CELEBRATING WORLD READ ALOUD DAY

It was my pleasure to participate in World Read Aloud Day 2013.

This initiative to increase global literacy and celebrate the power of words and stories to change worlds is the creation of Pam Allyn at LITWORLD -- a non-profit literacy organization, fostering resilience, hope and joy through the power of story.

Thanks to author extraordinaire, Kate Messner, who helps facilitate authors to read aloud to classrooms all over the world via Skype to celebrate this special day.

Thanks to Kate, I connected with amazing school librarian Mr. Schu a few years ago.  Check out the video on his blog post about World Read Aloud Day.  (There are books being given away at the end of his post.)

In keeping with tradition, I wore my bunny slippers while traveling around the country to classrooms in Maine, Iowa, Illinois and Texas.

Here's a photo of my first visit with the kids in Ohio, who created this FUNTASTIC video invitation for me . . .

Alas, a snow day cancelled school.  Deb Tyo, thanks for the apt photo.

School was open in Maine, where I got to hang out with some very cool 7th graders.  In this photo by Abigail Luchies, I got a chance to see what the students saw.  (My view, of course, was very different.) 

Love that the boy in the back row has his copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid next to him.

From Maine, I traveled to Illinois To meet Todd HiIlmer and some of his 6th and 7th grade students.

These kids were adorable!

Mr. Hillmer and his gang, sharing lunch, stories and fun trivia questions.

 I stayed in Illinois for awhile because Mr. Schu was in the house.

A few of his students read touching introductions for World Read Aloud Day.  This young lady in blue quoted something from Sharon Creech's Love That Dog that may or may not have made me cry a little bit.  All his students were engaged and inquisitive and appreciative and I so wanted to be there in person to give them all hugs.  (One of the disadvantages of Skype visits.)

Two minutes after leaving Illinois, I was visiting with Shannon McClintock Miller's students in Iowa.  (One of the advantages of Skype visits.)

Can you guess what's missing from this photo?

Photo courtesy of Shannon McClintock Miller

The pot-bellied pig, of course!  He was scheduled to be part of World Read Aloud Day festivities, but was unable to walk through the snow.

Don't worry, they found another way to add a whole lot of fun and shake up the day. 

Van Meter School Celebrating World Read Aloud Day With a Little Harlem Shake!

Had only fifteen minutes to get all the way to Texas.  Luckily, Skype got me there in about two seconds . . . and didn't lose my luggage!

Hello, Jane Jergensen's 6th graders at Kerr Elementary School in Allen, Texas!

The group was much larger than could fit on one screen!

I had the great pleasure of visiting Kerr Elementary in Allen, Texas last year, during a school visit.  And I was equally impressed with these kids during our Skype visit.  You should have seen the long line of kids waiting to ask questions; and such good quality questions!

After having lots of laughs in Texas, I ended the day with two classes of adorable kindergarteners back in snowy Illinois.

Library Guy, Jeff McHugh, was fun, friendly and funny.  He told me that when I showed the kids my giant purple pen and told them purple was my favorite color, one of the kids said, "Wow.  Purple is my fourth favorite color."

Loved these kids!  We had a lot of fun reading Kelly DiPucchio's Zombie in Love.  Thanks, Mr. McHugh for sharing this awesome, engaged group with me!

World Read Aloud Day was a blast!  Can't wait till next year.  Won't you join in by reading aloud to children in your community or, via Skype, to children around the country . . . or the world?

Why I Love Skype Visits . . .

Say hello to Ms. Porter's 5th grade class . . .

"Hello, Ms. Porter's 5th grade class!"  

(There are other awesome students outside the screen shot.  "Hello, other awesome students!")

Because How to Survive Middle School landed on the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award list, Ms. Delvallee, a K-8 librarian from Illinois, contacted me about Skyping with Ms. Porter's 5th grade students.  Wow, did these kids have excellent questions!  A big THANK YOU to the sweet boy in the NIKE shirt, who kept giving me the most enthusiastic thumbs up signals.

Loved these kids.  Loved their energy.  Can't wait to send them some personalized book marks.

Thanks so much and happy reading!!!

When You Give an Author a Thank You Letter . . .

She's going to get all weepy when she opens the big yellow envelope and sees this . . .

Then she's going to read each and every letter about our recent Skype visit, like one by Logan, who said I encouraged him to write, so he wrote 3 stories and 27 poems.  Yowza, Logan!

