Category Archives: authors

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The Thirteenth Summer Book Tour

On Saturday, two of our Barrow students, Delia & Karla, became a part of a unique experience from local author, Elizabeth Laing Thompson.  Both students were selected to be a part of Thompson’s book tour for her new book, The Thirteenth Summer.  The tour kicked off at Dog Ear Books, an independent book store in Athens, GA.  Thirteen local girls became a part of fifty girls nationwide to receive a copy of the book.  Their task is to read the book in the next 7 days, take a photograph of themselves and the book, add their name/location on the inside cover, and send the book to someone else who will go through the same process.  The girls can also participate in a photo contest if they choose.  This is an exciting way for Thompson to spread her book across the US while promoting reading to teen and pre-teen girls.  We were glad that some of our own Barrow students could be a part of this process.  Congratulations Delia & Karla.

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Author Trailers with Animoto

Today, 4th grade presented their author studies to 3rd grade at our summer reading fair. Each 4th grader was a part of a group reading books by one author. The authors were presented to them in a power point fast-paced book talk. The students then signed up for the author they were interested in and read as many books as possible over the past 3 weeks. Next, students worked in their classrooms to create displays for their table at the summer reading fair. These tri-boards featured summaries of books, vocabulary, and more. One of the new and popular features of each table was an Animoto author trailer. Students created these as an intro to their author during a 90-minutes session with me in the media center.

During the Animoto lesson, students saw a model example and then learned about finding photographs online under the creative commons licensing. Students then planned their author trailer using a graphic organizer at tables. Finally, students went to the computer lab and used Animoto to create their final products. You can view all of their author trailers here.  You can also hear a group of students speak about using Animoto here.

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Carmen Deedy

What a phenomenal day with author and storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy!  Carmen shared stories with students in Second & Third Grade, Kindergarten and First Grade, and Fourth and Fifth Grade.

As I watched the students during her performances, I was in awe at how our Barrow students came together as one student body and helped to tell the stories that Carmen was sharing.  She had them clapping, making sound effects, and definitely laughing the 45 minutes away.

What was even more fun for me was when I heard teachers talking about how much their students enjoyed the programs.  Students went back to their classrooms and wrote down the stories Carmen told so they wouldn’t forget.  They wrote down books that she mentioned so she could find them later.  They begged their teachers to let them practice telling stories.  In fact, teachers said that the students just couldn’t stop talking about how much they loved Carmen’s visit.

Teachers and students have stopped me in the hallways all afternoon thanking me for this visit.  Author visits take a lot of planning, but when you see the joy and excitement for reading, writing, and storytelling that come out of successful visits, it makes all of the hours of planning well worth it.

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A few thoughts from Charlotte…

My mind is overflowing with new ideas for our media center.  I’m at the AASL Conference in Charlotte, NC, and I’m in awe at the creativity & knowledge of my librarian colleagues from across the country.  I’m also overwhelmed by the support that authors are giving to librarians and their role in creating sanctuaries for kids to come and access information and stories.  Tonight, I heard Laurie Halse Anderson talk about censorship and how censorship is an evil brew made up of power, fear, and frustration.  She continued by naming library budget cuts and cuts of library positions as a form of censorship.

Laurie Halse Anderson was not the only author who spoke of the importance of school librarians.  James Patterson began the day by praising the work that librarians do to open doors for young readers.  He stressed the importance of helping children have positive experiences with books.  Kids should have access to the books that they want to read.  Once they find a love of books, other books that adults want them to read can be sprinkled into the mix.  I want to highlight James Patterson’s website Read Kiddo Read because it is a wonderful resource for finding new books to read whether you’re a student, a parent, a teacher, a friend, or a family member.  Mr. Patterson includes many categories of books, including a section on supporting reluctant boy readers.  Please check out his site and see what you find.

I invite you to include any thoughts in the comments section of this post about:  censorship, librarians, how you find your own books to read, or resources you have to share.

read kiddo read

 

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Gone from these Woods Author Visit

Today 3rd-5th graders were lucky enough to have a 45 minute session with author, Donny Bailey Seagraves.  She is the author of Gone from these Woods, a book recently published by Random House.  Donny’s talk included many details of how she uses her surroundings, memories, and acquaintances to inspire her writing.  Students also had an opportunity to ask questions about being an author and about the writing process.

This author visit was made possible from funds from our recent book fair.  Thank you for all you do to support our media center.  Author visits always inspire students to go back to their writing notebooks and work on crafting great stories.  In March, we will have author, Carmen Agra Deedy, who will visit with all students at Barrow.

Donny Seagraves’s book is available for checkout in our media center.  It’s a great story for older readers that is a great book to share with a family member and have thoughtful discussions about real-world situations.  Check out our pictures from today’s visit.

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Authors Visiting Athens

I just love to hear authors talk about their books and see where they get their ideas and what their process for writing is like. I’ve already mentioned the Decatur Book Festival as a great road trip to take in order to meet numerous authors. However, if you can’t travel that far, there are some authors coming to Athens that you might be interested in.

Carol Hennesy, author of the Pandora series will be at the Athens Borders on August 20 at 7PM and August 22 at 11AM. There will time for Q & A as well as autographing. The Pandora series blends fantasy with information about Ancient Greece and Mythology. It’s a great series for girls, but can be enjoyed by all!

Sunday August 30 2:00PM at the Athens Borders, Donny Seagraves will be discussing and autographing her new book, Gone From These Woods. This book is getting great reviews. She is a local Athens author who has been published by Random House.

Take advantage of these opportunities to meet and learn from published authors.

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Coming Soon! The Decatur Book Festival

I wanted to alert you early about a tremendous opportunity coming up in Decatur, GA September 4-6. The Decatur Book Festival brings authors from around the globe to the city of Decatur for a weekend of celebrating great books. Of interest to me (and I’m sure you) is the Target Children’s Stage. This stage will host award-winning children’s authors who will talk about their books and hold autographing sessions. In addition to the Target Stage, there are numerous vendors selling books of all vareities. There are multiple stages which will host authors of adult books as well. Explore the website and see what interests you. I attended for the first time last year and have vowed to never miss this incredible opportunity again. You don’t get to see this many award-winning authors in one place very often. Hope to see you there!

Highlights at the Children’s Stage:
-Kate DiCamillo!!!!!!!! author of Because of Winn-Dixie, Tale of Despereaux, Mercy Watson, Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, & more

-Loren Long-illustrator of books such as Wind Flyers, Drummer Boy, & Toy Boat

-Peter McCarty- author/illustrator of the Hondo & Fabian books

-Judy Schachner-author/illustrator of Skippyjon Jones

-Jon Scieszka-author of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs & The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

-James Dean-artist of Pete the Cat

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Meet a Local Author

Who knew that I have a Random House author living just down the street from me!   In today’s Athens Banner Herald, I read about Winterville resident Donny Bailey Seagraves, author of Gone from these Woods.  On her website and in the article, the book is described as one for middle readers, although I’ve read reviews that recommend it for grades 4-8.

The author will be reading excerpts of her book at the Winterville Library on Saturday July 25 from noon-2PM.  She will also be at Borders bookstore on Sunday August 30 at 2PM.  Her book has ties to Athens, Winterville, and Watkinsville.  It is set in the 90s and is about a boy who accidentally kills his uncle on a hunting trip.  The book also shows the boy’s struggles in dealing with this terrible incident.

I hope many of you will take advantage of these opportunities to meet and talk with a published author.  If you go, post some comments about what you thought.  More appearances by the author are listed on her calendar.

I’ll be posting more author appearances throughout the school year.