IRA Convention

Today I did my first school presentations on Salt Spring Island. Nice school, nice kids, nice teachers, great PAC!
It was a sunny spring day but the kids were excited about books and reading.

Now I'm packing to go to Phoenix, AZ to present an all day Institute at IRA with several fellow writers: Sara Holbrook, Linda Bailey, Deborah Hodge and Mary Casanova. Jan Keese, Iowa's teacher of the year, will weave our stories together with classroom activities. If you are a teacher attending IRA, either in Phoenix or Minneapolis (May) I hope you will attend this very dynamic Institute: Weaving Different Genres into Classroom Gold!

Another Good Book to Read!

I just finished reading another great book: ALPHABET OF DREAMS by Susan Fletcher.
I just couldn't put it down. I loved her book Shadow Spinner and this one also plays in Persia. It's the story of the famous Three Wise Men. She brings them to life in this gripping story full of amazing details. You can smell the camels, hear the copper bells, see the stable and the star. It's not at all a Christmas story but gives the background of a story we are all familiar with. Highly recommended for avid readers of 12 and up.

2009 Global Action Week on Literacy

Have you heard of this campaign? In April the Global Campaign for Education will celebrate literacy in many innovative ways. Be sure to register your school or library to participate in exciting events!

http://www.campaignforeducationcanada.org/en/index.php

Globe & Mail article on writing/publishing

Interesting article if you are a fellow writer:

"Publish, and your book will probably perish"
You did your part, you wrote the book. So why are Canadian publishers getting worse at their part - selling it? James Adams reports

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090207.wxmarket07/EmailBNStory/Entertainment/home

Colorado State Reading Conference

I just returned from Denver where I did presentations at a wonderful elementary school. The school uses 'real' books, the kids read nonstop, the teachers read aloud... What more could you ask for :-)
Then I presented several sessions at the Colorado State Reading conference - a great conference with nearly 3,000 teachers in attendance. The mayor of Denver made a surprise appearance and it was fun to have dinner with Jane Yolen, Susan Bartoletti, Julie Danneberg and many other wonderful writer friends, old and new.
Besides seeing many Colorado teachers, it was fun to listen to the wild stories of Jon Scieszca, to see Gordon Korman and hear the background details of Patricia Polacco's The Keeping Quilt.
But.. it's also nice to be home again. Time to finish my new book by this week's deadline...

Family Literacy

Did you celebrate Family Literacy this week? I hope someone read a good book to you. I'm currently reading ALPHABET OF DREAMS by Susan Fletcher, an Oregon author. I'm really getting into it. She wrote Shadow Spinner, one of my favorite novels. You can see a list of my favourite titles by scrolling down.

I wanted to share a website with you:
http://www.justonemorebook.com
It's a fun site to explore books, to listen to your favourite author and discover new titles. Have fun listen to just one more book!

Nashville, Tennessee

Last week I visited Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. The students were wonderful. It was a treat to briefly visit The Grand Ol' Opry, just to see what it looks like! Emma stood on the steps with me and wished she was a country singer! Tok!

GLOBAL BOOKMARK EXCHANGE

When I was in Pakistan visiting a library, the children were making bookmarks. I suggested that they exchange their bookmarks with a school in North America. One thing led to another and, at this point, hundreds of students in over 23 countries around the world have exchanged handmade bookmarks with each other.
The idea is that each student makes one bookmark and writes one sentence, in English and in any other language they speak, about their favorite book. I have heard wonderful stories from schools where they all went to look at their buddy's favorite book, sharing their own and discussing a variety of good books. You can also combine social studies with language and study the country with which you are matched, use the map, do research, mail each other pins, flags, etc.
Almost daily I get requests from schools to be teamed up for a bookmark exchange. If you are a teacher and would like your class or whole school to participate, this is what you do:
• email me (margriet@margrietruurs.com) and tell me how many students in each grade you have.
• have students make handmade bookmarks as described above.
I will send you the name of a teacher elsewhere in the world. You will email him or her and send the required number of bookmarks via regular mail. Yours will arrive in the mail at some point!

I hope you will participate. I always have a waiting list, so this may take a while. I have many older students (Grade 8 and up) in North America waiting to be teamed. If you are a teacher in another country, I'd love to hear from you!

Happy teaching with books,

Margriet

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a healthy, happy New Year. May it be filled with stories waiting to be told and a cozy place to curl up with good books to read!
2009 started off with a perfect holiday - having our sons home, playing games, laughing a lot. There's too much snow for my taste but did make it all look very pretty.
We are now focusing on home renovations for our booklovers' B & B. I am also gearing up for school and library visits. If you live in the lower mainland and are interested in school visits, I have 2 days available this month.
I'm looking forward to flying to Nashville, TN soon to work with children in a school there.

Happy New Year!

Salt Spring Connection

You know how wonderful it is to read a book that takes you into the character's world, to the point where you can't put it down and you dread coming to the end because you can't spend more time with these new found friends?
Well - that's what happened when I picked up Julie Burtinshaw's book THE FREEDOM OF JENNY. The book had been on my shelf for a while. The back cover told me the book was about slavery. As soon as I started reading, the story pulled me in. I was there with Jenny and her momma and rest of the family as they toiled the fields and worked in the kitchen as slaves in Missouri in the 1840's and '50's. Then the story took me along on the pioneer trail as the family traveled west to California where slaves could live in freedom. I learned much about that part of history. It came to life through the vivid characters.
But then the story took an unexpected turn - they moved on to Canada. First to Fort Victoria. And then... to Salt Spring Island.
When I picked the book up I had no idea it would take place here. I loved learning about the true history of the small island on which I live. I recognized places and people's names. Not only a well written book but an important part of history that I had not really read about before: black pioneers. I highly recommend it to any reader!