ASIJ Elementary School Author visits Spring 2005

ASIJ Elementary School Author visits

Funding for the main author visits is provided by our wonderful ES and ELC PTAs. Additional funds come from the Friends of the Library through bake sales, Friends Of the Fine Arts (FOFA), and book signing orders.
Thank you very much for helping create these wonderful opportunities for our students.

October 18-19, 2010 – Linsey Pollak
Since 1980 Linsey has specialized in making musical instruments from various house and garden objects such as the garden hose panpipes, the watering can clarinet, rubber glove bagpipes, carrot flutes and clarinets, chair flutes, broom clarinets etc. These instruments have featured in many of his shows such as Out of the Frying Pan, Knocking on Kevin’s Door, Playpen, The Art of Food, Making Jam and Passing Wind.

October 20, 2010 – Margi Preus (Grades K, 2 and 4/5)
American author Margi Preus has a special affinity for Japan. After her Picture Book "The Peace Bell" set in Chiba she wrote a historical fiction novel about the life of Manjiro, the first Japanese boy to travel to the USA. Margi will be working with students in grades K-5

November 23, 2010 – Kuniko Yamamoto (Grades K-5)
Folktales from Japan are combined with folk songs, original masks, origami, highly stylized movements and a touch of magic to entertain. The stories are selected from the oldest Japanese book of Kojiki, which portray the culture and moral perspective of Japan; social ideas are illustrated through commentary and description of Japanese traditions. Kuniko's presentation will be a joy for all students to watch and ties in nicely with Japan units taught in Kindergarten, grade 2 and 4.

December 2010 – Christian Swenson (Grades K-5)
Christian is all about movement and sound. He calls it improvisation with the Body & Voice. "Ideally, I try to let the body and voice together discover the dancing. Each helping the other articulate my enthusiasm. The sensation is then a mixture of wonder and empathy in seeing oneself birthing an ever-changing landscape." You have to see it to get it. Check out the link below. Besides doing all school presentations, Christian will work with small groups on body movement. Christian's visit is timed right before Christmas break when a lot of our kids will be ready to move!

February 2010 – Mark Greenwood (author Grades 4,5 ) and Frane Lessac (illustrator - Grades k-3)
Mark Greenwood specializes in historical non-fiction picture books. His impeccable research methods make his books not only engaging but also informative. His wife Frane Lessac has illustrated many of his books as well as many others in her beautiful naïve style. Frane will work mostly with k-3 while Mark will work with grades 4-5.

April 2011 – Andrew Fusek Peters (Grades K-5)
Andrew Fusek Peters has written extensively for children and young people of all ages. Initially recognised and critically accaimed as a poet, he soon broadened his work to include plays, picture books and fiction. Andrew's love of words began with the traditional art of storytelling. His author visits and performances have become renowned for dynamic livliness and infectious enthusiasm. Andrew will perform for all students and as his visit will coincide with poetry month, he will work extensively with grade 4 and 5 students on writing poetry..

It all began in 1993 when Eric was teaching a Grade 5 class. His students were reluctant readers and writers and Eric began to write to encourage them to become more involved in literature. Eric went on to win pretty much every Canadian there is to be won in children's lit... more than once. "Safe as houses" was a Sakura Medal 2009 chapter book very well received with our stronger grade 5 readers. Eric will work with our young writers grades 4 and 5. He will present to our grade 3 students about his sports books for boys.

American Jack Gantos is the author of many children's books and a truly outstanding speaker who revisits ASIJ after two previous wildly successful passages. Jack has written many books for children among which are the hilarious Rotten Ralph picture books and Joey Pigza and Jack Henry chapter books. Jack is the Middle School visiting author this year (Chofu PTA grant) but he will spend some time with our 4th and 5th graders talking about how journaling is at the basis of all his success.

American Courtney Campbell is a master performer and storyteller, writer, singer, songwriter, musician,comedienne, educator and actor. Her work hasinspired a generation of children, teachers and parents.She tours worldwide in schools, theaters, libraries and conferences, giving concerts, keynote speeches and workshops. She stars in the the award winning children's television/DVD series Mustard Pancakes which she co-created and co-wrote. Children say,” she is really funny and very nice”. A FOFA grant is making Courtney's visit to the ES campus a reality along with support from the ELC PTA.

New Zealander Ross Kinnaird first began illustrating children’s books in 2002 with the popular Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms?, by Dawn McMillan, which won the Children’s Choice Award at the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. He has since gone on to illustrate several books, including two written by William Taylor for the ‘Kiwi Bites’ series. Ross's funny presentations will have our kids in stitches.

Dave Alexander entertained audiences k-3 with timely December stories including a hilarious one about a man who went to see God trying to figure out why he was so unlucky. He returned relieved when God informed him he wasn't unlucky, "Just dumb and unable to see opportunity when it presented itself" Dave expressive face and great rhythm kept our kids in trance.

