Bring a Book, Bring a Friend® Fun’raisers have a tradition of great guest authors!
We had three wonderful authors at our recent book fair at Barnes & Noble in Naples. For young children, Airport Mouse was brought to life by author Ruth E. Clark. There are now three books sharing this little mouse’s adventures! Workbooks are also available to add more fun to the reading and learning.
Next for more advanced readers, author Lauren Smith talked about her character, Ashley Enfield, and how Ashley helps to solve mysteries in her hometown. Lauren has written three books about Ashley’s exploits which promise to keep ‘tweens happily turning the pages!
Robert Dean Bair was our third guest author and really surprised attendees when he brought out and opened a guitar case — out popped balloons! Bob showed in a fun way that things may not always be what they seem and life can surprise when you least expect it. Kids of all ages were inspired to think ‘outside the box’ thanks to Bob’s opening demonstration!
In this vide, Teen Advisory Team spokesperson and on-location reporter Cory Jones interviews Bob and other authors. We hope you enjoy watching it! We are so proud of our student leaders and very grateful to our guest authors for helping us “Encourage today’s readers. Inspire tomorrow’s leaders.”
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K is for Kids would like to take a moment to thank all of the authors who have helped us promote literacy and leadership at our Bring a Book, Bring a Friend Fun’raisers — when we first launched efforts in 2002-03 at Laurel Oak Elementary School in Naples and continuing after our foundation was created in Nov. of 2007 and launched the following year:
Sheila Hebert Collins appeared at our third Fun’raiser as our first guest author. Sheila writes classic fairy tales with a Cajun twist. Stories are woven with French words and phrases, and at the end of each book, Collins treats readers by giving them an authentic Cajun recipe.
The following year, our guest author was a young man in middle school who had written his book as a child. Brandon Lipman was born with a cleft palate, and had endured a long journey of questioning classmates and medical attention. Brandon was driven to share his story so he might help encourage and give strength and hope to other children born with a cleft palate. Brandon was one of the most powerful speakers guests said they had ever heard, his words brought tears to the eyes of many. His inner strength and generosity in sharing his story will endure in our minds forever.
Robert Dean Bair, a man of many talents and skills, became an author in his golden years while living in Naples, Florida. Bob has written two books of historical fiction, motivated to share with his grandchildren some of the events that had happened in his lifetime and the places and people that he had known and encountered throughout his military and business careers. Bob was first our guest author at our Bring a Book, Bring a Friend Fun’raiser for The Village School (when the Clawson family began expanding their efforts to reach more children) and returned again to speak at our recent book fair at Barnes & Noble.
We got a double hitter with M.B. Weston, a popular speaker around town in Naples, who inspired teens and young kids alike at our first Barnes & Noble book fair in Oct. 2008. Michelle gave a riveting workshop on writing, perfect timing as all young attendees next put pen to paper and wrote a book together, becoming young authors themselves!
Writing, like many talents, can run in your blood, but even then, it may take some encouragement and opportunity. That’s what happened with young Robbie Hemingway Rothenberg who may have inherited a love for story-telling from his famous great-great-grandfather Ernest Hemingway but needed some help to get going. When Robbie told his father, Jon, about a dream of his, the two set about to turn it into a book. Along with illustrator Doug MacGregor of the Ft. Myers NewsPress, father and son shared the story and showed our audience how writing can indeed be a great family activity. Robbie goes by the pen name of Robert Jon Hemingway Rothenberg.