School Visit Fun!
ZOOM-ZOOM-ZOOM! Chatting stories with 2nd graders from Samuel Staples Elementary School in Eaton, CT! We sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame, but when we reached the ROOT-ROOT-ROOT for the ________ we filled in our own favorite teams. Which did I sing? Not saying…
“OMG!!! Thank you so much for the visit on Tuesday. The kids absolutely loved it so much.”—Mary Blair, librarian at Samuel Staples Elementary
Fin Mail from Friends!
1st form students (5-7 years old) at Guayaguayare R.C. school in Trinidad and Tobago, as part of Bridge Foundation's "Read to Rise" program, read Not Norman, and were given the prompt: "When I got Norman, I didn't want to keep him. I wanted a ____________. Their responses are priceless! Read and enjoy!
And, Norman's personal favorite--for obvious reasons:
The icing on a fabulous day at Forest Ridge Elementary in College Station, Texas was this note!
(And yes, of course I answered it!)
My kids LOVE Vampire Baby! The younger one is always saying "Youch, Tootie! No Bite!" and then laughing or shaking his head gravely. (It's a lesson for him, because sometimes his fangs appear too!) He insists that it sits on HIS bed's bookshelf when we're not reading it! Thanks for writing such a great story!
"I overheard my 6 year old granddaughter, Isalina, who just finished kindergarten pretending to teach a class in my living room and read them a story. She was holding the book, One Day I Went Rambling, up for her group of pretend students, preparing to read it to read to them (she can't read yet, just phonetic words). But before she began I heard her say, 'Now class, this book is about treasures... This book says no matter what it is, it's a treasure. Anything can be a treasure.'" —from Donna in Montpelier, June 2013
“Hi, Kelly. My husband read "Not Norman" to our wee ones. The next night, Michael (age 3) "read" it to himself - from the pictures. How cool is that?” –Eleanor Holderman, July 2010
"My dad, "Norman Curtis" Message : Hi Kelly. I'm a nanny in Colorado and I babysit a 23 month old little girl who LOVES "Not Norman" so much that she actually reads it to me (not exaggerating). I was amused by the book at first read simply because my poor dad is named Norman and I've always felt it's such an unfortunate name. So everytime I read this story (which is multiple times a day) I tend to think of him. So I was finally online tonight looking up a link to show my dad the book and to suggest he get it to read to his grandchildren when I saw your story told from Norman's perspective called "Not Curtis" and I just about died laughing because my dad's full name is Norman Curtis. Long story I know - but I'd love to see Not Curtis out as an actual book someday - that would be fun!"--via e-mail April 2010
Jackson, a kindergartener at Paddington British School is learning to read with our finny friend Norman!
Wonder what Norman sounds like with a British accent? GlOOg!
Kindergartners at Council Oak Elementary in Tulsa, Oklahoma used recycled toys and tidbits to create this mosaic art! Their teacher, Mrs. Fondren, shared One Day I Went Rambling with the class. After hearing what fun Zane and his friends had the wanted to go rambling too!
For pumpkin book report day, Sadie, a 1st grader at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal School in Houston, TX, created a Norman fishbowl! Check out its hair and ears! Isn’t it fintastic!
For Hoover Elementary in Tulsa, OK's "Dress Up As Your Favorite Book Character Day" Austin Rhodes came as the boy from Not Norman! (Love this hand-drawn and colored fishbowl and fish! Norman would flip over it!)
Valerie Pagano's dog, Lucky plans on two-stepping when they get home. Yeehaw!