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In 2008 Walnut Grove Elementary School in Franklin, Tennessee held their annual Rock-N-Roll Read-A-Thon on February 29th. Leap Day! The 650+ students were dressed for a sock hop in 1950’s costumes, and I was deeply impressed with the artwork on display by students. In fact, much of the artwork from Walnut Grove has found its … Continue reading
On February 20th my husband and I visited Willowbrook Elementary in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Willowbrook Library Media Specialist Danna Caudill (left) and Author/Illustrator Tammy Carter Bronson.
It was a great treat to visit a school so close to home, and I must thank the Library Media Specialist, Mrs. Danna Caudill, for making this visit possible. Her passion for literacy and exceptional organizational skills created an event that made a lasting impact not only on the students but on the community as well.
From left to right: Willowbrook Principal Cynthia Dewey, Author Tammy Carter Bronson, and Librarian Danna Caudill.
I met Mrs. Caudill at Oak Elementary in Bartlett, Tennessee during an author visit in November 2008. My program at Oak Elementary was a great success, and when Mrs. Caudill moved to Bentonville and took a position at Willowbrook, she encouraged the Principal, Cynthia Dewey, to choose Tiny Snail for the One School, One Book program which is designed to create a shared reading experience within a single elementary school community. In January every child at Willowbrook received a copy of Tiny Snail, and over the course of a month teachers integrated the book into the curriculum.
Author’s Tea and Breakfast at Willowbrook Elementary.
Our visit began bright and early at 7:00 am on February 20th with an “Author’s Tea.” Teachers, staff and community leaders were on hand to meet and greet my husband and I in the school library.
From left to right: Author Tammy Carter Bronson, Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin, Cave Springs Mayor Larry Smith, and Author Matthew Shane Bronson.
The mayors of Bentonville and Cave Springs attended, as well as members of the Bentonville school board and the children’s librarian at the Bentonville Public Library.
Author Tammy Carter Bronson and the children’s librarian at the Bentonville Public Library, Sue Ann Pekel.
We set up for our program in the music room where we spoke to students one grade level at a time.
8:10 – 9:00 Fourth Grade
9:00 – 9:50 Third Grade
9:50 – 10:40 First Grade
10:40 – 11:30 Lunch in the Library
11:30 – 12:20 Kindergarten
12:20 – 1:10 Kindergarten
1:10 – 2:00 Second Grade
Around midday it started to snow, but thankfully the precipitation quickly melted from the sidewalks and roads.
At 2:00 o’clock we toured the school. Nearly every hallway in the school was covered with student projects relating to Tiny Snail, and I took so many pictures (over 160) that I can’t share everything in one blog post. More pictures of student art and activities are forthcoming in the following posts:
Student Art at Willowbrook
Kindergarten Projects at Willowbrook
1st Grade Projects at Willowbrook
2nd Grade Projects at Willowbrook
3rd and 4th Grade Projects at Willowbrook
More related posts include:
Mrs. Caudill at Oak Elementary
Using Kaleidonotes in the Classroom
Translating Polliwog Into Spanish
Every student at Willowbrook is an author and illustrator. Congratulations Willowbrook students, and Happy Author Celebration Day!
Willowbrook Elementary: Where Every Student is an Author!
On Friday (2/8/2013) I visited Westview Elementary in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
I spoke with each grade during the day, and in the evening I presented to parents, teachers and students at their 3rd Annual Literacy Night.
Last year’s author was Anna Dewdney who is well known for her “Llama, Llama” books.
I drew a picture of TINY SNAIL for the school (below), and the principal, Margo Williams, plans to have it framed.
PTA President Celeste Ward (left) and Tammy Bronson.
Daniel from Bridge Christian Church.
Members of the Bridge Christian Church set up an elaborate sound and video system for my evening program. Many thanks to them for their cheerful, technical support.
The event was hugely successful due to the efforts of the Westview PTA, particularly Celeste Ward, the PTA President. Many thanks to the PTA, parents, teachers and students who made Friday night a literacy night to remember!
FROM THE WESTVIEW WEBSITE:
I visited Christ Community Lutheran School in Webster Groves, Missouri yesterday (Friday, 2/1/2013). I spoke with students in grades Kindergarten through 4th, and afterward we took a tour of the school. The teachers designed amazing bulletin boards inspired by my books, and the students did a fantastic job creating the art and writing stories.
Our tour guide and the primary organizer of our author visit was the 1st grade teacher, Ann Schmidt. Her bulletin board featured the students’ favorite book, TINY SNAIL (above).
Arrival and set-up: 9:15 – 9:35 am.
Kindergarten 9:50 – 10:15
1st and 2nd grades 10:30 – 11:15
Lunch and Book Signing 11:15 – 1:00
3rd and 4th grades 1:00 – 1:45 pm
Tour 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Designed by Mrs. Dittmer’s kindergarten class, this bulletin board based on POLLIWOG illustrated the pond above and below the water.
