correct ballet terms are used.”  The Library Lady must love ballet herself.  But for her to suggest that the other “dance bits” are gratuitous and unneeded does an injustice to the storyline as well as to the author and the illustrator.  I too love ballet but I did not write a book solely about ballet.  The models for this book are real people who live and work in my community which is similar to communities elsewhere in this country. The basis of the story is my experience as a black child taking dance lessons over 50 years ago as well as witnessing the young dancers in a local dance (not just ballet) studio.

And yes, Maya’s teacher is African American–a grownup black ballerina!  Her presence in the story has nothing to do with political correctness. She is based on an actual person, and like many women and men around the country teaching dance is what she does for a living.

Authors and illustrators spend a great deal of time, thought, research, imagination and creativity in their collaborative efforts making good picture books for children. Of course, all reviews show some degree of subjectivity and that is to be expected. However, I think Library Lady has missed an opportunity for fairness and objectivity.  Her review seeks to make a dance form and those people that perform it exclusive, rather than inclusive. Maya loves to dance, and I invite those of us who also exalt in this diverse form of expression to embrace Maya and her diversity.

What say you?

Threads: A is for Anansi in Literature for Children

11 Oct

There were some incredible presentations, discussions and conversations at the A is for Anansi Conference: Literature for Children of African Descent held at NYU this past weekend. (October 8-9). I’d like to share a few threads beginning with the notes I prepared for a panel that I moderated concerning the History/Significance of African American Literature for Children. Panelists included Kathleen T. Horning, Joe Monti, Colin Bootman, Regina Brooks and Hannah Erlich.

Mega thanks go to organizers Jaira Placide and Rashida Ismaili and for the sponsor of this historic conference, NYU’s Institute of African American Affairs under the direction of Manthia Diawara. Thanks for inviting me, Wade and Just Us Books to participate and to share our perspectives at the conference.

Time constraints prevented me from posing all of the questions I would like to have asked the panelists, but I am posting them here as a reminder of both the framework for the discussion and other ideas not covered over the course of the conference that I’d like to discuss in this blog. As days progress, I hope to post additional threads in this complex web of thoughts and ideas and action points surrounding issues in African American literature for children.

“Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” –African Proverb

Scholar and children’s literature expert, Rudine Sims Bishop writes the following words in introductory comments of her book, FREE WITHIN OURSELVES: “The seeds of an African American children’s literature were sown in the soil of Black people’s struggles for liberation, literacy and survival. For those seeds to develop into a body of written literature or children, there first had to be, among other things, a critical mass of child readers, a collective recognition of children as a reading audience distinct from adults, and a significant number of writers willing to address their work to that child readership.”

As the panelists prepare to make their presentations, I would like to propose these questions for all of us to consider.

1. How relevant is an historical perspective in terms of creating, developing, marketing and selling books for and about children of African American descent?

2. Contemporary children in the US today are more than 55 years removed from the historic 1954 Supreme Court Decision that stuck down “separate and unequal schools” for its citizenry. How realistic is it for them to be curious about that decision’s ramifications in literature in 2010? Does it matter?

3. Should children’s books be “color-blind”? What do you think that term means to parents who select and buy books for their children?

4. Let’s talk about authenticity, content, canon, and critical mass. Who should be telling, editing, marketing and selling African American stories?

6. Some writers have suggested that multicultural literature should be mirrors and reflectors for diversity in our nation. What are some practical ways to share books cross-culturally?

7. President Barack Obama was shown earlier in the year reading a picture book to a group of children at a White House gathering. What African American title (or book written and/or illustrated by a person of African descent) would you suggest that he read at the next setting? What books would you suggest for Sasha and Malia?

Publishing in Color

7 Jul

White and Whatever…
Harlem Book Fair: Why, in 2010, when the nation has elected its first African American president, is the book publishing industry still not meeting the need and demand for books that explore the width and breadth of our country’s multicultural experiences?

A panel of professionals will explore the complex issues and suggest solutions to a problem that is garnering a lot of attention. Please tune in on July 17, 2010 via C-SPan Book-TV for this discussion.

Following Independence Day I issued a Facebook challenge to my friends to provide a list of 20 African American editors of Children’s and YA books. A day later no one had submitted a complete list of folks currently working in the industry. At most, an informal committee came up with a list of 30 POC. There were lots of comments about the whole challenge and below is a list of a series of responses I had to my friends via FB and personal e-mails.

Some of the questions included: How many POC apply for jobs in the publishing industry? Who’s responsible for diversifying the industry? How can authors and illustrators make the industry more responsive? What role does White Privilege play in the equation?

My responses:

I think all the questions are worth raising…again and again. Black Creators for Children (thanks to Tom Feelings and others) was started over 40 years ago as a self empowered group to encourage Blacks interested in the industry to prepare themselves for it. Nancy Larrick (The All White World of Children’s Publishing) and other educators and librarians kick-started efforts in 1965 to wake up the industry. The Council on Interracial Books for Children provided a tremendous boost in the 60s.

The Coretta Scott King Award was established 40 some years ago to recognize the stellar works of African American Book Creators for children. Yet, 17 years after that fact, my husband Wade and I self-published AFRO-BETS ABC book and later established Just Us Books because we couldn’t convince a commercial trade publisher in NY or Boston that this book was a
viable title for the industry to support. Remnants of the 1965 publishing model still exist despite the huge role that marketing and super book stores play in the publishing equation.

I was fortunate enough to have attended Radcliffe College’s Publishing Procedures Course in the summer of 1970. There were 2 other Blacks in the program that summer and neither found jobs in the industry immediately afterward. I landed a job as a trainee at an educational publishing house but trade house were definitely out of reach. Now, 40 years later it’s taken me and 6 other associates to come up with a list of 20 AA editors. And at least 8 of them are not working full time in the industry.

This is not to say that the industry has not changed or grown. There are obviously good, perceptive editors not of color who have recognized and championed the works of people of color. That is a good thing. People of color have demanded equity in school books for their children but the existence of “White Privilege” continues to have a tremendous influence and contributes in a real way to the way business is run and the way that the public at large perceives many books created by people of color.

The fact is that old habits die really hard. Book creators, and their editors tho’ must continually challenge assumptions about who POC write for, who needs African-American stories in school and trade books, why people buy books for their children and what kinds of stories those books tell.

Articles by Cheryl Willis Hudson

2 Jul

Book Talk with Abrams and ALA librarians 6/26/2010, Washington, DC.

My Friend Maya Loves to Dance

By Cheryl Willis Hudson

Copyright 2010 by Cheryl Willis Hudson. All rights reserved.

Good afternoon. My name is Cheryl Willis Hudson and I am delighted to be here with you today to talk about my book, My Friend Maya Loves to Dance. It is brilliantly illustrated by Eric Velasquez, edited by Howard Reeves, designed by Melissa Arnst and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers. Thank you for allowing me to share some of my thoughts and memories with you.

