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Okay, so I know you’re going to say I’m biased, but I’m a huge fan of Seymour Simon.  As a librarian, I was always comfortable recommending his books  - he was one of my reliables, an absolute go-to.  Recently, I’ve had opportunities to work with him and, I have to confess, he’d have a lot of us beat in the pop culture and technology departments: Seymour knows more about Idol than I ever would and has all the latest gadgets that I’m still slightly scared of.

With that in mind, you have to check out Seymour Simon’s website and blog.  Here is just a glimpse of the coolness you’ll find there:

• You’ll find out about his books available on the iPad and Nook Color (for a complete list of his books available digitally, click here).
• For educators, specifically, check out the teachers’ guides and discussion guides (registration required).
• Request an author visit: in-person or Skype.
• Seymour’s blog is amazing.  He updates it regularly with fascinating trivia, articles, and information.
• Speak to Seymour directly – he’ll answer  your questions!
• You should also check out Seymour’s Science Fun to Go app through iTunes.

Want to meet Seymour in person?  The correct answer, of course, is yes.  He’ll be at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference in San Francisco this coming weekend!  On Friday, March 11th, from 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm, he’ll be accepting his award for the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 – listen to him speak about GLOBAL WARMING.  On Saturday, March 12th, he’ll be on a panel, “Science with Seymour Simon and Wendy Saul: Developing the Language of Science”, from 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm at the Moscone Center, Room 262 on Saturday.  Stop by and say hi to Seymour!

As mentioned on Friday, Albert Whitman author Suzanne Slade took Read Across America Day quite literally. Here are her experiences with 13 Skype visits in one day:

The Day I Read Across America (tales from the virtual author visit front)

On Read-Across-America Day, March 2nd, I woke at 3:35 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was too excited! I was going to read to students across the country—in CA, IL, GA, IN, PA, NH, OH, FL, AL, NC, OR, NY and NJ—all in one day! It was a reading event I’d been working on for over a year. With the help of Skype, I would visit thirteen different schools from the comfort of my home office (aka. dining room) in Libertyville, Illinois. If all went according to plan, I would connect with a different school every half hour, beginning at 8 am and running straight through until 2:30 pm, spending twenty minutes with each group of children. As I put on my striped Cat-in-the-Hat hat that morning, I wondered what fun surprises, or technical glitches, awaited me. And here’s how it went down.

The day kicked off with 118 enthusiastic fifth graders from Eaton Elementary in NC. As with all the schools I would visit, they had prepared a message for me to share with the next school. Eaton’s message was, “Get off the couch and read!” How awesome is that? Before our visit ended, I asked the class how many people they thought I would talk to during the day, as the school with the closest guess would win a free box of autographed books from me. The fifth graders had used their estimation skills and come up with a guess of 1400. I have to admit, I was a little surprised their number was so high. I’d guessed only 375.

My next stop was King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida where I met children in kindergarten through second grade. I explained how a book is made using some cool show-and-tells from my newest picture book, Climbing Lincoln’s Steps (illustrated by Colin Bootman). I showed them my original 5-page manuscript, the 32-page book dummy my editor had put together, Colin’s early pencil sketches, copies of his amazing full-color paintings, the F & G (folds and gathers), and the beautiful finished book complete with dust jacket. The students had lots of interesting questions. My favorite was, “Do you have to change the words in your stories a lot?” We ended our time by reading one of my picture books together. The morning was rolling along without a hitch, although I must admit only one hour into my marathon reading event I realized I couldn’t stay sitting all day, so I put my computer on a small chair on top of my table and did the next few visits standing up. 

The third school in the Bronx, New York was a del

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, 2/23, 5:00 PST/8:00 EST, Melissa Marr will be at Mysterious Galaxy Books in San Diego to celebrate the release of the fifth and final book in the Wicked Lovely series, DARKEST MERCY.

Even if you don’t live nearby (or you live nearby and didn’t score a ticket), you can watch the event by livestream here.  You can watch the event live and even send in your questions for Melissa.  Pretty cool, right?

It’s the wave of the future, don’t you think?  I can attend a book event in Seattle from my office in New York, send in my questions to the author, share the link with friends so they can attend…and it certainly is more cost effective for all.

