Meet Authors of Children Books

Chatroom - Sixth Animal Diaries Chat
 
6 April 2001

rene> good afternoon
rene> how is everybody in Cannelton
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[Cannelton2] Welcome Ms. Kurtz!
[Jane] Thanks! I had a bit of trouble getting the url to work but now here I am. Who else is here?
rene> Hello Mrs. jane, I am rene de vries, the netherlands
rene> welcome
[Jane] Hi, Rene. What time is it in the Netherlands?
rene> it is now 9:03pm in Holland
rene> so, alas no school right now for us during this chat
[Jane] Almost bed time. It's good to talk with you again.
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rene> but i promised my students to tell them all about this chat coming monday
rene> I am glad Cannelton has no snow day this time
[Jane] Wonderful. Some day we'll have to plan a chat around a time when your students are in school.
[Jane] Yes, last time we planned to chat, there was a snow day. I hope we're almost done with snow for the year, now.
rene> what time is it now for you?
[Jane] It's just a little after 2 in the aftenroon. I am coming from teaching a class in adolescent literature and excited to meet with the students in this chat room..
[Mrs.Goble] we like your books. we just read PULLING THE LION'S TAIL
rene> do you have Daylight Savings ? We differ 7 hours now... we have daylight savings, otherwise we would differ 6 hours
[Jane] Yes, I think we are on Daylight Savings. We just went through a time period when we had to remember to spring forward.
[Cannelton2] How did you come up with the idea of the Lion's Tail??
[Jane] I'm glad you liked PULLING THE LION'S TAIL. I got the idea from a story I heard as a child, a story told to children and adults in Ethiopia. Do you have any idea what the point of the story might be in Ethiopia?
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rene> well, in that case we stay on 7 hours difference and that will be a little harder to plan a chat with Western Europe
[Cheryl] Type HEREHello Joan, Rene & Jane
rene> hello California, hello Cheryl
[Cannelton2] Hello Mrs.Cheryl
[Mrs.Goble] what kind of books do you like to read?????
[Jane] Hi, Cheryl. Where in California are you?
[Cheryl] I do not have students here right now, except K. They are hearing a story right now.
[Cheryl] I am in Central California. Reedley is close to Fresno.
[Jane] What kind of books do I like to read? I like a whole variety of books--fiction, nonfiction, children's books, books for adults. I sometimes read 3-4 books at the same time.
rene> a wonderful area, I had the pleasure to visit her during summer, in CA
[Cannelton3] it is very warm today
[Jane] One of the ya novels I just read was called BEING WITH HENRY.
[Cheryl] Mrs. Goble are your students with you right now?
[Mrs.Goble] how long did you live in Ethiopia
[Jane] My parents lived in Ethiopia for 23 years, so I thought of it as home for that whole time, but I was in college for some of the time. My family moved to Ethiopia when I was 2 years old, and I came to college when I was 17. I visited the US twice--in second grade and eighth grade.
[Cannelton3] yes there is 21 students in Cannelton here now
[Cannelton3] are 21
[Jane] Did any student have an answer to my question about PULLING THE LION'S TAIL?
[Cannelton2] We are not sure about the reason
[Cheryl] What was the question? I came in a little late to the discussion.
rene> the question was: Do you have any idea what the point of the story might be in Ethiopia?
[Jane] I asked if they could figure out why the story is told in Ethiopia.
[Cheryl] My guess would be because it isn't wise to pull a lion's tail!
[Cannelton2] She earned her mother's love
[Jane] Actually, in the story, it's very wise to pull the lion's tail. Was it easy to become close to the new mother?
[Cheryl] I have a puppy right now who loves to pull my other dog's tail and she letes her. This is a sign of trust.
[Mrs.Goble] the point is not to rush thing, you have to wait
[Jane] So true! Almaz had to earn the lion's trust. By the end of the story she was also earning her new mother's trust, right? And, yes, sometimes we all have to wait! It's a story about patience.
[Cannelton3] No it was not easy because did not know her
[Cheryl] Right now the puppy is trying to win the cats' trust. It is much harder.
[Jane] Right...it isn't easy for Almaz and her new mother to become close and cozy. But good things happen over time if we are patient. That's why the story is told in Ethiopia.
rene> why in Ethiopia.. because the people there have to time to be patient? why not in for instance South Africa?
[Mrs.Goble] so is it basically a folk tale
[Cheryl] We all need to learn patience. I think sometimes Americans have a harder time with this.
[Jane] PULLING THE LION'S TAIL is based on a folk tale, yes. I don't know why this one is told in Ethiopia and not in South Africa. For that matter, for all I know it IS told in South Africa, too.
rene> so... (I am a dumb Dutch teacher, forgive me).. pulling a lions tail means being patient?
rene> learn to be patient
rene> ?