The publication of My Friend Maya Loves to Dance brings me almost full circle in my publishing career. It was forty years ago that I experienced and made my first attempts and experienced my first rejections by children’s book publishers. I submitted my first manuscript in 1970. My first poems for children were published in 1976. During that time there were only a handful of successfully published writers and illustrators of color. And my first real book was not published until 1987 some 17 years after the start. The state of publishing has changed quite a bit during this time.

Now in 2010, I hope that My Friend Maya Loves to Dance is a book that exemplifies and reflects the best of all that I’ve learned during these pass forty years.

My Friend Maya Loves to Dance is a story about an ordinary little girl who has an extraordinary friend. Dance—or specifically wanting to be a dancer, and loving everything about it, is the obvious theme of the book. After all, what little girl doesn’t dream of being a beautiful ballerina?

The narrator begins to tell the story:

My friend Maya loves to dance.

Wherever there is music

Maya takes a stance.

She points her toes,

Then away she goes.

Dancing is fun.

Maya knows!

The story is loosely based on a personal childhood experience. About 12 years ago on a visit to my hometown, I found a picture book in my mother’s house that I had completely forgotten about. But when I discovered it, I remembered that this book was a most treasured possession by my 8-year-old self. It was called A Child’s Book of Ballet. I loved that book! It was filled with pictures of little girls and boys studying dance and performing in a recital at the end. It reminded me that when I was a little girl I had dreams of being a dancer.

As an 8-9 year old, I took dance lessons with about 20 other little Negro girls at the Colored Y in Portsmouth, VA. A lady named Ms. Johnson was our teacher and someone else whose name I can’t recall also played a rickety old upright piano for us during our practice classes. The dance studio was a small space a in a worn out old building. The floors were cold and not so pleasant but we all dreamed of and lived for the annual spring recital where we could wear our tutus and beautiful costumes under soft and colorful theatrical lights. Alas, I loved to dance and had big dreams of being a ballerina, but I was not an especially graceful child. My dancing debut was one of a “rag doll” who didn’t have to be graceful at all. My mom had enrolled me in the class so I could learn to be graceful but needless to say, my dance career ended at about age ten not long after the spring recital. (smile)

(This photo was from a family Christmas card dated 1954.)

Nevertheless, the magic of the possibility stayed with me over my elementary and junior high school years and I fondly recalled those childhood dreams twenty-odd years later when I enrolled my own 5-year old daughter in similar Saturday morning classes at Maria Priadka’s School of Dance in New Jersey. Unlike my performance (held in the cafeteria-auditorium of Mt. Hermon Elementary School) Katura’s spring recital was on a big stage and looked almost like a professional Broadway production!

Part of my vision for My Friend Maya Loves to Dance was to be able to capture the magic of those innocent childhood dreams for hundreds of little black girls like myself who during the 1950s and 60s may have perhaps seen a photo of prima ballerina Maria Tallchief (who was Native American) but who had never seen an African American ballet dancer. Like the pictures in my favorite book, all the children, all the ballerinas were White.

Nevertheless, year after year, we still dreamed of joining the ranks of professional dancer and we sold tickets to the spring extravaganza and made our parents and our teachers proud of our perseverance, discipline, style and grace.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I want you to know something about the background of how I came to write this book. But also how it expanded into a story about friendship and a story about diversity and stretching boundaries. I started public school in the 1954, the year of the pivotal Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka Kansas. And I attended segregated schools for twelve years until the late 1960s when I graduated from an all-black high school. During that time, I would never have thought of writing a book like this. Nor could I have conceived of having or talking about a friendship like the one that Maya and Morgan share.

I must really thank illustrator Eric Velasquez for his thoughtful reinterpretation of my initial vision for this book. The paintings for this book are truly beautiful. Eric has made Maya’s story so real and so believable partly by using the talents of local children from a community dance studio as models for the paintings. Everything about Maya is full of the joy of “Dance”—all kinds of dance. Maya is totally absorbed in the music and the motion…Dance is a part of her entire being!

The narrator continues…

My friend Maya loves to tap

To jazz, blues and rap.

She dances in the hall…

In church and at the mall.

When she’s dancing

Maya has a ball!

As a children’s book creator, it’s marvelous to see my childhood “self” represented in this book—there are pages after pages of African American children who never were a part of the books I grew up with in the segregated south. There are boys and there are girls dancing together. And there’s lots of history infused into the images of this book—backdrops showing authentic musicians and lifestyles and African American culture, but very importantly, this is still a book centered around the experiences of a contemporary child—not only an African American child but any American child. I’m so happy to see that books spotlighting children of color are much more plentiful in 2010 than in 1956 or 1957 but there are still not enough to show the range of diversity in this country. But more than providing the gorgeous paintings of African American children, Eric Velazquez stretched the boundaries of the story by suggesting through his paintings that the narrator was somehow different from Maya.

Morgan, the unnamed narrator of the story, has a voice and a shared vision with Maya, her friend. It’s obvious that she has shared some experiences with Maya. Morgan says quite definitively that “dancing is magic for Maya and for me!” Morgan is an extraordinary friend. But who is she really? Who is this narrator? Why don’t we see her dance? If, she is sitting, as Morgan does in the last illustration of the book, how can the joy she expresses in her friend’s love of dance be so infectious? What is going through Morgan’s mind as she tells this story? How can she so generously share Maya’s story and how does Maya’s story relate to Morgan’s own experience? What is Morgan’s gift?

The answers are in the reading and re-reading of the words and the pictures of My Friend Maya Loves to Dance. It’s so important to me that a truly effective and successful picture book is not always a literal re-telling of word—that the visual imagery adds and reveals layers of sub-stories and allows for expansion of the imagination and the greater gifts that a child’s reading of the story can bring to it.

When I do book talks and readings, I’m always fascinated to see how children respond to the reading and the pictures and how they put their own spins on the stories that they hear. Initially, the audience of a recent reading at a bookstore in Montclair NJ did not have any African American children in it. The children were quite young and total absorbed in my reading. (Some had come directly from an earlier dance class with their parents and still had on their tutus.) Sometimes the children identify with Maya—other times the children identify with Morgan and her gifts. Sometime they notice Morgan’s differentness or disability and sometimes they do not. But ultimately they recognize the real theme of the book, friendship. That is something I’m so pleased to see that is so different from my experiences as a child over fifty some years ago.

As the narrator so aptly puts it:

My friend Maya loves to dream

Of recitals and soft lights

And performing for a queen.

Maya dances strong and free

With joy all can see.

Dancing is magic

For her and for me.

Author’s Notes, Cheryl Willis Hudson 5/25/08

My Friend Maya Loves to Dance

When I wrote My Friend Maya Loves to Dance, I was thinking about the thousands and thousands of little girls all over America between the ages of 5 and 12 who anxiously waited for Saturday morning dance classes at their local dance studios. In these dance studios, possibly located on the 2nd floor at the top of a flight of rickety stairs, was a room lined with full-length mirrors and horizontal barres. Inside, there was an upright, out-of-tune piano and outside of the main room single clothes hooks were positioned at child’s height along the walls on which to hang coats and wraps and outside street clothes and shoes. There was also a place to neatly position your dancer’s carrying case, the “official”, round hat-box shaped plastic container with the fancy writing and the line drawing of a graceful 9 year-old girl dressed in her leotards or tutu and soft ballet slippers.  The glass case in the hall also held samples of dancer’s gear: leg warmers, black leotards, tights, pink ballet slippers, white Studio Tee-shirts and tiny porcelain figurines and trophies of male and female dancers.

