EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile:  Lois Lowery

Book: The Giver

The"Giver" discoveres how shallow hi community's life has become.  This story is for older readers not elementary.  About the author Lois Lowery is an American author of children's literature.  Her first book was A SUMMER TO DIE which was published in 1977.  She has written more than 30 books for children.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile: Eric Carle

Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This story is about a caterpillar who eats his way through one apple, two pears, and so on each day.  He eats till he gets a stomachache.  This book is very colorfull and fun to read and look at.  About the artist, Eric Carle he published this story in 1969.  He is a very famous author and has won many awards.  An Activity for the students could be making their own book of what the caterpillar would eat through.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile: Jeff Kinney

Book:  Diary of A Wimpy Kid

This book is about a wimpy boy who gets pushed around by girls and guys.  He has bad luck.  My son and daughter liked reading these books. The author is Jeff Kinney is an American game designer and author of childrens books.  It is said that he is going to make a series on Fox.  For this book a good lesson would be to have the kids write down what someone did to them that made them feel bad and how we could all be nice to one another and we would never have a character like Greg.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile : Crokett Johnson

Book: Harold and the Purple Crayon

This book is about Harold he goes through an adventurous walk in the moonlght with his purple crayon.  Crockett Johnson writes stories about Harold and his adventures.  Crockett Johnson is an author and illustrator.  He was born on October 20, 1906- July 11, 1975.  He also wrote some books with his wife like THE CARROT SEED and THE HAPPY EGG.  An activity that students can do is on a black construction paper the student can draw a picture with a purple crayon.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile:  Barbara Park
Book: Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed

This is a chapter book.  Junie B. Jones is afraid to go to sleep at night because she heard a classmate say that people have monsters under their beds.  The author is Barbara Park and the illustrator is Denise Brunkus.  Barbara Park has written one picture book, thirteen middle-grade novels and twenty-six and a half Junie B. Jones titles. I remember my daughter liked to read her series.  These early chapter books are great for kids to want to read on their own. An activity that can be done with this book is maybe the students can draw a picture of what they think a monster looks like from under their bed.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile: Laura Joffe Numeroff

Book: If You Give a Pig a Pancake

I absolutly love these circular story books!  I think they are great. This story is about a pig who if you give her something she will want more and more things. It reminds me of kids because if you give them one thing, they will want another and another.  About the author Laura Joffe Numeroff, she was born on July 14, 1953.  She is an American author and illustrator of childrens books.  An activity you can do with the classroom is a memory activity, have the students draw and color items from the book and they can get in groups and glue the pictures in order and the group who gets it right can have a treat.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile: Shel Silverstein
Book: The Giving Tree

This book is about a relationship between a boy and a tree.  The boy wants and wants from the tree and the tree gives to the boy what he wants. Until the end he cuts him down and then youll find out what happens.  About the author his name is Shel Silverstein, he is an author, songwriter,cartoonist and short story writer, and a Poet. He was born in 1932.  I know him from the book Where the Sidewalk Ends.   He even wrote the song "A Boy Named Sue" that Johnny Cash sang.

An activity for this book could be readers circle and ask questions like Why is the tree lonely when the boy grows up?, Do you think the boy is selfish?,etc.

Author Profile: Dr. Seuss

Book:  One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

This book was about a story-poem with unusual animals like the Nook, Yink,Yop,Gack and Zeds. 

About the author Dr. Seuss was a writer and a cartoonist widely known for his childrens books.  His name is Theodor Seuss Geisel born on March 2, 1904.  He was an american writer and cartoonist.   A classroom activity for this book could be to have color fish and have the students coorodinate the fish with the colors.  A fun activity would be to make jello cups and put a fish in the cup.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett*

Author Profile: Beatrix Potter

Book: The Tale of Peter Rabbit       

The story is about  a mischievous young rabbit that goes into Mr.McGregors garden. This story was written for a young girl and then was printed for the world.  Beatrix Potter was born on July 28,1866.  She lived in London. She died on December 22 1943.She loved birds and had a pet rabbit named Tommy.  She was also an illustrator.  The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902.  For a classroom activity the students can make a word wall and can put the vocabulary used in the story like: garden, lettuce, mischief,etc.

Author Profile: Maurice Sendak

Book:  Where the Wild Things Are

This story is about a young boy named Max who gets punished and gets sent to bed with no supper.  In his room that is where wild forests  and wild thigs grow out of his imagination.  Here he becomes "the king of all wild things"  The author Maurice Sendak is also the illustrator.  This book was published in 1963.  The monsters in the book were actually based on relatives who would go to weekly dinners.

For a lesson with this book I can have the students do an art activity.  The students with use of textures and patterns can create their own imaginary"wild thing" Can do this also with recycled art.

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett* Dec 2,2009

      I really enjoyed todays presentations about spiders and Snow White.  The spiders lesson/presentation was very informative and interesting.  I think students about the 2nd or 3rd grade would really love it.  I liked the story about the spider, the second one,  It was very informative.  That was a great treat at the end.  I would like to do the fake spiders with my students, I think they would like that.  The second presentation was informative also.  I liked all the different pictures of "Snow White".  The song was a plus.  I think the older students would really like that presentation.  I didn't know that there were so many versions about the story of Snow White.  I would like to read one and I will for my winter vacation.  The student who read it I could tell she really enjoyed the project because she was very enthused when telling us the process of the story.  I thought both presentations were great!

EDRG 3321 Lit. for Public Schools *Pickett* Nov 30,2009

    For todays blog of November 30, 2009.  There were two presentations, one about integrity and the other about friendship.  The first one about integrity was very good.  I liked the story of the boy who had integrity and the way some people could be truely honest.  I liked the story very much and the activity was great.  I students love the hands-on activities.  The second presentation was also good about the book "PINK and SAY".  It was about the war and how two men of different races became friends.  It represented good humanity and how it doesn't matter the color of our skin but who we are inside as persons.  It is a good story for kids to have an understanding of how things were in the past and about how the war affects everyone not just the soldiers.  All the groups that have presented have done really great and interesting.