Welcome to part two of Tammi Sauer's author interview! If you have not read PART 1 yet, you can find it HERE. Don't miss out!
Were there any particular mentor texts that inspired you as you created YOUR ALIEN and GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN? How about for the upcoming release of ROAR!?
With YOUR ALIEN, I challenged myself to tell a second person story using a circle structure. Two books that have done this approach well are IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Numeroff and WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN by Jodi Moore.
Were there any particular mentor texts that inspired you as you created YOUR ALIEN and GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN? How about for the upcoming release of ROAR!?
With YOUR ALIEN, I challenged myself to tell a second person story using a circle structure. Two books that have done this approach well are IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Numeroff and WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN by Jodi Moore.
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With GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN, I didn’t study any particular mentor texts. That book was entirely inspired by a school visit. A few years ago, upon arriving at Marlow Elementary in Marlow, Oklahoma, I discovered that the school mascot was an outlaw. In honor of my visit, the kids were decked out in outlaw gear, right down to the handlebar moustache. Plus, there was a huge banner in the gym. It read, “You’re not at Cowboy Camp anymore, Tammi Sauer. Welcome to OUTLAW CAMP!” Right away, I knew I had to write a picture book about an elementary school full of bad guys. The book is dedicated to the Marlow Elementary Outlaws, and I am heading back to Marlow next month to celebrate.
As for ROAR!, I set out to write a book entirely in dialogue that was filled with heart, humor, energy--and dragons. Mo Willems is the expert on writing books in dialogue. The ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE series is genius!
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Mo Willems definitely knows how to keep the kids coming back. After conducting an author study of his books with my first graders, our school library could not keep his books stocked!
If you have not yet read PART ONE of Tammi's interview, visit HERE. And if you are ready to learn more from Tammi, read her books and consider a trip to my neck of the woods for her full day writing craft workshop at our North Texas chapter of SCBWI. But hurry! It's in 2 weeks!
If you have not yet read PART ONE of Tammi's interview, visit HERE. And if you are ready to learn more from Tammi, read her books and consider a trip to my neck of the woods for her full day writing craft workshop at our North Texas chapter of SCBWI. But hurry! It's in 2 weeks!
 | Tammi Sauer is a full-time picture book author who has visited hundreds of schools and spoken at various conferences across the nation. To date, Tammi has sold 23 picture books to major publishing houses (Bloomsbury, Disney*Hyperion, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, and Sterling). In addition to winning awards, her books have gone on to do great things. Mostly Monsterly was selected for the 2012 Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program. Me Want Pet! was recently released in French which makes her feel extra fancy. And Nugget and Fang, along with Tammi herself, was featured on the Spring 2015 Scholastic Book Fair DVD which was shared with millions of students. This is a link to the video: http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/ESvideo. You can visit Tammi online at tammisauer.com and at picturebookbuilders.com. |
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