LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Last May/June I posted requests for suggestions for a Secondary
Author visit and then for an Author, Illustrator, etc. Thanks so
much to all who responded. Sorry it has taken me so long to post a
hit. We were able to contract with Neal Shusterman and Carol Gorman.
We are expecting great things! (The HIT for the Secondary Author was
just posted.)
Judy
****** ORIGINAL POST:
We are looking for a person to invite to be the second special
featured guest at our Tehama County Literary Festival next year. We
have already booked Neal Shusterman to be one special featured guest.
Our Literary Festival will be March 13, 2002. We also would like
this person to do school visits for 2-4 days during that week,
hopefully to grades 4-7. We also would like them to not charge more
than $1200 per day, total.
We are exploring several options for the second person, and would
appreciate your suggestions for someone who fits one of these
categories:
1. An author who has books in the 4th-7th grade range and would
appeal to 5th through 12th grade students (we asked Dan Gutman, but
he is not available)
2. An illustrator who would appeal to 5th through 12th grade students
(I tried David Wisniewski but he is busy too)
3. Some other special type of guest (in the past we have had Poetry
Alive, a couple from the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, and a
storyteller)
************************* RESPONSES:
You may want to invite Fran Lantz. She is excellent!
*****
Kathy Krull Lives of.... series
She has a great slide show presentation
her phone # 1-858-642-0396
Web site below
<http://home.san.rr.com/kathleenkrull/>http://home.san.rr.com/kathleenkrull/
<http://home.san.rr.com/kathleenkrull/>
*****
You might want to check out Carol Gorman --- author of Dork in
Disguise -- among many others. Her webpage is at
<http;//www.geocities.com/carolgorman_2000> (that's an underscore
between the carolgorman and the 2000.
We've had her several times and she is absolutely excellent. Our
most recent residency put her in schools for a total of 6 days. Each
and every school raved about the day spent with her. Great with
large groups and has a very good writer's workshop that she will do
for classroom sized groups if that is something you'd like. She has
spoken at high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools with
great success.
If you are interested you can e-mail her and get information about
how to arrange for a visit. Her e-mail contact is on her web page.
Let me know if you need additional information.
*****
I recommend that you contact author/illustrator Synthia Saint James. Her
website address is www.synthiasaintjames.com. Her email address is
kikusaintjames@aol.com.
*****
We recently had Jim May, a storyteller, at our school for 3
days. He did assemblies for various grade levels, held
storytelling workshops with teachers and students, and
worked with a small group of students who then performed on
an evening for parents. He was excellent. His web site is
below. I am not sure of costs since I am a teacher, not the
LMC director. I believe he was secured through a literacy
grant.
http://www.storytelling.org/JimMay/JimMay.htm
*****
We just had Jack Gantos in April; he has several young adult and
middle school chapter books (including the Newbery Honor book
_Joey Pigza Loses Control_). He was wonderful - very funny and
entertaining, yet educational as well. When he left the kids were
itching to write their own stories (If we had known what his
presentation was about, we would have furnished each student with
an inexpensive notebook).
*****
I'd like to suggest Franny Billingsley, fantasy author of the 2000
Boston Globe Horn Book Award for fiction (THE FOLK KEEPER). She's
been a frequent visitor here in Maine, as well as around the country,
and her programs are PERFECT for grades 4 and up. She has also
spoken at many conferences, including the most recent IRA where she
was on a panel with Neal Shusterman!! That seems a happy coincidence!
I'm also writing to suggest that you might like to visit my website at
www.tonibuzzeo.com while you're thinking about author
visits. And the book I've written, called TERRIFIC CONNECTIONS WITH AUTHORS,
ILLUSTRATORS, AND STORYTELLERS: REAL SPACE AND VIRTUAL LINKS may
be of interest to you as well. If you get interested in the book, feel free to
e-mail me for a publisher discount coupon!
*****
Maybe you could try Carol Gorman. She writes books mostly for grades 5-8 and
used to be a junior high English teacher. She charges $600/day for 3
presentations and will also do a writer's workshop as one of the 3
presentations if requested. She lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and her email
address is CGorman99@aol.com. We are hosting her during Children's Book Week
in November but she comes highly recommended. Good luck!
*****
Avi (Has a PhD in LS) he challenged the folks in Illinois at at Children's
Book Conference at NIU..."If this is a Children's Book conference, where are
the children?")
Laurence Yep
James Cross Giblin
Russell Freedman
Jamie Gilson (Do Bananas Chew Gum?)
Chris Crutcher (writes books that teens can really understand...he was a
total non-read in HS. He's now a practicing child pyschologist)
Ed Young (Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes)
Jerry Pinkney ill and author
Lisa Ernst Ill and author of When Bluebell Sang
Patricia McKissack
Some may still live in CA... Freedman grew up in SF.
*****
I may have some suggestions for your consideration.
