Kids who like to write and draw
Students covered one wall of the Increase Miller Cafetorium with drawings of their favorite Kate Klise books—homages to the 43 Old Cemetery Road, Regarding, and Three-Ring Rascals series.
The author’s mom would have loved it, because, as Klise shared in her book-talk with the students, her mom loved anything handmade. They always had plenty of paper, glue, and paint in the house.
House rules were no sugar, no scary television, and all presents had to be handmade.
Welcome, award-winning author Kate Klise!
The secret to writing books . . .
One Christmas, when Kate was about ten years old, she wrote a book to give to her five siblings. Her sister Sarah drew the pictures.
“The story was about a little mouse who traveled the country stealing Cheetos and corn curls,” said Klise. “I thought it was brilliant! But the day after Christmas, I found a certain older sister’s book in the garbage can.”
“What did I do?” she asked the students. "Did I give up? No! I wrote another book the next day and my sister drew the pictures. And then we made another. Thirty-five years later, we’re still doing it."
“The secret to writing books is . . . don’t give up!” said Klise.
1 character + 1 problem + 1 journey = a story
What happens when . . .
“What is a story?” Klise asked the group. “It’s simple. 1 character + 1 problem + 1 journey = a story.”
Klise brought groups of students up front and asked them each to contribute one of the essential elements. Just like that, they made up a great adventures.