WIGGLY WORMS AND NEWLY HATCHED CHICKS: A Visit with Mrs. Best’s Kindergarten Class

Over the last ten years I have written three books about Jennifer Best and her kindergarten students at Haynes School in Los Angeles, beginning with HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6 which follows the process of incubating eggs and raising chicks after they hatch.

After the chicks grow up, the chickens live in an enclosure at the school.

Every year I visit Mrs. Best's class (now in Room 4) to share my books and learn what the students are doing. My visit this year was timed to be on hatching day for the chicks. When I arrived, I saw three of the chicks hopping around in the incubator. Two eggs had yet to hatch. The children were watching the chicks directly in the incubator, or could see them enlarged on the screen in the front of the room which was projecting the image via YouTube. Technology is amazing!

I began my presentation by asking the children how they knew that chickens are bird. The answer: they have feathers and lay eggs. Then I showed them my ostrich egg and measured their wingspans.

My next books with Mrs. Best were BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM6 and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6. The students had just finished raising painted lady butterflies and released them in the school garden. 

We talked about how worms are good for the garden and then I read WIGGLE AND WAGGLE while Mrs. Best acted out the story with my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets. Then the students each had a chance to see worms up close, hold them, and inspect them with a magnifying glass. Afterward they drew pictures and wrote about what they saw.

Red worms are good for recycling nutrients in the soil..

In the year that I wrote PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 the students had a very successful vegetable garden. This year they also planted vegetables in a planter box outside. Unfortunately, hungry bunnies have invaded the school yard and ate all the vegetables except for a very large tomato plant and a pumpkin vine.

Jennifer Best and the giant tomato plant and pumpkin vine.

I had a fun afternoon in Mrs. Best’s classroom and enjoyed seeing all the projects displayed on the classroom walls. Before I left I gave each student a copy of my folding book WHO HAS MORE? WHO HAS FEWER? 

On one side of each page they can count the eggs of seven different kinds of birds. On the other they can count the baby birds just hatched from their eggs—just like the chicks they saw hatch in the incubator in Mrs. Best’s class. The students are lucky to have such a wonderful teacher as Mrs. Best who provides them with so many hands-on science opportunities.

Chick and eggshell inside incubator.

READING WIGGLE AND WAGGLE: “BOOKS AND BAGELS” at Apricot Lane Farms, Moorpark, CA

Signing books at Apricot Lane Farms "Books and Bagels" event.

I spent last Saturday morning at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California, sharing my books at an event for children and parents called “Books and Bagels”. While seated on blankets on a grassy lawn and munching on breakfast, they listened to me talk about being an author and about my books. 

We were in the midst of a thriving organic farm, so it was fitting for me to share my Room 6 books, HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6 and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 and also WIGGLE AND WAGGLE. At the end of the program I signed copies of WIGGLE AND WAGGLE and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6, which were for sale in the Garden Shop.

Note: Directions for making stick puppets, singing the Wiggle and Waggle song, and other wormy activities are downloadable HERE.

I thank Liz Davis, Tours and Events Manager, for inviting me to share my books at Books and Bagels and who coordinated all the details of my visit. It was a pleasure to read my books and I was pleased that so many people bought them afterward. I also thank Kristen Nordstrom, who put on my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets and acted out the story as I read aloud. She also was a great help handing out materials at the end of the program. (Everyone took home supplies to make their own Wiggle and Waggle stick puppets.) Kristen is a teacher at the school on the Apricot Lane Farms campus. She is also a children’s book author and shared her book Mimic Makers at a previous Books and Bagels program.

Kristen Nordstrom with my Wiggle and Waggle puppets.

The Books and Bagels program is a great way to celebrate books and reading and for families to discover the amazing plants and animals of Apricot Lane Farms. You can go to their website to find out more about it and how to visit.

Entrance to the Garden Area of Apricot Lane Farms

LETTERS FROM STUDENTS about my Room 6 Books

I love getting letters from students! The kindergarteners and Pre-K students at Foothill Elementary School in Pittsburg, CA, read HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6, and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 as they raised butterflies in their classroom and planted a school garden. I just received their letters in the mail. I loved finding out about their favorite books and seeing the children's illustrations. Many thanks to their teacher, Heather Davis Puerzer, for sending the letters to me.

AUTHOR VISIT AT LA CRESCENTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Glendale, CA

Authors and Illustrators Day at La Crescenta School, Glendale, CA.

On Monday, February 24th, I had a good visit at La Crescenta Elementary School in Glendale, California for Authors and Illustrators Day. The day was sponsored by the Glendale Assistance League, who not only brought in the authors for the day and gave each teacher a copy of one of our books, but also gave a generous check to the school for the purchase of books for the library. I was one of four authors visiting classrooms--Tao Nyeu, Joe Cepeda and Tracy Holczer were the others. I gave presentations to first and second grade students.

Entrance to La Crescenta School.

