Debra Frasier's Occasional e-Newsletter February 2008 Meet Minnesota Libraries’ 2008 Summer Reading Illustrator: ME! Look What’s Cookin’ At Your Library! This summer Minnesota celebrates its 150th anniversary of statehood and the state’s libraries are celebrating with Summer Reading materials based on A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake. I spent last year creating the artwork and JanWay now offers a host of low-cost reading incentives including posters, totebags, t-shirts, pencils, reading records and more. My summer library presentation tour begins in June and I hope to paddle Minnesota rivers between visits. (I’ve now paddled River #28 of the promised 50, most recently in bayou country.) ENTER TO WIN AN ARRAY OF “LOOK WHAT’S COOKIN’ AT YOUR LIBRARY” materials! AUTHOR VISIT WINNER! In December I visited Miller Wall Elementary, the New Orleans winner of a free author visit. I found a dedicated faculty adjusting to a much changed life-after-storm with amazing zest and care about students. Though Miller Wall survived Katrina, the nearby school did not and now Miller Wall supports both populations. My hat is off to the staff. Another Free Author Visit drawing will be offered in my Fall 2008 e-newsletter. MISS ALAINEUS VOCABULARY PARADE UPDATE Hundreds of schools reported hosting Vocabulary Parades this fall and the online showcase of student costumes received thousands of hits. Build a “vocabulary culture” at your school with fun and spunk. Send your best costume pictures to me. Download free parade directions (PDF). ENTER TO WIN A FREE 30 PAGE VOCABULARY PARADE KIT HERE, including reproducibles, ideas, AND suggestions, all in a sleeved notebook. Teacher idea: Embassy Creek media specialist, Myriam Bennett, created a virtual Vocabulary Parade at a dedicated website. Students dressed as words at home, uploaded pictures and the virtual parade now serves as inspiration for the later spring all-school parade. Virtual Parade winners received a ticket to “Lunch with the Author” during my school visit. How did she do it? Write her by clicking here! Teacher idea: Marcia Dresser, media specialist in Osceloa, WI, created a Wiki site where students explored vocabulary. How did she do it? Ask her! PODCAST Osceola Elementary students, with teachers Josh Marincel and Tony Thieke, hosted an author-interview podcast during Debra's recent school visit. The students practiced for the event and asked great questions. Ask Josh or Tony how they did it! Listen to the podcast here. (MP3, 4Mb) PAPER CUT-OUT ILLUSTRATIONS I travel across the country visiting schools and I now frequently meet fourth graders who have never learned to use scissors. But the fifth grade student who recently asked me, “But where are the lines? How do I know what to do?” broke my heart. Working visually is more than decoration. It is a way to build the foundational confidence basic to any future creative process, be it original math formulas, designing bridges, or writing. Facing the blank white page and creating “something from nothing” takes practice. Little by little we build the courage necessary to invent without a map. Hosting Family Paper Cutting Nights has taught me that students still love to “make things” with their parents. Try hosting one yourself. Download the paper cutting tip sheet at my website, find an animal picture (stripping National Geographics are a cheap way to gather a collection but I especially like to use the Wildlife Explorers single sheet series. First, make a picture yourself. Next, try it in your classroom, then invite the students to teach their parents.  The technique is forgiving and waiting to glue gives lots of time to edit. THIS is the beauty of paper cut-outs! Remember: no pencils. Just cut. Next: Download the paper cut-out illustration bibliography (PDF) at my website and make a display of cut paper books in the library. A GOOD BOOK RECOMMENDATION My recent travels have taken me from Boca Raton, Florida, (where a 60 degree morning had everyone shivering and bundled in coats, hats and gloves,) to Duluth, Minnesota (where school started at 14 degrees BELOW zero and everyone was cheerful because it had warmed up enough to open school again!), to Portland for the Oregon State Reading Conference. That’s where I met the novelist Ben Mikaelsen, author of Touching Spirit Bear. It’s a stay-up-late read that boys will love. Pass it on...and the sequel is due out in June. Children’s Literature Network’s Special Offer: A trio of autographed hardcover copies of Debra Frasier's Miss Alaineus, Incredible Water Show, and In the Space of the Sky (text by Richard Lewis with paper cut-out illustrations by Debra Frasier) is only $39! Shipping and handling are included in that price, so you save $24 over buying these books individually from Children's Literature Network's special autographed stock. Offer ends March 15, 2008. Books will be shipped on April 1, 2008. Click here for this limited time offer.