Denise here…
I am sharing my experience witnessing our younger son Jeremy falling in love with the written word.
Last year Jeremy had a true educator as a 5th grade ELA (English Language Arts for those not familiar with the new schooling terminology).
Mrs. Picone took a deep interest in her students—reading countless middle school books so she could pair the right child with the right book. She spoke with her students about the process of writing a book and getting it out into the world. Mrs. Picone instilled in many of her students a love for the written word with her passion for helping them locate a book that would be compelling to THEM!
She did this in so many ways but the one worth mentioning is that she did this without class reads. Allowing the students to read what they loved. Having her introduce our son to authors and books that were of interest to him has created a love of books in Jeremy.
This weekend, Jeremy and I attended nErDCampLI 2017! A local gathering of educators and authors designed to facilitate learning. They carve out time to allow students to come and meet the author! Jeremy and I joined many other families in getting books signed by authors whose books they loved!
Review of It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk by Josh Funk written by Jeremy Sprung:
As the title implies the book It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk is a story about Jack and the beanstalk.
But in this book Jack does not want to follow the story line of the original fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk. I found this book to be entertaining as the author puts a twist on Jack getting magic beans and his encounter with the Giant.
As an example, in the book Jack becomes friends with the Giant and meets Cinderella at the top of the beanstalk in her castle.
And at the end of this book when Jack runs into the giant they end up being friends and going to Cinderella’s ball together. Intertwining this beloved fairytale with Cinderella brought a smile to my face.
I would recommend this book. The colorful illustrations enhanced the reading experience of this fairytale re-told with a twist.
Jeremy then located Mrs. Picone and with her expert guidance, we purchased two chapter books for Jeremy to get signed, both of which he is very excited to read!
We are now proud owners of personalized and signed copies of:
Educators can make a huge impact in our children’s lives. We are forever grateful to Mrs. Picone for helping Jeremy learn to love to read!
The time she puts into her classroom library and her desire to help middle schoolers locate the right read for them makes her a true educator. The world needs more teachers like Kristen Picone!
A huge hats off to the team at nErDCampLI for working so hard to connect authors, educators, and young readers!
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