Awesome Authors
February 2012
We enjoyed sampling some of Jan Brett’s imaginative stories and beautiful artwork during the month of January. Don’t forget to visit the library to read more Jan Brett books.
February brings us to the Canadian author Paulette Bourgeois and illustrator Brenda Clark with Franklin the Turtle books. These books are favorites with young children because Franklin has to face familiar childhood fears like being alone in the dark or being lost.
Brenda Clark didn’t know very much about turtles when she was asked to illustrate a picture book called Franklin in the Dark in 1986. The story, about a turtle that was afraid to go into small, dark places, made her smile. She set out to learn about turtles – how they walked, where they lived, what they ate. She designed a woodland world and filled it with fun animal characters including, of course, Franklin, who is a mix of a box turtle and a Galapagos tortoise.
Since the first book, Brenda and writer Paulette Bourgeois have created more than 30 Franklin stories, winning fans worldwide.
Please do not forget to send hats and gloves or mittens with your children. We go to the playground most Thursdays.
January 2012
We have had a good time reading many different kinds of books by Tomie de Paola. We encourage you to continue to check these books out even as we move on to our next author.
During the next few weeks we will be sharing books written and illustrated by Jan Brett. Her gentle love for the animals she grew up with as pets and her deep passion for the outdoors and snow show clearly in her beautiful books. Jan Brett’s particular attention to detail and her desire to draw scenes true to their traditions make her illustrations come alive. Even the borders of the pages are richly drawn with many of her animal friends hidden within. Please take the time to find a cozy place to settle in with your child and enjoy these wonderful stories and beautiful illustrations. You’ll be made richer for it!
We wish you all a happy and healthy New Year filled with many wonderful books!
December 2011
We had fun in November reading all of those awesome “Arthur” books by Marc Brown. Arthur and his friends had many interesting adventures that we were able to be a part of just by reading them.
In December we will be reading some wonderful Christmas books by Tomie de Paola. He has been published for over 40 years and has written and/or illustrated nearly 250 books for children. We hope you and your child will seek out and enjoy reading more books by Tomie DePaola together. Tomie de Paola lives in New London, New Hampshire, with his Airedale terrier, Bronte, and works in a renovated 200-year-old barn.
Please remember hats and gloves or mittens for your child. We go to the playground most Thursdays.
We wish you a blessed holiday season and a New Year filled with good health and lots of time to relax and cuddle up with a good book! Thank you for sharing your children with us.
November 2011
We have enjoyed sharing books written and illustrated by Norman Bridwell. Mr. Bridwell’s stories about the adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog and his friend, Emily Elizabeth, are not only entertaining, they share an important message; you don’t have to be perfect to be loved.
During the month of November we will be reading books by author and illustrator Marc Brown. His very familiar character, “Arthur”, has a warm place in many of our hearts as he learns important lessons with his family and friends. As you look at the “books” your child creates in class, have him or her tell you about the stories we have read.
We have so much to be thankful for; our families, our friends, and for the many wonderful books we have to share. We are also thankful for the children in our class. They help to make our job fun! We look forward to a great November and we hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving!
October 2011
We have had a great start to our Awesome Authors class this year! We have read many books by Mercer Mayer, and the children have done a wonderful job creating their own books. We hope you are enjoying them too!
For the month of October we will be looking at books by Norman Bridwell, the creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog. Mr. Bridwell wrote the first Clifford book in 1962 and has sold over 60 million copies. Clifford books continue to delight children all over the world and have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Italian, and Danish.
In the beginning Mr. Bridwell wanted to be an illustrator. He made a painting of a small girl with a big red dog as an art sample and showed it, with several other pictures, to editors. Nobody was interested until he wrote a story about the dog. Now Clifford is the star of almost all of Mr. Bridwell’s books. Clifford proves that you don’t have to be perfect to be loved. He means well, but makes mistakes. He does his best and his master and friend, Emily Elizabeth, forgives his faults. Clifford the Big Red Dog continues to amuse us.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful awesome authors with us. Have a wonderful autumn.
September 2011
Dear Parents,
Welcome to Awesome Authors! Our class meets every Thursday from 12:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon in room 4. This class focuses on enjoying and creating books. Today we learned what authors and illustrators do and how a story goes from an idea to an actual book we can read. We discovered that we can do this too, and together we created our own books. Already we are learning to be awesome authors and illustrators!
We will be looking at many different authors during the year including Norman Bridwell, Marc Brown, Tomie dePaola, Jan Brett, Leo Leonni and Eric Carle. In March we will focus on multi-cultural literature. September starts us out with Mercer Mayer. He has written many wonderful stories including the Little Critter books. As you can see, we will be quite busy! We hope you will take a moment to look at the “books” your child creates in class and ask him or her about the stories we have read.
Thank you for sharing your child with us. We look forward to a great year exploring the world of books together! We encourage you to enjoy this adventure with them as well, and read, read, read!