Continuing on my mission to show how books may be enhanced with activities I will share a program I held at the library in 2008 centering around the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. I treated the participants who listened to me read the book over the course of several weeks with a surprise visit from Edward Tulane himself.
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I once did a weekly series of programs for 1st-3rd graders at the library using the "Time Warp Trio" series. This was my Reading Rabbits group and I tried to introduce them to all sorts of books. I read books aloud to them and then we'd enjoy a snack while we made a craft or played a game, all the while encouraging them to check out similar books. My aim for this particular series was to introduce different cultures, so I made a cookie from the highlighted country or culture and showed them a game that would be played there. Some of the games were tricky for this age group; still they were curious. I tried to print off a paper version for each child to take home to remind them of each game. Since the books in this series were too long to read in our time allowance, I read at least the first chapter to give them a sense of the story and let them decide if they wanted to continue reading the book on their own, before moving on to our activity. There's no denying, the kids were most interested in the cookies. They enjoyed trying the different types and always wanted to know where the next cookie recipe was going to come from. And since they told their parents how much they liked the cookies, I started to print the recipes for them to take home. Below are five of the programs I used for this series. |
I remember the excitement of visiting the public library as a child. The magic and suspense of reading favorites like The Velvet Room and The Secret Garden tugged at my imagination. Biographies of George Washington Carver and Betsy Ross allowed me to see the lives of those who came before me and to appreciate their accomplishments. Poetry collections like my favorite The Tall Book of Poems, which I took with me on sleepovers, introduced me to a range of poetry where I could consider how the placement and rhythm of words affected your mood – sometimes bouncy, other times melancholy. Plus, I really loved the way that book felt in my small hands. My goal in writing children’s books, I think, is an attempt to recreate those feelings, those early years of reading books where everything seemed possible.
I received an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and won the Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award from SCBWI. I worked as a Children's Librarian for 20 years and still prefer to read books written for young people. I have two Cavapoo dogs named Prince Albert and Daisy Wu, and a black kitten named Mortimer. I am married and split time between homes with my husband Rod in Dayton, OH and in Cadiz, KY where we enjoy our pontoon boat on Lake Barkley.
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