Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I Don't)
Alethea Allarey
Written by Barbara Bottner
Illustrated by Michael Emberley
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
2014-2015 Nominee - Primary
SYNOPSIS
Miss Brooks, the school librarian, will do anything to share her love of books with kids. She goes out of her way to entice, cajole, tempt, or discover the secret passion or interest of each one. She is able to excite and enthrall the entire first-grade class… except for one little girl who does not like to read. The little girl stubbornly resists Miss Brooks' efforts to convince her to love books until she finds one that changes her mind.
The sequel, due out in 2014, is titled Miss Brooks' Story Nook, (where tales are told and ogres are welcome!)
Meet the Author
Barbara Bottner was born May 25, 1943, in New York, NY. She attended Boston University, 1961–62, and École des Beaux Arts, 1963–64; University of Wisconsin—Madison, B.S., 1965; University of California, Santa Barbara, M.A., 1966 and studied animation at School of Visual Arts.
“Growing up, my earliest memory is reading Dr. Seuss and then the Honey Bunch books by Josephine Lawrence. The children had adventures and were on their own, and that was very appealing to me. Catcher in the Rye astonished me and everyone I knew. And Mark Twain, always one of my favorites.”
As a child, Barbara Bottner grew up dreaming of becoming an artist, a dancer, and a story teller. After studying painting in Paris, she was asked to create sets for an off-Broadway theatrical company, Café La MaMa, where she worked alongside company founder and director Ellen Stewart. Bottner's set-design career with Café La MaMa ended prematurely, however, when she was told that her set designs were too large and eclipsed the actors. She then studied acting and toured for two years both in the United States and Europe.
Bottner became a substitute kindergarten teacher to supplement her acting wages, and after a year of teaching, she decided to establish a career in children's book illustration. Since then, she has become known for writing children's books, young-adult novels, and "I Can Read” books. She was honored with a Distinguished Teaching Award at Parson’s School of Design in New York. She has also works with at-risk teenage girls through the Los Angeles-based mentoring nonprofit WriteGirl, and teaches and consults privately in Los Angeles.
Her hobbies include dancing, travel, politics and Buddhism. She lives in Los Angeles, CA and is married to Gerald Kruglik.
Sources
"Barbara Bottner." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Biography in Context. Web. 14 May 2014.
http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2048
Barbara Bottner (1943–) Biography - Personal, Career, Member, Honors Awards, Writings, Adaptations, Work in Progress, Sidelights - York, Illustrated, Book, and Books - JRank Articles
Meet the Illustrator
Michael Emberley was born June 2, 1960 in Boston and grew up in Ipswich, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. He attended Rhode Island School of Design and California College of the Arts for a short while. “I was never a good student, a classic underachiever. I have only a little formal art instruction at the college level, a few months here and there.” Both his sister, Rebecca, and his father, Ed, create children’s books.
With his father's encouragement, Emberley eventually branched off into his own style of illustrating and began to work on ideas for his own children's books. “So I became an author/Illustrator for two reasons: It was around the house—my Mother, Father, and sister and I were always dabbling in arts and crafts, including helping my father with work. Then I woke up one day as a late teenager and realized I needed to get a job. My second revelation was that I was not qualified for much and with my work ethic at school, had little to get me into a university. I could draw a little, so I tried illustrating. My prospects were limited. I had little choice.” He has no art degree, no writing degree, no kids, no house and no pets but he does have a lot of pencils and a pretty decent stereo. He has been writing and illustrating children’s books since 1979 and he has produced books that teach young children how to draw dinosaurs, and written and illustrated several picture books, often drawing upon classic children's literature.
Emberley has lived in Oakland and San Diego, CA. He bought his first television set at age of forty so he could watch a bike race, and his first car a few years later because there was no subway in California. His hobbies include bicycle racing, bike riding, cycling, mountain biking, avoiding driving, and talking in a funny accent, but now he lives just south of Dublin, Ireland, between the Irish Sea, and the Wicklow mountains with his wife Marie-Louise, who also writes and illustrates children’s books, and talks with a funny accent. He still drives and cycles in Ireland almost as much as he did in America, just on the wrong side of the road.
Learn more about Michael Emberley at www.michaelemberley.com
http://www.michaelemberley.com/about-me/
http://www.candlewick.com/authill.asp?b=Illustrator&m=bio&id=1791&pix=y
"Michael Emberley." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 14 May 2014.
HOOKS
- Do you like to read books? Yes! What are some of your favorite books?
- Do you like to read books? No! Why don’t you like to read books?
- Has someone tried to convince you to do something you didn’t like? How did they do it?
- Have you ever tried to convince someone to try something they didn’t like? How did you do it?
- What is perseverance? Why do we keep trying and trying and trying to do something?
Connections
Other titles by Barbara Bottner
Flower Girl (2012)
An Annoying ABC (2011)
Raymond and Nelda (2007)
Pish and Posh Wish for Fairy Wings (2006)
Wallace's Lists (2004)
Books about Books
Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss (2001)
I Don’t Like to Read by Nancy L. Carlson (2007)
But, Excuse Me, That Is My Book by Lauren Child (2005)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce (2012)
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies (2008)
Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day, Book Day by Pat Mora (2009)
Beatrice Doesn't Want To by Laura Joffe Numeroff (Sep 2004)
Book! by Kristine O’Connell (2001)
The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers (2006)
Wild about Books by Judy Sierra (2004)
It’s a Book by Lane Smith (2010)
We are in a Book: An Elephant and Piggie Book by Mo Willems (2010)
Baby Bear's Books by Jane Yolen (2006)
Books about Librarians
Librarians in Our Community by Michelle Ames (2010)
Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia by Monica Brown (2010)
The Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy (1994)
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen (2006)
The Wonderful Thing about Hiccups by Cece Meng (2007)
Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora (1997)
The Library by Sarah Stewart (1995)
For more information, please check the 2014-2015 Resource Guide - Primary.