Below, many students wrote stories, and a trail of brightly colored snails marched up and around the bulletin boards.
The “Polliwog Pond” below was created by Mrs. Belsha’s kindergarten class. This bulletin board was covered with tadpoles made from balloons. The tadpoles were at various stages of their transformation. They even created frog eggs from bubble wrap!
The “Surf Shack” was the reading specialist’s room, and the entrance featured a table highlighting my books as this week’s feature.
The most elaborate design was based on SEA HORSE, RUN! and created by three classes of 2nd grade students (Mrs. Ladd, Mrs. Brown, and Mrs. Leet). The display gave the illusion of walking through a glass tunnel at an aquarium. The walls and ceiling were covered in a cloth that mimicked water, and the collage of sea creatures were designed to scale by the students.
Mrs. Karen Brown (left) and Mrs. Marcia Ladd (right) are pictured below.
When a school signs up for an author visit, I send the school a confirmation packet filled with goodies that a librarian or teacher can use to prepare students for my program. Here is a sneak peek of the contents.
1 – Letter to the school confirming the date.
2 – Hardcover copy of Polliwog.
3 – Hardcover copy of Tiny Snail.
4 – Hardcover copy of “Sea Horse, run!”.
5 – Hardcover copy of Kaleidonotes.
6 – Four bookmarks (one for each book).
7 – Activity for Kaleidonotes.
8 – Activities for Tiny Snail including…
“Tiny Snail taught me…” Activity (For Bulletin Board)
Teacher’s Guide for Tiny Snail
9 – Activities for Polliwog including…
Frog Life Cycle Activity (Color, Cut, & Paste)
Teacher’s Guide to Polliwog
10 – Activities for “Sea Horse, run!” including…
“Sea Horse, run!” Teacher’s Guide.
Sea Horse Diagram
Brain Coral Maze
Draw Sea Horse with a Dot-to-Dot Activity
11 – DVD with videos of the books and me as the narrator.
Video of Tiny Snail.
Video of Kaleidonotes.
Video of Polliwog (English).
Video of Polliwog (Spanish).
“Sea Horse, run!” video is only available on the DVD.
12 – Timetable for a Successful Author Visit.
13 – Author Photo.
14 – Invoice for author visit fee and travel expenses.
15 – Book flyers for students who want to purchase books.
16 – Shipping label.
(17 )- FAQ by Teachers & Administrators / Program Outline for K-5 (not pictured above).
Want an author visit at your school?
Email books @ bookaroos.com for cost and availability in your area.
As I sorted through a large pile of envelopes on my desk this afternoon, I found a stack of fan mail from students at Liberty Christian School. Here is a sample of pictures and letters the children made for me. (Read my original blog post about the author visit at Liberty Christian on November 1, 2011.)
“Sea Horse, run!” and TINY SNAIL covers drawn by Hayden B.
TINY SNAIL cover drawn by Emily C.
TINY SNAIL cover drawn by Madison.
Polliwog cover drawn by Hayden S.
TINY SNAIL cover drawn by Tye.
A few students simply wrote letters instead of drawing a picture. This student forgot to sign their letter, but TINY SNAIL‘s message of perseverance and never give up made a big impression:
“Thank you help me want to read more and to learn more of things learn as much I can and inspir’d me to write a book and write and try and never stop from your book the snail book”
* * * * *
Thankfully one student found my program both inspiring and entertaining:
“Thank you for coming. It helped me to do beter [better] in things. My favorite part was when you droo [drew] a frog. You inspired me to never give up. You’re very funny. Love Laura”
* * * * *
“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bronson,
I have always wanted to be a writer. I have [been] making up stories since I was three years old. Thank you for coming and talking to us about your books. My favorite book is ‘SEA HORSE, RUN!’. I really want to do picture books. Thank you for coming to the school and sharing about your books. You should keep writing!
Avery”
* * * * *
One student sent their letter in a separate envelope they decorated especially for me!
“Dear Mr. & Mrs. Bronson,
I had a great time when you came to our school and I really like your cute books and I can’t wait to read new ones that you wrote! I love to write and illustrate. I also want to be the same thing you are right now! You inspired me that its not those big animals that always matter. Your books tell us that even the smallest creatures are very special because God made them that way! Thanks!
Love from Liberty Christian
Bella
TIP: Keep writing!”
I will keep writing, Bella!
* * * * *
A BIG thank you to ALL of the students at Liberty Christian for sending such wonderful pictures and letters. I keep my fan mail, and I will treasure your words of encouragement. You keep writing, too!
