We had such a FANTASTIC visit with Jonathan Auxier last Friday! His presentation about his book Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes was so entertaining and engaging; the kids got a kick out of his yo-yo tricks, his "experiment" about using all of your senses, and his wonderful way of talking about reading and writing. He's truly dynamic, theatrical, and oh-so-likeable!

Thank you to our fourth and fifth graders for being an attentive and enthusiastic audience. A special thanks to the teachers for allowing me to take time out of their busy schedules to have our first library-hosted author visit. And I can't forget to thank our volunteers (students and teachers) who were good sports and volunteered to be "guinea pigs" for Jonathan's demonstration about using our senses.

Jonathan extends his thanks to those students who went out and purchased his book. He and his wife also said this was the one of the best school visits they've had! We were lucky enough to be his last school visit in Southern California before he and his wife moved to Pittsburgh.

All of the pictures from the day are posted at Ms. Yukari's flickr site. Here are some pictures from the 4th grade presentation:

After the 5th grade presentation Jonathan visited the students in Mrs. Lindsay's class to talk about the writing and editing process. It took him four years to write the book and he went through 20 drafts before the book was published! We also got news that he's currently working on two news books, one of which is a sequel of sorts about Peter and Sir Tode's adventures post-Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes.

And some other pictures from Jonathan's day at Robinson, our short visit to {pages: a bookstore}, and his signing at Mysterious Galaxy after school (that kid is my son, who was dressed up as Sherlock Holmes for Halloween):

Sorry the following video is sideways; I'm still trying to figure out how to rotate it. In the meantime, please turn your head to the left to watch Jonathan doing one of his amazing yo-yo tricks (I think it was called the Jedi Mind Trick). His, "See, they like it!" comment at the end is directed at his wife, who isn't impressed with this trick for some reason!

If you don't know anything about Peter Nimble, I suggest you check out the book trailer:

I am so excited to announce that author Jonathan Auxier will be visiting our school on Friday, October 28! Jonathan is the author of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, one of my favorite books of the summer.

He will be making a presentation to fourth grade (8:45~9:40) and fifth grade (10:45~11:30). The fourth graders are already becoming familiar with Peter Nimble because I am reading it aloud to them during library time. They love it and don't want me to stop reading it!

We will not be selling the book through school but if you would like to purchase a copy you can get it at the following stores. Whatever store you choose to go to, I suggest calling ahead to make sure there are copies in-stock.

• {pages: a bookstore} (904 Manhattan Avenue, Manhattan Beach; 310-318-0900)
• Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach (810 Artesia Boulevard, Redondo Beach; 310-542-6000)
• indiebound.com
• Barnes & Noble
• amazon.com

If you purchase a book and would like Jonathan to sign it, please bring me your book by Thursday afternoon (October 27). I will mark your book with a Post-It so that Jonathan can sign it to your child and so that I can return your child's book by the end of school on Friday. Unfortunately, because of time constraints, we are not able to have Jonathan sign books while students wait.

Jonathan will also be signing his book at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach that afternoon at 3pm.

Bridge to Books is at it again! They're hosting another fantastic event with a great lineup of authors.

So much attention has been given to why boys stop reading, but what about the boys who continue to love reading (my son is one of them)? What about the boys (whether readers or non-readers as youngsters) who grow up to be fantastic authors? They're bringing them all together at The Why Chromosome: Why Boys Do Love Books event on Sunday, October 30 at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop in La Verne.

Six authors will be presenting and signing. Half are Middle Grade (MG) authors and the others are Young Adult (YA) authors: Andrew Smith (YA: Stick), Greg Van Eekhout (MG: Kid Vs. Squid), Allen Zadoff (YA: My Life, the Theater and Other Tragedies), Jonathan Auxier (MG: Peter Nimble & His Fantastic Eyes), John Stephens (MG: The Emerald Atlas), and G. Neri (YA: Ghetto Cowboy). Click here to read short bios about the authors. This is a great opportunity to talk to them about their own experiences as readers and then as writers.

You can still purchase tickets ($17.50 each for admission, a swag bag, and snacks), and I hope you do -- I'll be there as one of the photographers, and I know that Mrs. Snively from the Grand View Library and Mrs. Jones from the Pacific Library will also be there.

Some of the students (and parents) may have noticed that the number of graphic novels and comics in the Robinson collection has increased since I began my tenure as the Library Media Specialist. I'm a big fan and advocate of graphic storytelling. That's why I'm so excited to be attending (with my soon-to-be 6th grade son) Graphic Guise: Books Undercover on August 20th. The guests are amazing: Bob Boyle (Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String), James Burks (Gabby & Gator), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), and Dan Santat (Sidekicks). You can find more information about them here.

If your child enjoys reading graphic novels, and especially if their reading has benefited from graphic novels, I really encourage you to attend this event. Kids will get to meet and interact with the artists and try their hand at illustrating and storytelling. Parents can learn how to effectively use graphic novels as a literacy tool.

The group organizing the event, Bridge to Books, is made up of local people interested in children's literature and literacy; they're teachers, librarians, book bloggers, booksellers, and of course, readers. The event is being organized on a volunteer basis and we'd love to see people spread the news about this sure-to-be-amazing event.

Please purchase tickets by August 13. Hope to see you there!