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(Ages 5 up)
Read
Suddenly the Cat. Takes about
fifteen minutes.
WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT
Suddenly the Cat
SAN PABLO THIRD GRADERS
PALM SPRINGS THIRD GRADERS
EDUCATORS
I am doing a series of author's presentations to schools in
which one of the most exciting experiences for all of us is when I read aloud
Suddenly the Cat to the students.
Vivian Harp has some dazzling photographs (© 2008 Vivian Harp) of this pure white
cat with one blue eye and one yellow eye and the most expressive face you will
ever see on a cat. Vivian is allowing me to project the photos as a slide show as I read the story
aloud. Kids absolutely
love this story, and these photographs of Vivian's are so humorous and full of kitty
character that the kids laugh and laugh. Suddenly is very vain and demanding and adorable,
and the kid who
narrates the story clearly has fallen head over heels in love with this cat.
In the presentations in Palm Springs we were all lucky to have David Rauscher,
the illustrator, along. Dave and I were able to talk about the artistic collaboration
we had while putting together A Ghost in Silence
and the students were full
of questions both about writing and about illustrating. In addition, while I read
the story aloud, Dave was up in front of the class with his laptop creating his
own illustrations for Suddenly the Cat and at the end of the presentation,
Dave was able to show his progress, much to the students' delight and edification.
The students got really excited to
see the way an illustrator works with an author's story, and it spurred
them not only to
write stories themselves, but also to illustrate them.
Even without Dave along, however, I spend a good part of the time in this elementary
school presentation talking about his and my collaboration, and I include a few of
Dave's drawings for A Ghost in Silence in the slide show. Those illustrations
are from the dramatic first chapter about a family uproar that ensues when the
narrator's older brother runs afoul of their parents. This part of the story is
very familiar to the students and they pay rapt attention.
You can see some of Dave's illustrations for Suddenly the Cat in the
link at the top of this webpage. I invite the students to come to this website
to reread the story and make
illustrations of their own. I give the teachers my address so that the teachers
can
collect the illustrations and mail them to me. With the students' permission,
and as time
permits, I scan some of
their illustrations and include them as links above.
Some schools have websites of their own, and the students' illustrations can be
put on the school websites. The webmaster can put a link to this webpage on those school
websites so that other students can read the story and participate as they care to.
TEACHERS, PLEASE HELP
The whole idea of this project is to get the students to read
and write.
Please help them
to find this page and to use the links at top and bottom to read Suddenly the Cat
and contact Clayton
Bess. Help them to email their letters to me, perhaps writing them on paper first,
and help them to use spell-check. If email seems beyond them at this point, please collect
their letters and send them to me by mail. If you contact me by email, I'll send you a
mailing address for this purpose.
Praise their drawings for Suddenly the Cat,
if they choose to make any. We want this to be fun and rewarding for all of us. And
please check out the webpage "Letters and Pix from Kids" to stir their excitement by
seeing what other young people have done.
This is the paperback cover design by David Rauscher for
A Ghost in Silence.
Dave will be working with me again on Suddenly the Cat
but we have only a few of his illustrations yet.
Keep coming back to this website to see those illustrations as Dave completes them.
Read
Suddenly the Cat. Takes about
fifteen minutes.
Contact: Clayton Bess
Copyright © 2009 Robert Locke
All Rights Reserved
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