February 2015

World Read Aloud Day, a celebration of the power of words and literacy is globally recognized on March 4, but at Camp Read Smore, we'll be celebrating it all week long and who better to celebrate reading aloud then the authors themselves! All grade levels will be coming to the library this week to connect with one or more of over ten authors via Skype. There is nothing more magical then getting the chance to hear the author read their book to you. I'm so grateful to the many authors that made time for us so that each and every student at our school could have this opportunity.

Two other ways we'll be celebrating read aloud this week will be to connect with Ms. Tyner's 7th Graders at Andover Central Middle School and to welcome a LIVE visit from author Jason O. Silva.

• Monday, March 2nd (Dr. Seuss' birthday), our transitional kindergarteners will get to come to the library to hear a Dr. Seuss story from 7th graders in Kansas via Skype.
• On Friday, March 6th, our 3rd-5th graders will get to return to the library once more for a LIVE event! Author Jason O. Silva will be coming to our campus to share his award-winning series, The Tale of Edgar Trunk (more info at the bottom of this page).
  

We are so excited! It's going to be an incredible week. Below you'll find all of the authors we'll be connecting along with bits and pieces about them and their wonderful books.

Dev Petty used to work in the film industry doing Visual Effects for major films. She discovered that she really enjoyed writing children's books after she became a mom and we're so glad she did! We LOVE I Don't Want To Be a Frog! Dev Petty lives in California.

Mike Boldt is the talented illustrator of I Don't Want To Be a Frog. Click here to find out more about the many other books he's illustrated and authored.

Click here for a fun I Don't Want To Be a Frog activity page.

Ame Dyckman is the author of Tea Party Rules , Boy + Bot and the just released Wolfie. She is currently working on Horrible Bear. Last year's NACP's first graders had the privilege to meet Ms. Dyckman via Skype and at the same time help make NACP history as this was the first Skype we have ever done at our school. We are delighted for the opportunity to say hello once more to Ame Dyckman during World Read Aloud week in just a few days!

As if that weren't exciting enough, during our Skype with Ms. Dyckman, we will also be Skyping with the fabulous Adam Lehrhaupt! It's a TWO-FER! So excited! Two amazing authors in one Skype! Lucky us! Mr. Lehrhaupt is the author of Warning: Do Not Open This Book which was selected as an ALA and Huffington Post notable book, and it won a 2014 E.B. White Read-Aloud Honor Award. All those awards and it was his first picture book!

Matthew Forsythe makes books, comics and illustrations. He was also lead designer on the TV show, Adventure Time for a couple years.

Lehrhaupt's and Forsythe's next book, Please Do Not Open This Book will be released this fall!

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is the author of several books (fiction/non-fiction) and she says that there is a piece of her in all of them. Graduated as her high school's valedictorian, went on to Caltech to pursue Masters degree and then became a mom. She was always very successful, but struggled a bit in her new venture of becoming a writer. With no training, she set out on a new journey in writing, but was rejected many times. However, she DIDN'T GIVE UP and uses these experiences to write her stories. Please click here to find out more about her inspiration and then be sure to check out her books from the library to see what else you can learn about Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. (Below are just a few of her books! There are several more you can learn about on her website, along with free downloads!)

After publication of Corey Rosen Schwartz's first picture book (Hop! Plop! ) wanted to write fractured fairy tales, but coming up with a clever twist wasn't easy until three year old son was asked if he spoke a little Spanish. He replied, "No, but I speak a little Karate." The idea for sending the famous three little pigs to Ninja school was born. Corey Rosen Schwartz is the author of The Three Ninja Pigs, Ninja Red Riding Hood, Goldi Rocks and The Three Bears, What About Moose and of course, Hop! Plop!

Do you recognize the illustrator of Ms. Schwart'z Ninja books? I'm sure his work looks familiar! He was the illustrator of Aaron Reynold's Carnivores and the star of that book's trailer (watch it here). Dan Santat just won the Caldecott award for his new picture book, The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend.

The Monstore is Tara Lazar's debut picture book and she also writes middle grade novels. She has been really busy because she has FIVE upcoming picture books! Two books will becoming out this year: I Thought This Was a Bear Book (August) and Little Red Gliding Hood (October). In the spring of 2016, Normal Norman will be released and later that fall, Way Past Bedtime. 7 ATE 9: The Untold Story, coming in 2017. Tara lives in New Jersey with her husband and two young daughters. She writes that if they had a dog, it would be a small white fluffy thing named Schluffy.

