Author Studies on the Net

Author Studies are a wonderful way to promote culturally conscious literature because they allow our students to consider how life experiences including our cultural background influence writing. Author studies help our students to see that people from a variety of backgrounds have important and powerful messages for us. Moreover, when our students read multiple books written by the same author, they can begin to develop evaluative and critical stances towards what they read when teachers invite them to make comparisons and connections across books, and to their own experiences.
Where do I get started with an Author Study on someone, for example, like author/illustrator, Allen Say? How can I obtain information and resources about this author in an easy and efficient way? How can I bring his books to life and connect them to my curriculum goals in a meaningful way? The Internet holds the answers to these questions and many others as you go about developing author studies for your students.
A Favorite Pick
As we "surfed the net" Helen and I came across useful sites that provided a variety of information. We found sites which provided book reviews, background information about authors, and sometimes teaching resources. Often these sites are appropriate for students to access themselves. At Houghton Mifflin's Reading and Language Arts Center (http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/author/say/index.html) we clicked on Author Spotlight and found an excellent link highlighting Allen Say's work. At the Ask the Author link we found an interview with Allen Say in which he shares the autobiographical nature of his books such as Tree of Cranes, Caldecott winner, Grandfather's Journey and El Chino, and The Inn-Keeper's Apprentice.
On the link entitled Classroom Connections we found fabulous suggestions, and teaching ideas for using Say's books to explore literary elements such as theme, setting, character, as well as genre. There were also ideas for cross-curricular connections to science, social studies, art. The Kidviews link allows students to read child written reviews of his book, and to submit their own.
We thought that this site could be used as an Internet Learning Center in which students could work in pairs on an activity such as an "Allen Say Scavenger Hunt". They might also develop a K_W_L chart on Allen Say , and/or write their own book reviews for his books
Other Author Sites We Recommend
A central site we recommend is the Children's Literature Web Guide (http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html). It has a multitude of Internet resources related to books for children and young adults. When we clicked onto Authors on the Web we found that we could scroll down alphabetically to access an astounding array of authors. Our top five picks for authors of multicultural literature at this site are:
1. Haemi Balgassi. author of Peacebound Trains, and Tae's Sonata. This site gets a four star rating by NETGUIDE. Links to Korea.

2.Leo and Dianne Dillon, award winning illustrators, Caldecott winner for Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, and for Ashanti to Zulu. This website dedicated to their art.

3.Virginia Hamilton, award-winning author of novels including The Planet of Junior Brown and The House of Dies Drear. Links to South Africa.

4. Patricia Pollaco, author illustrator of favorites such as The Keeping Quilt, Pink and Say. A visually exciting interactive site.

5. Cynthia Rylant, author of a wide variety of books. She suggests
you snuggle up with a kitty in your lap as you explore her site.

In addition to accessing specific author sites, The Children's literature Web guide provides a variety of other types of information such as lists of author biographies, and lists of birthdays.
We hope you enjoy these author sites. We suggest that you Bookmark your favorites and keep adding to your list of author sites as you "surf the net".