October 2018
The Literary Resource for Teachers, Librarians, and Parents
Julie Chen Inspires Kids to Dream Big in New Picture Book
James Patterson
Let’s Get Our Kids Reading
Kate DiCamillo
Discusses her MuchAnticipated Fall Releases
Cale Atkinson
Spins a Spooktacular Tale for Little Readers
Rachel Renee Russell
Tales from a Not-So-Boring Career
Rory Feek
Takes the Literary Stage with First Children’s Book
Kevin Cordi
Encourages Students to Write Outside the Box
Bob Goff
Launches a Loveable Book for Kids
Linda Harkey
Pens a Tail-Wagging Chapter Book Series
Q&A with
with John Herzog
Teaching Toolbox
A Lion’s Share of Animal Books
Conrad’s Classroom
Upside Down on Wobbly Ground
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MEET THE STAFF PUBLISHER
Linda F. Radke Linda@StoryMonsters.com
Editor-in-Chief
Cristy Bertini Cristy@StoryMonsters.com
WRITERS
Bring Story Monsters Ink into Your Classroom! Visit our website at StoryMonsters.com to download free classroom question sheets to aid in learning comprehension and encourage your students to discuss what they’ve read in each issue!
Melissa Fales, Nick Spake, Olivia Amiri, Julianne Black, Larissa Juliano
Special Contributor James Patterson
DESIGN Jeff Yesh
Science & Nature Editor Conrad J. Storad
PROOFREADER Deb Greenberg
Web Management Patti Crane
Advertising
Linda F. Radke Info@StoryMonsters.com
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Cristy Bertini Cristy@StoryMonsters.com
Book Reviewers Darleen Wohlfeil, Diana Perry, Jessica Reino, Tynea Lewis, Sherry Hoffman, Diana Fisher, Dawn Menge, Denise Bloomfield
Cover and interior photos of Julie Chen courtesy of Art Streiber/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. Story Monsters Ink magazine and www.StoryMonsters.com are trademarks of Story Monsters, LLC. Copyright ©2018 Story Monsters LLC, ISSN 2374-4413, All rights reserved. Contents may not be published in whole or in part without the express written consent of the bylined author and publisher. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual writers and are not necessarily those of Story Monsters Ink or its advertisers. Story Monsters Ink is published by Story Monsters LLC Postal mail may be sent to Story Monsters Ink 4696 W. Tyson St., Chandler, AZ 85226 Phone: 480-940-8182
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Story Monsters Ink | October 2018 | StoryMonsters.com
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Honor Roll Gold Award Recipient, Mom’s Choice Awards. Named among the “great magazines for kids and teens” by School Library Journal. 2016 Irwin Award winner for “Best Publisher of a Literary Magazine” and “Best Editorial Director.”
October 2018
In this issue Features 4 Julie Chen
Inspires Kids to Dream Big in New Picture Book
18 Rory Feek
Takes the Literary Stage with First Children’s Book
22 Cale Atkinson
Spins a Spooktacular Tale for Little Readers
26 Kevin Cordi
Encourages Students to Write Outside the Box
32 Bob Goff
Launches a Loveable Book for Kids
10 Rachel Renee Russell Tales from a Not-So-Boring Career
14 Kate DiCamillo
Discusses her MuchAnticipated Fall Releases
36 Linda Harkey
Pens a Tail-Wagging Chapter Book Series
58 Q&A
Monthly Columns 30 Liv on Life
Make Homework Meaningful and Fun!
40 My Favorite Teacher 42 Fall Reading List 46 Monsters at the Movies
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
48 James Patterson Let’s Get Our Kids Reading
New columnist!
50 CONRAD’S CLASSROOM
Upside Down on Wobbly Ground
52 Book Reviews 62 TEACHING TOOLBOX
A Lion’s Share of Animal Books
with John Herzog
Tell us what you think of this issue! Email your comments to cristy@storymonsters.com.
StoryMonsters.com | October 2018 | Story Monsters Ink
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Feature Cover Story
Julie Chen
Inspires Kids to Dream Big in New Picture Book by Melissa Fales
After two years in the works, Emmy Award-winning TV personality Julie Chen, host of The Talk and Big Brother, is releasing her first children’s book. When I Grow Up (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books) is inspired by Chen’s lofty aspirations for her son, Charlie, and pays homage to the bright, shining potential of every child and the glowing pride every new mother feels for her baby. “You really think that your child is going to grow up to be the President of the United States,” says Chen. “I’m Chinese. It’s never too early for a Chinese mom to think about her child’s career.”
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According to Chen, her own mother’s prodding fueled her ambition to become a TV news broadcaster. “In 1983 when I was 13 years old, you never saw anyone Asian on TV unless you were watching a bad Kung Fu movie,” she says. One night, Chen’s father turned on the local news, WABC Channel 7 in Queens, New York, and immediately began screaming at the top of his lungs. Alarmed, Chen’s whole family raced into the living room only to find that the ruckus was over the fact that there was an Asian person on TV. Chen remembers that pivotal moment vividly. “There she was … a female Asian broadcaster named Kaity Tong,” recalls Chen. “It wasn’t a Kung Fu movie, it was the news. And she even looked equal to her male counterpart. It was groundbreaking.”
