Caroline Arnold Books at TeachingBooks.Net

I recently met (via email) Nick Glass, the founder and Executive Director of Teaching Books.net, through a mutual friend who noticed that both of us are graduates of Grinnell College in Iowa (not in the same year so we did not overlap). I hadn’t looked at the TeachingBooks site for a while and when I checked out my page I was pleased to discover that it lists seventeen of my books with a total of 75 resources, including five book guides and lesson plans. I learned that more than 33,000 schools use TeachingBooks to access materials about what they are reading. What a great resource for teachers and librarians! It is a subscription service, but you can get a taste of what it offers with a trial two week membership.
I look forward to stopping by the TeachingBooks booth at the American Library Association conference in Chicago, June 22-27, 2017.

SAVE THE DATE! ALA Chicago: Signing in the Charlesbridge Booth, Sunday, June 25 at 10:00

SAVE THE DATE!
If you are going to be at the American Library Association Conference in Chicago, June 22-27, 2017, I will be signing my new book Hatching Chicks in Room 6 in Room 6 at the Charlesbridge booth #3522 on Sunday, June 25th at 10:00 a.m. Please stop by! I'd love to see you!

HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 at the Pioneer Bookshop in Grinnell, Iowa

On my recent trip to Grinnell, Iowa, for a college reunion, I stopped in at the college bookstore, the Pioneer Bookshop, now located in historic downtown Grinnell, to show them my new book, Hatching Chicks in Room 6. I was delighted to discover that they had already ordered it and put it on the shelf. I then went down the street to the town library, in a beautiful large building, new since my last visit to Grinnell, and found out that they had also already ordered it for their collection. (The old library building is now used as an art gallery.) I had a nice chat with the children's librarian who told me that she loves using my books in her story hour. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that a book about eggs and hatching chicks is popular in a community surrounded by farms and which owes its history to a tradition of farming. It seems like the perfect place for my book.

GREAT SCIENCE BOOKS FOR KIDS

 

I was pleased to be included in a wonderful list of great science books for kids put together at the blogsite GeekWrapped. On the list of 100 titles is my book Too Hot? Too Cold? Keeping Body Temperature Just Right (Charlesbridge, 2013).  In it readers will discover the remarkable--and similar--ways in which humans and animals adapt to heat and cold. The book is illustrated with lovely watercolor paintings by Annie Patterson.

ABFE/CBC Silent Auction of Children’s Book Art at BookExpo in New York

Illustration of A Day and Night on the Prairie, 6:00 a.m.

The ABC Children’s Group at ABA and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) are partnering to bring back the popular Silent Art Auction and the Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards Announcement in a joint program to take place on May 31, 2017, from 5:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Javits Center South Concourse in New York City, as part of BookExpo. The event will benefit American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) and Every Child a Reader.

I am pleased to donate a giclee print of one of my cut paper art illustrations from A Day and Night on the Prairie (PictureWindow Books, 2015.)

This year’s Silent Art Auction program will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of Random House’s Little Golden Books imprint, which began in 1942. The auction will feature a special selection of works celebrating the Little Golden Books legacy as part of a year-long marketing and publicity campaign kicking off in February 2017.

If you are going to be at BookExpo, please stop by the exhibit and take a look at the art!

David Wiesner Picture Book Illustrations at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Illustration from Mr. Wuffles by David Weisner at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art

David Wiesner, the recipient of three Caldecott Medals for his books, Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002) and Flotsam (2007), is one of the premier children’s book illustrators of our time.

Looking into the second room of the exhibit

A week ago I went with two friends to see the exhibit, David Wiesner, the Art of Picture Book Storytelling at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. It was a wonderful opportunity to see his original paintings up close and to learn about the various influences on his work, ranging from silent movies from the 1930's, surrealist painters, his childhood memories, comic books, his pet cat, and more. 

Illustration from Flotsam

David Wiesner's mastery of detail and imaginative use of images make you want to examine his art again and again–each time finding something new to look at.

Art from The Three Pigs

A collection of his books are also part of the exhibit, allowing visitors to read the stories along with viewing the art. Here are just a few of the paintings in this stunning exhibit. The exhibit, which opened January 29, 2017 will close May 14, 2017.

Reproduction of David Weisner's Book Week poster

TEACHING IDEAS for Hatching Chicks in Room 6 at the SLJ Classroom Bookshelf

A wonderful article with teaching ideas for my book Hatching Chicks in Room 6 was published yesterday on The Classroom Bookshelf blog of School Library Journal. It is written by Erika Thulin Dawes, a professor of language and literacy at Lesley University. Here is the link: http://www.theclassroombookshelf.com/2017/05/hatching-chicks-in-room-6/ There is a treasure trove of ideas for classroom teachers here. I love that the author, Erika Thulin Dawes,understands how, in a photo essay, the pictures and text work together to tell the story. And I love that she shows how the book can be a springboard for further reading and exploration. In addition to the long list of teaching areas the article also lists book and website resources, has a book review and a section on critical literacy. I am thrilled!

Erika Thulin Dawes is a former classroom teacher, reading specialist, and literacy supervisor, she now teaches courses in children’s literature, early literacy, and literacy methods.