Author Fest 2016 is in full swing this week! Four popular children’s authors -- Laura Huliska-Beith, Chris Rylander, Liesl Shurtliff and Tom Watson – have been visiting several District 58 schools.
Parents, don’t miss out! Author Fest concludes with a public Book Sale and Signing on April 15 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Downers Grove Public Library.
We were able to drop in on three of the four authors’ presentations this week. Here are some highlights!
We visited Hillcrest School, where author Liesl Shurtliff taught eager fifth graders how to “show and not tell” while writing stories. She wrote two sentences: “The old man was grumpy.” and “The party was awesome.” Students agreed that these sentences were fairly passive and didn’t paint a vivid story. So, Shurtliff asked students to bring these sentences to life by “showing” what they meant to communicate. The students enjoyed sharing their ideas!
We also visited Lester School, where author Tom Watson showed third graders how to draw his infamous hero, Stick Dog, as well as other characters in his Stick Dog book series. He even shared a secret with the students – he’s introducing a new book series called Stick Cat next month! The students focused on Watson’s instructions and proudly shared their own drawings with the author. At the end of his session, Watson said he was seeking new story ideas and asked the students what they’d think if Stick Dog got a girlfriend. To his surprise, the third graders resoundingly raised their hands and bellowed laughter and shrieks of excitement.
“Wow, that’s not the reaction I usually get!” Watson exclaimed. “Lester School must be filled with romantics!”
Finally, we visited Indian Trail School where author Chris Rylander shared an important message with fifth and sixth graders: No matter what people say, you CAN get your book published. You just have to work hard to write a good manuscript. Yes, that means you have to write your book first. That’s the hardest part. The author and illustrator went on to describe his own story – one that started with his childhood teacher telling him that he could never get published. He believed this pipedream for a long time, until he grew up and started working a boring job. He then realized his true passion was writing and illustrating, so he returned to his roots and found the publishing part really wasn’t that difficult if you had a good story.
Author Laura Huliska-Beith, famous for her “Recess Queen” series, is also visiting our schools this week. While we didn’t get to visit one of her sessions yet, she also will be participating in this Friday’s Book Sale and Signing.