Author Cards

Introduction

Have you noticed that there are quite a few baseball card clones available now?  Baseball cards have led to NASCAR cards, football cards, basketball cards, and even rock star cards.  What if the library had  author cards to look at? 

For Example:

• Avi	Caroline B. Cooney	Jerry Spinelli	Phyllis Reynolds Naylor	R. L. Stine

Task

   You will create an author card that contains the following:

         picture of the author.  

        biographical information (Name, Date of Birth, Hometown, Family, Interesting Facts)

        short list of books that the author wrote

        brief quote about the author or from the author

Resources
Internet Resources:

Authors/illustrators  - Random House Publisher
Authors and Illustrators from Houghton Mifflin Reading
Ben Mikaelsen
Bookreporter - where readers and writers click
Children's and Young Adult Authors and Illustrators
Clive Cussler
Elaine Marie Aplhin 
Authors and Illustrators on the Web - Children’s Literature Web Guide
Homer Hickam Online
The Internet Public Library - Author links
The Internet Library - Ask the Author
Kidsread.com - authors
Learning About Jim Murphy
Meg Cabot           
Scholastic - click authors and books
Sherry Garland
Stephen E. Ambrose                           
Teenreads.com - authors who we have been interviewed by Teenreads.com.
A Visit with Zlata
www.bookpage.com

Print Sources:

These titles are available in the Alton C. Crews Middle School Media Center.

Ref 803 Ben    Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia
Ref 920 Chi     Children's Books and Their Creators by Anita Silvey
920  FEM        Female Writers                                      
920 Kru           Lives of Writers by Kathleen Krull     
Ref 810.8        Lives and Works: Young Adult Authors
920 MAL        Male Writers                                          
Ref 920 Mer    Merriam-Webster's Biographical  Dictionary   
Ref 803 Mer    Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
Ref 809 Car    The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature
Ref 820.9 Wri    Writers for Young Adults by Ted Hipple

Process:

Step 1: Read a book written by an author you like.

Step 2:  Research the author.   The following information will be used on the top half of your page. You will need to collect the following information:

•  Locate a picture of your author. 
   Right click on a picture and select copy. Then go to your Publisher document by clicking the Publisher button on the bottom toolbar.  Then go from edit to paste. Click somewhere in the gray area around your document  before returning to internet research.
  If your picture is in a book, use the scanner to scan the picture.  Crop the picture to the size you need, then save it in your Publisher document.

• Research biographical information on your author.  (Name, Date of Birth, Hometown, Family, Interesting Facts)

•  Take notes on the author's life.  Pay attention to interesting facts that might have influenced the author's writing.  Don't forget to cite the source of your information.  To do this right click on the web address and copy it.  Then paste the address in your Publisher document at the bottom of the page. Beside the address type the name of the site.

• Include a quote from the author. Choose a quote that you find surprising, thought provoking or humorous.

Step 3:  

    This information will be located on the bottom half of your page.

• Brief summary of the book
  Write a paragraph summarizing the book.

•  Brief response to the book
  This is your reflection/critique of the book.  Include your thoughts on the author's effectiveness and your thoughts on the plot itself. What made the book good?  What did the author do well?  What could the author do to improve?  What did you think of characters, conflict, and resolution?  Be specific.  Don't include comments such as "I hope you read the book.

• Other books by the author
  Include a list of several other books by the author.  If you have read other books by the same author be sure to include those titles you would recommend.

Step 4: 
 Create your card using Microsoft Publisher.  Complete the following steps to create your card.
Open Microsoft Publisher, select the Blank Publication  tab and click create in the bottom right corner.  
Next click Hide Wizard in the bottom left corner. 
From the top toolbar scroll from arrange to layout guides.
Change your margins to .4 and change the row to 2; click ok.  
Then go file to save as and save this page in your personal drive as author card.  As you work on this document you must stay within the blue guidelines for printing purposes.

   
Step 5: Print your card out, fold it in half and trim it.  Turn it in to be laminated.

Evaluation

Add your card to the library collection.  
Your next assignment will be to evaluate your classmate's cards.
    Which ones stand out?  
    Which authors are new to you?  
    What descriptions make you curious?  
    What reasons for liking a particular author or title match your own interests?