Alison Lester is one of Australia's most popular and well-loved author/illustrators. The best-selling Quicksand Pony series has been extremely popular with older readers. As are perennial favorite picture books Magic Beach and Are We There Yet?, a picture book based on Alison's travels around Australia with her family, which is a great tie-in for our grade one students who will be studying Australia. Of interest to all students in grades 3 and above is that Alison visited both the Arctic and Antarctica, which she tells about splendidly.

Jon Agee is the author/illustrator of many books for children, including Milo's Hat Trick, along with a series of popular wordplay books, among them, Elvis Lives! And other anagrams. He grew up along the Hudson River in Nyack, New York and writes stories — of mysterious painters, hard luck magicians, guffawing grumps, and forgotten astronauts — which have been called quirky, absurdist, and above all, humorous. His sophisticated wit appeals to children and adults alike.

Tanya Batt is not your average lady. In her native New Zealand she has an awesome reputation as a storyteller and author. One of her books was selected for the Sakura Medal in 2006. Have a look at her website to appreciate that we are talking about someone special here… http://www.imagined-worlds.net/DisplaySite/

Beauty and the Beast' tell stories for all ages, and in settings ranging from elementary school assemblies to theaters, college coffeehouses, and senior citizen centers. They bring to life traditional folktales from around the world, works by contemporary authors, stories from their own experiences, and tales based on historical people and events. Drawing from their large and varied repertoire, they tailor each performance to suit the specific audience. In their performances, Mitch and Martha use gesture, song, mime, and audience participation. Their specialty is tandem storytelling where they combine their contrasting styles, swapping lines and impersonating characters. They will be plying their trade both at the ES and the ELC.
http://www.beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com/

During his three day ASIJ visit in March 2008 Brian will be working mostly with grade 4 and 5 students on their writing skills and their story sports skills.
http://www.brianfalkner.co.nz/

RICHARD TULLOCH is one of Australia’s most prolific and popular writers of books, plays, film and television for young audiences. His television series, which include 150 episodes of the phenomenal Bananas in Pyjamas, as well as episodes of Playschool, The Magic Mountain and stories for New McDonald’s Farm, have reached an audience of hundreds of millions around the world. Of his 60 children’s books, many of them published in a number of languages, Danny in the Toybox, Being Bad for the Babysitter, Cocky Colin and the Barry the Burglar series were nominated by children for KOALA awards as their most popular Australian books of all time. His popular Weird Stuff novels for 9 to 14 year olds are published by Random House In Australia and by Walker Young Readers in the USA.ue. Over the past ten years he has performed his ever-changing show Story Man more than a thousand times in theatres, libraries and schools in the USA, Europe and Australia. He has performed in the Scottish International Children’s Festival in Edinburgh, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival, in international schools and teachers’ conferences in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East and in many Australian festivals.
Richard will be doing a weeklong writing workshop with our fourth and fifth graders.

Michael claims that English was his worst subject at school; his burning ambition was to become a footballer but his dreams were never realised and he went on to study Maths and Computer Science at university. Humour is at the heart of everything that Michael does. He loves everything and absolutely anything to do with football (soccer) and writes about it plentifully. Michael will be working with our second and third grade students.

http://www.orchardbooks.co.uk/mcoleob.htm

The love of books and writing runs in the family of Donna J. Napoli. ASIJ welcomes Ms. Napoli in March. Ms. Napoli is the co-authors of Bobby the Bonobo. Ms. Napoli has written books for children of all ages, including Sly the Sleuth and the Sports Mysteries, co-authored with son Robert Furrow, Ugly, and Fire in the Hills. Many of her books have been translated into over 10 languages. For more information regarding Donna J. Napoli, please visit her website at http://www.donnajonapoli.com/

Avi will be coming to visit ASIJ in March 2007. Avi, a Newbery Medal winner for his book Crispin: Cross of Lead, and a Newbery Honoree for his book Nothing but the Truth, writes across genres and for all age readers, from Things that Sometimes Happen, for early readers, to his most recent book for older readers, entitled The Book without Words; A Tale of Medieval Magic. Find out more about Avi by visiting his website at : http://www.avi-writer.com/aaboutAvi.html

Trilingual author musician storyteller publisher Matthew Gollub visits ASIJ from January 15 until 22, thanks to a grant from the ELC PTA. Matthew's lively performances include lots of music and are sure to be very well received by our students. Find out more by visiting his website http://www.matthewgollub.com/home.html

On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 14th and 15, we welcome Esme Raji Codell to ASIJ. From her highly successful debut novel Sahara Special, Ms. Codell has authored a string of successful, engaging stories. She will work with students in grades 3, 4 and 5. Her background as a teacher and bookstore owner led Ms. Esme to author a recently published book entitled, How to Get your Child to Love Reading. In addition to Ms. Esme's visit to our students, we are lucky to have her speak to the ASIJ parent community during her visit. For more information on Esme Raji Codell's work, please visit her website at: http://www.planetesme.com.

