AUTHOR VISIT TO WPC PRESCHOOL: Hooray for Wiggle and Waggle!

Wiggle and Waggle Sock Puppets

A week ago I made my annual visit to the Westwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, Los Angeles, California. This year, rather than meeting with the children in their classrooms as I usually do, I met with the two- and three-year-olds and their parents as part of their pancake breakfast, and I met with the four- and five-year-olds, outside on the rug in the play yard. The children are always eager to hear about my books. With both groups I read the first two stories in Wiggle and Waggle, inviting the children to sing the Wiggle and Waggle song with me and do the hand motions while I performed the song with my sock puppets. (A link to the pattern for making stick puppets and other Wiggle and Waggle activities is at my website.)

Wiggle and Waggle (Charlesbridge, 2007) and stick puppets.

And, as a tradition that began many years ago, I finished by reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a tall tale about the Hodag, a creature with the head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur and tail of an alligator. With many thanks to Brianne Naiman, the WPC Preschool Director, and to the preschool teachers, for inviting me and coordinating my visit. It is always a pleasure to visit the school and spend time with the children and their teachers.

The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers (Boyds Mills Press, 2006)

AUTHOR VISIT AT WPC PRESCHOOL, Los Angeles, CA

Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets.

This morning I had an enjoyable visit with the children at the Westwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, Los Angeles, California, an annual event. Many of my books are in the school library. Earlier this spring all of the classes had raised painted lady butterflies, which provided an opportunity for me to discuss my book BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6. With the two-year-old and three-year-old classes, I also read WIGGLE AND WAGGLE accompanied by my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets. With the four and five year old classes I shared A ZEBRA’S WORLD followed by a group Lion Hunt, and then read MY FRIEND FROM OUTER SPACE and THE TERRIBLE HODAG AND THE ANIMAL CATCHERS. I was impressed by how good listeners the children were as I read the stories. I thank Director Bri Naiman for coordinating my visit and for being an enthusiastic Wiggle and Waggle puppeteer. 

It has become a tradition that I read this Hodag book at my visits to the WPC Preschool.

CAROLINE ARNOLD'S WISCONSIN CONNECTION

 

Caroline Arnold, author of The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers (Boyds Mills Press, 2006), grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spent her summers in northern Wisconsin at Camp Bovey, near Solon Springs.  Stories of the Hodag, a scary beast with a head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur and tail of an alligator, were told around evening campfires and are among Caroline's earliest memories.

Camp Bovey is operated by the East Side Neighborhood Services in Minneapolis, where Caroline’s father, Lester Scheaffer, was director from 1948 to 1966. He founded Camp Bovey, then called Camp Hodag, in 1949. Caroline first went to Camp with her family, and then as she got older as a camper and a counselor. Camp Hodag, was first used as an outpost camp by Camp Nebagamon, a boys’ camp on Lake Nebagamon, in the 1930s and 1940s.  Tales of the Hodag are also told at Camp Nebagamon.
Caroline remembers summer trips from Camp Bovey to Rhinelander, Wisconsin, to see the original home of the Hodag, and where a giant statue of the Hodag greets visitors as they enter town. One of those trips coincided with Lumberjack Days and the chance to see log rolling, tree climbing and other lumberjack feats.

Stories of the Hodag and the lumberjacks are a regular feature at the Camp Bovey campfires. Each teller gives his or her own twist to the stories. One of Caroline’s favorite stories tells how the Hodag helped the lumberjacks to get rid of a mean boss man.  In her first children’s book about the Hodag, The Terrible Hodag, published in 1989, Caroline retold this story. The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, is an original tale in which the lumberjacks help the Hodag. “I wanted to turn the tables and give the lumberjacks a chance to return the favor to the Hodag.”
Caroline began writing books more than forty years ago when her children were young.  Since then she has published more than one hundred and seventy books.  Most of them are about animals and the environment. “My childhood experiences in the outdoors in northern Wisconsin developed my love of the natural world. Whether I write fiction or nonfiction, that passion for nature is the source of my ideas.”

