One Book, One School: Some Photos & Reflections
Monday, November 22nd, 2010 Posted in Bystander, School Visits, bullying | No Comments »I love this photo, somehow it says everything. This is why you write for children, those faces up there. A while back I posted about how Bystander was being featured in some special "One Book, One School" reading programs. Lately I've ...
Dipping My Big Toe Into the Cool Pool of Skype (does that sound too gross?)
Monday, November 1st, 2010 Posted in School Visits | No Comments »I've been thinking about Skyping lately, you know, video conferencing with schools. My first reaction to Skype was negative -- because that's how I react to any new technology. At heart, I am a Caveman. Fire? Oh, please. It's a ...
“One Book, One School”
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 Posted in Bystander, School Visits | 1 Comment »I don't know where to begin, what to say. Let's start with a couple of photos that were recently sent me from Hastings Middle School in Fairhaven, MA. On Thursday, 9/16, all the students, staff and faculty at Hastings participated in a ...
Jigsaw Jones, The Musical: Both Thumbs, Way Up
Friday, April 30th, 2010 Posted in Current Events, Happenings, Jigsaw Jones, School Visits | 1 Comment »I want to share a few photos and give my belated reaction to seeing the musical, Jigsaw Jones: The Case of the Class Clown. From left to right in the above photo: Benjamin K. Glaser (Jigsaw Jones), Jill Kurzner (Helen/Athena), ...
Dear Teacher: An Author’s Take on School Visits
Monday, February 15th, 2010 Posted in Greatest Hits, In the Classroom, School Visits | 5 Comments »I have been enjoying school visits for the past 15 years. I've played a role in great successes and I've had visits that have felt flat and, for me at least, unrealized. Same guy. What was the difference? Which is another way ...
Ben
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 Posted in Family, School Visits | 4 Comments »His name was Ben and he was waiting for me when I arrived at Blue Creek Elementary. Ben was holding my book, Six Innings, in his hands. "Could you . . . ?" a teacher asked. Yes, yes, of course. So we ducked ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #56
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, School Visits | 1 Comment »Sometimes fan mail comes from unexpected places . . . and says just the things you long to hear. Hello Mr. Preller, I am a full time dad for 3 young boys, Isaiah (8), Luke (7), Noah (3). Your books have been ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #50
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, School Visits | 1 Comment »Sometimes I get packages of letters from a class or school. Dozens of letters. I thought I'd cull some lines from one such package, sent by Ellen Schumer at The Red Mill School. Usually in this "fan mail" series, I ...
Hiccups for Elephant: The Play
Sunday, June 14th, 2009 Posted in In the Classroom, School Visits | 1 Comment »On a recent school visit to Middleburgh Elementary, I was handed the day's schedule by librarian Jeni Friedland. Besides time for lunch, book signings, and the usual author presentations for grades PreK-5, the schedule read: 2:00: Surprise! I imagined all sorts of ...
Hudson Children’s Book Festival: May 16th
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 Posted in Current Events, School Visits | No Comments »Come join us for the 1st Annual Hudson Children's Book Festival on Saturday, May 16th. I'll be there along with actual luminaries, such as: Donald Crews, Michelle Knudsen, Fran Manushkin, Emily Arnold McCully, Coleen Paratore, Charles Smith, Seymour Simon, Hudson ...