Author Jess Brailler in Conversation with CBI Kids

Author Jess Brailler in Conversation with CBI Kids

We read the book Tess’s Tree online at the FunBrain website (http://www.funbrain.com/books/tesstree/book.html), and then clicked the link to email the author, Jess Brailler. He wrote back to our classes! Here are the email messages we sent him, along with his answers. Room 12 did not come to computers that week, and the Turning Three’s classes did not do this activity, so those classes do not have email messages.

February, 2012

ROOM 9

We liked your story. It was sad when the branches broke and the tree fell down and it died.

The girl felt better when the old grandma came over to visit. The lady gave her a picture, it was the tree with the old grandma climbing it. If we made this story, we would make the girl happy, not sad. You did a good job making this book.

Love, Room 9

Room 9, Thank you for the wonderful note. We're delighted you enjoyed our story and were kind enough to take the time to share so many ideas.

You seemed to like the part of the story with the older lady. We're not sure if she was Tess's grandma, but she sure was inspired by the kind grandmas we've been lucky enough to have in our lives. And as we created the story, we struggled with how sad, or how happy, we should make Tess. It sounds like you're suggesting that we pull back a bit on the sadness. We'll give that a try if we ever re-write the story.

Thanks again for your enthusiasm, for sharing such great ideas, and for being a fan of our story.

Very much appreciated, and please keep on reading!

Jess

ROOM 10 Dear Author and Illustrator, We liked your book, Tess’s Tree. We liked the guy named Max because a boy in our class is named Max too. Why did you name him Max? We liked when Tess put a flower on her broken tree. We didn’t like the man cutting the tree down with his saw.

Love, Room 10

Dear Room 10, Thank you so much for your thoughtful email. We're delighted you liked our story of Tess's Tree.

Coming up with the name Max was very easy. Max is the name of Jess's son. One of the great things about writing books and stories is that for fun, you can name the characters. Or even name recipes. Jess once wrote a hot dog cookbook and he worked into the various recipes his children's names (Max and Ruby) and the names of all his nephews and nieces (Melissa, Adam, Jess, Laurie, Beth, and Becca). For example, Melissa's Wiener Soup, and Laurie's Luscious Lentil Soup.

Thanks again for your curiosity and the thoughtful email.

Jess

ROOM 11

Dear Author, We liked your book. We liked the daughter. Some of us liked the man cutting down the tree.

The wind knocked down the tree. It was sad when the girl cried.

Love, Room 11

Room 11, Thank you so much for the note.

We especially appreciate that some of you liked the man cutting down the tree. Most readers don't mention him. We think most readers feel so bad for Tess and so like her tree, that they almost get angry with the man. But for all we know, he might have a wonderful daughter like Tess. Or he may have had a favorite tree as a boy. And it's great to have somebody like him around when a fallen tree is nearby because they really can be dangerous.

We've received thousands of email regarding Tess's tree and nobody ever mentioned that man.

We created this story more than ten years ago and because of you, we're thinking about our story in a way that we never have before. Which is really the fun of talking about a story with as many different people as possible.

Thank you so much for reading our story and sharing your special thoughts with us.

Jess

ROOM 101 We think this was a good story because some trees get knocked over sometimes. Some trees are short and some trees are tall. Some are thick and some are thin. It was so sad when the tree was cut down and when it died. They were happy that they loved the tree and they celebrated at a party for it. We love for the little girl to plant new trees. It was sad when the wind blew the first branch down. Then the tree bended over and another branch fell. It was a really great story and we loved it. It was so sad when she was crying when the teacher read the poem. The author wrote good words.

Love, Room 101

Room 101, Thank you so much for the very insightful and thoughtful note about our story of Tess's tree.

We really appreciate you understanding the diversity and complexity in life that our simple story attempted to recognize. That at any one time there are older and younger people living, that at any one time there are fresh new trees, older majestic trees, and much older and frail trees. That there are moments in life of happiness and moments of sadness. That there are times to laugh and times to cry. And that at any time in the world, some of all those different things are going on.

We are very, very impressed that you were able to understand all of that when enjoying our story. It's usually only much older readers who have that sort of understanding.

