Did you know that most authors and illustrators never meet? Yet a good picture book is a beautiful marriage of text and art. Opening my computer to see finished illustrations is always a highlight of the process of bringing a book into the world.
Thanks to Telling Tales, a wonderful literacy festival, teachers are invited to experience a free virtual visit with me and artist Jing Jing Tsong, illustrator of my newest picture book, First Morning Sun.
This session is a great opportunity to watch Jing Jing demonstrate some techniques and hear about how she approached illustrating the text.
Teachers, please sign up and share! This session has had a lot of interest already, but because each classroom only counts as one registration, there is plenty of room for you and your colleagues. Parents and grandparents, feel free to pass along the information to educators you know.
Mama Bell Frampton and Freddie Rogers, as depicted by Matt Phelan
Mama Bell Frampton was a neighbor of the young Fred Rogers. Fred describes with fondness his visits to her home. Time and again, she welcomed him with a cheery greeting and the gift of a simple offering: buttered toast. What’s more, she showed young Freddie how to make “toast sticks” all by himself. She had no way of knowing how deeply her everyday kindness would affect her young neighbor.
Mama Bell Frampton’s consistent, caring presence helped to form Fred’s vision of a healthy neighborhood—a place where all were welcomed and encouraged to grow. That sense of connection and warmth pervaded the television program that would bring Mr. Rogers into the homes and hearts of countless families over the decades it was on the air.
Fred recognized the transformative power of those who care for children, calling them his heroes. As a former teacher, I honor the vital work of educators. I’m cheering you on as you create communities that recognize the dignity of the students in your care. In honor of World Kindness Day, which is recognized on November 13th, I want to celebrate Kindness in the Classroom.
You Are My Friend cover
I am holding a giveaway for a special prize pack. It will include an online author visit and a signed copy of You Are My Friend: The Story of Mister Rogers and His Neighborhoodas well as postcards and temporary tattoos featuring art from the book for every student in the winning teacher’s class.
If you are a teacher, you can enter the draw in four ways:
(3) tag me on Twitter (@aimeereidbooks) and use the hashtags #WorldKindnessDay and #teaching, and
(4) tag me on Instagram (@aimeereidbooks), using the hashtags #WorldKindnessDay and #teaching. Each of the four options will give you an entry.
I’ll hold a draw on Sunday, November 14th and be in touch with the recipient to find out how you’d like your book personalized and where you’d like me to send the book, postcards, and temporary tattoos. We’ll also set up a time for the online visit.
All teachers who participatewill receive a link for a downloadable booklet that expands on the themes in You Are My Friend and invites students to write or draw about their own uniqueness. I’d love to see pictures of the booklets your students create!
As I’ve chatted with booksellers, teachers, and librarians over the past while, I’ve been reminded of the incredible gift you offer each time you place a good book in the hands of a child.
Beginner Books from Random House
When I was young, the small town where I lived had no bookstore. Fortunately for me, my family subscribed to the Beginner Books Club from Random House. I can still remember the feeling of anticipation that swept over me as I gripped a new brown package in my hands. I could hardly wait to smell that new book smell and turn the first pages.
The sparks those books struck ignited in me a long-lasting love of reading that has never been quenched. Sparks form when two objects connect in just the right way. I think they provide an apt metaphor for what happens when we place the right book in the hands of the right child at the right time.
from the Wikipedia Commons, photographer Gabriel Pollard
I still carry a sense of gratitude for the people who created those books and placed them in my hands. Someone wrote the words, perfected the font, and crafted the ad copy. Someone slid the books into their brown cardboard packages. Someone delivered them to my door.
Now, as I enjoy those same books with my own children. I realize more deeply the power story has to connect us with one another. We truly are shaped by the stories we share. I can’t help but hope that my own book, Mama’sDay with Little Gray, will be similarly cherished. That it will remind the children and adults who read it together of all that is good and fun and nurturing about their relationships.
copyright Laura J. Bryant
Because, yes, milk spills. Laundry piles up. Cereal gets ground into the floor. There is strife in the world, but there is also tenderness and beauty and caring that transform ordinary moments into extraordinary memories of connection.
I realize that you may never fully know just how the work you do will change people’s lives. Perhaps yesterday you sold a bug book to a future world-renowned biologist. Maybe tomorrow you will chat with the next Dr. Seuss. It’s possible that today you will recommend a book to a mom whose relationship with her child will be forever shaped by that story she’ll read night after night.
My basket of thank-you treats for booksellers at Random House
My wish for you is that you will feel a little of the joy and wonder that you create in the world as you foster connections that will brighten and warm people for generations to come.
