Reviews, resources, and ideas to accompany "The Joy of Children's Literature."
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Two Gifts in Two Days from Barbara O'Connor
Two days ago I was drinking my morning cup of coffee as I scrolled through my blog roll when I received my first gift from children's author extraordinaire, Barbara O'Connor. I came upon a post from Barbara's blog, Greetings From Nowhere, titled: The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester, Chapter 1. I thought maybe she had posted the first chapter of her soon-to-be-released new book. But, no. It was so much better than that! Barbara READ ALOUD the first chapter of the book!! And, it is amazing for many reasons:
First, Barbara does an excellent job of reading aloud.
Second, there is nothing like hearing the author read aloud his/her own work. Just think about it. The author's craft comes alive!
Third, what a great way to entice the potential reader to run out an buy a copy of the book as soon as it becomes available.
I think we readers should start a new campaign. Rather than or in addition to the ever so popular book trailer, the author should read the first chapter. Isn't that what Amazon's Kindle does? You get a free sample of the book and 9 times out of 10, that sample chapter is all you need to know you need to purchase the book. The author reading a chapter aloud is even better! So, let the AUTHOR READ ALOUD CAMPAIGN begin! I can't wait to get my copy of The Fantastic Secret of Own Jester. You can watch Barbara read aloud the first chapter below:
Yesterday, I received the second gift from Barbara O'Connor. The mail person delivered the July 2010 issue of Language Arts (a professional journal of the National Council of Teachers of English). The theme of this issue is "Inquiries and Insights" and inside is an article titled, Keeping It Real: How Realistic Does Realistic Fiction for Children Need to Be? by Barbara O'Connor. Yep! How fantastic is that??!
In the article, Barbara discusses how she decides if the story she is writing is "too real" for the intended audience by examining five story elements: dialogue, character, family relationships, economic class, and endings.
"How real is too real" is question that comes up in my children's literature courses all of the time. Barbara elaborates on her writing process and gives examples from her books on how she makes these decisions. What it comes down to is authenticity. This article will be required reading for my students next semester!
Hi Denise, what a fabulous post! It's fun to discover your blog.
Barb's a dear friend and one of my favorite all-time writers. I loved hearing her read her book aloud, too.
That's a really great idea about having authors read their first chapters, or an excerpt to promote their new book - way cheaper than a book trailer, too - having recently launched my first book trailer. ;-)
I'm chicken to get behind a video camera though - but you got me thinkin'!
Picturebooks. Who can resist them? Old and young alike, there's a picturebook for everyone. But, keeping up with the best of them can be daunting. That's why you might be interested in Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek's 10 for 10 Picturebook Event . In event hosts bloggers who have chosen 10 picture books s/he could not live without and wrote a post about the titles. Each blogger puts her/his own spin on a collection. Last year (the first year for the event) there were over 400 "must have" picture books. There are so many ways to create this list. I could list 10 of my all time favorites or 10 new releases which I plan to use in my class this year. But, I've decided to focus on 10 new nonfiction books. Why? Because nonfiction is vastly overlooked in the classroom and because these new nonfiction picturebooks are amazing! The nonfiction titles I chose to include range in age/grade level appropriateness and also include both biography and informational tex...
I would like to invite you to enter a book giveaway in celebration of the release of Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson. Sharon, the daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, has crafted a heartwarming, true story about growing up with her father. In the early 1950s, legendary baseball hero Jackie Robinson literally "tested the ice" for his kids who so eagerly wanted to skate on the frozen lake near their home. Under Sharon Robinson's skillful authorship and Kadir Nelson's vivid illustrations, Testing the Ice also becomes a stunning metaphor for her father's remarkable racial breakthrough. The book opens with Jackie Robinson's famous slide into home plate that won the seventh game in the world series, beating the New York Yankees and making the the Brooklyn Dodgers the world champions! Then the story transitions to the new home the Robinson's bought on a lake in Stamford, Connecticut. Told from Sharon Robinson's perspective, she and her two broth...
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Barb's a dear friend and one of my favorite all-time writers. I loved hearing her read her book aloud, too.
That's a really great idea about having authors read their first chapters, or an excerpt to promote their new book - way cheaper than a book trailer, too - having recently launched my first book trailer. ;-)
I'm chicken to get behind a video camera though - but you got me thinkin'!
Warm wishes,
Kimberley