Do you remember that talk I gave to the Upper Elementary school about our chickens?
At the end I told them about our author naming project and how we had already named some of our chickens based on returned interviews like:
- Chris Bohjalian
- Jodi Picoult
- Judy Blume
- Janet Evanovich
- Lee Goldberg
- Sy Montgomery
- Meg Cabot
- Laurie Halse Anderson
Before I could even finish the list of who we had a hand went up.
Do you ask J.K. Rowling?
Yes, but haven’t heard back.
Did you ask Nicholas Sparks?
(seriously, Nicholas Sparks in an Upper Elementary School?
Nope, but I will.
How about …? How about …?
What followed was a flurry of suggestions from 6th grade kids who were obviously reading books and paying attention. As a writer and mom of many kids, do you know how excited I was to see this?
Here is a suggestion list from just one class. Parents, pay attention. These are the authors your kids are reading and the books that have turned their imaginations on.
- Nicholas Sparks – Dear John, A Bend in the Road, The Notebook, etc.
- Iain Lawrence – The Wreckers
- Erin Hunter – Warrior Series
- Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider series
- Maya Gold – Cinderella Cleaners series
- J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter everything
- Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson Series
- Tom Clancy – every exciting espionage and military book out there
- Jeff Kinney – Diary of a wimpy kid series
- Jude Watson – The 39 Clues – Book 4: Beyond the Grave
- Kate DiCamillo – The Tale of Despereaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
I told the kids that I would reach out to each of these authors to see if they wanted a chicken named after them and I will. If it meant that kids would be excited about books and reading I would stand on my head. Thankfully asking an author for an interview is a heck of a lot easier.
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Jun 24, 2010 @ 09:06:14
Jude Watson is a pseudonym for Judy Blundell (who also wrote the amazing YA noir mystery/
historical fiction “What I Saw and How I Lied”). You can visit her website for information on how to contact her.
Jun 24, 2010 @ 09:06:57
Wendy – I treated myself to a couple of hours “working” at my favorite coffee shop yesterday and saw two teenage girls sitting together at a corner table, sipping lattes, and READING. There were no beeping cell phones, text-a-thons, or inane gossip. Each girl was completely engrossed in her novel, barely looking up when new arrivals charged through the door only inches from their bowed heads. It was a lovely and heartening sight. Though I had nothing to do with their avid attention to the printed page, I somehow – as a writer with lofty aspirations of someday writing for this age group – felt pride in being part of the army that battles each day to create moments just like this.
Carry on with the chickens – they are a literary coup (or, is that coop)?