(Tara was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010 and has permanently lost feeling in her feet and legs. She has an inspirational story to share about overcoming a devastating illness to achieve your goals and dreams. Tara can speak to groups big and small, young and old—just contact her for more information. I included this information from her website because of this year's Literary Inclusion Project with UCPLA inspired by our One School One Book surrounding Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind. We are continually reminding ourselves that we are more alike on the inside, despite our differences on the outside and that you can really brighten someone's day by just smiling and saying hello. Tara's message that you can overcome struggles to achieve great things is a powerful one!(https://vimeo.com/117651610)

James Burkes, the illustrator of The Monstore is the illustrator and author of several other books. You can find out all about them on his BOOKS page. He's also worked on the animated movies Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, Space Jam, the Iron Giant and the television shows, Wow Wow Wubbzy, Ni-hao Kai-lan, the Dinosaur Train, and Fan Boy and Chum Chum.

Lori Nichols is a children's book author and illustrator. She wrote Maple and Maple & Willow Together and illustrated This Orq (by David Elliot) and No, No, Kitten (by Shelley Moore Thomas). She looks to nature and her family for much of her inspiration. As a child she studied everything from acorns to frogs and marveled. Lori’s three girls have reminded her of those days, and she finds herself building on their own perceptions, ideas and drawings. Her creations manifest themselves in illustrations, stories, and overflow in the Spring to her garden. Her hobbies include building terrariums, collecting acorn tops and kickball. Click here for a fun and free downloadable Maple activity sheet.

Jess Keating is an author, zoologist and educator. She writes the My Life is a Zoo Series: How To Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied and the just released How to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel (January 2015). She's a Canadian fiction and nonfiction writer with a degree in Zoology and a Masters of Science. On her blog she wrote, "I’ve always loved writing and making up stories. I even started a library in my room when I was 8 so I could charge my brother late fees. To this day, he still owes me 8 bucks. I am also a giant science nerd, and I’m constantly collecting the coolest animal and nature facts!"

Katherine Roy is an author and illustrator who loves teaching, travel, and big adventures. She is endlessly fascinated by the way things live. She's lived in two countries and six states, aboard a 138-ft. schooner on the Puget Sound. She is originally from California, but currently lives in New York City.

Katherine Roy's beautiful website is packed with illustrations and information including the following summary about Neighborhood Sharks: Every September the great white sharks return to San Francisco. We both fear and admire great white sharks’ fierce hunting skills. But how exactly do they track down their prey? Roy’s gorgeous, lush paintings and detailed diagrams vividly recreate a day in the life of a shark and reveal why sharks are essential to our ecosystem and deserve our protection. Based on the latest information and abounding with fascinating glimpses into a great white’s life and habits, Neighborhood Sharks will astound young shark fans and their parents alike.

Currently Katherine is working on her second nonfiction picture book, How To Be An Elephant. My debut book, Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands (September 2014). She's also the illustrator of The Expeditioners Series by S.S. Taylor (McSweeney’s McMullens, 2012) and of Buried Beneath Us by Anthony Aveni (Roaring Brook, 2013).

How To Be An Elephant explores just what it takes for a 200-pound baby African elephant to grow into a multi-ton member of one of the most socially complex family groups on earth. Safe and surrounded by leathery gray pillars and the sounds of excited trumpeting, a newborn elephant’s first learning task is to stand and walk on its own. Katherine Roy researched How To Be An Elephant on location in Kenya with researchers who study these incredible animals.

Watch as a great white shark comes to life in Katherine Roy's debut picture book, NEIGHBORHOOD SHARKS. Set to the tune of the shark-filled waters of the Farallones, this drawing is not for the faint of heart! The final art was drawn with pencil and completed in watercolor, ink, and gouache.

Watch as a great white shark comes to life in Katherine Roy's debut picture book, NEIGHBORHOOD SHARKS. Set to the tune of the shark-filled waters of the Farallones, this drawing is not for the faint of heart! The final art was drawn with pencil and completed in watercolor, ink, and gouache.

Marla Frazee was awarded a Caldecott Honor for All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. She is the author-illustrator of Roller Coaster, Walk On!, Santa Claus the World's Number One Toy Expert, The Boss Baby, Boot & Shoe, and The Farmer and the Clown, as well as the illustrator of many other books including The Seven Silly Eaters, Stars, the NYT bestselling Clementine series, and God Got a Dog. Marla teaches at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, has three grown sons, and works in a small backyard cabin under an avocado tree (below Marla's picture).

Author Jason O. Silva will be coming to our campus LIVE to visit with our 3rd-5th graders on March 6, 2015! Jason is the author of The Tale of Edgar Trunk. His series about the fantastical journey of Edgar Trunk as he navigates a dark dystopian reality to discover this true gifts and bring light back to the world has won several awards. The first two books in the five book series have already sold thousands of copies. He is currently working on book three and is going to come tell us all about it! We can't wait!