Katherine Applegate Visits Our Library....And Gives Us The Gift Of Ivan

Today we were so excited to welcome a very very special author into our library.  

Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan and dozens of other books, Skyped with the second grade at Van Meter on Monday.  When I told them who we were going to meet earlier in the day I had lots of very excited students.  

And not to mention....One very excited teacher librarian too!  I just love Ivan's story....It is one of the most beautiful children's books I have ever read.  To share it with students always makes me happy, so to share a visit with Katherine is very special too.  

Katherine told the 2nd graders how she started writing and all of the books she has written over the years.  I then just had to ask about Ivan being the Newbery Medal Winner this year.  

I listened to the American Library Association awards being announced from Seattle in January and was thrilled to hear that Ivan won!  The Newbery Medal is given to the most distinguished contribution to American literature each year.  

Katherine told us how the Newbery committee sent her several of the special medals that go onto the front cover of The One and Only Ivan to show it was the Newbery Medal Winner.  

She shared several beautiful illustrations created by Patricia Casteleo throughout the book...

 And photographs of the real Ivan too.

Shelley Broderick, one of our elementary art teachers at Van Meter, joined us for the Skype since we brought the two classes together for our related arts time.  She asked Katherine about Ivan being an artist too.  It was fun hearing how Ivan loved to paint.

The second graders had so many questions for Katherine and we all loved hearing her answer all of them.  We learned so much about writing, her books, and of course Ivan.

They loved following along in the book as she spoke of certain parts and illustrations.  

The One and Only Ivan website is full of wonderful resources and surprises.  On the opening page, there is a video that we watched before our Skype with Katherine and that I love to show when I am sharing The One and Only Ivan in the library.

Thank you Katherine for visiting our library today and for giving us the story of Ivan.  It is a gift to all of us and one that we will continue to share for years to come.