“World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology.” ~from the LitWorld website
So…that brings us to this year. World Read Aloud Day is March 7, 2012.
Are you a traditionally published author who would like to Skype into classrooms & libraries to read aloud to kids for free on March 7th? Just leave me a comment with your name, publisher(s), the age groups for which you write, and a website where teachers & librarians can find contact information. Please use this format to keep things simple:
Kate Messner Chronicle/Scholastic/Walker-Bloomsbury PB/Chapter books/MG www.katemessner.com
Once I hear from a bunch of people, I’ll create this year’s list and keep adding to it as we get closer to World Read Aloud Day.
(Note: This list will include traditionally published authors only. I have nothing against self-publishing, but I’m one human being with limited time, and that helps to limit the scope of this project so that I can still write books and feed my kids and things like that. If someone else wants to make a list of self-published authors volunteering to do Skype read-alouds, I will happily link to it here.)
Teachers & librarians…please give us a few days and then check back; we’ll have a list of authors ready to go so that you can start planning for Read Aloud Day, 2012!
I’ve shared this poem before, but in light of all the “Best of 2011” lists appearing in newspapers, magazines, journals, radio shows, and blogs… I thought it might be time for an encore. This one’s for my author/illustrator friends, whether or not your book is on any of those lists.
What Happened to Your Book Todayby Kate Messner
Somewhere, a child laughedon that page where you made a joke.Somewhere, she wiped away a tear,Just when you thought she might. Somewhere, your book was passedfrom one hand to another in a hallwaybusy with clanging lockers,with whispered words,“You have got to read this.”And a scribbled note:O.M.G. SO good.Give it back when ur done.It’s looking a little more love-worn lately,rougher around the edges than it did on release day.There are dog eared pages and Gatorade stains.Someone smeared maple syrup on the coverbecause she read all through breakfast.Pages 125 and 126 are stuck fast with peanut butterBecause Chapter 10 was even more deliciousthan lunch.Somewhere, tiny hands held up your bookAnd a little voice begged, “Again!”Somewhere, the answer came,A grown-up sigh…and a smile…And the fourteenth read-aloud of the morning.That same book. Again.Your book.Somewhere, a kid who has never read a whole book on his own(Really. Not even one.)picked up yours and turned a page.And then another.And then one more.And it was pretty cool, turns out.He brought it back – huge smile on his face –(and I mean huge)And asked for another one.And he read that, too.Somewhere, a teenager who thought she was aloneOpened your pages and discovered she’s not.And somewhere, somebody who thought about giving upwill keep on trying, keep on hoping.Because of that book you wrote.Somewhere tonight – listen closely and you’ll hear–A child will turn the last page of that book,That book you wrote,and sigh.Can you hear it?It’s the sound of a story being held closeRight before a young voice says,“It feels like this was written just for me.” And it was.
So thank you, friends. Your books matter so very, very much.
I’m breaking my holiday blog vacation to share some great news for OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW’s amazing illustrator. Christopher Silas Neal has been named a Fall 2011 Flying Start Illustrator by Publisher’s Weekly!
~photo by Sam Weber for PW
PW has published a great interview with Chris that starts at the very beginning of this project:
“For a graphic artist who has done posters, covers, and spot illustrations, illustrating a book should be a piece of cake, right? Not necessarily. “When I do a cover or a poster, it’s often a big figure or object that’s centered on the page,” Christopher Silas Neal says. “I hadn’t created many environments where characters were moving through space.” He was delighted when Chronicle gave him the job of illustrating Kate Messner’s Over and Under the Snow (Chronicle, Oct.). He loved Messner’s evocative descriptions of animal life beneath the snow, and he’d been wanting to try illustrating a picture book. But he wasn’t immediately clear about how best to represent the winter world Messner had written about.” ~from the PW “Flying Start interview. Read the rest here.
…then you’ll be happy to know that Chronicle has signed up illustrator Andy Rash and me for two more books about Ernest the Sea Monster! SEA MONSTER AND BOSSY FISH, about a small fish with a big head, is the first of the two, coming in 2013, to be followed by SEA MONSTER’S FIRST FIELD TRIP in 2014. Underwater hijinks will ensue.
OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW was on the NY Times Notable Children’s Books of 2011 list and has gone into a second printing. In the mean time, the book has become a little harder to find in stores and online, but if you’re looking for copies for the holidays, some little indie bookseller birds have told me that Books, Inc., The Bookstore Plus, and Flying Pig Bookstore all have a few copies left – and they ship!
Not long after Marty returns, my Scholastic mystery series debuts, with CAPTURE THE FLAG in June. I’m told the cover is almost-almost-final, so I should be able to share soon.
And finally… (In my old field of journalism, this is what they call burying the lead) I have a big, big change coming up in two weeks. For a long time, people have been asking me, “So when are you going to leave teaching?” And my answer was always the same: “I’m going to keep doing both – teaching and writing – as long as I can keep everything in balance.”
But my writing life has taken off in a way that I never could have imagined – never could have dreamed about when I was that kid with a stack of notebooks in my closet. And by last spring, it was pretty apparent that I was getting to that place where I couldn’t do it all any more — teaching, writing, and being a wife and mom — and keep things in balance. So when the New Year begins…I’ll be starting it as a full-time writer. Leaving my classroom wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s made easier by the fact that I’ll still be able to do so much teaching and reading and writing with kids through my author visits and writing workshops. And our district has a high school English teacher whose position was never filled when she went on maternity leave in the fall, so when she returns second semester, she’ll be working with my students, and I know they’ll be in great hands.
The transition feels a little scary but mostly exciting. It means I’ll have more time to work on the books I have under contract, as well as some exciting new projects that I’ll be able to talk about soon. I’ll be able to say yes to more Skype visits and more in-person author visits that I’ve had to turn down in the past. I’ll be able to write during daylight hours (instead of the wee hours of the morning!) and then pick my own kids up from school at the end of their day, which I’m looking forward to most of all.
Aside from the occasional book recommendation, this blog is likely to be pretty quiet these last weeks of December as I clean out file cabinets and make plans, read books and hug kids, decorate the tree and bake cookies. Look for me in January, with some thoughts on new projects, new schedules, writing, and revising. And in the mean time, have a wonderful holiday season!
I’ve gotten some amazing entries in my Spread-the-Word-About-Marty-McGuire contest – and even though you can enter through January 14th…these student/class entries were so great I couldn’t wait to share them.
Up first… Allison, of Mrs. Phillips’ class, who made this fabulous 3D frog, who (look carefully!) is reading Marty McGuire.
Not to be outdone, Kathy Schmidt’s second grade group did a multi-week Marty McGuire book study unit. (Kathy wrote it up in detail here, and it’s a terrific resource for second and third grade teachers interested in sharing Marty with a class!) Their culminating activity? Marty McGuire book trailers!
The contest runs through January 14th, and you don’t have to be a kid or a teacher to enter. Just do something to spread the word about Marty McGuire, and you could win a $100 bookstore gift card, signed books, or a virtual writing workshop. All the details are here!
The NCTE conference last month was an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great books, and now that my fall travel schedule is winding down, I’ve had a chance to enjoy some of the titles I picked up at that conference. Here are three great ones – for three different age groups.
E-MERGENCY by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer is a language lover’s romp through the alphabet – with every letterish pun you can imagine, played out in the house where the whole crew lives together. (P is in the bathroom in the first illustration…if that gives you a sense of the laugh-out-loud humor.) When E becomes injured, the other letters must come to her aid and take her place (“Boop! Boop!” go the cars) until she has time to recover. This book is simply so much fun – and a great one to share not just with primary students but older kids as well.
Candace Fleming’s AMELIA LOST: THE LIFE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF AMELIA EARHART may end up being one of my favorite nonfiction titles of all time. I loved the chapters that alternated back and forth between the search for the missing Amelia Earhart and the life that led her to that last voyage. This is narrative nonfiction at its very best…suspenseful, even though you know full well how it all ends. One more thing I love about Fleming’s research and writing is the way she paints a hero as a real human being, imperfections and all, and while this biography most certainly captures the daring and bravery of one of America’s favorite female adventurers, it also shines a light on her role as a self-promoter and marketer, and on her flaws…including the impulsivity that may have contributed to her disappearance. Fascinating and compelling, this is simply a story you won’t want to miss.
WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler, with illustrations by Maira Kalman, is one of those books that makes me wish I had a time machine…so I could travel back 25 years or so and hand a copy to my 16-year-old self. I’m not sure I would have gotten it then – not sure I would have seen what Min found so hard to see about the relationships in her life. But I would have loved the writing anyway. Told through a series of illustrations depicting the stuff in a box that a girl gives back to a boy when they break up, the premise sounds simple – and in many ways, it is. It’s the voice and the heart that really won me over here. And probably, too, the fact that I remember all too well being a teenaged girl who fell for the Eds of the world…following around the wrong boys instead of noticing the Als…the friends who were always there with a hug and an old movie. This book is funny and warm and sad sometimes, too, and I liked it a lot.
Note for teacher friends: This is one of those older YA novels – better for high school than middle school, but for older teens, it could be a fascinating literature circles title, inviting discussions of not only relationships but also the role that artifacts play in our lives and memories.
Up next for me: THE APOTHECARY by Maile Meloy, and after that, THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF JACK by Kelly Barnhill, as soon as the library calls to tell me it’s in. What’s on your nightstand right now?
The day after Thanksgiving, still full of turkey and stuffing and apple pie that wasn’t quite up to snuff (Mom wasn’t here this year), my daughter and I drove to Montpelier for an annual tradition at the fabulous Bear Pond Books. The post-Thanksgiving “Stories and Leftovers” event is an opportunity for families to come and hear some relaxed read-alouds as well as do some holiday shopping. I read my newest picture book, OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW.
Then I got to relax and enjoy the other authors reading from their work. Leda Schubert read two of her new picture books, READING TO PEANUT and THE PRINCESS OF BORSCHT, which made me laugh out loud so much I had to take a copy home.
David Martin not only read his two newest picture books (LITTLE BUNNY AND THE MAGIC CHRISTMAS TREE was so cute!) but also played his guitar and sang. (There was something in this song about flapping your tongue, which is why this picture looks a little funny.)
Reeve Lindbergh read her warm, wonderful book, HOMER, THE LIBRARY CAT.
And Beth Kannell read from her new filled-with-secrets-and-puzzles book for middle grade readers, THE SECRET ROOM.
Thanks, Bear Pond Books, for a wonderful day-after-Thanksgiving! If you weren’t at the event but would like to order signed books, we did leave a few behind for the later shoppers- just give Bear Pond a call at 802-229-0774.
I spent a whirlwind three days in Chicago for the National Council of Teachers of English Convention. If you happened to sit near me on the plane ride home, you might have wondered why I couldn’t stop smiling. Here are some of the reasons…
My NCTE trip began in the loveliest way possible…meeting up with friend Linda Urban at the airport after our early-morning flights arrived. We had time for a breakfast and writer-talk before heading out to a shared school visit. We spent the afternoon with the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th graders of Brook Forest Elementary School, home of uber-librarian John Schumacher, one of Library Journal’s official “Movers & Shakers” for 2011. Just step into Mr. Schu’s library, and it’s easy to see why he caught LJ’s attention.
The Brook Forest library is beautiful, bright, and vibrant, and a place where kids so obviously feel loved and at home. And boy do they ever celebrate books here!
This is the picture book wall, where kids post a sticker for every picture book they read during Picture Book Month. There were hundreds – in fact, I suspect thousands, of titles already. Just awesome. The students and staff at Brook Forest really know how to make a visiting author feel welcome, too.
Even the poles were decorated! Here’s Linda, checking out some student art, featuring my Ernest from SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY and her Mouse from MOUSE WAS MAD.
And then there was the cake…
…which was as delicious as it was beautiful. The kids at Brook Forest ran the show for this author visit, reading the introductions and then coordinating the Q and A session that followed.