The hard wood floors inside, more often than not, were not highly polished but instead scuffed from years of wear, limited budgets and the weight of hundreds of pairs of tapping feet that filled the room for tap classes after the ballet classes were over. The walls of the outside waiting room were lined with color photographs of little girls with hair pulled back tightly in little ponytails or buns, with just a hint of lipstick and make-up on their faces, smiling brightly in brightly colored costumes sewn from tulle, lace, and feathers for the pictures taken just before the annual spring dance extravaganza.

For a few little girls with obvious talent, the dance lessons went on for years and the star performers graduated to pointe classes where real ballet steps were skillfully and carefully taught. For others like myself, one or two years of modern dance or tap lessons was the limit and the spring extravaganza became the highlight of our childhood dreams to be bathed in the theatrical light of a professional dance career. Still, my favorite and treasured children’s book (I think the title was A Child’s Book of Ballet) contained picture of Anna Pavlova and Swan Lake along with correct postures of 1st ,2nd , 3rd , 4th, and 5th positions. The only decorative pictures placed on the wall of my bedroom were framed silhouettes of ballet dancers purchased from Woolworth’s Department Store.

Nevertheless, the magic of the possibility of becoming a dancer stayed with me over my elementary, and junior high school years and I fondly recalled those dreams twenty-odd years later when I enrolled my own 5 year-old daughter in similar Saturday morning classes in Maria P’s Dance Studio in New Jersey.

Part of my vision for My Friend Maya Loves to Dance was to be able to capture the magic of those innocent childhood dreams today for hundreds of little black girls like myself who during the 1950s and 60s never saw African American ballet dancers but who still dreamed of being in their ranks and who year after year sold tickets to the spring extravaganza and made their parents and teachers proud of their perseverance, discipline, style, and grace.

Wouldn’t it be nice today for all the young African American want-to-be ballerinas to see themselves in a book for young dancers? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have those images in a book for another generation of dancers to cherish? Now there are professional dance classes offered by the Dance Theater of Harlem, and Alvin Ailey and Philadanco as well as many other regional dance companies and local dance studios for young people. I’m hopeful that children who attend those classes and their retro moms will appreciate the love and warm memories that went into the creation of this book.

Bright Eyes Brown Skin

13 Jun

Cheryl Willis Hudson: Bright Eyes, Brown Skin

Talking Openly to Children About Racial Differences

Bright eyes, brown skin
A heart shaped face
A dimpled chin
Bright eyes, cheeks that glow
Chubby fingers, ticklish toes
A playful grin
A perfect nose
Very special hair and clothes
Bright eyes, ears to listen
Lips that kiss you
Teeth that glisten
Bright eyes, brown skin
Warm as toast
And all tucked in.

I wrote about one half of the words of that poem shortly after our son Stephan was born. He was a big baby—weighing in at 8 pounds 6 oz. And he was 21 inches long. He had a nice round head, freckles (that quickly faded after a few weeks) light brown skin and an infectious lopsided smile.

Stephan’s eyes were bright and hopeful and he jetted into the world. I immediately felt I knew who Stephan was and to the amazement of my obstetrician and the midwife on duty, I laughed heartily out loud on the delivery table when he took in his first breath. They washed him up, put him on my chest and I remember thinking, “He’s exactly what I expected, a beautiful black baby boy.” But I also said a silent, wordless prayer shortly afterward—a prayer I believe most African American mothers say knowing the challenges their male offspring face on their journey from birth to manhood.

I quickly put any negative thoughts aside and embraced our new son and the fullness of his possibilities for the future. I stoked his skin, I kissed and counted his fingers and his toes, I rubbed his bottom and brushed his still silky brown hair. I rubbed my nose on his nose. I smelled his baby fresh smell. My husband, daughter and I brought him with great joy.
Stephan’s birth was the inspiration for writing Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, (Just Us Books, 1991). Years later, I took the original words of my poem to my friend, Bernette Ford, a children’s book editor. Wouldn’t this make a great baby board book? I thought.

She agreed and with her expert editorial skills, Bernette helped to expand it into a picture book (very different from my original concept) that her husband George Ford illustrated with four children rather than one. The final result was a picture book about pre-schoolers that has become a great teaching tool for celebrating diversity. It is a book that deals openly with racial features—Negroid noses, full African-American lips, lush sculptural African American hair and varieties in dress and skin colors.

In Bright Eyes, Brown Skin facial features are presented naturally and positively. A nose is “perfect” for a face (not broad or derisively flat); hair is neither “good” or “bad” but simply a crown on a child’s head; skin is not dark—it’s a range of browns; eyes are not rolling or buck—they are bright and inquisitive. African American features that for so long have been presented and associated in stereotypical ways in children’s literature (akin to minstrel show imagery) are now being rendered directly and simply with no value judgment or racist baggage. The simple, straightforward text invites children of all complexions and ethnicities to take turns identifying their eyes, ears, noses, hair and clothes and to talk about similarities and differences among their friends.

There is a need for a broad range of books about African American children that are presented in a natural and accessible way.

Bright Eyes, Brown Skin presents all children with opportunities to talk about differences and similarities and familiar things because it places children in a natural, everyday pre-school setting. The associations are warm and positive and affirmative and Black children can see themselves realistically in the story line. For many African American children and also other brown children, Bright Eyes, Brown Skin affirms cultural identity. It helps children of color to see themselves as valued participants in the world and encourages them to talk openly about racial differences without feeling embarrassed, ashamed or marginalized.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Cheryl Willis Hudson,  all rights reserved. Cheryl Willis Hudson is an author and publisher of children’s books who is also a member of the PEN America Children’s Book Committee.

Welcome to Cheryl Willis Hudson’s Blog!

4 Jun

You’ve come to a place where you can find information about children’s books, diversity, parenting and family literacy.

As an African American woman, a working mother of two, a wife, an entrepreneur and an active member of my community, I’ve had to wear quite a few hats. But it has been my pleasure to say that most of these hats have had something to do with reading, creating and spreading good news about books. I love books!

Come By Here LordMany Colors of Mothe Goose Bright Eyes Brown SkinMy African American American Bible Kids Edition

I love books because they can enlighten us and inspire us and empower us and our children to make this a better world. Books can also simply bring us joy.

Books are definitely culture carriers. I believe all of us can learn more about each other and can make a positive difference in the lives of children and adults by sharing our unique stories and the wonderful diversity of people on this planet. Good books do make a difference. I hope you are visiting this site because you believe in the power of books and the value of the diversity they bring into our lives. I hope you will come back for new and updated features as our community of book lovers and creators continues to grow.