So thank you so much. We're lucky to have you as readers.

Jess

ROOM 102

We’re sorry that her tree died. She cried. It was a good book. She invited friends over to her house to celebrate the tree. The tree broke. The book was full of trees. The saddest thing was that her tree died. It was nice when everybody came over to make her happy now that she had no tree. If we wrote this book, we would do it just the same way you did. We liked it that way.

We think you did a good job.

Love, Room 102

Room 102, Thank you so much for the email. We're so delighted to hear that you would have written the story of Tess's Tree in the same way that we did. And we think it's wonderful that you liked the story even if, at times, it is sad.

Please keep on enjoying stories, please keep being thankful for trees, and please keep thinking the wonderful way that you do.

Thanks again for reading our story, we are very lucky to have you as readers.

Jess

ROOM 103

Dear Author, We liked your book. Did you get a medal? If it didn’t, we would like to give you a medal.

It was so sad when they cut the tree down. And Tess got angry and she threw her toys.

She felt better after she drew a picture of her tree. And what made her feel better is when the lady handed over the picture of the tree to the little girl.

Thanks for this nice story.

Love, Room 103

Room 103, Thank you for the email. We're delighted that you thought our story of Tess's tree was nice.

We think the same of your kind note.

No, we did not get a medal. But we're luckier than that. We got your email. When you write stories, nothing is better than happy readers. So with this email, you've already given us more than a medal every could.

We also appreciate your thoughtful summary of the story. It's very impressive.

Thanks again for writing to us and please keep on reading!

Jess

ROOM 104

We liked this book so much. It was sad. The funeral was sad. It was sad because she couldn’t swing any more. And it was sad because the tree got chopped down. The branch fell down. To cheer up, she made a funeral and her friends came. The mom and the kid talked about the tree.

There was a heart on the tree. Because she loved it. She throwed her toys when she was upset.

If we wrote it, it would be a different story. She wouldn’t her throw her toys. They wouldn’t chop down the tree. They wouldn’t kick the other trees. She got mad. She wouldn’t cry in our story. In our story there wouldn’t be a storm. And she wouldn’t be mad.

Love, Room 104 Rebecca, Jesse, Sydney, Chloe, Oliver, Rylan, Noah, Jake, Joey, Hayden, Sari, Van, Samantha, Joshua, Lindsay

Rebecca, Jesse, Sydney, Chloe, Oliver, Rylan, Noah, Jake, Joey, Hayden, Sari, Van, Samantha, Joshua, and Lindsay, Thank you for the wonderful note. We just love the way that you would have written the story of Tess's tree. It sounds like she would be a much better behaved girl, which would probably be welcomed by anybody living with her, or spending much time with her.

Again, thank you, we just love what you're thinking, and we're going to start thinking more and more about how stories told differently can arrive at the same ending.

Please keep on reading and thinking in the wonderful way that you do.

Jess

ROOM 105

We think this was a good book. The tree branches fell off and they cut it down. That was sad.

The branches fell down. She cheered up when she had a party. The tree stump was at the party. People came to the party. The lady gave Tess a picture of a girl climbing the tree. We think you did a good job. If we made this story, we’d have a doggie in it. The doggie could sleep under the tree. Or maybe a horsie one.

Love, Room 105

Room 105, Thank you for the thoughtful email. We're delighted you enjoyed our story and we really appreciate your taking the time to kindly tell us so.

A dog! That's so funny. We've tried several times to write a second Tess story and although we've not come up with one that we really like, two of our efforts have included a dog. Both of us have children and dogs and they are very special to one another, so it just seems natural that Tess would have a dog and that a story would grow out of their special relationship.

So thank you for the encouragement. When we have the time, we'll go back and again try a new story with a dog. Or a horse. That we haven't tried. We should!

Thank you again for the encouraging email. You've got us thinking!

Jess

ROOM 106

The tree knocked over. And the man cutted the tree. It was sad when Tess cried. She cried because her tree knocked over. It was happy when she stopped crying. There were baby trees, so she can have another tree. We didn’t like the sad part where the tree knocked over. It was a sad story like Dolphin Tale, that was sad too. We saw that at the big movie theater.

