Shelyn Students experienced a real treat today. Author Katherine Applegate, author of the Roscoe Riley Rules series and co-author of the successful Animorphs series, came to speak to students about writing, and about her new book, The One and Only Ivan.
Katherine was able to share her research and inspiration behind this Gorilla's point of view story. During her presentation students could see how writers seek inspiration from real life events and the things they see in the news every day. Katherine took a newspaper story that captured her interest years ago and, after researching gorilla behavior and other news stories surrounding gorillas, grew her story seed into a full blown chapter book.
Students enjoyed viewing footage of gorillas, seeing the book's promo video and gaining a perspective into the writing process. At the end of her presentation Ms. Applegate was happy to answer many questions posed by students ranging from how she became inspired to write stories and where she wrote to questions about some of the gorillas featured in her presentation. After the Q and A students who purchased a book were able to get personalized autographs from Katherine.
More information about the book can be found at http://theoneandonlyivan.com/ and
http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/10991/Katherine_Applegate/index.aspx