Cheryl Willis Hudson


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Ah me! the very mention of this flower calls up endless visions of beauty. Iris - the flower of mythology, history, and one might almost say science as well, since its outline points to the north on the face of the mariner's compass; the flower that in the dawn of recorded beauty antedates the rose, the fragments of the scattered rainbow of creation that rests upon the garden, not for a single hour or day or week, but for a long season. The early bulbous Iris his-triodes begins the season in March, and the Persian Iris follows in April. In May comes the sturdy German Iris of old gardens, of few species but every one worthy, and to be relied upon in mass of bloom and sturdy leafage to rival even the peony in decorative effect. Next the meadows are ribboned by our own blue flags; and the English Iris follows and in June and July meets the sumptuous Iris of Japan at its blooming season, for there seems to be no country so poor as to be without an Iris.

There are joyous flowers of gold and royal blue, the Flower de Luce (Flower of Louis) of regal France, and sombre flowers draped in deep green and black and dusky purple, "The widow" (Iris tuberosa) and the Chalcedonian Iris (Iris Susiana), taking its name from the Persian Susa. Iris Florentine, by its powdered root yields the delicate violet perfume orris, a corruption doubtless of Iris.

Many forms of root as well as blossom has the Iris, tuberous, bulbous, fibrous, and if the rose may have a garden to itself, why may not the Iris in combination with its sister lilies have one also? And when my eyes rest upon a bed of these flowers or upon a single blossom, I long to be a poet.

Now to begin: will your shady place yield you a bed four feet in width by at least twenty in length? If so, set Barney to work with pick and spade. The top, I take it, is old turf not good enough to use for edgiagj so after removing this have it broken into bits and put in a heap by itself. When the earth beneath is loosened, examine it carefully. If it is good old mellow loam without the pale yellow colour that denotes the sterile, undigested soil unworked by roots or earthworms, have it taken out to eighteen inches in depth and shovelled to one side. When the bad soil is reached, which will be soon, have it removed so that the pit will be three feet below the level.

Next, let Barney collect any old broken bits of flower-pots, cobbles, or small stones of any kind, and fill up the hole for a foot, and let the broken turf come on top of this. If possible, beg or buy of Amos Opie a couple of good loads of the soil from the meadow bottom where the red bell-lilies grow, and mix this with the good loam, together with a scattering of bone, before replacing it. The bed should not only be full, but well rounded. Grade it nicely with a rake and wait a week or until rain has settled it before planting. When setting these lilies, let there be six inches of soil above the bulb, and sprinkle the hole into which it goes with fresh-water sand mixed with powdered sulphur.

This bed will be quite large enough for a beginning and will allow you four rows of twenty bulbs in a row, with room for them to spread naturally into a close mass, if so desired. Or better yet, do not put them in stiff rows, but in groups, alternating the early-flowering with the late varieties. A row of German Iris at the back of this bed will give solidity and the sturdy foliage make an excellent windbreak in the blooming season. If your friendly woman in the back country will give you two dozen of the Madonna lily bulbs, group them in fours, leaving a short stake in the middle of each group that you may know its exact location, for the other lilies you cannot obtain before October, unless you chance to find them in the garden of some near-by florist or friend. These are -

Lilium speciosum album - white recurved.

Lilium speciosum rubrum - spotted with ruby-red.

Lilium speciosum roseum - spotted with rose-pink. All three flower in August and September, rubrum being the latest, and barring accidents increase in size and beauty with each year.

In spite of the fact of their fickleness, I would buy a dozen or two of the auratum lilies, for even if they last but for a single year, they are so splendid that we can almost afford to treat them as a fleeting spectacle. As the speciosum lilies (I wish some one would give them a more gracious name - we call them curved-shell lilies here among ourselves) do not finish flowering sometimes until late in September, the bulbs are not ripe in time to be sold through the stores, until there is danger of the ground being frozen at night.

Speciosum Lilies in the Shade.

Speciosum Lilies in the Shade.

On the other hand, if purchased in spring, unless the bulbs have been wintered with the greatest care in damp, not wet, peat moss, or sand, they become so withered that their vitality is seriously impaired. There are several dealers who make a specialty of thus wintering lily bulbs,1 and if you buy from one of these, I advise spring planting.

If, however, for any reason you wish to finish your bed this fall, after planting and covering each bulb, press a four or five inch flower-pot lightly into the soil above it. This will act as a partial watershed to keep the drip of rain or snow water from settling in the crown of the bulb and decaying the bud. Or if you have plenty of old boards about the place, they may be put on the bed and slightly raised in the centre, like a pitched roof, so as to form a more complete watershed, and the winter covering of leaves, salt, hay, or litter, free of manure, can be built upon this. Crocuses, snowdrops, and scillas make a charming border for a lily bed and may be also put between the lilies themselves to lend colour early in the season.

To cover your bed thoroughly, so that it will keep out cold and damp and not shut it in, is a must be of successful lily culture. Have you ever tried to grow our hardiest native lilies like the red-wood, Turk's cap, and Canada bell-lily in an open border where the porous earth, filled by ice crystal, was raised by the frost to the consistency of bread sponge? I did this not many years ago and the poor dears looked pinched and woebegone and wholly unlike their sturdy sisters of meadow and upland wood edges. Afterward, in trying to dig some of these lilies from their native soil, I discovered why they were uncomfortable in the open borders; the Garden, You, and I would have to work mighty hard to find a winter blanket for the lily bed to match the turf of wild grasses sometimes half a century old.

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Moscow Mule Mug with Hammer Effect Finish from China Blue

Hammer Finish Moscow Mule Mug

Metal Moscow Mule Mug, with hammered copper electroplated finish with gold electroplated handle.

Drink in style with this moscow mule mug with a copper finish. Ideal for mulled wine.

Width - 10cm, Depth - 12cm, Height - 10.5cm
Weight - 142g

Delivery to UK Mainland included.

Success! Feel free to continue shopping or head to your cart .


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Ulefone Power 5: world’s largest 13,000 mAh smartphone battery for $259.99

Ulefone has already caused a sensation this year with the Ulefone T2 Pro. While this will be the new flagship of the manufacturer, the new Ulefone Power 5 hits into a completely different notch. With a 13,000 mAh, the smartphone has the largest battery in the world and overtakes the Doogee BL12000.

Ulefone Power 5

Technical Specifications

Display 6-inch IPS LC display (2160 x 1080 p), 18:9 with 403 ppi
Processor MediaTek MTK6763 Helio P23 with 2.3 GHz
Graphics chip Mali-G71MP2 @ 770 MHz
Internal memory 64 GB (SD card up to 256 GB)
Camera 21 Megapixel Sony IMX230 with ƒ/1.8 f-stop + 5 Megapixel
Front camera 8 megapixels + 5 megapixels ƒ/2.2
Battery 13.000 mAh, with 5V/5A Fast Charge & 10W Qi-Charge
Connectivity LTE B1/3/7/8/20, BT 4.1, 802.11a/b/g/n 2.4G/5G, GPS/GLONASS
Features fingerprint sensor, hybrid SIM, Qi-charging, USB-C, notification LED
Operating system Android 8.1 Oreo (security patch April 2018)
Dimensions / weight 169.4 x 80.2 x 15.8 mm / 330 g

Ulefone Power 5? Didn’t they forget something? Yes, not so long ago there was the Ulefone Power 3, which also had a strong battery life. With the new 5 series you skip a generation, the manufacturer does not release a Ulefone Power 4. Here, too, it is probably due to the fact that the number 4 is considered an unlucky number in China, because OnePlus also brought the OnePlus 5 directly onto the market after the 3.