Love, Room 106

February 20, 2012 Room 106, Thank you for thoughtful note.

We do understand that our story of Tess's Tree is sad at times. But we like to think that it is also promises hope and healing.

We're always surprised to discover how many older readers -- from age 12 and all the way up to 82 -- really like our story. We think it may be because as people get older, they better understand that although life is wonderful, a certain amount of sadness gets mixed in with the joy.

It might be interesting to read this story again in three years and see if it feels any different.

But meanwhile, thanks again for the informative and kind note. We really appreciate it.

Jess

ROOM 107

This was a good book. It was sad when the tree was cut down. She was crying. It was happy when she made a list of the tree, the nice things about it. It was nice when the old lady came to see her. The tree died in the story. If you cut the tree open, maybe you could get honey out of it.

Love, Room 107

Room 107, Thank you so much for the thoughtful note. Your favorite parts of our story are also our favorite parts.

And we really appreciate that you enjoyed our story even if it was a bit sad.

Please know that if we ever re-write the story of Tess's tree, we may just add a page in which honey is taken out of Tess's tree. We never thought of that. What a clever idea!

Thanks again, and please keep thinking wonderful and imaginative things.

Jess

ROOM 108

We liked this book. The tree died. That was sad. And it was sad when the storm made the tree go down and when the branches fall down and when the guy sawed it and cut it. Tess went to school and told her teacher. There were some baby trees growing near the old tree. Her teacher came over to visit her and the grandma and Tyler and Max. She felt better when they came to see her. If we wrote this story we would do it the same way. You did a good job.

Love, Room 108

Room 108, Thanks so much for the note. We're delighted you enjoyed our story. And we appreciate the way in which you so carefully identified all the important characters in the story.

We also like that if you were to write the story, you'd do it the same way we did. We understand that. We read many books and some we would have done differently, and on some, we wouldn't touch a word.

Thanks again, and please keep on listening, watching, and reading!

Jess

ROOM 115

We liked this book. The tree died and that was sad. It broke and then it died. Tess was mad. She was very sad and she cried. When she looked out the window she saw a little piece of the tree and she felt better. The big boy cut down the tree and fixed it so it wasn’t dangerous and just left the stump. She wasn’t going on the swing any more. If we wrote this book we would not make the tree fall down. We would not cut down the tree even if it broke, we would just leave the branches there.

We think you did a good job making this book.

Love, Room 115

Room 115, Thank you very much for the thoughtful note.

We just love that you would write it a bit differently. That's what makes story telling so exciting. Like life, there's just not one path to the right place. And good stories reflect life.

Please keep on listening to, and looking at, stories because that's the beginning of the process that will cause you someday to write your own stories that can be shared with thousands, even millions, of readers. And that's very exciting!

Thanks again!

Jess

ROOM 120

The story was about cutting down a tree. After the big storm. The branches fell off. It was sad when they cut it down. When the tree got cut down they put the chairs right next to it. We thought it was very nice of her to invite people to the funeral of her tree, even the people who loved the tree when they were little children. It was happy at the beginning when the tree was still up. How did you get this story onto the computer? The illustrations were beautiful and they really showed how the people were feeling about the tree. It was a good story.

Love, Room 120

Dear Room 120, Thank you for the note. You must all be such attentive listeners or careful readers as you seem to perfectly understand our story.

We're delighted that you enjoyed our story and we appreciate that you kindly took the time to tell us so.

As for how we got the story onto the computer, we really don't know how that happens. We're just lucky enough to know people that do know how. Just as we really don't fully understand how our words get onto stacks of paper that are bound and turned into books. For us, the magic of printing is as remarkable as is the magic of a computer screen.

Jess is the word person. Peter is the painting person. And there are lots of people who make possible the sharing of those words and paintings. Most things in life are like that. Like it takes a lot of different people with different skills to make your school possible. Or watch the end of a film some day, when the names of EVERYBODY who made the film possible are listed. Stories -whether on a computer or in a book -- are much the same.

Thanks again, and please keep on reading!

Jess