#nErDcampLI Rocks!

Nerdy Book Club + Ed Camp = nErD Camp

Have you ever had the experience of walking into a room and automatically knowing you were among your peeps? On Saturday, November 5th, I found my wonderfully nerdy peeps at the Second Annual nErD Camp Long Island held at Jericho Middle School.

nErD Camp is described as the “unconference” edcamp. It provides a fluid forum for educators, authors, and illustrators to discuss “all things” literary; get inspired and give inspiration; and teach and learn from one another.

So, how does nErD Camp work? Upon arrival attendees fill a session board with topics of interest. You can attend any session, participate in any session, create a session, and/or leave a session if there’s another one that is more tailored to your interests.

I attended a terrific session by Jackie Azúa Kramer and Selene Castrovilla about Reader’s Theatre, an immersive interactive story-telling experience that encourages students to act out written works. I also gave a talk about using fairy tales as a means of getting kids excited about writing—a tale of how to create fractured fairy tales. The discussion started with fairy tales and somehow morphed into a discussion about using mysteries in the classroom.

Here are a few photographic highlights:

Selene Castrovilla and Jackie Azúa Kramer

Jackie Azúa Kramer, Annina Luck Wildermuth, me, the AWESOME Mrs. C and her SUPER AWESOME daughter

Selina Alko

Corey Rosen Schwartz

Carol Weston

Selene Castrovilla 

Tracey Baptiste

Josh Funk 

Tara Lazar

Carol Gordon Ekster

Nancy Armo

Sean Qualls and Selena Alko

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick

The line to buy books! 

I would like to shout out a HUGE THANK YOU to JoEllen McCarthy, Alison McDermott, and Kristen Picone for a fantastic day. nErdCampLI rocks!

 

 

 

Bank Street Book Store’s Grand Opening

 

It was a day of celebration for the Upper West Side, as Bank Street Book Store cut the red ribbon and opened its doors at its new location on 107^th Street and Broadway. Children, parents, authors, illustrators, politicians, and friends of Bank Street from near and far came out in droves to show their love and support for the bookstore.

I am thrilled beyond words to have been a part of this great day.

Here are some highlights (contributing photography and videography by Zoe Newman Sachs, Donna Marie and Eric Pearl).

 (Left to right) Council Member Mark Levine, Borough President Gale Brewer, Bank Street President Shael Polakow-Suransky

 A dream come true to see my book at Bank Street Book Store

Jerry Pinkney 

Rebecca Stead and me 

Deborah Heiligman and Andrew Laties

Betsy Bird 

Robie Harris and Amy Hest

 Shael Polakow-Suransky and Cynthia Weill

Todd Tarpley

Vin Vogel and me 

Sandra Jordan 

Donna Marie 

Peter Lerangis 

Me and Chris Grabenstein 

My niece, Zoe, is a HUGE fan of Chris Grabenstein. She couldn’t make it in time for his reading so he was kind enough to make this video for her.

Jill Davis and James Grimaldi 

Jill Davis and her adoring, super adorable fans

Me and Jill Davis 

Nina and Leslie Zampetti

Mawrters in the House!

Annina Luck Wildermuth (Bryn Mawr ’84) and me (Bryn Mawr ’89) 

Francoise Newman, Vanessa Rule (Bryn Mawr ’91), Hilary Newman (Bryn Mawr ’89) and Zoe Newman Sachs (Bryn Mawr Year T/B/D) 

Rory Deutsch, Judith Meehan, and me

If you love Bank Street as much as I do, please show your support for the bookstore. Become a frequent customer, encourage friends, neighbors and family to become frequent customers, and become a friend of Bank Street Book Store. To learn more about how you can become a friend of Bank Street, please contact the store.

Three cheers for Bank Street Book Store! Congratulations and thanks so much for a wonderful day!!!