Welcome to our author study extravaganza! 

 

                                                                                Image from Flickr user katmere, used under

Creative Commons License. 

 

This wiki page is organized as a PATHFINDER and is intended for you (fifth and sixth graders) to use as a guide for your exploration and research about an author you have chosen to study. 

 

You are invited to select an author whose writing has changed your life. Hand-in-hand with your classroom assignment to dive into a book of your choice, our project will include researching their life in library class, reading (or rereading) their books inside and outside of school, designing stationary and letter seals in art class, and writing an old-fashioned letter to them that shares how their writing has affected your life. 

 

You may chose to study an author of fiction or non-fiction, an author of poetry or an author living in Vermont.  The author may be dead or living.  You may want to study an author that has high odds of writing you back (see the archived letters received in 2008-09 by Moretown students or this online list maintained by superkidz.com), or not.  Deceased authors may have a website maintained by their estate and welcome letters, although don't expect to hear back from the author herself!

 

You will have to look for one print resource and one Internet resource for biographical information. 

 

In additon, many authors also have incredible websites on the Internet and you will also have to find the official site for your author and explore that site until you know it well.

 

You will, thus, have to find three sources of information.   Let's begin our journey!

 

 

Print Resources:

 

Author Biographies

 

REF 028.1 C    The essential guide to children's books and their creators / Anita Silvey

 

With over 475 encyclopedic entries, including many authors and illustrators, be sure to look in this wonderful resource to find if your author has an entry.  Anita Silvey has interviewed many authors and spices biographical information about authors with interesting tidbits.

 

070.5 MAR     Side-by-side : five favorite picture-book teams go to work  / Leonard Marcus

 

Describes the process by which several teams of authors and illustrators have created such picture books as "Louis the Fish," "The Glorious Flight," "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales," "Sam and the Tigers," and "The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses."  Great place to get inspired!

 

741.6  MAR     A Caldecott celebration :  six artists and their paths to the Caldecott medal / Leonard Marcus

 

Profiles six Caldecott award winning books and their authors, including Robert McCloskey’s "Make Way for Ducklings," Marcia Brown’s "Cinderella," Maurice Sendak’s "Where the Wild Things Are," William Steig’s "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble," Chris Van Allsburg’s "Jumanji," and David Wiesner’s "Tuesday." 

 

92/Biography     

 

Go onto our OPAC catalog and enter in a search for your author.  There are many books in the biography section of the library and there may be one on your author or illustrator.

 

 

Vermont Online Library

 

If you are having trouble finding a print resource in the library, you may have luck in WilsonWeb biographies.   We have a paid subscription to this index through Vermont Online Library.  Articles and biographical information found here counts as a print resource.  Please see Mrs. Allison if you've forgotten our password. 

 

Internet Resources:

 

Author and Illustrator Biographies

 

 

 

CanTeach: Author's, Illustrators, and Their Creators

 

An alphabetical listing of many authors and illustrators.  Includes picture books authors as well as chapter books.

 

Children's Authors and Illustrators on the Web

 

The websites listed here include authors' personal websites and websites maintained by fans, scholars, and readers.  Maintained by the University of Calgary.

 

 Kidsread.com

 

Browse a list of authors alphabetically, by the author's last name. They are adding more authors every week so keep coming back to this page if at first you don't find who you're looking for.

 

Author and Illustrator Index at Scholastic

 

 View biographical information about hundreds of Scholastic authors, see their individual lists of works, read interview transcripts, some authors have video intervies, and links to additional resources for author studies  This site is worth checking out for the multimedia (video and podcasts) clips.  Excellent!

 

Learning about the Author and Illustrator Pages

 

 Kay Vandergrift is a professor at Rutger's University.  She maintains a comprehensive listing of sites of children's authors and illustrators.  Lisited alphabetically.

 

Google's Directory to Children's Authors

 

This index links to a vast number of author pages as well.  Author websites are linked by the author's last name.   Using this index will filter out a lot of irrelevant information you might find if you just did a plain, old Google search.

 

 

 Above all, have fun finding out more about your

 

favorite authors!

 

 

Image from Flickr user NNC_Second_Life, used under

Creative Commons License.