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Children's author urges children, parents to pursue literacy
As children's book author Tom Birdseye spoke to the crowd in Dodge Elementary School gym on Monday evening, his first message was for the children bobbing up and down on their parents' laps.
"If you keep your eyes open and pay attention, there's a lot of your own experiences to write about," Birdseye said.
His final message was for the parents themselves.
"Let them see you reading," he told parents about encouraging reading in their own children. "Let them know that it's a fun thing to do."
Birdseye, a Corvallis, Ore., writer who's published nearly 20 books for and about children, spoke to Dodge students and their parents as part of a nine-day, five-school tour through Grand Island Public Schools. (He will wrap up Tuesday at Shoemaker Elementary School.)
Birdseye said he hoped through his message to "de-myth" the writing process -- to erase the misconception being a writer required some sort of supernatural talent.
He did that first by emphasizing his nontraditional path to writing: As a boy, he struggled in school and had difficulty writing. In fact, he didn't begin writing books until he was 30.
Then, Birdseye tackled the writing process itself. Ideas don't have to be completely made up, he told the students -- they can come from your own life.
He gave the example of his picture book "Oh Yeah!" which came from a childhood experience telling scary stories with a friend on a backyard camp-out, then mistaking his family's chihuahua for a "kid-eating monster."
But after the idea comes a lot of work, he said. As evidence, he showed a side-by-side view of a page of one of his books before and after 23 rewrites.
"I'm not a great writer," Birdseye said afterward. "What I am is a persistent rewriter."
There was another aspect of the writing process that Birdseye emphasized -- the fact that it takes a team to take on a writing project. In his case, it includes an editor, agent and illustrator. In children's case, that's where parents and teachers come in.
He urged parents to fill their homes with books, read to their children and read regularly themselves.
"I see myself as a cheerleader for both kids and parents," Birdseye said afterward. "And what I'm cheering for is literacy."
Birdseye's speech was part of Dodge's annual curriculum night, in which parents learned about the district's new Literature By Design language arts curriculum, said Principal Stephanie Schulte.
After he finished, the audience split up into their classrooms, where parents watched students perform a reader's theater.
Schulte said Birdseye's advice for both children and parents fit into the school's goals for parental involvement and students' reading and writing skills.
Schulte added that Birdseye's tips fit particularly well into one of the Six Traits of Writing the district teaches -- ideas.
"For a lot of kids, especially younger kids, that's probably the toughest one -- to get started," she said.
Children's author urges children, parents to pursue literacy
"If you keep your eyes open and pay attention, there's a lot of your own experiences to write about," Birdseye said.
His final message was for the parents themselves.
"Let them see you reading," he told parents about encouraging reading in their own children. "Let them know that it's a fun thing to do."
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Birdseye said he hoped through his message to "de-myth" the writing process -- to erase the misconception being a writer required some sort of supernatural talent.
He did that first by emphasizing his nontraditional path to writing: As a boy, he struggled in school and had difficulty writing. In fact, he didn't begin writing books until he was 30.
Then, Birdseye tackled the writing process itself. Ideas don't have to be completely made up, he told the students -- they can come from your own life.
He gave the example of his picture book "Oh Yeah!" which came from a childhood experience telling scary stories with a friend on a backyard camp-out, then mistaking his family's chihuahua for a "kid-eating monster."
But after the idea comes a lot of work, he said. As evidence, he showed a side-by-side view of a page of one of his books before and after 23 rewrites.
"I'm not a great writer," Birdseye said afterward. "What I am is a persistent rewriter."
There was another aspect of the writing process that Birdseye emphasized -- the fact that it takes a team to take on a writing project. In his case, it includes an editor, agent and illustrator. In children's case, that's where parents and teachers come in.
He urged parents to fill their homes with books, read to their children and read regularly themselves.
"I see myself as a cheerleader for both kids and parents," Birdseye said afterward. "And what I'm cheering for is literacy."
Birdseye's speech was part of Dodge's annual curriculum night, in which parents learned about the district's new Literature By Design language arts curriculum, said Principal Stephanie Schulte.
After he finished, the audience split up into their classrooms, where parents watched students perform a reader's theater.
Schulte said Birdseye's advice for both children and parents fit into the school's goals for parental involvement and students' reading and writing skills.
Schulte added that Birdseye's tips fit particularly well into one of the Six Traits of Writing the district teaches -- ideas.
"For a lot of kids, especially younger kids, that's probably the toughest one -- to get started," she said.
Children's author urges children, parents to pursue literacy
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