Tracy Trivas

On a recent all day school visit in California I had the honor of meeting the student winners of  a school-wide writing contest.  These exceptional young authors from each grade wrote the winning essays judged by a school panel.  On a break between presentations, I was lucky enough to have lunch with these very talented and creative students.  They asked me about the writing process and I had chance to read their stories and give them feedback.

Scribble Press, which is in both NYC and LA, is a wonderful place for children to write their own stories and make their own books.   They recently invited me to lead a workshop on making a “WISH BOOK.”  Twenty-five children attended and I spoke about wishing customs all over the world.  I read passages from The Wish Stealers and guided the children as they created their own books.  Here are some of the pages the children made.

Thank you to all the terrific students and teachers today. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your wishes for yourselves, for others, and for the world. You all were very articulate and thoughtful. I also loved hearing from the writing contest winners– you all have some great stories in the works. Keep on revising.

Special thanks to Tom for your great introductions and to Holly for your incredible help.

Best wishes..

Just received this wonderful picture of Griffin Penshine from Mia (Connecticut).

CALIFORNIA READERS VOTE FOR THE WISH STEALERS:

Each year a California Readers’ committee reviews over 1,500 books, all written or illustrated by California authors and artists. Each of the three committees – representing teachers and library staff from California elementary, middle, and high schools –selects 100 fiction and nonfiction books that they believe will create balanced school library collections and support classroom curricula. The books are judged for general excellence in their genre and for their appeal to children and young adults.

Said Fran Oberman, Chairman of the California Collections Committee for California Readers, “My colleagues and I are proud of the distinguished new 2011 California Collections. The announcement of the list each year encourages publishers nationwide to present talented California authors and artists to students and inspires young readers to support local talent. These collections play a vital role in stimulating reading, writing, speaking, and illustrating skills of young Californians.”

Said Karla Forbes, President of California Readers, “These three collections of books should be the first purchase of books for school libraries in all of California’s schools. They should be a high priority purchase for all school libraries in the United States…

I visit in the library with two excellent writers and school journalists…:)

I recently visited an amazing school where the entire 5th grade had just finished reading The Wish Stealers.  The students made a “Wish Giver” wall and wrote phrases that Wish Givers would say to someone pursuing a dream.  On the board the class wrote their favorite quote from the book, “Stuff Your Ears With Clouds.”  That quote is advice from Grandma Penshine to Griffin when Griffin asks her what to do if she meets a Wish Stealer…