Chanko, Pamela.
Teaching With Favorite Mem Fox Books
. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2005. An excellent resource to use with your author study providing many hands–on activities to accompany many of her books.
Christelow, Eileen.
What Do Authors Do?
New York: Clarion Books, 1995. I plan to use this picture–book as a read–aloud that elucidates the writing process for children in a step by step fashion.
Christelow, Eileen.
What Do Illustrators Do?
New York: Clarion Books, 1999. This is a companion text to her other book,
What Do Authors Do?
and focuses on the steps and decisions involved in creating illustrations for a picture–book.
Engel, Dean and Florence B. Freedman.
Ezra Jack Keats: A Biography With Illustrations.
New York: First Silver Moon Press, 1995. This biography is very compelling providing information about Keats' life that are at times light and other times sad but always stirring.
Fletcher, Ralph.
How To Write Your Life Story
. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. A great read! This book offers a wealth of ideas on writing your life story in ways that are both fun and engaging.
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Live Writing: Breathing Life Into Your Words.
New York: HarperCollins, 1999. This book offers a toolbox of great strategies on how to craft your writing.
Fox, Mem.
Dear Mem Fox, I Have Read All Your Books, Even The Pathetic Ones
. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1992. Fox tells a very engaging and candid story about her highly eventful life and passions.
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Hunwick's Egg
. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2005.
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Koala Lou
. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1988.
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Possum Magic
. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1983.
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Sophie
. New York: Voyager Books Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994.
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Whoever You Are
. New York: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc., 1997.
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Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
. La Jolla, California: Kane/Miller Book Publishers, 1985.
Gauch, Patricia Lee, ed. et al.
Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art
. New York: Philomel Books, 2007. This book is an anthology of some of the most well–loved illustrators in children's literature. In it we learn from them what influenced their art and the individual ways in which they approach their art.
Heard, Georgia.
Awakening The Heart
. New York: Heinemann, 1998. This wonderful resource helps the teacher create a community of students who love writing poetry. It offers many useful activities to use in this endeavor in the classroom.
Keats, Ezra Jack and Anita Silvey.
Keats's Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury
. New York: Viking, 1962. This is a wonderful collection of nine of Keats most popular picture–books.
Lane, Barry.
But How Do You Teach Writing?
New York: Scholastic, 2008. For use in grades K–12, this valuable resource helps teachers to teach writing effectively. It focuses on both how and why to teach writing.
Lester, Helen.
Author: A True Story
. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. Told with great humor this true story recounts Lester's struggles as a child and as an author, encouraging the reader to see the challenges in life as opportunities to learn and grow as a person and as a writer.
Marcus, Leonard S., ed.
Show Me A Story: Why Picture Books Matter. Conversations With 21 of the World's Most Celebrated Illustrators
. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2012. Hot off the press, this book presents the rich conversations the editor has with many celebrated authors and illustrators. We learn something about their lives and their inspirations and get to see a sample of their artwork.
McGinty, Alice B.
Cynthia Rylant
. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2004. This biography is both comprehensive and engaging and written for children to understand.
McPhail, David.
In Flight With David McPhail: A Creative Autobiography
. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, 1996. This book that is filled with many charming childhood memories of McPhail's life. Of special interest is the section where he describes the numerous stages a drawing goes through before it is accepted as an illustration in a book.
Nixon, Joan Lowery.
If You Were A Writer
. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1988. This charming story provides the young reader with ways to craft their writing to make it their own.
Novelli, Joan.
Teaching Reading With Cynthia Rylant Books
. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2009. An excellent resource to use with your author study providing many hands–on activities to accompany many of her books.
Numeroff, Laura.
If You Give An Author A Pencil
. Katonah, New York: Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc., 2002. In this short autobiography the author recounts the events that especially influenced her decision to become a writer of children's books.
Preller, James.
The Big Book of Picture–Book Authors & Illustrators
. Jefferson City, Missouri: Scholastic Professional Books, 2001. This valuable book includes 75 short biographies of celebrated authors and illustrators that can be read aloud to young students.
Rylant, Cynthia.
Best Wishes
. Katonah, New York: Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc., 1992. This delightful autobiography provides the young reader with a look into the life of Rylant growing up in a coal–mining family, detailing the many experiences that shaped her as a writer.
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Christmas In The Country
. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2002.
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Night In The Country
. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1986.
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Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story
. New York: Orchard Books, 1987.
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The Bookshop Dog
. New York: The Blue Sky Press, 1996.
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The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog!
New York: The Blue Sky Press, 2001.
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The Old Woman Who Named Things
. New York: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc., 1996.
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The Relatives Came
. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1985.
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When I Was Young In The Mountains
. New York: Puffin Books, 1982.
Scharer, Patricia L. and Gay Su Pinnell.
Guiding K–3 Writers to Independence
. New York: Scholastic, 2008. This comprehensive resource emphasizes the connection between shared and interactive writing done as a group and the development of one's own individual writing development.
Spinelli, Eileen
The Best Story
. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2008. The primary message of this appealing story is that the best stories come from the heart.
Sloan, Megan S.
Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate
. New York: Teaching Resources, 2008. What's especially nice about this resource is that it includes examples from children's literature for each elaboration technique presented.
Wheeler, Jill C.
Cynthia Rylant
. New York: Checkerboard Books, 2008. This biography is flawed because it includes photos that do not relate to the subject's life and can be confusing for the young reader. However, it can be used by the teacher to show that not all biographies are created equal.
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Ezra Jack Keats
. Edina, Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company, 2005. Through photos and text this biography offers the young reader a look at the life and times of Keats.
Woolf, Virginia.
Orlando
. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2006. A well–written and highly entertaining fictional historical biography that examines the roles of men and women from the 16
th
to the 20
th
century.
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