What do you think this technology will mean for school and library visits in the future?  Have any of you out there tried livestreaming an author or illustrator visit?

Follow Melissa Marr on Twitter
“Like” the Wicked Lovely Facebook fan page

Once again, a child at a school assembly asked me where I get my ideas. As usual, I said ideas are everywhere. This month I’ve been getting ideas from the newspaper, particularly coverage of the Tucson tragedy. It’s given me the idea that it’s high time to write a book that will go some small way to make our country a better place for people’s lives, not just a better place for people’s math. In fact, I’m thinking of a book that can do both because they just might be related.

We live in an era and a society where dogma trumps evidence and the drama of one trumps the experiences of many. The tendency to generalize from single examples seems to take over in the minds of too many who are unwilling or unable to recognize the relative insignificance of the examples they flourish. Show a gun-rights supporter statistics showing that families with guns in their homes are far more likely to suffer an injury or death from gunshot … and they’ll come back with an anecdote about one exceedingly rare instance where someone defended his family with a gun. Talk about Columbine or Virginia Tech or Tucson and they’ll tell you an apocryphal story about the arms-bearing citizen who stopped a potential shooting.

Statistics let us distinguish data from anecdote. Maybe some day (how’s this for wishful thinking?) a society that is statistically literate will create laws that actually help protect people from madmen instead of absurdly lax laws that protect the madmen until it’s too late to stop them.

And we need to understand probability. If you tell a gun supporter that we need better background checks on gun purchasers, she might point out that the checks are no better than 50% effective. But if prospective purchasers have to go through three successive screens, nearly 90% of the mad shooters would be stopped. One more screen and you’re up to almost 95%. It’s in the math.

Would quality children’s books on statistics and probability make any difference in our laws or attitudes? I don't know but can we afford to wait any longer to find out? Let’s see… if 10% of the people had a better mathematical basis for interpreting the information and misinformation that bombards us daily, and if each of them told 10 people who told 10 people...

One of my math heroes is Dr. Arthur Benjamin, a math professor at Harvey Mudd College, and a world-renowned “math magician” who astonishes audiences with amazing mental math calculations that he can do faster than any of the eight volunteers who come to the stage with their calculators. Prof. Benjamin did a short Ted talk about his formula for changing math education in America. You can find it here: http://www.ted.com/talks/arthur_benjamin_s_formula_for_changing_math_education.html. It’s only three minutes long and it might change your view of math education which, Benjamin believes, is on the wrong trajectory.

In every school system in America, math starts with counting and arithmetic, goes through algebra, aiming squarely for calculus. The genius of calculus and its importance to physicists and engineers

Last time I discussed author visits, I focused on planning tips for teachers and librarians. This time around, let’s turn the tables and look at visits from an author’s perspective.  Newbery Award-winner Gail Carson Levine has visited schools, libraries, and conferences all over the world.  She’s an expert at connecting with students and educators, so I asked her for some pro tips for authors who want to make the most of their appearances:

1. Think of a few ideas you’d like the kids to remember. Everybody approaches school visits differently. I don’t have a set presentation, but there are points I like to make. For example, I often read from a particular one of my books, a few paragraphs in which there’s a mistake. I challenge the kids to catch the mistake, and then, after it’s identified, I segue into the publishing process and the number of times I revise before and after my editor sees a manuscript. Since many children despise revision and I love it, teachers are usually delighted with this part. Sometimes I read from something I’m working on, and I rely on the children’s questions to take me to the lessons I want to share. I don’t have a PowerPoint presentation, but I do have images on my laptop that I can show when the right moment comes along.
2. School visits are best when the children are familiar with your books. The kids get the most out of their session with you and the schools are the most satisfied. I ask ahead of time that the students have read at least one of my books before I come, but still this doesn’t often happen. Recognize that schools have their own priorities, one of which may be to encourage the children to read your books in the future by having you come now. Also, the person who arranges your visit may not have the authority to make sure your books get read.
3. It’s okay to tell kids to be quiet. When you do, do so quickly and move on. And don’t take it personally.
   
