2008 Woodie Awards
Popular children's author speaks
Andrew Clements first of authors to speak in new series at Ball State
Jackie Goldsborough
Ball State University, in collaboration with Teachers College, The Book Source and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing presented the first MYVisit Virtual Author Series Monday night featuring best-selling children's author Andrew Clements.
Laurie Mullen, associate dean for teacher education, said in her introduction that Clements considers it a "privilege" to write for children.
Clements opened his speech with a photograph of his family in the early '50s reading books.
"My whole life has been a school story," he said.
Clements said he was a teacher for seven years before he became a children's writer when he realized that "the people who are involved with children literature remember how wonderful it is to be a child."
He discussed his early childhood reading experience, which involved novels such as "Toddle," "Tom Swift" and his favorite "The Call of the Wild."
He said in his childhood he was privileged to have the access to as many books as he did.
He followed up with a survey of the children in the audience and found that almost all of them owned between 10 and 20 books.
He said his family knew that books had to be in the family budget.
"It is wonderful to be in a book-rich world."
He reminisced about the first time he checked out items at the library in kindergarten, which were a stack of Little Golden Books that he read in one night.
Ten-year-old Abby Neff, a fan of Clements, said she began reading Clement's stories this year. His stories introduce interesting situations about school life, she said.
Clements, with assistance from two parents from the audience, stretched out a collection of his folded book covers that covered the length of the stage.
Amanda Barnhart, senior elementary education major, said the lecture was inspiring to future teachers because it allowed them to see that teachers such as Clements make a difference to children.
Clements said he has new picture books and children's novels coming out in July and has plans for more writings in the future.
Clements' books
Clements has been writing children's books since 1996. He writes many types of books for children of all ages including 13 novels, four chapter books and 20 picture books.
Some of his most popular books include:
For more information, visit:
andrewclements.com
Laurie Mullen, associate dean for teacher education, said in her introduction that Clements considers it a "privilege" to write for children.
Clements opened his speech with a photograph of his family in the early '50s reading books.
"My whole life has been a school story," he said.
Clements said he was a teacher for seven years before he became a children's writer when he realized that "the people who are involved with children literature remember how wonderful it is to be a child."
He discussed his early childhood reading experience, which involved novels such as "Toddle," "Tom Swift" and his favorite "The Call of the Wild."
He said in his childhood he was privileged to have the access to as many books as he did.
He followed up with a survey of the children in the audience and found that almost all of them owned between 10 and 20 books.
He said his family knew that books had to be in the family budget.
"It is wonderful to be in a book-rich world."
He reminisced about the first time he checked out items at the library in kindergarten, which were a stack of Little Golden Books that he read in one night.
Ten-year-old Abby Neff, a fan of Clements, said she began reading Clement's stories this year. His stories introduce interesting situations about school life, she said.
Clements, with assistance from two parents from the audience, stretched out a collection of his folded book covers that covered the length of the stage.
Amanda Barnhart, senior elementary education major, said the lecture was inspiring to future teachers because it allowed them to see that teachers such as Clements make a difference to children.
Clements said he has new picture books and children's novels coming out in July and has plans for more writings in the future.
Clements' books
Clements has been writing children's books since 1996. He writes many types of books for children of all ages including 13 novels, four chapter books and 20 picture books.
Some of his most popular books include:
- "Things Not Seen"
- "Frindle"
- "No Talking"
- "A Week in the Woods"
For more information, visit:
andrewclements.com
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