Caroline Arnold now lives in Los Angeles, California. In 2015, she visited Camp Bovey with her family so her children and grandchildren could enjoy "rowing, fishing, swimming in the sun" and hear about the Hodag in the north woods of Wisconsin, as she did when she was their age.

Caroline and her brothers, 1951

AUTHOR VISIT AT THE WPC PRESCHOOL, Los Angeles, CA

Earlier this week I had a wonderful visit with the children and teachers of the WPC Preschool in Los Angeles, my first since the pandemic. (Before that I had been making a visit every year--an annual event suspended during Covid.) It was great to be back and to have the opportunity to share both my new books and favorites from the past. 

I met first with the younger children, sharing Planting a Garden in Room 6, Wiggle and Waggle, Noisy Time for Zoo Animals and my folding book, Who Has More? Who Has Fewer?. They enjoyed my Wiggle and Waggle puppets, helping to make the sounds of the zoo animals, and counting the eggs and chicks in the folding book.

I then met with the older children sharing Wiggle and Waggle again, A Zebra's World, several of my bird books, Keeper of the Light, and finally reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a tall tale. We sang the Wiggle and Waggle song, went on a lion hunt, rang my small bell as I showed them the illustrations of the giant fog bell at the lighthouse. We also measured wingspans and learned about the Hodag, a giant creature with the "head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur, and tail of an alligator."

Many of my books are in the preschool library and I was glad to see them being used in the classrooms. It was a fun morning. Many thanks to the teachers, to the preschool director Bri, and to Heidi in the office for making it another successful visit.

MAKE A HODAG SCULPTURE WITH CLAY

Clay sculpture of a Hodag

What creature has the head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur, and tail of an alligator? The HODAG! You can read stories about the Hodag in my books The Terrible Hodag and The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers. (The Terrible Hodag is also available on Kindle in Spanish as El Terrible Hodag.)

The Hodag is the mascot of Camp Bovey, the camp for children and families in northern Wisconsin operated by East Side Neighborhood Services in Minneapolis. 

At the recent Night Under the Stars celebration of Camp Bovey at ESNS, children had the chance to make their own Hodags with clay. 

You can enjoy doing this project too! Remember, that even though the Hodag might look scary, it is really a friendly creature who loves the forest.

 

AUTHOR VISIT IN ROOM 6, Haynes School, Los Angeles, CA

Releasing painted lady butterflies with students in Room 6

Yesterday I visited Mrs. Best and her students in Room 6 at Haynes School in Los Angeles. In March I had presented my new book BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6 to the whole school. This time I did a class visit.  Earlier this spring I had raised butterflies to take to my book signings to celebrate the publication of the book. Those butterflies laid eggs before I let them go, thus producing a second generation.

Painted Lady butterfly eggs, magnified. The actual size is about as big as a grain of salt.

By yesterday the new butterflies were ready to fly free. With the students in Room 6 I went out to the school garden and the children helped me let the butterflies go.

Butterflies drinking orange juice with their proboscises.

As I took the butterflies out of their netted enclosure, some sat for a few seconds on eager fingers. Then, whoosh, they flapped their wings and took off. Some flew over the fence and others landed on flowers in the garden.

Painted Lady butterfly resting near lantana flowers

After we went back inside I read my story THE TERRIBLE HODAG AND THE ANIMAL CATCHERS. Later, the students will create their own “mixed up animals.”

Reading THE TERRIBLE HODAG AND THE ANIMAL CATCHERS. The Hodag has the head of an ox, feet of a bear, back of a dinosaur and tail of an alligator.

We also talked about chickens and eggs and I shared my ostrich egg, comparing its size to a chicken egg. Sitting on a shelf at the front of the classroom was an incubator filled with chicken eggs. In about two weeks they will hatch. Meanwhile, the children can read my book HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, about a previous kindergarten class that hatched eggs with Mrs. Best.

Incubator with chicken eggs

I always enjoy visiting Room 6 and seeing all the amazing science projects that Mrs. Best is doing with her students. I thank her for taking the photos during my visit.

