This morning, all the second grade classes and one first grade class met with Jennifer Fosberry, the author of Isabella Star of the Story (see below). Since she is pretty punny on the page, I was not surprised that she gave a humorous and information presentation. She told us how she got started writing. After a career as an engineer, she decided to stay home with her three children. When her oldest daughter was four she loved to play dress up. One day she was a … princess and the next day she was a … princess and the day after that a … princess. Since there are few jobs for princesses, Ms. Fosberry decided to write a book for her daughter about women she admired. She thought her daughter would understand the message that she can be anything she wants to be if it was in a book. That first book was My Name Is Not Isabella. She then wrote a book for her son, and that one became My Name Is Not Alexander.
Ms. Fosberry read the book Isabella Star of the Story twice. The first time she read it she talked about all the visual clues and foreshadowing in Mike Litwin’s illustrations. Isabella has a little mouse, called Button, that plays various roles in her imagining of herself as the characters of the books she is reading. On the Peter Pan page, Button is Tinkerbell. Alexander appears in the background in the library and as the Cowardly Lion when Isabella is reading The Wizard of Oz. If you look carefully, you might be able to predict what book Isabella will be reading next. In the second run through, she had everyone stand and act out the book (per her instructions). That part was a really big hit. Then she took questions.
I tutored a second grader after lunch and he was enthusiastic about the assembly. The other kids seemed to enjoy it too. It isn’t often that seven and eight year olds get to meet an author and find out how they work and why they started writing. Thanks to Copperfield Books for bringing Jennifer Fosberry to Yulupa School.