And this one by Hannah, who says that when she grows up, she wants to be an awseome writer just like me.  It seems like Hannah's pretty awesome.  Right?

Then the author is clearly going to need a tissue to wipe away her happy tears.  And a cookie and a glass of milk because an envelope full of these . . .

clearly makes an author a little verklempt, but not so verklempt that she can't write a thank you note in response.

So, Ms. Keane's wonderfully thoughtful kids, this Dr. Seuss "Thank You" card is coming your way soon!

Skype Me Up, Scotty

Who doesn't love a good Skype visit?

I had the pleasure of visiting with a middle school book club in New York without setting foot on an airplane.  I didn't have to take my shoes off and walk through airport security.  Heck, I didn't even wear shoes! 

The wonderful students asked me great questions about how I came up with my ideas, how they could become writers and why I decided to become a writer.  (Because I get to do fun things, like have Skype visits with amazing kids.)

Here's Zoe, who has a pink stripe in her hair . . .

The students were so sweet . . .

A big THANK YOU to Ms. Foran for arranging the visit and for allowing me to spend time with her book club members! 

What a delightful diversion during the day.  And to think, I visited a site 1,200 miles away and didn't even get jet lag.

Mini Writing Conference -- 6-1/2 Lists of Advice from Editors, Agents, Authors and a Really Cool Kid

We added a new feature this past year at Wild About Words -- 6-1/2 Lists of wise advice from agents, editors, pumpkin carvers, etc.

I've gathered the year's worth of blog posts here for a free mini writing conference. Hope you find something useful, inspiring . . . and fun.

MINI WRITING CONFERENCE . . .

1. Lauren Tarshis -- What Makes a Good Short Story (Lauren is the editor of Scholastic's Storyworks Magazine. Not only is she an excellent editor, she is also the author of several books, including Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and the I Survived . . . series.)

2. Kate Messner -- How to Survive a Skype Visit (Kate is a teacher, Skype visit expert and author. Her newest novel is Sugar and Ice, which is an Amazon Best Book for December.)

3. Tina Wexler -- Ways to Impress and Agent (I'm grateful to call Tina my agent and my friend. She'll return to I.C.M., International Creative Management, in January, after her maternity leave.)

4. Cynthia Lord -- Secrets to Successful School Visits (This year, Cindy had 70 events to promote her TWO new books -- Hot Rod Hamster and Touch Blue. Cindy is a Newbery Honor Award recipient for her novel, Rules.)

5. Paul May -- Funny List of Things to Do While Waiting for an Editor or Agent to Call (Paul is not only a talented writer, fun friend and fantastic family guy, he recently took on the post of critique group coordinator for SCBWI Florida. Thank you, Paul!)

6. Cynthia Leitich Smith -- How to Promote Your Book Like a Pro (Cynthia's blog, Cynsations, is a great resource for the children's writing and illustrating community. She's celebrating the release of her new picture book, Holler Loudly.)

7. David LaRochelle -- Ways to Carve a Fantastic Pumpkin (Besides carving pumpkins, David has TWO new books out this year -- 1+1=5: And Other Unlikely Additions and Minnesota's Hidden Alphabet. I'm a big fan of his novel, Absolutely, Positively Not, which won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award.)

8. Austin Towle -- Things I Wish Authors of Books for Kids My Age Knew (This post, written by a 13-year-old, received the most comments!)


I hope you enjoyed this mini writing conference. Look for more 6-1/2 Lists in 2011!

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL CONTEST

Teachers, media specialists and librarians . . .

Win one of two personally autographed, hardback copies of HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL for your classroom or library.



Or win the GRAND PRIZE -- A SKYPE visit with the author up to 45-minutes ($200 value) plus a personally autographed, hardcover copy of HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL and an autographed, paperback copy of AS IF BEING 12 3/4 ISN'T BAD ENOUGH, MY MOTHER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! for your classroom or library.



To enter, share the title of your favorite middle grade or young adult novel in the comments section below. (I entered the first comment as an example.)

Annoying Rule:

1) One entry per person.


Annoying Request:

1) To reach as many teachers, librarians and media specialists as possible, please blog, tweet, FB, e-mail and send smoke signals about this contest.

HURRY! The contest expires at midnight E.S.T. Monday September 20th (which is my dad's 83rd birthday).

REMEMBER to check back a couple days after the contest ends to see who WON!