[Jane] No, when Almaz goes to her grandfather to ask why her new mother doesn't love her, her grandfather says he can tell her the secret to winning her new mother's love, but only if she brings him some hair from the tail of a lion. Right, students?
[Mrs.Goble] when was your first book published
[Jane] My very first hardcover book was published in 1990. It's out of print, now. My first book that is still in print was published in 1994. How old were you students in 1994?
[Cannelton2] When did you know you wanted to be an authur??
[Cheryl] They were not alive in 1994.
[Mrs.Goble] we were 3 in 1994
[Cannelton3] Mrs .Goble is going to bring the book to WashingtonD. C
[Jane] Well, I always loved to read and write, but I didn't think about becoming an author when I was a child because I had never met any authors. I didn't think about getting my stories published until my children were young and I was in my late 20s!
[Jane] So you see...I've been publishing books for all of your lives (students).
rene> Great, so I can read it too then ;-)
[Cheryl] When did you start writing? My daughter dreams of being an author.
[Jane] I would have loved to be able to ask questions of some of the authors of the books I read when I was young.
[Cannelton3] had you written much when you were a child ??
[Mrs.Goble] what was school like in ethiopia
[Jane] My report card from second grade says that the teacher enjoyed my poems--so I know I was writing in second grade. I remember publishing a story in the school newsletter in high school. Mostly I remember how much I loved to read, though.
rene> ok, three questions to be answered right now, hold on new questions
[Jane] I gathered rejection letters for 10 years before getting my first book published by a major publisher.
[Jane] My own schooling in Ethiopia was...complicated. My mom taught me in the first few grades. She's the one who taught me to read and love words. My dad told stories and taught me to love stories. When I was in fourth grade, I went off to boarding school in Addis Ababa, the capital city.
[Jane] It wasn't too different from school here except that it was small. Sometimes 2-3 grades were in one classroom. It was a school with American teachers and American books. The library was small.
rene> students, any more questions?
[Cheryl] I could see you reading all the books!
[Jane] I think I read all the fiction in my library. Many books I read more than once. I didn't have as many books as my kids do.
[Cannelton3] In the Lions Tail, how did the mother die?
rene> when I started to love reading (around 8 years old)... I went three- four times a week to the library to get myself new books
[Cheryl] My daughters always read books they really like many times. So do I.
[Jane] Well, it doesn't say in the story how the mother died. In Ethiopia, many people die of diseases. There aren't as many hospitals as we have here in the US, so people die of diseases that could be easily cured if they could get to a hospital.
[Jane] I grew up in a place with no hospital, myself, although there was a clinic nearby. If my sisters or I had gotten terribly sick, we would have been in big trouble.
[Cheryl] Can the children think of other popular stories where a parent died?
[Mrs.Goble] harry potter
[Jane] In Harry Potter, HOW the mother died is an important part of the story, right?
[Cheryl] Any others? The Little Princess, Secret Garden....
[Cheryl] Do any of you have a friend who lost a parent?
[Cannelton2] What was the first book you wrote?
[Mrs.Goble] harry potters parents died in a wizard battle aginst the strongest meanest wizard in history- Lord Voldemort
[Cannelton3] How many children do you have Mrs. Jane?
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rene> You just released a new book: Jakarta Missing,.,,, maybe you can tell the students a little about this book?
[Jane] I can't even remember the first book I wrote. I wrote many, many books and stories that will never be published. But the first story of mine to be published in a book was called I'M CALLING MOLLY. The lion's tail book was my third book to be published.
[Jane] I have three children.
[Mrs.Goble] harry potter was only left with a scar shaped like a lighting bolt which made him famous
[Jane] Jakarta Missing is my first time to try to tell a little of the story of what it was like to be someone who grew up in East Africa but then moved to the US.
[Jane] The girl who is the main character in Jakarta Missing is named Dakar. She has been living in Kenya and now is living in North Dakota. She wants to give the US a try, but her older sister, Jakarta, doesn't even want to try living in the US.
[Mrs.Goble] why wont they be published
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[Jane] Because it's very, very difficult to get a book published and not all of my stories were good enough to become books.
[Cheryl] I imagine that many children have lost parents in Ethiopia.
[Jane] I had to practice before I became a great writer, the same way we all have to practice before we become great at anything.
[Jane] In Jakarta Missing, Jakarta is a great basketball player. She is modeled after my son Jonathan who loved to play basketball. You can bet that he practiced a lot!
rene> Cannelton students.. did you already buy this new book Jakarta Missing??? sounds a very good one to me
[Jane] I don't believe it's in the bookstores yet. It's brand new.
[Cheryl] I would love to listen more, but I need to go right now.
[Jane] Bye, Cheryl.
[Cannelton2] Yes pratice helps
rene> Bye Cheryl, greetings to your daughter
[Jane] Patience helps, too. So now we're back to PULLING THE LION'S TAIL. I had to write many stories that will never be published before I got to writing stories that will be published.