Author Visit at WPC Preschool, Los Angeles, CA

Last week I had a fun morning at the WPC Preschool in Los Angeles, California, with two sessions, first with the three-year-old group and then with the four-year-olds.  This is an annual visit and I always enjoy seeing how the kids grow from year to year. With the younger children I always share my folding book, Who Has More? and the children count the eggs and baby birds on each page, going from one to seven and back again. I also read the first two stories of Wiggle and Waggle while one of the teachers acts out the story with my worm sock puppets. With the four-year-old group we talked about birds and feathers, measured their wingspans, and I showed them my new book Hatching Chicks in Room 6. And, it has become a tradition that I end by reading my tall tale, The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers. As always, I had a good time and look forward to going back again next year.

MIXED UP ANIMALS and MORE: Four Fun Writing Activities

Yellow cards were provided for each writing activity at the Santa Barbara Author-Go-Round

At the Santa Barbara Author-Go-Round in January, students spent the morning with four authors-- Kristen Kittscher, Lee Wardlaw, Eugene Yeltsin, and me. Before the program began the students could do four short writing activities, each based on one of the author’s books. Then at the end of the morning, students who wrote the most creative piece in each category received a prize of an autographed book by the author. We were impressed with their creative imaginations. Here are the four activities they did.

Create a Mixed-Up Animal (Based on The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers by Caroline Arnold).

Describe a place you might go to Solve a Mystery (inspired by Kristen Kittscher’s book Tiara on the Terrace),

Invent a Wacky Disease (inspired by Lee Wardlaw’s “101 Ways to Bug...” series.)

Create a setting for a story in Another Country (inspired by Eugene Yeltsin’s book The Haunting of Falcon House.)

AUTHOR-GO-ROUND, Santa Barbara: A Fun Week with Students, Teachers, Librarians

Reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers at my Author-Go-Round Station

A week ago I was one of four authors participating in the annual week long Author-Go-Round in Santa Barbara put on by the Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO). This was the 47th year! It was more than thirty years since I last participated and it was just as much fun as I remembered.

Authors Lee Wardlaw, Eugene Yelchin, Kristen Kittscher and Me at the SBCEO Author-Go-Round

Each day about 125 students came to the Santa Barbara County Education Office on Cathedral Oaks Road and assembled in a large auditorium. After registering, the students did short writing activities and collected autographs from the authors in the booklets they had received. Each author had a special autograph page in the booklet as well as a page with “cool facts” and a list of recent books.

Writing Activity: One student's Mixed-Up Animal, inspired by my book The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers

There were four authors–Lee Wardlaw, Eugene Yelchin, Kristen Kittscher, and me-- and we each had our own corner to set up our "station". (I was the yellow station, decorated with yellow balloons and a yellow carousel horse.) The students then heard each of us make a short (15 min) presentation. After that they rotated around the room in smaller groups, spending 15 minutes at each station asking questions and interacting with the authors. Almost every group wanted to know what was my favorite animal and my favorite book. (I like them all!) At the end, students received prizes for the best writing activity. One activity was to create a mixed-up animal like the Hodag in my book The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers.

With our cut-out heads made by Fred Borchers

The students who attended were from all over Santa Barbara County. A limited number came from each school and in many cases they had competed to be selected. The kids were in grades 4-8.
Every year the planning committee at SBCEO works really hard to put the Author-Go-Round together and make sure that everything runs smoothly. I thank Matt Zuchowicz, Director of Educational Technology Services, Scott Spector, Coordinator of Innovation and Academic Events, and the Educational Technology Services staff, Fred Borchers, Doris Buchanan, Rose Koller, Homer Morro, and Kristen Walker for doing a fantastic job. For the students and teachers who come, it is a highlight of the year. For authors like me, it is an ideal opportunity to interact with the students, teachers and librarians who are reading my books at home and at school. THANK YOU!

With our souvenir T-Shirts!