UleFone Power 5 Power 3 Design
The Power 5 doesn’t really look like its predecessor anymore

The manufacturer recently upgraded the third offshoot of the Power series with the Ulefone Power 3S. This appeared with less RAM, but with more battery capacity. The original plan was to release the new Power 5 under the name “Ulefone Power 3 Max”.

Design: Rather Blackview than Ulefone

The look of the Ulefone Power 5 is more like an outdoor smartphone and reminds us of the Blackview smartphones. This is due to the mix of metal, plastic and “artificial leather” processing. The metal elements are more on the side and also in the form of the keys. Most of the back is made of synthetic leather looking plastic, only the small area directly around the bottom of the cameras is made of metal. We have seen a similar design on the MAZE Comet, for example, but “real artificial leather” was used there.

UleFone Power 5 Design

Due to the many plastic parts, the Power 5 feels a bit “cheaper” than you might think. After all, the weight of 330 g is not further increased by the omission of a lot of metal. The dimensions are also monstrous at 169.4 x 80.2 x 15.8 mm. Even my rather large OnePlus 5T is 13 mm smaller and only half as thick. This makes the Power 5 the least suitable smartphone for one-handed operation that we have tested so far. The thickness is absolutely understandable and also manageable, but the height, which is achieved by the 6 inch 18:9 display and the large edges above and below, is simply too much. But if you always have both hands on the smartphone anyway, of course this is bearable.

UleFone Power 5 USB-C

The overall workmanship is good, even if the gap dimensions are somewhat too large in some places. The keys (power, volume, shortcut) as well as the fingerprint sensor are on the right side. All are nicely textured, have a good pressure point and do not wobble. Unfortunately, you can’t say that about the hybrid SIM slot on the left side. This sits a bit too deep in the case of our model and shakes audibly when you shake the mobile phone.

Good display but too large edges

The 6-inch IPS LC display has a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels in 18:9 format and thus offers a pixel density of the usual and good 403 PPI. It is light, has no defects such as light or dark spots and the touch screen reacts quickly and reliably even to multitouch gestures. Only the contrast could be a little better, which was bearable for my eyes. Once the pre-installed plastic protection film has been removed, it is just as susceptible to fingerprints as other smartphones. The only really annoying things I find in a time of a Mi Mix 2S are these huge edges.

Ulefone Power 5

Ulefone Power 5 with Helio P23 CPU

It’s not enough to just plug a large battery into a smartphone to get a long battery life. In addition to software optimizations, the right choice of processor is crucial. Ulefone remains loyal to MediaTek and uses the Helio P23 in the Power 5, which has already proven its loyalty in the Ulefone Power 3 and is a relatively energy-efficient CPU. Four of the eight ARM Cortex A53 cores operate at 2.0 GHz, the other half at 1.5 GHz.

The eight-core processor also has an impressive 6 GB of LPDDR4X memory, which is on average fast at 5 GB/s. 64 GB internal memory, on the other hand, has become standard, but can be expanded by up to 256 GB via micro-SD. Current games like PUBG Mobile run smoothly on medium level thanks to the Mali-G71 GPU, but have quite long loading times due to the not too fast memory.

UleFone Power 5 benchmarks
Despite the same CPU, UleFone was able to improve performance compared to Power 3.

Clean Android 8.1

Android 8.1 also finds its way onto the Ulefone Power 5 and comes with the security patch April 2018. We are therefore on a very very up-to-date software version. This is also evident in day-to-day operation. The Power 5 reacts quickly and reliably and fortunately has no bloatware (useless apps) pre-installed. If you wipe the home screen to the right you will find the Google Timeline (formerly Google Now), which hopefully shows you relevant information. If you do not want this, you can deactivate the function. There are additions in the form of gestures such as the three-finger screenshot or functions for touching the fingerprint sensor briefly or for a long time.

ulephone-power-5 Software

4 cameras, 2 are working

Of course the Power 5 also offers cameras, there are four in total. On the back is the Sony IMX230 sensor with 21 megapixels and a ƒ/1.8 aperture. In addition, Ulefone supposedly integrates an optical image stabilizer, which, however, is not perceptible at all in videos and therefore either does not exist or does a very bad job. There is also a 5 megapixel camera, but it doesn’t work. No matter if black and white or portrait mode, no message ever came that the secondary camera is covered – a pity!

The photos from the main camera are surprisingly good as long as you leave the camera in Auto mode. Sharpness and detail are right in decent light. But if you want to use HDR or portrait mode, the camera responds with fake bokeh, unnatural colors and a long shutter release time. Even in poorer light it gets a bit grainy in the picture. But the low-light shots are still acceptable, considering that the focus of the Power 5 was not on the camera. Compared to the Power 3, the quality of the images that such a battery monster can produce has increased significantly.

UleFone Power 5 Portrait Mode
Portrait mode is, as so often, just software gameplay
UleFone Power 5 Macro
The colours and sharpness are right in good light
UleFone Power 5 HDR
The HDR mode (right) unfortunately only gives you neon green leaves & too long trigger time

UleFone Power 5 Foosball

UleFone Power 5 DealDoktor

Front camera with unusable portrait mode

The front camera combines an 8 megapixel sensor with a 5 megapixel sensor (which at least detects when closed!) at a ƒ/2.2 aperture. This also serves to unlock the face, which works reliably and quite quickly and this time cannot be tricked with a simple photo. The selfies in good light are okay, but no real improvement over their predecessors. In poor lighting, even the front flash cannot save anything. The portrait mode and therefore also the secondary camera are unfortunately not real again.

UleFone Power 5 Front Cameras & Selfie Light

UleFone Power 5 Selfies

The world’s largest smartphone battery

Unlike its predecessor, the manufacturer simply doubles the number of mAh and uses a 13,000 mAh battery, the largest smartphone battery currently available. So far the role has been taken by the Doogee BL12000. However, the total battery capacity is not divided into one battery, but into two batteries. Ulefone itself states that it can use the battery for a good seven days. Accordingly, you only need to charge the Power 5 once a week.

Charging the phone only takes 2.5 hours, according to Ulefone, thanks to 5V5A Fast Charge technology. In our test it was after 2.5 hours at about 85%. For the full 100% it took 3.5 hours, whereby the last percentages always charge slower than the first. After only one hour it was already at 40%, which at 13.000 mAh is 5.200 mAh and the charge is enough for more than one day.

UleFone Power 5 Battery & Charger
The longest battery life ever measured

The battery life at 50% display brightness is 28 hours and 10 minutes. If one assumes that one uses the mobile phone actively approx. 5 hours per day, one can easily get by with it five days. It’s nice to see that the battery lives up to its promise, even if better software optimization would certainly give you even more battery life. A nice feature is the possibility to charge the phone wirelessly. Since this “only” supports 10 W Qi charging, however, a full charge should take some time. Still a nice feature for easy loading in between.

