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Love that students from a school in Oconee County, Georgia, made Yoohoo boats after reading The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.

My last school visit of the year was a special one.

I spoke to 4th and 5th graders at the Mather School in Dorchester, MA. (It's the first tax-supported public elementary school in the U.S.)

All of the students had read The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.

We had some great discussions about the book: their favorite parts, the character they liked best and why, any connections they had, etc.

Students showing drawings of their favorite scene

More drawings of favorite scenes

 

A student making a video for The Foundation for Children's Books

I'm sad to report that the Share Our Books program has been discontinued.

:-(

I have donated the 250 copies of The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis to The Foundation for Children's Books, so at least I know they will be in good hands.

Special thanks to Sara Pennypacker for her efforts with Share Our Books.  

I love this display from a school I visited recently. (The book is The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.)

I've been making book trailers for 4 years now.

Mine are simple.

No bells or whistles.

Just photos, music, and script.

My first one was Greetings from Nowhere:




Then The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis:






Then The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester:






I'm currently working on one for my October release of On the Road to Mr. Mineo's.

Here are the steps to a VERY basic book trailer:

1. Find photos. I use iStock Photo. They always have great photos that fit my story. I download the small size. Each photo costs a certain number of "credits." The credits needed for this trailer cost about $180.  I also sometimes use this site.

2. Find music. This is fun. You want the music, of course, to fit the tone of the book. I use Premium Beat because they have a good variety and are inexpensive. I bought the music for $30.

3. For this trailer, I also added one short video clip, purchased from iStock Photo for $20. 

4. Write the "script."

5. I use iMovie. Easy peasy. Literally drag the photos and music into the project. Add transitions, etc.

6. I spent 5432 hours tweaking it. 


7. Try to keep it to no more than 2 minutes.


8. Publish to YouTube, Teacher Tube and/or Vimeo.


9. Spread the word online.


DONE

This is the coolest thing ever.

 The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis was performed as a play!

They even had a character who was Popeye's conscience (see the devil and the angel?)

 Thank you, kids, for this wonderful honor!

There are only a few slots left in the 2012-2013 school year for the Share Our Books program. (But plenty for the following year.)

How it Works: 

One of the most satisfying parts of visiting schools is seeing artwork done by students in connection with my books.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing the following for The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.

 

 

After returning from vacation and finding 422! posts in my Google Reader, I sifted through and picked out some of my favorite blogs to read. I hope I am not too late to present to you a book trailer for Barbara O'Connor's new book, The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis. Humor me and watch it again if you have seen it already, if not... What are you waiting for???


Now who is with me? Get on over there to Amazon and pre-order your copy. Ya know ya want to!