Here’s Linda, Mr. Schu, and me…
…and here’s Linda signing her awesome author poster. These all become part of the Brook Forest Library authors wall, where Mr. Schu features authors & illustrators who have visited, in person or via Skype.
On Thursday evening, it was back to Chicago, where I got to have dinner with the fantastic Walker/Bloomsbury folks, including my editor, Mary Kate, who is smart and sweet and funny, and who loves dessert as much as I do. She understands that one should never be too full for a brownie sundae.
Friday began with our NCTE author panel on using author critique groups as a model for classroom revision activities. Matthew Kirby, Eric Luper, Linda Urban, and I joined educator/author Denise Johnson to talk about the power of peer critiques for writers of all ages.
After the presentation, Mary Kate whisked me off for my signing, where the Walker/Bloomsbury folks had built this amazing tornado tower of EYE OF THE STORM review copies.
From there, I headed over to the Scholastic booth to sign MARTY MCGUIRE along with illustrator Brian Floca!
This was the first time Brian and I had ever signed together, so it was great fun, especially since he brought along some original illustrations for the second Marty book, MARTY MCGUIRE DIGS WORMS, which comes out in April!
Friday evening, I spoke and signed at the BookSource cocktail party for educators & staff developers, along with an author & poet I’ve admired for a long time, Nikki Grimes. Nikki had come straight from the National Book Awards and was losing her voice but agreed to speak anyway, after a cup of hot tea. Halfway through her talk, though, her voice just wasn’t holding up, and she looked over and motioned for me to join her at the podium. “Can you help me with this?”
We tag-teamed the rest of her speech, with Nikki giving the brief introductions and me reading her poems aloud. It was little scary, since I was reading cold, but mostly it was just fun and awesome. I kept thinking, “I’m standing here reading with Nikki Grimes!” Here we are after the reading & signing was through.
Nikki’s new book with Walker/Bloomsbury, PLANET MIDDLE SCHOOL, is a funny, wonderful novel in verse that I got to read in full after the event. It’s not to be missed.
And then… (Friday went on for a long time!) it was off to the Scholastic Family Dinner, which was on top of the Hancock Building in Chicago. If the elevator that whisked me up to the 95th floor without stopping hadn’t already made me lightheaded, the view would have finished the job.
I’d just gotten over my dizziness when Jim Murphy pointed out that all the chains for the blinds were swinging back and forth a little. (Leave it to the nonfiction guy in the room to point out that it was due to the whole building swaying in the wind!)
I had one more stop to make after the Scholastic dinner, and that was to meet up with some of my author and teacher Twitter friends for a late-night cup of tea. It was great to meet so many people I’ve already grown to call friends through our talks about books, teaching, and writing online.
Saturday brought two more signings, REAL REVISION with the wonderful Stenhouse folks, and OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW, at the Chronicle booth.
And finally, on Saturday afternoon, I was one of four keynote speakers at NCTE’s Middle Mosaic, along with Janet Allen, Teri Lesesne, and Gordon Korman.
After my talk, it was off to the airport. (The fact that I shared a cab with Gordon Korman scored me major cool-points with my ten-year-old daughter.) This weekend will be quieter, with turkey and good books and family. But I’m still smiling over so many moments from this trip. Thanks, NCTE friends… You sure know how to celebrate reading & writing!
I was in Chicago last week for NCTE, the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English, and it was an amazing three days of presentations, book-talk, and best of all, lovely conversations with teachers — some old friends, some online friends I was meeting in person for the first time, and some brand new friends. I have lots of pictures that I’ll share…just as soon as I find the cord that connects my camera to my computer. It’s here somewhere….really…
But for now, I’m home getting ready for a quiet Thanksgiving and also pinching myself over some lovely news.
Like the snowshoe hare in this illustration, OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW may be a little tough to find as we get closer to the holidays. It’s gone into a second printing, but if you’re looking for copies right now, here are a couple options.
This Friday, I’ll be at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vermont for Storytelling & Leftovers event starting at 11am, along with David Martin, Leda Schubert, Beth Kanell, and Reeve Lindbergh. If you’d like to ask about a personalized, signed copy, the store phone number is 802-229-0774.
