From: Sally Miller <derbymiller>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 11:45:07 -0400

This really pertains to our earlier discussion, but I couldn't write it until today. This morning I did a school visit to the C.T. Young elementary school in Cleves, Ohio, right outside of Cincinnati. The students I spoke to were 5th graders, and after I'd made my presentation and answered their many questions, I asked them "How do you decide what you are going to read?" Such enthusiasm! They obviously love browsing in the school library and the local library. They read book flaps, the backs of book jackets, a few pages to see if it "sounds good." Their friends suggest books, they have series books they are fond of (particularly the Unfortunate Events series now). I brought out some fairly new books that I thought they'd enjoy -- I had copies of Polly Horvath's book about the Pepins and their Problems, an Eva Ibbotson book, Sarah Ellis's "The Several Lives of Orphan Jack," and, of course, my favorite, Sylvia Waugh's "The Mennyms." As I showed them my picks, they began to reach into their desks, the tops of which they had cleared at their teacher's instructions, before I began, to show me their current book choices -- there was Polly Horvath again, there was Lemony Snickett (and such gasps when I told them that
"she" is a "he," and that I have met him) and of course there was Konigsburg.We could have chatted for hours, I think, and I was so grateful to their teacher, Linda Koelling, for inviting me to the classroom and encouraging her students to read. She had prepared her students well -- my books were on display and the students had questions they'd already prepared -- it was just the way you'd want a school visit to go, The down side is that I didn't charge for the visit, and I know other children's authors sometimes frown on this. I understand, because I can use the money every time I receive a fee for a school visit, and I hate to seem to undercut others. But what do you do when you know a school can't afford to pay? It's a dilemma which you often need to address. Today, though, I felt good about what I had done -- here was a teacher fostering reading, kids enjoying reading, and the end result -- down the line -- has to be more book sales for everyone, not to mention a more literate society and more happy readers. So thank all of you teachers and librarians and writers -- we'll transform this society yet. Sally Derby
Received on Wed 20 Oct 2004 10:45:07 AM CDT