1.) I might suggest Janet Wong, an author who lives in Washington State and
who writes books rich with her culture and good writing. A couple of titles
include "Good Luck Gold," (a lovely story about the tradition of giving
babies something gold); or "A Suitcase of Seaweed," (a story about her
Grandparents migration to America), and a rather recent book is "Rainbow
Hand," (being a mother herself this is a lovely story about mother/child
relationships). She is a busy lady, and I know that she does school visits
as you requested. I would be happy to provide you with her e-mail address if
you are interested.
2.) For an illustrator, I might suggest Joe Cepeda (he lives in the
Whittier/Paramount area here in Southern California), and his illustrations
are rich with color, contemporary lines and shapes, and we have found
children are very drawn to his work. I can provide more information later if
you would like to know more about Joe Cepeda.
3.) For the "other" suggestion, I have seen some local schools who have with
the help of a "music, or theatre" person, produced a play (usually a musical)
with children that has been very successful. I like the idea of getting
children involved in theatre productions because there's so much talent,
skill, and energy that they bring to the activity.
*****
A friend of mine forwarded to me the notice of your search for a
writer who might be interested in being part of your Tehama County
Literary Festival. Well, I am just such an author! My books are
popular with middle school and high school librarians and kids, and I
do spend about 40 days a year visiting kids in k-12 classes. And
giving teacher training workshops as well. So, if you think you
might be interested in learning more about me and my programs, send
me an eamil, and I will send you more promo information that anyone
in her right mind would need.
"Paul B. Janeczko" <poetguy@megalink.net>
*****
I met David Macaulay a couple of weeks ago when he was here to do a
teleconference from San Francisco. He interacted with several schools
around the state and was interviewed by Michael Cart who interviewed him
from, of all places, the Chico Public Library. He is, of course, a great
illustrator and a warm and charming person. He may be too expensive
though. Sometimes these authors can arrange additional engagements in the
same general area so the fee is more reasonable. Might be worth a call.
*****
Have you considered author Will Hobbs? Our kids love his adventurous
stories! I got to meet him at a Virginia Educational Media
Association conference a couple of years ago -and heard him speak-
and found him to be very personable and interesting. (PERSONAL NOTE:
We have had Will Hobbs twice over the years. He is great! Judy
Turner)
*****
I don't know many authors on the West Coast except that Cynthia
Rylant is living in Oregon with Dav Pilkey(what a combo)...I love
Cynthia's work and have seen her on videos. You would have to
contact her publisher. Her YA novels are wonderful as well as her
work for intermediates.
*****
Jack Gantos is a genius. He tells stories that are so funny, we had a
teacher fall out of her chair because she was laughing so hard. He was
fairly reasonable $$ when we had him visit two years ago but since then he
has a Newbery Honor to his credit (Joey Pigza Loses Control). He talks
about keeping a journal and had my kids making maps of their neighborhood
all summer. Run don't walk to contact him. My principal keeps asking when
we are inviting him back.
*****
I most highly recommend Francess Lantz as a visiting author who would
appeal to students through 12th grade. For more information, visit
her webiste http://www.silcom.com/~writer/
I also recommend Susan Guevara, illustrator of Chato's Kitchen and
Chato and the Birthday Party as well as various others. She did a
full day presentation for my junior high students in Kingsburg, CA,
and is an excellent presenter for that age group, on up through high
school. Her presentation focuses on the research she does for each
illustration project, as well as the process she goes through. She
brings lots of stuff for kids to see, including slides. I highly
recommend her. She can be contacted at 530-426-0235 or by email at
susanguevara@ips.net . Good luck.
*****
Ben Mikaelsen was just at the Young Author Fair for Kern Reading Association
and he had a great impact on the middle schools. His email is
ben@benmikaelsen.com or 1-877-587-3068. Diane Ferlatte, in the Oakland
area, is a wonderful African-American storyteller for the older grades.
website: dianeferlatte.com, email diane@dianeferlatte.com or 510-655-2719.
*****
I would like to suggest Francess Lantz. Our junior higher students really
enjoyed her, and so did all the teachers.
Her e-mail: writer@silcom.com
Website: www.silcom.com/~writer
*****
I didn't have any ideas when you posted a call for suggested authors
to calib a week or two ago [PJ Peterson seems to have retired from
Shasta College!], but take a look at the following:
<http://www.thinkcalifornia.net/thinkers/>http://www.thinkcalifornia.net/thinkers/
Most of the listings I looked at [Literature] seemed to be
adult-oriented, but some of the other subject classifications
[Folklore, Education, Oral History, Theater Studies...?] may offer
leads that you can use. This site is in
<http://www.lii.org>http://www.lii.org, natch, and if you haven't
satisfied yourself, perhaps one of these California 'thinkers' would
help. The whole site looks very interesting! Good luck to you!
*****
--
* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -* - * - * - * - * - * - *
Judy Turner, Director of Library and Media Services
jturner@tcde.tehama.k12.ca.us (530) 528-7364
Tehama County Department of Education
P.O. Box 689, Red Bluff, CA 96080 FAX (530) 529-4120
www.tcde.tehama.k12.ca.us/imc.html
* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -* - * - * - * - * - * - *
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) send email to:
listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors:
http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
LM_NET
Mailing List Home