Immediately, Chen’s mother took action. Recognizing that her daughter was naturally inquisitive and enjoyed the limelight, she thought the job would be a perfect fit. “She looked at me and said, ‘If she can do it, you can do it,’” says Chen. “She planted that seed in my mind way back then and it had a profound effect on the rest of my life. She was my mother. She knew me best, although up until that point she had thought I would grow up to be a lawyer because I always argued.” From then on, Chen pursued her career goals with laser focus. “I never strayed from that path,” she says. “I knew I wanted to be in journalism and that was it.” Six years later, Chen found herself working as an intern at CBS Network News in New York City. “Ten years later,
“Ultimately, this book is about my journey of learning to be the best mother I can be. All mothers help to shape the type of adult their child will become and I want to help my son find happiness, just as my mother did for me.”
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Feature Cover Story
mountain climber or even a mayor. It ends with the mother snuggling with her son, reassuring him and promising to continue dreaming about tomorrow with him. “As a mom, you want to talk with your children about the future and you want to help them find their way in life,” says Chen. “However, you also want them to know that at the end of the day, no matter what, you’ve got their back.”
in 1999, I was the news anchor on that channel, on that exact broadcast,” she says. Recognizing that she owes her success to that initial push from her mother, Chen wondered how she could do the same thing for her own child and help him find his ideal profession. “Ultimately, this book is about my journey of learning to be the best mother I can be,” she says. “All mothers help to shape the type of adult their child will become and I want to help my son find happiness, just as my mother did for me.”
When I Grow Up may be a delightful children’s book, but it’s also a testament to how Chen has grown as a mother and how she’s been able to temper her expectations for her son with the realization of what is truly important. “I’m not as much of a tiger mom as I thought I’d be,” she says. “Of course I still want him to be successful, but I’m starting to realize that being successful is really just a bonus. As long as he’s happy, I’m ok with it if he’s not curing cancer or receiving a Kennedy Center Honor or performing at Carnegie Hall. I just want him to be happy.” For more information about Julie Chen and When I Grow Up, visit whenigrowupthebook.com.
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Chen admits that she might have overdone it in the past from time to time, encouraging her son to pursue even the slightest inclination towards something that could turn him into a superstar some day. “When he had a little bit of an interest in soccer, I thought he could be the next Pelé or Beckham,” she says. “Basically, anything he gravitated towards I imagined him at the pinnacle of wherever that could take him.” While writing When I Grow Up, which is illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Diane Goode, Chen kept two goals first and foremost in her mind. “First, this book had to be something that would keep the kids entertained, and secondly, it had to be something that moms reading the book to their children would be able to get something out of,” she says. The story follows a little boy and his mother who is helping him get ready for bed. Their bedtime routine is peppered with discussions about him holding various occupations someday. Maybe he’ll be a baker or a teacher. He could be a StoryMonsters.com | October 2018 | Story Monsters Ink
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StoryMonsters.com | October 2018 | Story Monsters Ink
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Feature Story
OCTOBER 1, 2018
RACHEL RENEE RUSSELL TALES FROM A NOT-SO-BORING CAREER by Melissa Fales Thanks to author Rachel Renee Russell, it’s now officially cool to be a dork. Books in her Dork Diaries series have been translated into 36 languages and appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list for over 250 weeks (and counting). Her latest book, Tales from a Not-So-Happy Birthday (Simon & Schuster/ Aladdin), will be released in October and promises readers more of the awkward moments and social anxiety they’ve come to expect from the series’ heroine, the utterly dorky Nikki Maxwell.
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“I want my readers to be proud of who they are,” says Russell. “The biggest message in all of the Dork Diaries books is to believe in yourself, to not be intimidated by other kids, and to realize that being a little bit different is a good thing.” Tales from a Not-So-Happy Birthday opens with Nikki planning an intimate backyard picnic to celebrate her birthday with her closest friends. “Everything is fine until she involves her two best friends, Chloe and Zoey, in the planning,” says Russell. “Let’s just say they have a different vision.” The casual affair Nikki has planned somehow becomes an extravagant country club bash with 100 guests. “Things go off the
rails when Nikki asks her mother for the money for this humongous party,” says Russell. “The party is first canceled, then it’s back on again, then it’s off, and then on and then everything’s up in the air. I won’t tell you how it ends, but it is an engaging story and there’s even a bit of a caper.” Russell got her start writing books in elementary school when she would create them to give as birthday and Christmas presents. She grew up, became an attorney, and didn’t think much about writing books until her daughters left home for college. “I missed them,” she says. “I was bored. I thought well, maybe I’ll pursue my old hobby of trying to write.” For Russell, there was no question of what she would be writing about. “It’s kind of a cliché to say write what you know or write about what you’re passionate about, but that’s what I did,” she says. “I knew about being a mother to two daughters and so that’s what I wrote about. I based my first book, Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, on my daughters’ experiences in middle school.” From the start, Russell’s daughters, Erin and Nikki (the Dork Diaries heroine’s namesake) helped her with the writing and illustrations. Russell used their experiences of being picked on in middle school and high school, along with her personal recollections of her own trying teenage years as material for the books. “I would say that 80 percent of StoryMonsters.com | October 2018 | Story Monsters Ink
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