We just received six new Meet-the-Author links from teachingbooks.net this week. We've uploaded records for Jo Ellen Bogart, Marie-Louise Gay, Kevin Henkes, Barbara Reid, Melanie Watt, and Kadir Nelson. You can find short films, a link to the author's own website, and even an audio clip pronouncing the author's name. To find these (and the rest of the 63 authors we currently have access to) make sure to change your search box so you are searching all of FNSBSD and search teachingbooks.net.

Take a minute to look at the new TeachingBooks.net page. Take another 3.5 minutes to watch their "Take a Tour" video and hear the highlights of what the website has to offer. If I were in an elementary library or a teacher who showcases authors each week or month I know I would be using their author videos like the one for Patricia Polacco. Teachers could also look at the lesson plans provided for author studies as well as the Reader's Theater scripts. So many great resouces!!  kt

Just received an email from local author (and FNSBSD teacher) Cherie Stihler about Alaska Book Week, which is scheduled for October 8-15, 2011. Start now thinking about creative ways to celebrate this week and share your ideas with your colleagues here by adding a comment, on the listserv and on the Alaska Book Week website. Plan an author visit, check out some of the LMS Alaska kits for displays in your libraries, write about it on your webpage and in your newsletters. Use our flag die cut to make multiple Alaskan flags for a bulletin board. Let's do this Alaskan style - BIG TIME!

First of all if you ever get a chance to hear Brandon Mull speak, jump on it. He's engaging and you will have a much better appreciation for his work after hearing his life story.  He says he writes now to satisfy his 36 year old self as well as his "10 year old inner child." It sounds like he has been creating elaborate fantasy stories in his head for as long as he can remember and we're just lucky he is able to translate them all so well onto paper.
The first of his next series, The Beyonders,  is due out March 15th. He says they are written for a slightly older audience (Amazon shows ages 9-12; Titlewave gr. 5-8). The first one is an impressive 464 pages. Mull spoke about the Harry Potter phenomenon and being thrilled to see that there was acceptance and a market for books which appealed to both young people and adults and how nice it was to know the right story could hold a young reader's attention even if it was several hundred pages. Middle schools especially and even high schools with fans of the Fablehaven series may want to give these a try.                                                          Katie

This "School Library Journal" article gives a nice mini biography and tribute to the author of the Redwall series. Students and adults alike will find some fascinating information.                                                                                  kt