Charlotte Zolotow Remembered: “Books for Boys.”
Wednesday, November 20th, 2013 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »"All of my books are based on an adult emotion that connects with a similar emotion that I had as a child. I like each of my books for a different reason, because each comes out of a different emotion. ...
Fan Mail #169: Dressing Up Like James Preller!
Tuesday, November 12th, 2013 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, Uncategorized | No Comments »You may have noticed that I haven't done much here in the way of fan mail recently. It's a combination of getting less of it during the summer and, alas, finding my own answers a little perfunctory. But this one made ...
COMINGS & GOINGS: The Rochester Children’s Book Festival, November 16th
Monday, November 4th, 2013 Posted in Bystander, Current Events, Family, Jigsaw Jones, Scary Tales, Uncategorized | No Comments »I've always heard great things about the Rochester Children's Book Festival, but never got invited. I tried to weasel an invitation a few years back (clever Cynthia DeFelice reference), but that went nowhere. Finally, at last, I wore 'em down. ...
Five Days, 14 Presentations, More than 6,000 Students, and a Cowboy Steak
Tuesday, October 1st, 2013 Posted in Bystander, School Visits, Uncategorized, bullying | 2 Comments »On Friday the 20th, I traveled to Wolcott, Connecticut, where I spoke to 650 students, grades 6-8, at Tyrrell Middle School. They had all read Bystander as part of their summer reading program and, I'm sure, as part of their ...
KINDNESS: My Trip to the 2013 Youth Writing Festival at Calvin College
Thursday, April 25th, 2013 Posted in In the Classroom, School Visits, Uncategorized, bullying | No Comments »I just returned from a wonderful, two-night trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I was invited (by Gary Schmidt!) to participate in the 2013 Youth Writing Festival at Calvin College. At one point it looked exactly like this: As my Nation of ...
Fan Mail #168: Questions, Questions, Questions
Sunday, April 7th, 2013 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »Again, I'm beginning a blog entry with an apology. I haven't been keeping up with it lately, after five years of consistent effort. I have a few excuses, but really, who cares? I am not giving up this blog, but I ...
Fan Mail #166: Lessons Learned, Messages Sent (and a Complaint about The Berenstain Bears)
Sunday, February 24th, 2013 Posted in Bystander, Fan Mail, Uncategorized, bullying | No Comments »Here's one I had to think about a little bit, then pause, and reconsider, and pause again. Dear Mr.Preller: We are 7th graders at _______ Middle School. We have recently read your book Bystander, and have learned some valuable lessons about ...
Here Comes the Sun: Flashmob in Madrid Unemployment Office
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 Posted in Current Events, Fun Clips, Music, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »Know this: Unemployment in Spain is at 26 percent. The country, and its people, are going through a very tough time. High taxes, plunging salaries, confusion, bitterness, anger, fear, desperation -- with record numbers applying for jobless benefits. So one recent ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #164: Too Regular?
Friday, January 4th, 2013 Posted in Bystander, Fan Mail, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »I might be going back to the same well too often here, but this brief follow-up from a recent Skype session cracked me up. There's no reply from me worth reading, just the letter. I occurs to me: maybe I'm doing ...
Some Random Kid’s Petition: “Support a Jigsaw Jones movie!”
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012 Posted in Around the Web, Jigsaw Jones, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »There's a kid somewhere in America named Daniel Van Ness. I don't know him from a hole in the head. But on November 7th, Daniel started a very important petition: Please have the 20th Century Fox company make a new movie ...