Author Visit

This morning I'm going to nearby Lenoir Rhyne University to attend the Afternoon With Lynne Cherry session of the school's Visiting Writer Series. Ms. Cherry is an environmentally conscious writer of children's books. I was thrilled to use two of her picture books in my fourth grade classes and my students were super enthused about their projects based on these books.

I want to soak up her wisdom. I want to hear from her how and why she created these two wonderful additions to children's literature. I want to talk with her and tell her how my students reacted to her message and the impact her writing made on me as well.

Pilot Mountain School children were fortunate to meet a fairly reknown author, Bertha Moore McCurry, who wrote under several pen names. She would make author visits to the classrooms and work with the children to improve their writing. I wonder what she said about the how and the why of her writing. But wait, I know the why. She left that answer in a legacy of books, Christian themed books, where her characters lived their faith as examples to follow. Her children's literature series on the three Baers became quite popular back in the fifties. Yes, Baer is spelled correctly, the last name of a set of triplets who got into a variety of sticky situations.

Both ladies achieved what every writier dreams of: They brought a message that left an impact on their readers. What more could an author want from her writing?

So today, just like the eighth grade students on their graduation day back in 1956 when Bertha McCurry was guest speaker, I will sit back, listen, drink in the words Lynne Cherry speaks. I can't wait.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen