Hattie Ever After: Lunch with Kirby Larson

 It might not seem like many (or maybe it seems like a lot) , but I’ve met five authors in my lifetime. The first was Jane Yolen, in 5th grade, when I was selected as a Royal Reader. I don’t remember much, except that I rode on a bus to Sacramento! I also still have my signed copy of The Acorn Quest. How lucky I was to have met Jane Yolen? I never met another author until I was an adult, when I heard Alice Hoffman speak at Borders Books about The Story Sisters in Sacramento in 2010. This year alone, I have met three authors! I treasure my signed copy of Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer and can’t wait for her next book. Erin Dealey visited my first grade class last week and taught my students about the writing process and poetry! Then, on Twitter, I saw this announcement for an event in Danville, California.        

         

Kirby Larson

Who: Award-winning children's novelist, Kirby Larson.

When: Friday, 15 February 2013 at Noon.

How much: Free. We will be serving a light lunch, so reservations are essential.

Where: Rakestraw Books.

     Luckily, I had the day off, so I made a reservation. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I envisioned lots of folding chairs, a podium, and a long line for signing books. We arrived early to buy our books so we would be ready! I couldn’t wait to meet Kirby, who was out doing two school visits that morning before coming to the lunch event. Then the woman behind the counter said, “Lunch will be next door at Amber.” We didn’t know how lucky we were. We really did have lunch with Kirby Larson. At a table for seven.

Rakestraw Books

Rakestraw Books The Bookstore In Danville
http://www.rakestrawbooks.com/

Amber

Amber was delightful and lunch was delicious. But it’s the conversation I will never forget. Kirby shared the story of Hattie, and her great-grandmother who inspired her to write Hattie Big Sky, and the next chapter of Hattie-- Hattie Ever After. She shared her story as a writer. And she gave us advice-- to help us reach and teach our little writers, and to help us as writers ourselves. She told us that writing was a little like being a dog. “You have to sit. You have to stay. You have to dig.”

Sit. Stay. Dig.

So simple, yet profound. She is so right. It takes that time to sit and write, to keep at it and write a little every day. And to write you must know, and care about your topic. Dig for information, for those feelings, and just the right words.

I can’t wait to tell my students about Kirby Larson. And then we’ll write!

Read Kirby Larson's new book!

From Goodreads.com

Hattie Big Sky: 2007 Newbery Honor

Book Trailer By MadisonLibRexburg 

Official website Kirby Larson 

Kirby’s Lane A Place for Readers and Writers

Kirby Larson interview

www.authormagazine.org

*originally posted February 19, 2013 on  my blog at jenniferkloczko.edublogs.org 

  

As I explained in another post, I’ve met five authors in my life. Three this year. I’m determined to make sure that my students know, love, and meet authors. Luckily, for my students, we have Erin Dealey right in our back yard. We’d already been reading her books, which are first grade favorites. We’d written Erin letters telling her how much we love to read. And we loved it when Erin wrote back-- Erin wrote individual letters to every student in our class on cool D stationery! And then... Erin visited our class! 

We were in the middle of Reader’s Workshop, busy wilth books, just like we are every day! She entered the room, sat down with a group of kids, and joined them with their reading. At some point, one student noticed her name on her bag. “Are you... Erin Dealey?” one girl asked. Good news travels fast and soon our class realized we had a rockstar in our midst! We settled in on the carpet and Erin began to share. She showed the kids her tattered draft of Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox that she wrote in the pickup line at her daughter’s elementary school. She read us her story Little Bo Peep Can’t Get to Sleep. And then she taught us to write poetry! We are so lucky and thankful that she visited our class!

Reading Little Bo Peep

Poetry Lesson

Writing poetry

Writer's Notebooks

Erin Dealey’s Writer’s Rap

*originally posted on February 13, 2013 on jenniferkloczko.edublogs.org