Let me start by admitting that I’m TIRED. My day began with books. I purchased more books today (there are books for sale by the authors that are speaking on that particular day) and I picked up my books from yesterday (when you buy books, you can leave them in a bin with your name on them to be autographed).

Today we heard three more authors: Dan Yaccarino, Brian Floca, and Avi. Each of these men are so different in experience and writing style and presentation style. Dan Yaccarino started the day with an amazing visual presentation about his books, illustrations, and tv shows. He is accomplished and his message to us was his success came from saying one word:

YES

Some of his golden lines included, “You need a safe place for ideas.” That’s my writer’s notebook. He’s kept sketch books since he was 8 or 9 and I’ve kept writer’s notebooks for just as long. Something else he said and Brian Floca (the next author) repeated is this, “I’m creating books about things I’m already interested in.” That’s different than writing what you know. Hmmm, that gives me something to think about. It makes a lot of sense. Brian Floca followed Yaccarino. He too is an illustrator first and then an author. I loved the quotes he wove into his presentation. Jack London’s quote, “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” That’s something that I’ve certainly felt! Out of all of the quotes, his resonated the most. He started by explaining that the dinosaur book, “took him seriously as a reader”. I’ve never heard it explained like that, but I get it! He continued what Dan Yaccarino was saying about ideas when he said, “Write what you want to know.” In the beginning of the school year the students and I do lots of idea gathering. One of my typical assignments  is having all of us make a list of things we know. That list is one we rarely returned to…me included. Next year I’ll have the students list What do you wonder?  I love that idea. That will stick with me. The other thing Brian said that will stick with me and that I will share with my students is this: “I begin with note, idea, questions, feelings, moments. The real work is in the rewriting.” Oh, and I can’t forget that Brian Floca taught me that porcupines have orange teeth.

Avi spoke after lunch.  The two previous authors had extensive technological presentations. Avi had a notebook. He told us to listen and to put our notebooks away. (I confess that I couldn’t. Sorry, Avi.) He would speak for a bit about himself and then would read a passage from one of his books. He said that, “If your works speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” The passages were carefully selected and seamlessly added to his personal stories. I could have listened all day long. He even read us an excerpt of a book that isn’t published yet. What a treat! It’s a book about the revolutionary war. I can’t wait for it to be published. He showed me the power of excerpts. I’ll work on finding just the right passage for the moment in class.

Speaking of class, our time with Linda FLEW by! I adored the character splash. It never occurred to me to focus on characters when recommending books to boys. I’d always focused on genres or author or series. I’m forever grateful for another pathway to put the perfect book in every student’s hand. My ABC list of characteristics will appear in my class in the fall. I like the idea of doing it together with the class too. The day ended with a presentation on poetry. The presenter was very sweet, but the presentation was very much geared towards primary students. I feel like I enjoyed my time listening to the poems and sharing some ideas, but I don’t feel like I took anything new away from this small group.

All in all, a successful and great day two!