Author Visit, the Meredith School, Philadelphia, PA

Last week I had a wonderful visit with Jennifer Jutzi’s 1/2 class at the Meredith School, a public school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I shared my recent books, we talked about birds and measured the students’ wingspans, watched my slides, and finished by reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers. The children had read several of my books before my visit and I was impressed by their knowledge and good questions. I thank Jennifer Jutzi for allowing me to visit her class, and my good friend Esther Baker Tarpaga for helping to arrange the visit. Esther’s daughter Windega is a student in the class and was eager to show me the newly hatched chicks which were hopping around in their brood box. By this time next year the students will be able to read my new book coming out in 2017, Hatching Chicks in Room 6.

AUTHOR VISIT at the WPC Preschool, Los Angeles, CA

This morning I made my annual visit to the Westwood Presbyterian Preschool and had two lively sessions–the first with the three-year-olds, and the second with the four-year-old group. With the younger children we read Noisytime for Zoo Animals--complete with making the animal sounds, counted eggs and chicks in Who Has More? And Who Has Fewer?, sang the Wiggle and Waggle song, and went on a lion hunt after reading A Zebra’s World. With the older group, I shared my new book Living Fossils and showed them my nautilus shell and 50 million year old fish fossil. We then talked about birds and measured the students’ wingspans. We also discussed nocturnal and diurnal animals in my Day and Night books. The children will soon be making their own books. I shared with them how I make cut paper art for the illustrations in my books. As always, I finished by reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a perennial favorite. I thank all the teachers, Heidi Rudd in the office, and director Sophie Robertson for helping to make this another successful visit!

AUTHOR VISIT at Echo Horizon School, Culver City, CA

With Librarian Claudette Brown in the Echo Horizon School Library

On Monday, I had an excellent visit with second and third graders at Echo Horizon School in Culver City, California. Librarian Claudette Brown had done a super job of preparing the students by acquainting them with a wide variety of my books. Soon the students will be doing their own research projects. I met with the students and their teachers in the beautiful school library. I began with several activities and my slide presentation and concluded by reading my tall tale about a “mixed-up” animal, The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers.

Then, after making a list of various real animals for inspiration, the students had a chance to create their own imaginary “mixed-up” animals using a worksheet I had provided. Claudette had also arranged with local bookstore, Children’s Book World, to order books that students could purchase for autographing. I am sure that long after my visit is over, the students and teachers will be remembering our day together. I know that I will! Thank you, Claudette, for inviting me!

Author Visit to Endeavour Elementary School, Bakersfield, CA

Yesterday was my third day in Bakersfield and another terrific school visit, this time at Endeavour Elementary School. I did presentations to three groups students in the auditorium, grades 1-6, and was impressed by their enthusiastic participation and good questions. I also did a workshop with a second grade class who had “won” my visit because their class had ordered the most books for autographing. I read my tall tale, The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers and then asked the students to create their own “mixed-up” animals. They invented some very unusual creatures! 

Many of the primary students had read Wiggle and Waggle and as I toured the school I saw the school garden filled with flowers and vegetables and feeders for attracting birds and butterflies. At lunchtime I enjoyed a delicious meal of Mexican food with the teachers in the staff lounge. I thank librarian Katie Feldstein for all her hard work in organizing the day, ordering books, and preparing the students. I thank Principal Matt Diggle for introducing me and seeing that everything in the day ran smoothly. And I especially thank Cathy Jordan, a very devoted volunteer at Endeavour, for guiding me through the day. Altogether, it was a very successful visit!

Author Visits to LA's Best Young Authors in Los Angeles

I had two good visits with young authors a week ago at Wilshire Park and Harvard Schools in Los Angeles. These children are participating in the LA's Best after school young authors program and are making their own books.  I know it is inspiring for these young authors to hear from a "real-live" author such as me and to find out that they are doing many of the same things that I do when they are writing their books.  At both schools I gave my slide show to show my writing process.  Then at Wilshire Park the kids did a writing activity in which they created their own "mixed-up" animal after listening to me read my book The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers.  At Harvard School the kids did a Wiggle and Waggle creative art project after listening to me read two stories from the book.
Thanks to California Readers for coordinating this program!