LTE, one shortcut key & three adapters

The Ulefone Power 5 offers beside a large battery still further nice features. the most important LTE bands, just like Bluetooth 4.1, 802.11a/b/g/n Dual Band WiFi as well as GPS and GLONASS. The mobile phone, WLAN and GPS performance are all in good midfield. Below the fingerprint sensor on the side there is also a shortcut key, which serves as camera button and shutter button (press briefly) and button for voice recording (press long) – pretty cool, we think!

UleFone Power 5 Side

The fingerprint sensor is unusually placed on the right side, which was a good decision given the thickness of the Power 5. Once you get used to the placement, the sensor is fast enough and reliable. On the bottom you can find the USB-C connector and the mono speaker, but unfortunately no headphone jack. For this one of three adapters is included. The other two are an OTG adapter for charging other smartphones and a USB C-to-micro USB adapter.

UleFone Power 5 Scope of deliveryThe scope of delivery is also otherwise quite luxuriant. Besides the pre-installed protective film there is a second one, a case and of course a charger and cables.

Conclusion: Powerbank with smartphone functions

With the Power 5, Ulefone has definitely reached its goal of the largest battery with the greatest endurance tested by us. The mobile phone can also convince with a good screen, reasonably fast performance and a clean Android 8.1. Weak points are the secondary cameras and the very plastic-heavy processing. And the large battery is, of course, at the expense of design. Accordingly, the Power 5 is very bulky and very heavy. If you don’t mind, there’s a power bank that’s also a good smartphone.

What do you think of the Ulefone Power 5? Does a battery this big have to be? Do you even own a “battery monster”?

To the gadget
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Part of the China-Gadgets Team since 2016. I love China-Smartphones and all accessories that surround them.

Psst! Hey you! We finance the gadget tests mainly through advertising revenue.

We have used very little advertising to make your stay with us as pleasant as possible.

Therefore we would be happy if you would deactivate your ad blocker on our pages - so we can test even more :-).

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Comments (14)

  • 21.03.18 um 21:55

    How much is the phone?

  • 23.03.18 um 09:55

    Maike Editorial staff

    Hey tomyy, unfortunately the price of the smartphone is still unknown. We will update the article if there are any news.

  • 02.04.18 um 21:26

  • 23.04.18 um 07:19

    Ulefone user

    Having only recently purchased the ulefone power 3s a couple of weeks ago and being happy with the phone and its performance I might just be looking to get the power done when our comes out. I do however already plan on buying the t2 pro if it lives up to the expectations. I surely I don’t need all three or do I lol?

    • 25.04.18 um 16:30

      Thorben Editorial staff

      @Ulefone user: You surely don’t need all three 😀 But that’s the fun about gadgets, isn’t it? You always have more than you need! I would probably stick with the T2 Pro, it is very interesting in my opinion 🙂

  • 18.05.18 um 16:52

    Update me on the price pls, I just come across the cool app today waooooh nice I guess

  • 19.05.18 um 21:42

    Make it affordable

  • 22.05.18 um 15:18

    I want to buy I need help.

  • 02.08.18 um 22:36

    249.00 us$

    • 03.08.18 um 08:58

      Maike Editorial staff

      @August do you have a link for us?

  • 06.08.18 um 15:19

    Valeriy Klotchko

  • 06.08.18 um 15:20

    Valeriy Klotchko

    Comment picture of Valeriy Klotchko
  • 08.08.18 um 13:14

    I bought one 2 months ago. From DX, had to wait a couple of weeks but once it arrives I had the best endurance phone ever. I use it on a daily basis and it runs 3,5 to 4 days without charging where both an iPhone 8 or Samsung S9+ would never get me through the day. Performance is very good to excellent. I added a 128GB microSD and it integrated it, now reporting total of 192GB storage. Thanks to the 6GB RAM it executes everything directly and swiftly. It is a s one would want it to be. Never thought that going away from the €1.000 phones to a "”low cost"” device(€192 is what I paid) would be satisfying but it is and 700€ saved!!!

  • 10.08.18 um 08:37

    Real battery capacity – 12 000mAh

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‘Dead Space’ vidgame creator inspired by Hollywood

When variety-logoGlen Schofield looks for inspiration, he often turns to Hollywood, the co-founder and general manager of Sledgehammer Games told an audience in a Wednesday talk at this year’s D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas.

Schofield, whose studio co-developed “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” and created the “Dead Space” franchise, discussed the art of inspiration — which, he noted, can come from a variety of sources, ranging from ear-piercing sounds on the subway to vacation pictures.

Read more at Daily Variety


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Grafton Rd, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 1QY, UK

Welcome to Christ Church Worthing

The Revd. David William Renshaw, Vicar of the Parish of Worthing, Christ Church 01903 244283

Welcome to the website for Christ Church, Worthing – we hope you will find the information you need

Please see below for details of all our services and events, and you can contact the Administrator on 01903 237713 for any other information. Visitors are warmly welcomed

Regular Worship at Christ Church

10.30am Holy Communion every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday
10.30am Morning Prayer every 2nd and 4th  Sunday
6pm 1662 BCP Evensong every 1st & 3rd Sunday
10.30am Holy Communion (1662 BCP) every 2nd & 4th Thursday

Regular Events in Christ Church

Tuesdays: 10.30am to 12.30pm: Open church with refreshments

Wednesdays: 10.30am to 12 noon [till 1.00 pm every first Wednesday], Open church with refreshments; Donations accepted in aid of missions. Hand made cards for sale.

Thursdays: 2.30pm to 4.30pm: Come and enjoy a chat over a cuppa!
Also on Thursdays 2.30pm to 4.30pm, “Knit & Natter”, bring          your knitting, enjoy fellowship and a cuppa!
Every 2nd Thursday – Hazel Thorpe is also available to listen and  give advice
Third Thursday of each month at 2.30pm – Rainbow Poetry       group meets in the church
Saturday Coffee Mornings
: 2nd & 4th Saturdays of each month 10.30am to 12 noon

Some useful links…

Weddings.. If you would like to know more about getting married in church.. Congratulations!! It is such a wonderful time, and we would love to be there for you. To find out more information, and give you more ideas for your big day Click here

Christenings.. If you would like to have your child christened in church.. We would love to hear from you! Click here for more information

Funerals… If you would like some supportive information to help you organise a funeral for a loved one click here for some useful information we hope will help.

For the Chichester Diocese website, Click here

For the Worthing Deanery website, Click here

Dates for your Diary!

CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL.  From 6th December to the start of January 2019, come and see our annual display of Christmas Trees, every day that the church is open from all the various groups and organisations that use the church regularly. [see home page for opening times].