We are lucky to have David Schwartz visit ASIJ this year, spending Monday, November 20th at the ES Library, where he will work mostly with grades 2 and 3 students. From his first book entitled How Much Is a Million?, Mr. Schwartz has written over 50 books that help students to experience the wonder and fascination for math and science that he himself felt since childhood, in a whimsical way that grabs a student's attention! His most recent work includes the stories Super Grandpa, and the sequel the popular If You Hopped Like a Frog, entitled If Dogs Were Dinosaurs. To find out more about David Schwartz and his work, visit his website at: http://www.davidschwartz.com/index.html.

Once again, we are fortunate to have David Biedrzycki visiting ASIJ on October 16th and 17th this year. He will be spending one day at the ELC, the other day he will be shared between the Chofu Kindergartners and grade 1 students, Middle School and High School. Author and Illustrator of Ace Lacewing, illustrator of books such as Dory Story and Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight?.

Caldecott winner Allen Say visited ASIJ and presented his new book Kamishibai Man to all elementary students. To find out more about the fascinating life of this fantastic author and illustrator surf to http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/

Author of Hana's Suitcase, and Fumiko Ishioka of the Tokyo Holocaust Museum visited ASIJ on September 2.For more information about the Holocaust surf to the English page of the
Tokyo Holocaust Museum

Pamela Turner made her debut as an author with a wonderful picture book about Hachiko, the famous dog whose statue at Shibuya station is a favorite meeting place. She will also shortly publish a non-fiction book on mountain gorillas, which should tie in nicely with our second and third grade curriculum. She visited ASIJ on April 19 and 20. www.pamelasturner.com

Jack Gantos is the author of many children's books, an outstanding speaker who revisits ASIJ after his previous successful passage during which he spent most of his time at the Middle School. Jack has written many books for children among which are the hilarious Rotten Ralph picture books and Joey Pigza and Jack Henry chapter books. He visited ASIJ March 14-18, 2005, four days of which will be spent at the Chofu campus and one at the ELC. www.jackgantos.com

With every author visit we hope for a window into the creative process. Author/illustrator Ruth Heller brought us a kaleidoscope. Her dazzling slides and wonderful descriptions opened our eyes to color in a whole new way. ASIJ students are putting their markers, colored pencils and imaginations to use creating an explosion of artwork.

Giggles, hoots, guffaws, snorts and belly laughs greeted our Poetry Month guest as he introduced ASIJ students K-6 to poetry appreciation Prelutsky style. Whether it was a rousing chorus of "Rats for Lunch" or a sing-along to "Pizza the Size of the Sun," this prolific poet engaged students in experiencing the joy of verse.

1998 David A. Adler

David Adler's February '98 visit to Tokyo has turned us into "spies". After learning how Mr. Adler gets his ideas by observing people around him and "eavesdropping" whole classes of ASIJ elementary students have started sleuthing. We may not be detectives on a par with Cam Jansen and Houdini Foster but we're tracking down characters ideas and story inspirations with the best of them.

1997 Eric A. Kimmel

Our guest in 1997 was storyteller/author Eric A. Kimmel. This was a long awaited visit. In 1993, A class of ASIJ second graders wrote to Dr. Kimmel after studying several of his books. In his reply, Dr. Kimmel mentioned that he had always wanted to visit Japan. In 1995, we extended an invitation only to learn that this busy author was not available until 1997! By the time the Kimmels arrived in Tokyo, those second graders had become fifth graders who now know that good things come to those who wait.

During his visit, Dr. Kimmel regaled each grade level with tales upon which his books are based. We heard how stories grow and change with each new teller and telling. A lasting impression is of laughter and the joy of storytelling.

Favorite Eric Kimmel Books

1996 Loreen Leedy

A highlight of author/illustrator Loreen Leedy's visit was watching Ms. Leedy create characters from ideas generated by ASIJ students. Each grade worked with Ms. Leedy using the writing process as she uses it to create characters for her books. While students brainstormed traits and descriptions of a character, Ms. Leedy sketched their collaborative creation on an overhead projector. Those drawings have become treasured souvenirs of a memorable author visit.

Favorite Loreen Leedy Books

1995 Keith Baker

On his 1995 trip to Japan to attend the Kobe Young Authors Conference, author/illustrator Keith Baker honored us with a visit to ASIJ. Seeing his fabulous illustrations ten feet tall on the screen of the Ricketson Theatre drew "ohh's" and "ahh's" from every grade. However, the true legacy of Keith Baker's visit is that ASIJ students know the "secrets" hidden in his drawings.

Favorite Keith Baker Books

ASIJ 95th Anniversary Author Visit - Lois Lowry

In honor of the 95th Anniversary of The American School in Japan, Newbery Award winning author Lois Lowry visited our campus in November 1997. Ms. Lowry, a two-time winner of the coveted Newbery Medal, attended ASIJ when she was an eighth grade student. Her visit was one of the highlights of the celebration marking our 95th year.

Elementary students especially remember Ms. Lowry's anecdotes about characters she's created from people she knows. And who could forget her description of her first day at ASIJ when her short haircut caused a classmate to remark "is it a boy or a girl?" as she was introduced to the class.

1998 David A. Adler