This year, our 4th grade students were lucky enough to hear Jacqueline Kelly, the Newbery Honor winning author of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate, and a "sequel" to the Wind in the Willows called Return to the Willows.
It's our favorite day in the F.AVE Media Center...author day! We are so lucky to live in a town that values reading so much that they have an entire festival for it! Thanks to Little Shop of Stories and to the Decatur Education Foundation for bringing such amazing events to our school. This year, our 4th grade students were lucky enough to hear Jacqueline Kelly, the Newbery Honor winning author of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate, and a "sequel" to the Wind in the Willows called Return to the Willows. We really enjoyed Ms. Kelly's visit! She was a bit nervous about speaking to 15 classes at once, but she said afterwards that they were one of her best audiences ever. She talked about both of her books and her inspirations for both. She lives in Texas, where both Calpurnia Tate books are set, so her surroundings were a huge influence on her writing. Her house helped model Calpurnia's house, and after a tragic fire that took her house, she was so glad that it lived on in the stories. The students loved hearing about all the Calpurnia themed food that she has received over the years, too. But the biggest hit was hearing about Scruffy, her very own coydog. In Curious World, Callie's brother, Travis, keeps bringing home completely unsuitable animals to turn into pets. And it isn't until he finds Scruffy, a dog which everyone else thinks is useless, that he finds his true pet. The kids really loved hearing about Scruffy and Travis. Scruffy even has his own signature! So many students wanted to read Ms. Kelly's books that F.AVE set a record for the most books pre-sold for an author visit! Ms. Kelly signed books for close to two straight hours. We can't wait to see her again tomorrow on a panel with Jeanne Birdsall, the author of The Penderwicks. Look at all the happy kids with their books below! Mr. Smith's class wins with the most books signed!
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Corinne Smith
Media Specialist at Fifth Avenue Upper Elementary in Decatur, GA Archives
November 2023
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