After more than a decade, over 18,000 copies of Tiny Snail are inching their way around the world. Many teachers wanted access to a video of the book for the classroom, so in March 2010 I posted videos of my books on YouTube. Polliwog and Kaleidonotes have been viewed a few hundred times, but in eighteen months the Tiny Snail video has been viewed 2,610 times! Tiny Snail is by far my most popular book, and last week she entered her 10th printing. Our shipment of books arrived Tuesday, October 25th. Unfortunately the truck did not have a lift, so we unloaded 53 boxes (4,300 copies) by hand.
Tiny Snail Boxes on the Truck
Although a couple of boxes were damaged, the books inside were unharmed.
24,786 copies of Tiny Snail are now in print!
| TINY SNAIL | Date | Soft cover | Hard cover |
| 1st Printing | 3/18/00 | 2200 | |
| 2nd Printing | 12/27/01 | 2200 | |
| 3rd Printing | 9/23/02 | 5495 | |
| 4th Printing | 12/16/04 | 2000 | |
| 5th Printing | 4/18/05 | 500 | |
| 6th Printing | 2/28/07 | 889 | |
| 7th Printing | 1/28/08 | 4376 | |
| 8th Printing | 10/25/08 | 950 | |
| 9th Printing | 10/19/10 | 1860 | |
| 10th Printing | 10/25/11 | 4300 | |
| TOTALS | 16371 | 8399 |
Go, Tiny, go!
Norma Terrell (Left) and Tammy Carter Bronson (Right).
On the morning of October 12th I drove through a massive downpour to reach Dobbs Elementary in Rockwall, Texas. I don’t like to unload my posters, boxes, and displays in the rain, but thankfully the school had a covered walkway that I could park very close to. About 230 Pre -K through second grade students were inspired to try creating their own stories. Many thanks to the librarian, Norma Terrell, for investing so much time preparing the students for my visit. The children were divided into three groups:
1st Grade 8:20-9:00
Kinder & Pre-K 9:10-9:55
2nd Grade 10:05-10:55
After quickly signing a few books for teachers and students, I drove to Springer Elementary School for an afternoon author visit in the same district (Rockwall ISD). Thankfully the rain storm ended before I left Dobbs, so unloading was not a problem at Springer.
Springer Elementary, Rockwall, Texas
Kindergarten and 1st Grade 12:45 PM – 1:20 PM
Book Signing
2nd and 3rd Grade 1:45 PM – 2:30 PM
Over 150 students in each group (around 320 students total) squeezed into the library to hear me talk.
My Display in the Springer Elementary Library
My husband, Matthew Shane Bronson, handled the book sales.
Matthew at Springer Elementary
Friday morning (October 14th) I visited Redeemer Montessori School in Irving, Texas. The first two groups met in the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer community room. After speaking to two groups of about 25 children each, I quickly moved my displays to the school’s main building, Story Hall. The last presentation was in the 4th through 6th grade classroom.
8:45 – 9:25 AM Kindergarten
9:35 – 10:20 AM 1st – 3rd Grades
10:30 – 11:20 4th – 6th Grades
The intimate setting with only about 15 students allowed for great one-on-one interaction with the children. After the program, the students were eager to share the illustrated stories they created for a recent class project. Although this was one of the smallest schools I’ve ever visited (only ~65 students total), it was certainly one of the most rewarding!
Redeemer Montessori, Irving, Texas
Links:
AM Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Dobbs Elementary School Main Website
PM Wednesday, October 12, 2011
AM Friday, October 14, 2011
Jackson Primary School, Atlanta, Georgia
This afternoon I spoke to about 330 kindergarten and first grade students at Jackson Primary School in Atlanta, Georgia. The students were divided in to four groups:
K 11:45-12:15
K 12:20-12:50
1st 12:55-1:25
1st 1:30-2:00
My visit was sponsored by the Jackson Primary PTA as part of their fine arts program, so today’s presentations focused specifically on illustrating picture books. Although each presentation was only thirty minutes, I packed in lots of great information about…
Storyboards, miniature “practice” books (a.k.a “dummy” books), and final art.
Using colored pencils, watercolor paint, cut-outs, collages, and/or real objects in art.
Artists research the animals or settings they want to draw by checking out books from the library and using video or digital cameras to take pictures.
I also shared different drafts of my drawings. Students saw firsthand that sometimes shapes and colors do not look right the first time I draw it. I draw and redraw the pictures then I test each picture on my audience, both children and adults. If my audience does not understand the picture, I draw it again. Practice, practice, practice!
Ms. Webb (pictured left) in front of the beautiful murals in the Jackson Primary Library.
Many thanks to the librarian, Teresa Webb, for investing so much time preparing the students for my visit. Ms. Webb read Tiny Snail, Polliwog, and Sea Horse, run! to the children. Thank you Jackson Primary PTA for inviting me to your school!
Tammy Carter Bronson 