4. Don’t stand behind a podium or up on a stage if you can avoid it. The separation creates distance and will make it harder to hold the children’s attention. Also, involve them, even when you’re speaking to an assembly of hundreds of kids. Especially then. If you use a hard word, for example, ask someone to define it. Respect guesses. If you come down hard on a wrong answer, the kids will clam up. Check with them by asking questions to make sure they’re with you. This will also keep them more alert, because they won’t know when the next question will erupt.
5. You don’t have to put up with misery. If the kids are out of control and the teachers aren’t dealing with it, you are not being paid enough to struggle on. I’ve never abandoned a group, but on a few occasions I wish I had, and in the future I will, even if I have to sacrifice my fee. If you continue on lamely as I have, no one learns a lesson.
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A bit of a retro look back; I wrote this poem last year and thought it was appropriate to share it again. Happy TG!(Read something great!)

Twas The Night before Thanksgiving
Readers! I am thankful for you! Tomorrow is the big day and my gift to you is a poem that I thought would make you smile (disclaimer) I am not a poet!

Read something great!

The Night Before Thanksgiving
By Tara Michener

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and look at my house
this place is so messy hope there is no mouse

The dishes are piled all the way in the air
and I still have so much food to prepare

The guests will help themselves to pies and breads
While thoughts of more gym time will be in their heads

I need my hair done but I threw on a cap
maybe while I'm under the dryer I'll take a short nap

I started banging pots and pans and made such a clatter
I lamented that after Thursday I would surely be fatter

The day will come and go like a flash
Then on Saturday I'll be signing books in a dash

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
Lots of little kids who want their books signed so dear

I'll sign at the mall and try to be quick
I'll be sure to have my sharpie never a BIC

But until Saturday I'll focus on dinner and try to stay lucid
Now potatoes, now rolls now tofukey and all
I hope I have enough to feed them all

My crock pot was boiling over like a brew
A house full of food and so much to do

And then, in a twinkling, I thought of my roof
and happily felt blessed to serve in spirit and truth

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around, I noticed all of the blessings around.
I had great things and they would get done I needed to stay put
I said a small prayer and stopped tapping my foot

A bundle of food lay still in it's pack
And I smiled as I lined up the to-do's in a stack

My eyes -- how they twinkled! I no longer felt scary
I began to prepare the pies apple and cherry

I made things fancy adding a bow
and wondered if tomorrow would bring our first snow

I dug out our decorations and found our wreath
Now I was grinning and showing my teeth

I ignored my diet and embraced my little round belly
That shook, as I laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

The turkey looked pretty and plump, like art on the shelf
And I laughed when I saw it in spite of myself;

A tasted the gravy and tried out the bread
Yep I realized I had nothing to dread;

I stopped feeling bad and finished my work
And wrote cards so fast I felt like a clerk

Laying the bread in the dish that I chose
I gave a nod, when I saw how it rose

My hubby came in and looked impressed and gave a whistle
I gave him a kiss as I held up the toe of mistle

But I heard him exclaim, as he ran out of sight
I can't wait to watch the game tomorrow night

Recently, my school hosted Kate Klise for an author visit. We have one every year, and the kids are always excited to hear the stories behind the books they check out from our library.

Have you read Kate and Sarah Klise’s book DYING TO MEET YOU? It’s an award-winning gem of a story about a scrappy kid, a persistent ghost, and a grumpy old scribbler all sharing the same rambling house on 43 Old Cemetary Road.

Read it and you’ll understand why it’s on so many awards lists.

It should be no surprise that Kate’s visit was fantastic. She was funny. Engaging. Honest. Real.

The kids loved her. They laughed at her stories and listened to what to she had to say about writing a good book.

And me? Well, when she started talking about the protagonist’s journey, my ears perked up.

Kate drew a circle and explained that every story needs at least one character with one problem. The character takes a circular journey and grapples with the conflict. At the end of the journey the protagonist returns home (figuratively and/or literally) a changed person. 

An interesting character + A compelling problem + A tranformative journey. 

See? That’s all you need to entrance a reader. Kate’s thoughts really stuck with me. The circle she drew keeps spinning around in my mind.

How about you? What do you think are the crucial elements of a great story?

Hungry for More? Then try this recipe for HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE. It’s perfect for curling up with a spook-tacular read this week.

Binge!