Eureka! Honor Award from CRA for Hatching Chicks in Room 6

Good news! Hatching Chicks in Room 6 has been named a Eureka! Honor book by the California Reading Association. The Eureka! award is for outstanding nonfiction. I am delighted to be on the list, which will go to teachers and librarians all over the state. The winners were announced at the fall meeting of the CRA. Thanks to all on the Eureka committee!

CRA Eureka Silver Award for LIVING FOSSILS

I was thrilled to learn that my book LIVING FOSSILS, Clues to the Past is a 2016 CRA Eureka Silver award book. This award, given by the California Reading Association, is for outstanding nonfiction books for children. Many thanks to CRA and to the hard working Eureka Committe: Virginia Loh-Hagen, Audrey Fleming, and Sunday Cummins!

LITERACY: PASSPORT TO THE WORLD, California Reading Association PDI at Sonoma State University

Caroline at the Signing Table

I just got back from the California Reading Association PDI at Sonoma State (November 1-2) where I gave a talk and did a book signing. It was a great event and I met many teachers and librarians--at my session, the signing table, at the author meet and greet, on the exhibit floor, and at the California Young Reader Medal dinner on Saturday night where Alma Flor Ada was the featured speaker.  My talk, Think Outside the Book, focused on links to Common Core and on projects and activities teachers and kids can do in the classroom to reinforce reading and enhance the content of the book.  In my handouts I included links to many projects, most of which can also be found on this blog and on my website.

Caroline with the Heinemann representative

I always enjoy going to CRA.  It was a full program and with so much going on, impossible to attend everything but I did as much as I could.  In the exhibit hall I had the chance to meet the rep for Heinemann, which publishes the Fountas Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention program.  My new book, Octopus, Escape Artist of the Sea, is part of that reading program.

Gretchen Woelfle

I want to thank Nancy Rogers-Zegarra and Lynn Gurnee and all the hardworking CRA committee members for all the organization of the conference.  I also want to thank Sandra Yoon for coordinating the author signing and making the colorful posters for our spots at the signing table.

Patricia Newman, Alexis O'Neill, Marsha Diane Arnold

The program included fifteen other children’s book authors and it is always fun to talk and compare notes.  Coincidentally, three of the other authors Alexis O’Neill, Gretchen Woelfle, and Jeri Ferris were once students in my writing class at UCLA.  Now they are all well known and prolific authors and we are colleagues.

Jeri Ferris

At the CYRM dinner numerous people received awards, including my good friend Jeri Ferris who was honored with the Armin Shulz Literacy Award for promoting social justice in her books.  The first place winners of the CRA student writing contest were invited to the dinner and read their essays aloud.  The youngest of the prize winners, a first grader, concluded his essay: “I like books because reading makes me happy.”  Reading makes me happy too.

Author Visits in the Redwoods: The Humboldt County Author Festival

Everyone needs a sign like this in front of their house, or wherever they go!  This sign was waiting for me in the parking lot of Freshwater School, the first of three amazing schools that I visited last week in Humboldt County as part of the biannual Humboldt County Author Festival.  At every school, the children had read my books in preparation for my visit and, in many cases, had done art projects as well.

At Garfield, the second school I visited, the children had created their own bookmarks, using the cut-paper technique I use for my book illustrations.  I was impressed how inventive they were and how they adapted their designs to the shape of the paper.  (One of my favorites was a crocodile.)

At the third school I visited, Maple Creek, a small rural school nestled in a pristine valley, the children had collected fossils from the creek (knowing that I have a particular interest in fossils and prehistoric life) and then composed two songs about prehistoric animals that they performed for me. They had also done artwork in advance of my visit including a painted life-size killer whale and a mural of Ice Age life in the Maple Creek valley.

I am always amazed at the creativity of the teachers, librarians, and children at the schools I visit and how they are able to use books like mine to inspire reading and as springboards for other activities.  The pleasure I get from doing school visits is that I get to interact with my readers and see how my books are actually used in the classroom.  I also get to meet all the hardworking teachers and librarians who are putting those books into the hands of children. In addition to the school visits, the Humboldt County Author Festival also included an art exhibit at the Morris Graves Art Museum in Eureka, where I had two of my illustrations on display, and a book signing at the public library in Eureka.  The Humboldt County Author Festival is possible only because dozens of volunteers spend months organizing it.  I am grateful for all their hard work and pleased that I can be part of it.

Eureka! Award for A Polar Bear's World

Nonfiction books have always been popular with young readers and are often preferred when children choose their own library books. But, for a long time, nonfiction has been neglected in favor of fiction by people handing out awards. So, I was immensely pleased to learn that the California Reading Association has established a new award for nonfiction and that my book, A Polar Bear's World, is a recipient in the gold category. The California Reading Association's Eureka award celebrates and honors nonfiction children’s books and will assist teachers, librarians, and parents in identifying outstanding nonfiction books for their students and children. For more information about the award go to www.californiareads.org .
You can preview A Polar Bear's World in this book trailer on YouTube.