[Cannelton3] Thanks for coming
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[Jane] Are you thanking me? I'm a little bit lost! Heeeeelp.
[Cannelton3] We are back
rene> students, any more questions for Mrs. jane?
[Jane] I should say that some of you could write a new beginning to PULLING THE LION'S TAIL and explain in your beginning how the mother died. Perhaps it was like Harry Potter's mother--she died saving her little girl.
[Mrs.Goble] what is your favorite book you have written
[Jane] That's like asking a mom which her favorite kid is. Have any of you ever asked your mother that?
[Cannelton2] ;-)
[Jane] If you did, what did she say?
rene> my son does that each day... '-) (I have one child , so the answer is easy)
[Mrs.Goble] i love you all the same
[Jane] Hahahaha to Rene. Yes, my mom would say "I love you all the same." It's a little bit that way with my books. I love each of them for a different reason. Each book is my baby.
[Jane] When I only had one book published, I could love it best, too.
rene> hahaha, yep
[Mrs.Goble] are you in the process of writting any new books
[Cannelton2] what language do people in ethiopia speak?
[Jane] Yes. I read more than one book at a time and I usually write more than one book at a time. Right now, I'm thinking about the revisions for a picture book called DOES A SPIDER WEAR A SEAT BELT? What do you think. Does a spider wear a seatbelt?
[Mrs.Goble] they are too small
rene> In Holland they do ;-)
[Cannelton2] no
[Cannelton3] no
[Jane] There are 80 different languages in Ethiopia. Many, many people can speak Amharic, which was the official language for many years. In PULLING THE LION'S TAIL, Almaz's name is in Amharic and all the words in there that you don't know are Amharic.
[Mrs.Goble] they would slide right through :)
[Cannelton2] tell us why
[Jane] Right--a spider's grip is sticky so it never, ever slips. :>
[Jane] You guys are so smart. You don't even have to read my new book!
rene> I do not agree....
[Jane] Someone has to draw the pictures for it before it becomes a book, anyway, so it won't be out until 2003. I'm also working on a new novel.
rene> the more students / children read...
rene> the more adventures they can have
rene> and the smarter they will be
[Jane] Yes, I've traveled all over the world, but my best adventures have been from reading books.
[Cannelton3] good we wondered what you meant, Mr Rene
[Jane] It's always great fun for me to visit a school (in person or cyber space) and hear that people have been reading my books. It would be no fun being an author if I didn't have readers.
rene> that' also true
[Mrs.Goble] why did you write about a lion instead of any other animal
[Cannelton2] spiders need to hold on tight if they are in a wreck so they don't fly through the winshild
[Jane] There are many lions in Ethiopia so there are many stories about lions. The man who was king when I was a child used a lion as his symbol. But I've written about many animals in Ethiopia. Sometimes teachers have asked students to look through all my books and list all the animals. There are many different ones.
[Jane] Yes, the whole point of the SPIDER book is that animal parents take care of their little ones just as human animals take care of theirs.
rene> yep, that would be a very good lesson idea for reading!
[Jane] But in different ways!
[Mrs.Goble] who was king when you were small
[Jane] The emperor Haile Selassie. He was overthrown when I was a young adult, so he was the king through my whole childhood.
[Cannelton3] What was it like to meet Mrs. Bush?
[Jane] It was a little bit overwhelming. When Mrs. Bush came in the room, so many flashbulbs were popping. Have you looked at the pictures on my web site to see what it looked like?
[Mrs.Goble] no but we will
[Mrs.Goble] soon
[Jane] Good. Have any of you read SARAH PLAIN AND TALL?
[Cannelton3] No but we will, Mrs. Goble says
[Cheryl] Yes, it is a wonderful story.
[Mrs.Goble] yes most of us have
[Cheryl] We did an exchange with Australia on Sarah Plain and Tall.
[Jane] When you read it, you can see the picture of the author on my web site because she was one of the other guests. I love that book so I was excited to meet her.
[Cannelton2] Did you like the White House.? or did you see it.
[Mrs.Goble] one of us even has seen the movie
[Jane] I didn't see the White House. We had our big event at Constitution Hall.
[Cannelton3] Mrs. Kurtz, we hate to say goodbye but we need to say goodbye
[Jane] Yes, I need to go pick up my daughter, too. It was nice to chat with you!
[Mrs.Goble] buh -bye!!!!
rene> Thank you very much
[Jane] You're welcome.
rene> and maybe till next time
[Cannelton2] oh,ok
[Cheryl] Goodbye Mrs. Goble and students. I enjoyed what I could participate in . Thank you
[Mrs.Goble] thank you very much
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[Cannelton2] Good ye everyone
rene> bye everybody
Disconnected:
you logged off!
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END OF SIXTH ANIMAL DIARIES CHAT