I was pleased by the good response to my presentation by the students and teachers. We started with my book A Zebra’s World, followed by a discussion of my cut-paper art illustration process. We measured wingspans in connection with Hatching Chicks in Room 6, and sang along with Wiggle and Waggle.

After sharing my book Planting a Garden in Room 6 I was pleased to learn that there was an extensive school garden--one just for butterflies! The children especially liked my new book My Friend From Outer Space, enthusiastically helping to count down from 10 before shouting, BLAST OFF!

Special thanks go to Linelle Vicenti and Kathy Blyth for coordinating everything and making sure the day ran smoothly! I also thank all the Glendale Assistance League volunteers who helped--introducing me in the classrooms, helping out with the book signing, and bringing the delicious snacks and lunch. Many thanks to the Glendale Assistance League for another successful Authors and Illustrators Day! 

Butterfly garden, with plants for attracting butterflies.

Vegetable and herb garden.

 

ALA CONFERENCE IN SAN DIEGO: Book Signing of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6

American Library Association at the Convention Center, San Diego, CA

I had a great day yesterday at the American Library Association conference at the Convention Center in San Diego, California. The exhibit halls were filled with hundreds of booths and the aisles crowded with librarians and library people from all over the country. 

With Andrea Brown in the Charlesbridge booth at ALA

In the afternoon, for more than an hour, a steady stream of people came as I signed copies of the new paperback edition of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 in the Charlesbridge booth. Many thanks to Donna Spurlock, Director of Marketing, for setting up the signing and to Lindsay Atkins for making sure that everything ran smoothly. And thanks to my agent Andrea Brown for assisting at the signing table as I signed books and chatted with librarians. I was pleased to hear how much they enjoy using my books with kids.

With Lindsay Atkins in the Charlesbridge booth at ALA

The evening before I attended a lovely party at the home of Kelly Sonnack celebrating Andrea and the agency she has built over the last forty plus years. I was one of Andrea's first authors when it was just Andrea. Now the Andrea Brown Literary Agency has grown to fifteen agents with hundreds of authors! Congratulations Andrea!

With Andrea Brown

VISIT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BERGEN, Bergen, Norway

In the library of the International School of Bergen with Jules Crossley-Nilsen and teacher. We are holding books that I donated to the library.

While my husband Art attended his meetings at a scientific conference in Bergen, Norway, I took a taxi to the International School of Bergen in Sandlihuagen, a suburb of the city, for a tour of the school. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit several of the classrooms and meet the children and teachers. (Classes are taught in English.)  I went into first, second, and third grade classes and the children tried to guess how many books I had written. They were amazed to learn that it is 170! One student asked me if I was famous. I told him that my books are in libraries all over the US and in many parts of the world. So, I can say that my books are famous. I was thrilled to discover that one of the teachers has a copy of my very first book--Five Nests! It was published in 1980. It was part of her mother’s collection of books from when she was a school librarian in India.

I thank Jules Crossley-Nilsen, the librarian and Community Ambassador at ISB for arranging my visit and coordinating my tour of the school. I donated several of my books to the library and Jules told me that she plans to order more. They are a good fit for Earth Day and other parts of the curriculum. I know that this is a busy time of year at the school and I appreciate that I was able to visit. I hope there will be a chance for me to come back some time in the future or possibly to arrange an author visit by Zoom.

 

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. 

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!

Planting a Garden in Room 6

·        ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1623544300

Butterflies in Room 6

·        ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1623542672

Hatching Chicks in Room 6

·        ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1623542689

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

YOUTUBE VIDEO: PLANTING A SCHOOL GARDEN and SPROUTING BEANS IN A CUP

Planting a Garden in Room 6: From Seeds to Salad is a book for primary age children about a kindergarten class growing vegetables in a school garden. In this short YouTube video we see them preparing the soil and planting seeds. When the vegetables are ripe the children will make a delicious salad. While they wait for the plants to grow, they sprout beans in cups, watching the roots and stems emerge from lima beans.

Click to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRBqpaBYWPU

Learn more about Planting a Garden in Room 6 at my website. You can find the book online, at bookstores, and in your library. Beginning on March 15, 2024, Planting a Garden in Room 6 will be available in paperback, along with my other Room 6 books--Hatching Chicks in Room 6 and Butterflies in Room 6. 

AUTHOR VISIT at MOUNTAIN AVENUE SCHOOL, Glendale, CA

Mountain Avenue School, Glendale, California

On Tuesday, October 17th, I had a wonderful day at Mountain Avenue school in Glendale, California. The day was sponsored by the Glendale Assistance League, who not only brought in the authors for the day and gave each teacher a copy of one of our books, but also gave a generous check to the school for the purchase of books for the library. I was one of four authors--Frans Vischer, Larissa Theule, and Tracy Holczer. We visited classrooms (I gave presentations to the first and second graders) and signed books at the after-school book sale in the auditorium.

It was so nice to be back in the classroom in person (after several years on Zoom), and I was pleased by the enthusiastic response to my presentation by the students and teachers. They especially liked my new book My Friend From Outer Space. Several of the classrooms had already planted seeds in the school garden--inspired in part by my book Planting a Garden in Room 6.

