PUBLICATION PARTY AT HAYNES SCHOOL for Hatching Chicks in Room 6

Lollipops to Celebrate the Publication of Hatching Chicks in Room 6

Last Thursday I made a special visit to Haynes CES School to present my new book, Hatching Chicks in Room 6, to the school, and to celebrate its publication with Jennifer Best, her students who are in the book, and their families. The party was after school in her room, but earlier in the day I gave two assemblies in the auditorium to all grades where I presented the book and talked about the process of writing it. Even for students who didn't have Mrs. Best for kindergarten (she is one of three kindergarten teachers in the school) there was school-wide excitement about the book.

Welcome Banner in Auditorium

Mrs. Best hatches chicks every year. During the incubation and hatching process many students in other classes drop by her room to see the eggs and chicks and check their progress. During the assembly I gave a book to Mrs. Meade, the principal, who was very supportive of the project and will feature it at a district meeting in. March. I also donated a book to the school library.

Caroline, Mrs. Best, and students with their new books

The party began with a presentation of an autographed book to each child. I

also gave each child a postcard and a chick lollipop--they could choose a
yellow, pink, or blue chick. To my surprise, the pink and blue chicks were
just as popular as the yellow ones. (I ordered the lollipops on the
internet.)

Chick cupcakes to celebrate

After the presentation and photographs it was time to eat. I
provided cupcakes decorated to look like chicks. (I bought the candy eyes
and beaks at a local cake decorating shop.) We also had some healthier
food--fruit, cheese, crackers and veggie sticks--and by the end of the party
all the food was completely gone. 

Mrs. Best sharing the book with some of her students

The children who are in the book are now in second grade. You can see in the
photos how much they have grown! They were thrilled to get the books and so
were their parents. Almost all the children who are in the book came to the party, even
several who had moved to other schools.

I am excited about promoting this book and pleased with all the good
reviews. I noticed on Amazon that it is number one in Hot New Releases
for Children's Science Experiment Books.
I thank Jennifer Best, her kindergarten students of 2014-15, their families, and everyone at Charlesbridge for helping to make this a great book!

NEW BOOK! Hatching Chicks in Room 6, Official Publication Day

HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, Text and Photos by Caroline Arnold (Charlesbridge, 2017)

TA-DAH! Today is the official publication day of HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6!
On May 12, 2014, I was invited to do an author visit to Haynes Center for Enriched Studies elementary school in West Hills, California, in honor of Amy Werner, a librarian who had worked for many years in schools in the area. After my presentation, Jennifer Best, a kindergarten teacher at Haynes, asked me if I had ever written a book about hatching chicks. Each spring, she brought eggs to her classroom and hatched chicks. But, she told me, she couldn’t find any books that were written at the right level for her kindergarten students. I said I hadn’t written any books about chickens, although I had written a number of books about other kinds of birds. I liked the idea of a book about hatching chicks, and a year later I was in Mrs. Best’s classroom learning about eggs and chicks and documenting the process with photos. HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 is the result of that project.

I thank Jennifer Best and her students for sharing their chick hatching experience with me. The children’s enthusiasm was contagious as they learned about chickens and eggs and cared for the growing chicks. I am extremely grateful to Jennifer for her wealth of knowledge about hatching chicks in the classroom. I couldn’t have done the book without her. I also thank the children and their families for their cooperation throughout the process. The fourteen chicks who are the stars of the book are now adult chickens. It was a remarkable journey watching them hatch and grow.
I also thank my editor Alyssa Pusey for her careful editing of the text, art director Susan Sherman for the very attractive and readable design of the book, and all the staff of Charlesbridge for their contributions to the project.

HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 is available as both a hardcover book and an ebook. For details click HERE.
For more about the book, go to the Hatching Chicks page at my website: http://www.carolinearnoldbooks.com/hatchingchicks.html

Art Project: TORN PAPER PENGUINS

I am always delighted to find art projects inspired by my books. On a recent visit to Jennifer Best’s kindergarten class at Haynes School in Los Angeles, she showed me the cut paper penguin art the children had made after reading my book A Penguin’s World. The children had looked carefully at my illustration of a pair of penguins at their nest and then recreated their own versions with colored construction paper, doing an excellent job of matching the colors. In contrast to my art, which is cut with scissors, making a hard edge around each piece, the children tore the paper shapes, giving a wonderful soft edge to the pieces. The only pieces that were cut were the orange beaks and toes. The final works of art were then laminated. The best thing about this project is the individuality of each child’s art–no two pieces were alike and the penguins look wonderfully animated. Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing this project with me!