[CALIBK12] ELEM HIT: Dow Kump Visit

Fri Mar 28 23:25:19 PDT 2008

Having written several books does not a good author make. Also, having a  big 
time publisher behind an author doesn't necessarily mean "quality" (bet you  
ask a hundred librarians what that means and get a hundred answers).  I've 
read some awful stuff put out by the big publishing houses that have had me  
scratching my head with, "Who in their right mind would think this tripe is good  
writing"???

Also, I've spoken to, and read about, enough authors, even award winners  
(i.e., quality),that toiled for years, decades even, only to be rejected  again 
and again by publishers. That is a measuring stick that needs to be  applied 
with reasonable discretion.

I have no opinion about Dow Kump, or his presentations, since I haven't  read 
his books. I do know that when authors visit a school, they usually expect  
students to buy their books. And I know at my school, it had better be  
entertaining, regardless whether, or not, it's "educational"  otherwise the  students 
simply will not engage, or buy in. 

DeAnn Campbell
Julius Corsini Elementary School
Palm  Springs Unified School District

Opinions expressed by me are proudly, and  unequivocally, my own and are not 
necessarily those held by Palm Springs Unified  School District. 

In a message dated 3/28/2008 1:52:29 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
Shaunterria.Owens at sbcusd.k12.ca.us writes:

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.

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