School garden, with planting boxes covered with screens to keep out pests.

Special thanks go to Linelle Vicenti for coordinating everything and making sure the day ran smoothly! I also thank Kathy Blyth and all the Glendale Assistance League volunteers who introduced me, helped out at the book sale, and brought the delicious snacks and lunch. Many thanks to the Glendale Assistance League for another successful Authors and Illustrators Day!.

BEDTIME STORY JAM at Westwood Charter Elemenrary, Los Angeles, CA

At Bedtime Story Jam, Westwood School, Los Angeles, CA

With many thanks to parent Parisi Sooferi for inviting me to the annual Bedtime Story Jam last Friday at Westwood Charter School in Los Angeles. I was one of eleven authors at this popular event celebrating books and reading. Children came in their pajamas and had cookies and milk between sessions. It was great to be back and have the opportunity to share my books with the children and parents.

My room was packed and I got an enthusiastic response to my program. PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 was my featured book (not to be confused with my room for the night, #3!) 

I also shared stories from WIGGLE AND WAGGLE and concluded with reading MY FRIEND FROM OUTER SPACE. Everyone clapped at the end! Thanks so much to all the volunteers for a great evening. And special thanks to volunteer Karen Boyarsky, who introduced me and helped everything run smoothly. Thanks also to Children's Book World for making my books available for purchase and to my friend Sherrill Kushner for helping me with book sales in my room at the school on Friday night.

CELEBRATE THE EARTH: AUTHOR VISIT AT ECOLE BILINGUE, Berkeley, CA

Ecole Bilingue School Garden, Berkeley, CA

A week ago on Tuesday I had a terrific visit with the kindergarten, first, and second graders at Ecole Bilingue in Berkeley, California. This was my second visit this year—the first was in March when I presented my book, KEEPER OF THE LIGHT, to the upper grades, a good fit for studies of California history, and in particular, women’s history.

The main focus of my presentation this time was my book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6, timed to coordinate with Earth Month and Earth Day. Ecole Bilingue has long had an extensive school garden, including a pair of chickens, who wander freely among the planting boxes. At night and on rainy days they go into a coop where they have nest boxes.

One of the school chickens.

Learning about the plants in the garden and how they grow is part of the school curriculum. The garden also is home to a tortoise. 

Tortoise in the school garden.

Ecole Bilingue is a bilingual school where children learn in both French and English. (I don’t speak French so my presentation was in English.) I have a special connection to EB because my granddaughter Paige was a student there from pre-school through middle school. It is always a pleasure to visit EB and see many of her former teachers and meet the new staff as well. I especially thank Emily Kaltenbach, the English Program coordinator for arranging my visit and making sure that everything ran smoothly. 

Ecole Bilingue, Berkeley, CA.

SAVE THE DATE, SUNDAY APRIL 23, 1-3pm at the LA TIMES BOOK FESTIVAL

I'll be selling and signing books in the SCBWI booth at the LA Times Book Festival on Sunday, April 23 from 1 to 3 pm. If you will be at the festival, please stop by and say hello! 

Here's the Sunday schedule. Hope to see you there! (If you click on the SCBWI link above you can see both the Saturday and Sunday schedules and more info, including all the other authors who will be signing in the SCBWI booth.)

Click here for a map of the USC campus. The SCBWI booth is #826 Child's Way.

ZOOM AUTHOR VISIT AT LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, GLENDALE, CA

Zoom presentation to the Lincoln Lions, Glendale, CA

On Monday, March 27, 2023, I had an excellent Zoom author visit at Lincoln Elementary School in Glendale, California. The school mascot is the lion. The visit was part of the Authors and Illustrators in the Schools program sponsored and organized by the Glendale Assistance League. I especially thank Linelle Vincenti and Kathy Blyth for all their support and making sure that everything ran smoothly. I was one of four authors visiting classrooms at Lincoln School. I met with four groups of first and second graders, each class for about thirty minutes, sharing my books and my life as an author and answering questions from the students. I enjoyed it immensely. And I could tell that the teachers and kids enjoyed it too.

We talked about birds and I shared my collection of eggs—from tiny zebra finch eggs to my giant ostrich egg and related them to the story in my book HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6. We also discussed feathers and bird flight, measuring wingspans from a hummingbird to a bald eagle.

Ostrich egg.

Another theme of my presentation was gardens–featuring my recent book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6: From Seeds to Salad, as well as my fiction book WIGGLE AND WAGGLE (reading the first story and singing the gardening song with my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets), and sharing my miniature model garden inspired by Mr. McGregor’s garden in PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter. I was pleased to discover that each class had been given a copy of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 by the Glendale Assistance League.

I also talked about how authors get ideas for books, sharing that the inspiration for KEEPER OF THE LIGHT came out of a visit to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. And I showed how I create the cut-paper illustrations for my books, using A ZEBRA’S WORLD as an example. We packed a lot into the thirty-plus minutes of each presentation. Altogether it was a fun and successful day.