OFF THE SHELF - Library News (Copied from the January Administrative Newsletter)
In January, local author Molly Burnham (The Teddy Mars series) came to Fort River and spent time with students in the 3rd-6th grades.
In the weeks before, Mrs. Gage read aloud from Teddy Mars,#1: Almost a World Record Breaker to most of the 3-6 graders and many of our students read the whole book on their own. Molly Burnham was the very best author visitor in my many years at Fort River. She was generous and specific in sharing how she finds and develops her ideas for her characters and plots. Molly Burnham literally taught the students how “WONDERING” about a certain picture, person or an object (like a rock with patterned scratches) can lead to a whole story and developed characters. Ask your children about the pigeon story, a real World War I event. Or ask about the picture of the rock with scratches.
Molly Burnham also spent time asking the students questions to get them engaged in discussions of what school is like, what writing is like for them and also about their favorite books.
From Molly’s website, (www.mollybburnham.com):
"Teddy Mars Awarded Funniest Kids’ Book of 2016!
Ridiculously proud to have been awarded the Sid Fleischman Award for Humor from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, an international professional organization for writers and illustrators of children’s literature!”
Many of our students wrote Molly letters and here are just a few quotations from them:
“We can’t wait for your next book to come out!”
“…your visit was funny and helpful at the same time.”
“You have inspired me to write more often. And I have decided to make some of my stories based on my own life.”
“I am very glad you told us the story of you and your sister and the story of the pigeon.”
“I am excited to get to writing.”
“I also liked the picture of the rock that made us think about what is it supposed to be?”
We are all grateful for the grant we (all three elementary schools) received for this visit from the Amherst Integrated Arts Initiative, with John Bechtold’s and Mike Morris’s support.
Fran Ludington, Librarian, ludingtonf@arps.org 413-362-1215
Anne Gage, Library Paraeducator