Sun 16th Dec 4pm Carols by Candlelight, led by the Revd David Renshaw
Weds 19th December from 10.30am come and sing your favourite carols, have a cuppa and a mince pie, and start the festivities!
Mon 24th Dec 11.30pm Midnight Communion Service led by the Revd David Renshaw
Tues 25th Dec 10.30am Christmas day Holy Communion Service led by the Revd David Renshaw


text:
Chrome Unboxed – The Latest Chrome OS News

Amazon Will Now Sell Chromecasts (And Apple TV)

In the ongoing tug-of-war between Google and Amazon, some surprising news has landed today as CNET reports that the world’s largest online shopping outlet will soon begin selling Chromecast as well as Apple TV.

In late 2015, Amazon discontinued sales of the competitors streaming devices as they ramped up marketing for their in-house Fire TV products. The move was the first of many back-and-forth blows between Amazon and Google in an increasingly market.

Earlier this year, Google pulled YouTube support from Amazon’s Echo Show in a wrestling match that still seems to be very much alive as YouTube later returned just to be removed from the Echo Show again two weeks later. Understandable, Amazon would much prefer to push their own hardware but the ongoing power struggle has become almost laughable.

Just as it appeared no accord would be struck, an Amazon spokesperson told CNET Thursday;

I can confirm that we are assorting Apple TV and Chromecast,

No further comment was offered but listings for Chromecast, Chromecast Ultra and Apple TV are all live on Amazon despite showing “currently unavailable.” Likely, inventory management is in in the process of stocking the devices to prepare for launch.

The news comes on the heels of Amazon adding Chromecast support to their Music App and is a sign of hope that the two giants (and Apple) aren’t beyond playing together. Options are nice and I think Amazon is making a smart move by opening up this new door.

Shop Chromebooks On Amazon

Source: CNET via Android Police


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Next up in this mini-series which mostly involves my friend’s Whatsapping me about poo, we’re talking child birth! It’s one of those things that before you get pregnant you try to avoid thinking about in too much detail, and you’re certainly not going to research, then you get pregnant and you’re supposed to know everything. Do you want an epidural? What’s an episiotomy (we’ll get to it, and sorry in advance)? And most importantly who fishes the shit out of the birth pool?!

I asked my non-pregnant, non-tiny human rearing, Pill-guzzling (especially since these conversations) friends what they want to know about child birth. Warning, this may get graphic…

Ok, it’s the question everybody asked so lets get it out of the way…
Does everybody poo?!

No. A lot of people do, yes. I didn’t (every contraction made me need to run to the toilet instead, which led to quite the inner turmoil about whether I needed to go back to the bathroom or if I needed to push).
I was terrified about this too the first time around, it’s mortifying to think that as a grown adult you may be about to shit yourself in front of a room full of people. We’re not exactly a society who talk freely about our toilet habits, and the idea of losing our dignity to that extent is terrifying to most women.
The thing is though, there’s way more going on down there that you will be far more preoccupied by. There’s an actual human coming out of your vagina. In the moment, you won’t give a shit (pun intended). And afterwards you have a baby, that’s way more interesting than what your midwife subtly cleaned away (yes, if you’re in a pool there really is a little sieve for poo fishing, I don’t know if they make them specifically or if they just grab some from Ikea but they exist).

Does everybody tear?

Again, no. Everybody is left with some level of damage, as much as we’re designed to do this evolution didn’t let it happen easily. There’s a huge range of what can happen down there; from ‘grazes’ to a mediolateral episiotomy. A graze doesn’t need stitches, just a few cuts that will heal on their own, an episiotomy…well that’s basically front to back. I know. I’m sorry.
This is something you can’t predict with child birth, it can depend on baby’s size, their position, the position you choose to labour in, how you push, or just bad damn luck. I have recently learnt about perineal massage though, which can stretch it out and hell I’m all for trying anything to avoid stitches!

I have read about cutting. Cutting sounds awful. WTAF?

Cutting is actually preferable to tearing. The midwife may decide that you need some help opening up to allow baby out, and will cut from your vaginal opening to one side of your anus. Yes, of course this sounds horrendous, makes you cross your legs and makes your eyes water (any guys reading, still sure getting kicked in the balls is worse?!), but this is the better option. If you’re cut it’s done in a clean, controlled way, the midwife knows where to cut and it is an easier wound to stitch up afterwards. Tearing is unpredictable and probably won’t follow a straight line. Think about trying to tear a piece of paper in two or using scissors to do it, one’s going to be neater.
Nobody wants a scalpel being wielded at their fanny, but that’s the joys of childbirth I’m afraid, sometimes it’s the best option.

Why the hell do you have also have to give birth to your placenta? I thought it all came out in one job lot? How long does it take?

Yeah they don’t really tell you about that. Basically how you go about this depends on how you are choosing to labour, delivering the placenta is called the third stage of labour, because two stages isn’t enough obvs. You can either have a physiological third stage, where you wait to deliver the placenta naturally, baby stays attached by their cord (until it stops pulsating – yeah that’s a thing too) and they are able to get all of the nutrients and the best blood from the placenta. Or you can have an injection of syntocinon in your thigh, baby’s cord is cut and you don’t really notice the placenta coming out. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour, they just have to make sure it’s all out and intact (came away from the uterine wall properly) to make sure you’re not at risk for heavy bleeding or infection).
Either option is just as safe, and you’re giving baby just as good a start, it all depends on parental preference. With my first labour I had the injection (I didn’t actually know of any other option), this time around I’m thinking of delayed clamping. I didn’t even notice any of it happening and was pretty baffled when the midwife asked if I wanted to look away from my brand new baby to have a look at the placenta. That shit ain’t pretty.

What’s your fanny like afterwards? Irreparable damage?

I haven’t had the luxury of being able to go ‘was it better before? Is it better now? DID IT ALWAYS LOOK LIKE THAT?!’ to anybody. This time round I will be asking for a report card before and after. We’ll put it this way though, I’ve had no complaints.
The immediate aftermath is a bit of a mess, don’t look! Seeing your own car crash fanny isn’t going to do your self esteem any good.
There’s a lot more blood that you expect post birth, it’s like the heaviest period you’ve ever had times ten. That lasts for a fair few days and is quite miserable, not least because maternity pads are essentially adult nappies.
Also one thing nobody told me first time around you keep getting contractions!! Literally nobody told me. I thought I was either dying or there was another baby in there that everybody missed. Turns out it was just my uterus going back to the size it should be but you really ought to warn a girl! (This is worse when breastfeeding, because obviously breastfeeding isn’t painful enough)

Weeing and pooing after? I’m terrified. Were you terrified? Was it really painful?

There’s no way to sugarcoat that one. If you’ve ever experienced a really awful bought of diarrhea that’s left you a little sore you might have some idea of what’s to come. Basically wee on an open wound doesn’t feel all that great. You will need a jug of warm water to pour over you at the same time (in the hope that it washes some away) and to lean riiiight forward to try and direct your stream away (if you’ve ever tried to ensure your pee hits the side of the bowl so a new boyfriend doesn’t know you have bodily functions you’ll have this bit down).
I have never been more terrified of anything in my life as I was about going for my first post birth poo, this is the poo you should care about, not the mid-labour one. Giving birth you’re pushing in much the same way as when you poo, the urge to push is the same as the urge to poo, so going through those actions again can feel like…well like your fanny might fall out. I can’t imagine how much scarier this would be with stitches as well. Fuck. I’m starting to regret this blog…I’ve got to do all this again!

