I LOVE THANK YOU NOTES!

Thank You card from student at Esperanza School, Los Angeles, CA

A wonderful package arrived in the mail the other day, filled with thank you notes from the students at Esperanza School, where I had visited 3rd and 4th graders about a month ago. 

In this card I am depicted in front of the giant TV screen I used to present my slides.

During my visit I gave a slide presentation showing my books, my life as an author, and a little bit about me growing up.

Another student created an illustrated book with chapters.

I then showed them how books are made and we did a short exercise in which they folded a sheet of paper to make a tiny blank book. I discovered that after my visit they had turned their little blank books into thank you notes. Each one was different and delightful. I was thrilled to see how much the students had absorbed from my presentation.

Many wrote about their favorite book.

One student made a wonderful illustrated guide for making a tiny book! Get a paper. Fold paper. Fold paper again. Finished!

When I was growing up I never had the opportunity to meet a real live author at school. Cards like these show me what an impact a visit from an author can have on students. I thank teacher Elizabeth Williams for sharing the students' cards with me. They are all wonderful. These are just a few samples. 

 

PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 4

Seeds planted in rows in the Room 4 garden box.

For a number of years I have worked with kindergarten teacher Mrs. Best and her kindergarten class in Room 6 at Haynes Charter School in Los Angeles as a volunteer in her classroom. We did three books together, HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6, and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6. Mrs. Best is now in Room 4 and has a new batch of kindergarteners. 

Last week I helped the Room 4 children plant this year's school garden. We planted peas, lettuce, beets, spinach, radishes and beans. With luck and water and plenty of sunshine the children will be able to harvest the vegetables and make a salad by the end of the school year. While they wait for the seeds to grow, they are learning the parts of a plant--roots, stem, leaves, flower. 

ART SHOW--PAINTINGS BY TOM SCHEAFFER, at the Maya Moon Collective, San Diego, CA

My brother Tom Scheaffer is exhibiting his beautiful paintings at the Maya Moon Collective in San Diego, California, 3349 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116. The opening reception is Saturday, March 23^rd, 6 to 8 pm. If you are in the San Diego area, be sure to stop by to see the exhibit and have a bite to eat at the Maya Moon Cafe. The paintings will be up until the end of April.

Tom works in a colorful, expressionist/realistic style, depicting scenes in nature, especially of places in Southern California. His paintings are also inspired by his roots in the upper Midwest and summers in the North Woods at Camp Bovey in northern Wisconsin. Here are some samples of the paintings in the exhibit at the Maya Moon Restaurant.

ROOM 6 BOOKS--Hatching Chicks, Butterflies, Planting a Garden--NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!

I am happy that my three Room 6 books, HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6,  and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 are now available in paperback. Find them online or at your favorite bookstore. Buy one or get all three!

Back cover of HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6

Back cover of BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6: See How They Grow

Back cover of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6: From Seeds to Salad

SPEAKER at CHARLOTTE HUCK CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL, Redlands, CA

Book signing at the Charlotte Huck Children's Literature Festival

Last week on Friday and Saturday I attended the 27^th annual Charlotte Huck Children’s Literature Festival at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California--two full days of inspiring keynote speakers, stimulating breakout sessions, and the opportunity to meet and chat with teachers, librarians and other authors. 

Festival Program cover, Art by Dan Santat

Keynote speakers were Tami Charles, Dan Santat, Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, Mac Barnett and Gennifer Choldenko. Breakout sessions were led by a variety of authors, librarians and educators, including me.  In addition to all the talks and breakout sessions, there were book signings, book sales, opportunity drawings for baskets of books, and tasty lunches and food at the Friday reception.

With Rachel Kendall and her 6th grade class from Redlands Adventist Academy

On Friday morning I presented a breakout session with teacher Rachel Kendall from the Redlands Adventist Academy. The title of our session was Graphic Picture Books Keep Young Readers Turning the Page. I gave an overview of graphic picture books, showing how they combine text, images, word balloons, sound effects and panels to tell the story and then shared my book My Friend from Outer Space. Earlier this year I had read the book to Mrs. Kendall’s 6^th grade class and then each of the students made their own graphic picture book using my book as an inspiration. 

Cover of student book, The Blue Water Bottle

Page from student book Dot's Perfect Day

Mrs. Kendall brought her students to the festival and at the end of the session they shared their books with the audience. Everyone in the audience was impressed by the variety of subjects the students had chosen for their books and the creativity of their stories and illustrations. If there was one thing they all learned, it was that it is not easy to be an author! 

Charlotte Burgess awarding Janet Wong with the Charlotte Huck Honoree Award

I thank all the people on the planning committee who make this festival possible, especially Marjorie Arnett, Festival Coordinator and founder of the festival twenty-seven years ago, and Charlotte Burgess, Festival Chairperson, niece and namesake of Charlotte Huck. I have been to this wonderful festival of books and reading numerous times in the past and it was a pleasure to participate once again. Each year it gets better and better.

Author/Poet Janet Wong