Slice of Life Story Challenge #12 - Between the Lines

 My focus this month is to explore writing invitations, mostly through newly published picture books, but possibly some other mentor texts as well.

Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery by Sandra Neil Wallace and Bryan Collier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I didn't know anything about football player and artist Ernie Barnes, so this book taught me a lot about him. His art looks amazing, and I will look for it next time I'm in a museum where his paintings hang (Philadelphia, OA, NEC, Washington, DC, and Alabama). Of course, Bryan Collier's work is beautiful, as always!

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Writing invitation: Write about all you want to do or be in life.  

The story of Ernie Barnes fascinated me!  It makes me think of all the times we ask kids, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  as if there is only one answer to that question. 

I listened to Michelle Obama's book, Becoming, recently.  She ponders work and home life, wondering if she can have everything.  In a recent interview, she criticized Sheryl Sandburg by saying,  “I tell women, that whole ‘you can have it all’ — nope, not at the same time; that’s a lie,” Obama said. “It’s not always enough to lean in because that s--- doesn’t work.”

Is that true?  You can't have it all at the same time?  Yes, I would say that it is, but you can have seasons when you get to try out different things you love and are interested in.  We don't have to ask kids, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" because "growing up" doesn't happen all at once.  It's not finite.  You don't have to decide! You get to keep growing up.  You get to finish one thing and try something else.  What a relief!