What would be your best advice for a man during labour? What should he do and what should he really not do?

This is actually a whole new ball game for me. My first labour I was alone for almost all of it, so I haven’t learnt just what I need and what I really need you to stop doing. Also, I happen to have procreated with what may well be the most annoying man on the planet, don’t get me wrong, I love the bones of him, but there’s a time and a place for songs about pigeons flying away – labour isn’t it.
I think a lot of men can feel very helpless during labour, especially if there are any complications, there’s not really that much they can do to help and they get shouted at a lot (it is your fault). The main thing is to prepare with your partner, know their birth plan, know what they want and what they don’t want, know their planned positions, pack the hospital bag and know where the spare hair bands are, and listen. You hear a lot of stories of dads moaning about being tired, hungry, or bored during labour, don’t be that guy. Your partner is about to do something bloody impressive, she’s bringing life into this world – your job right now is to do everything she asks, to be her cheerleader, and to be her support. If things don’t go to plan it’s down to you to keep calm and hold her hand.
Sound like a lot of pressure? Know that deep down you’ll want to faint at the sight of it? Tough shit. You’re not the one getting sliced from fanny to arse.
Oh, and never, ever make a joke about the ‘husband’ stitch. You’re paranoid enough about your post-baby body without that misogynistic bullshit.

What’s it like to lay eyes on your baby for the first time?

There aren’t words to describe this feeling. Every cliché out there about love at first sight doesn’t even come close. The rush of hormones that your body goes through and the emotional onslaught is like the best drug ever, if you could bottle that feeling  you’d be a millionaire.
It’s also a big fat dose of reality. You’ve been carrying them for nine months and of course knew you were going to have a baby, but the reality of holding this tiny ball of responsibility for the first time it really sinks in. You’re a mum. A grown up. This person will rely on you for everything. I think for dads this is often when it really hits them too, not having carried the baby the connection isn’t quite as strong for most dads until they have a baby physically in their arms.
This is what makes it all worth it, honestly. It’s why I know that no matter what happens I can do labour again and I keep getting butterflies just thinking about it.

Birth can be awful, it can be scary, and it can be really, really painful. It can also be a beautiful experience. You have to go into it with a positive attitude towards birth, a strong understanding, and an absolute faith in your body. We are women, we are built for this. Allowing your body to do what it needs to do and feeling prepared and calm about labour can mean that birth is far from the screaming, panicked, emergency labours we see on One Born Every Minute (I fucking hate that show for many reasons, its unnecessary need to scare women about childbirth being one of them). You don’t have to have a scary labour.
But even if things don’t go to plan, even if the birth plan gets thrown out the window, you’re still bringing a life in to the world, and the first time you see that little person and hold them to your chest you will experience love like you never knew possible. And it’ll all be worth it.

It’s still worse than being kicked in the balls though. No matter what he says. I’d be more than happy to offer my services as a mid-contraction ball kick to test it if needed…

Next up I’ll be talking breastfeeding and the first three months, hit me up if you have any questions that you want answered, not just those of you on my Whatsapp 😉


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Sugarin’ Down the Figs

Fig preserves cooking
Fig preserves cooking

It’s that time of summer again. The figs are “hangin’ in tags,” as the old saying goes where I come from. That means there’s a “bumper crop,” or there are a lot of figs on that tree this year. Both of my mamaws had fig trees in their back yards. They are still there to this day. Mama and Daddy have a tree that came from a shoot from Mamaw Holley’s  tree. The fig season doesn’t last all summer for the kind of figs we have, so we have to make use of the few weeks we have to work with.

There are others in the world who love these figs at least as much we do. Creatures that we have to fight some times. These creatures have beady little eyes they stare at us with, and mouths with appetites for figs that rival our own. Birds. Just birds. But they can do so much damage in such a short time, and have such an attitude toward us when we go out to pick our figs that they want so badly. There are a few short term solutions we alternate to frighten the birds away. The green garden hose works for a while. We just lay it in the tree from branch to branch to look a little like a snake. Then there’s the inflatable owl that we hang in the tree. The birds are afraid of that predator until they notice it’s not moving. Of course, we use a rubber snake, too. None of these work for the whole season, so they have to be alternated. It does help keep them away for the most part. The figs in the top of the tree are hard to get, so we don’t really mind if they get those. We’re willing to share those, so I don’t know what their problem is.

Mama and Daddy get a half gallon every day from their tree. I offered to preserve the figs for the family this year, so I have about four gallons of figs right now that Daddy picked and saved. Since I don’t personally have a fig tree, I get all excited when their tree bears. I love canning anything. Tomato Relish, Jelly and Syrup from fruit of the land, Fig Preserves, and the list goes on. Last night I was up late actually enjoying cutting the stem ends off the figs, dropping them into the pot, and pouring the sugar over them by layers. As I got about a gallon of figs in a layer into the pot, I poured about a cup – a cup and a half of sugar over them. I did this about four times, put the lid on the pot, and set the pot on the table for overnight. The sugar draws the juice out of the figs, and when they are cooked down slowly, they have plenty of syrup to cover them. I have a recipe, but I don’t go strictly by it. I process fig preserves the way Mamaw showed me how she did it when I was a young girl, and how my Mama does hers.

I can just taste those preserves now on fresh hot biscuits. I think if I have them ready by supper time, we may just have scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits with fig preserves. That just sounds so good to me, and we love having breakfast for supper some times. The weather is supposed to be rainy tonight, so that would be a cozy supper, I think.

Have a great weekend and be very blessed, my friends.

2 thoughts on “Sugarin’ Down the Figs

  1. Thank you so much for this post, Ms. Cindy! It’s nice to hear that my family isn’t the only one left with a love to can. My great grandma has a HUGE canning stove out here that my Uncle Johnny built for her, and we still have the many pressure cookers she used to can things in. Sadly, we haven’t been able to can on the big-boy canning stove since we’ve been here, but we’re slowly working the land around it and clearing so that we can use it.

  2. Hey, Andrew! That’s awesome to have that canning stove and the pressure cooker. I don’t have a canning pressure cooker, so I only can acidic foods that I can just process in a huge boiling bath canning pot. Canning is satisfying to me. I can actually see physical progress to something I’m trying to accomplish. Haha! I hope your family can use the canning stove soon. Do I understand you correctly that you still have your great grandma with you?! I loved that I knew three of my great grandparents, and all my grandparents.
    Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog. I read yours the other day, but couldn’t comment; my computer was glitchy that day. I’ll try again.

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text:
CK1023-6 Spring Loaded Eyelets (2 pak)

  • Model: CK1023-6

Add to Cart:

These eyelets are included with all fixture adapters and CK1011 switches. They firmly grasp the plugged in device and hold it firmly to the ceiling or wall. Test have shown them capable of supporting chandeliers in excess of four ounces. (Most chandeliers weigh in at less than an ounce.)