[CALIBK12] ELEM HIT: Dow Kump Visit

Fri Mar 28 14:55:30 PDT 2008

To think that Harper Lee would have been turned down.  Sigh

On 3/28/08 10:08 AM, "Owens, Shaunterria"
<Shaunterria.Owens at sbcusd.k12.ca.us> wrote:

> 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.  There¹s 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
> Œhow to be a star writer¹.  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 Œlast chance¹ order forms that day and I have collected about 30 so
> far.  He¹ll 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 didn¹t 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.
> 
> 
> 
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