[CALIBK12] ELEM HIT: Dow Kump Visit

Fri Mar 28 10:08:07 PDT 2008

First, thanks to all that responded. I really appreciated your input and it helped me make my decision - we're not going to schedule a visit.  I really was torn about this because I don't know if or when I'll ever be able to raise the funds to have more recognized authors visit, and I want my students to have that experience.

However, once I found out that the students were expected to buy his book in a pre-sale, I knew I had to opt out. I could not, in good conscience, tell my students to purchase a book that a) seemed way above reading level and content for most of them (we're a K-6 school) and b) that had not been vetted by my book authorities, mainly Horn Book, SLJ, or Booklist. There were a couple other reasons too, but I won't continue to bore you by outlining those.

For those interested, I have posted the responses I received below.

Thanks again everyone,

Shaunterria Owens, Library Assistant
Del Rosa Elementary
3395 Mountain Avenue
San Bernardino, CA
909.881.8160
shaunterria.owens at sbcusd.com

I also went to his website. I think he's written a total of 2 books (am I
right?). How old are the copyright dates? (1 or 2 years? 5 or 6? Older?)
Although his website says 2005 and 2006, one of his books was first
published in 2003 according to a used source on amazon.com. If he is a good
writer he will be publishing books frequently. If he is selling the same two
books and has nothing new then there's a reason.
I would go to my local public library and see if they can find any of his
books in their system to loan to you. My guess is no. If not, it's probably
because they are poorly written and never showed up in any PROFESSIONAL
review sources with positive reviews. I would also find out who published
the books. If it is not a recognized publisher, it's possible he paid for
the books to be published (it's termed self-published) and often that means
a reputable publisher would not publish them.
http://www.tshore.com/Default.aspx?tabid=109
Yes. They are self-published. Scroll down the site to see Dow's remarks
about what a great job the publisher did for him.
There are many aspiring "authors" out there who want to make a living by
selling their books to kids (who are far less adept at judging quality) and
they will do author visits for free to get started. The problem is that very
often the books are not good quality literature. I would buy a copy of his
book(s) used via Amazon.com or wherever and take a look (unless you can get
them from the library). The real question is, are they worth the money that
the parents are going to send in to buy these books, or are you allowing
someone to sell kids junk? I'm not saying all "free" authors come under this
evaluation, but good authors can command fees. Why would someone travel free
from Arizona if they had a high quality product? There's an old saying "You
get what you pay for."
Taxpayers are paying to have children be educated, not fleeced. I'm all in
favor of having author visits, but I would be sure that you get "good value"
for those educational minutes out of the classroom. He may be entertaining,
but if he is a lousy author, is that valuable entertainment (or inspiration)
for your students? From what I can tell by his website, his presentation is
mostly his computer generated presentation that appears very flashy. I'm
sure it's entertaining (although it's beginning to look dated to me) but
again, those educational minutes are for education, not entertaining. You
can read a page of the first chapter of his book from the website. I read it
and although it's exciting, it didn't seem like particularly good writing to
me. See what you think.

i had dow visit our school in manhattan beach ca - he did a great job and was well received by the kids - he did sell books, but that usually happens with any author  - paid or not - if your principal is up for another assembly, i think it's always educational to meet an author - one extra thing we had to do for dow was play a dvd "teaser" to get the kids excited about the visit - we did it during the kid's computer lab time and it was about a 10 minute commitment.

We just had Dow Kump last week and it went great.  There’s another school in our district that has had him twice, and that librarian said his books did not stay on the shelves for a year.  We also have him scheduled for another school in our district the middle of April.
I showed the kids the narrated chapter one from his website.  The kids were spellbound.  I showed it to all grade levels, 1-6.  There is a short movie that he recommends to show the grades 4-6, but it only lasts a minute or two.  My older kids enjoyed the narrated chapter one with all of the graphics as much as the little kids.  His presentation was wonderful.  He got the kids involved and even some of the teachers with a contest to give away a poster on ‘how to be a star writer’.  Some of my teachers want to get copies of his writing tips to incorporate into the classroom.  He talks about the writing process and at the end talks about following your dreams.
I did take pre-orders, and I collected about 60 before the event.  He also gave me ‘last chance’ order forms that day and I have collected about 30 so far.  He’ll be back here in a week or two with the additional copies.
 Some drawbacks – I re-did his flyer to correct what our principal thought were some grammar mistakes and put in our specific dates and put it on our letterhead.  I personally was disappointed that the Project 00 is strictly a chapter book and no illustrations.  That can be a little overwhelming for my 1-3 graders, when the promotional video is all graphics.  But the kids who ordered the book didn’t seem to mind.  Just so that you are forewarned and are not expecting at least a few pictures when there are none.   A few students have already finished reading the book and loved the story.  

The main thing I can tell you is-make sure you know it is free!  My biggest problem was that he wanted me to purchase a minimum of 30 books to the kids for him or have them in the library.  I didn't get a free visit and he contacted me.  Part of my problem was not reading the 'fine' print. 
The presentation was great-the kids loved it and were very excited.  Many of them went home and purchased on line through his website.  It is an easy read and I have 4 copies that I can't keep on the shelf. 
My school system prohibits me from selling to students.  When we have book fairs, we have to fill out fund raising paperwork and I have to write down a log of every cash/credit transaction.
As long as everything is free, the program is great and he is prompt, nice, works well with the kids as well.  I did a lot of promo before his arrival and they had seen the website and read Chapter 1 on the website with me.  I have 1292 K-5 students and he entertained my gr. 2-4 (approx. 600 students).
Good luck and just make sure in advance you know what he expects of you.