An Overview of My Reading at the Blair Library

So many of my best ideas come from research that at every school I visit, I introduce myself by by describing the library where my research begins: the Blair Library (a.k.a. the Fayetteville Public Library) in my hometown, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Fayetteville Public Library was the recipient of Library Journal's 2005 Library of the Year Award. Photo by me!

Today I read “Sea Horse, run!” at 10:30 am in the Walker Community Room at my favorite library. A wonderful audience filled with children, parents, and educators heard my dramatic reading (yes, I sang Coral’s part!), then I launched into how I created my new, award-winning picture book. I’ve written a few blog articles about some of the topics I discussed such as…

Rewriting the end of “Sea Horse, run!”. (Spoiler Alert!!!) This post includes the video I showed during my presentation. You’ll see step by step how I research and draw characters for the book.

The Power of Three. The number “3” defines story structure and is an important number in children’s stories.

 

 

One thing I forgot to discuss during my presentation is why Coral sings in the story. Read Coral as Greek Chorus to find out.

I brought markers, boxes of crayons, and copies of activities for the kids. Several children came up the stage and colored the pictures while I read the book.

              

You can check out a copy of “Sea Horse, run!” at the Blair Library (a.k.a. the Fayetteville Public Library), or purchase a hardcover in Fayetteville at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street, French Quarters Antiques on Block Street, or Barnes & Noble across from the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

Fayetteville's Blair Library.

Blair Library became the first building in Arkansas to register with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification program. The library received its LEED silver certification from the USGBC in December 2006. Read more or visit  Fayetteville’s Blair Library online at: www.faylib.org.

Want to learn more about me (Tammy Carter Bronson)? Visit my personal blog or read a recent post that sums up 2011 so far: “Summer 2011 in Review.”

Name That Fish Activity

All of my fish in “Sea Horse, run!” are drawn with graphite pencil then painted with watercolor, but my fish are not drawn to scale which means their sizes are not true to life. Some appear smaller or larger than the real fish. See if you can match the fish in the picture with name below.

How to play:

Draw a line from the letter to the name of the fish, or write the letter next to the name of the fish, or fill in the blanks.

A.  __________________

B.  __________________

C.  __________________

D.  __________________

E.  __________________

F.  __________________

G.  __________________

H. __________________

I.  __________________

J.  __________________

Click Here

to view 

the answers!

Teacher’s Guide

A TEACHER’S GUIDE FOR “SEA HORSE, RUN!”

To download or print the full size PDF,

click here-> Teacher’s Guide for “Sea Horse, run!”

Text & art  ©2011 by Tammy Carter Bronson

849 words total made up of 282 different words

118 sentences / 1072 syllables

77% of the words are 1 syllable

126 syllable average for every 100 words

FRY READABILITY AGE IS 7 YEARS

*          *          *          *          *

RECOMMEND “Sea Horse, run!” as an Accelerated Reader (AR) Book at:

http://www.renlearn.com/ar/customercare/titlesuggestions.asp

You will need the following information to fill out the form:

Book Title: Sea Horse, run!

Author’s First Name: Tammy Carter

Author’s Last Name: Bronson

Publisher: Bookaroos Publishing, Inc.

Select Level: Lower Grades (K-3)

Year Published: 2011

ISBN: 9780967816777

In the meantime, use these sample questions and create your own Accelerated Reader (AR) Test:

1)   Who is Sea Horse’s best friend?

(A) Shark     (B) Coral      (C) Eel      (D) Octopus

2)  Shark, Eel, and Octopus are afraid of …

(A) Whale    (B) Coral     (C) Dolphins     (D) Sea Dragon

3)  Coral cannot leave the reef. Who tries to save Coral from  the Sea Dragon?

(A) Eel    (B) Shark      (C) Sea Horse      (D) Octopus

4)  Sea Horse swims out to save Seaweed from the dragon, but Seaweed is really …

(A) a fish.   (B) a plant.  (C) the Eel.  (D) the Sea Dragon.

5) Which one is NOT a type of Sea Dragon…

(A)Coral     (B) Leafy     (C) Weedy     (D) Ribbon

6)  Which animal sings in the story?

(A) Sea Dragon   (B) Coral   (C) Sea Horse   (D) Octopus

7) Sea Horse turns three different colors. Which color below is NOT a color for Sea Horse in the story?

(A) red    (B) yellow    (C) green     (D) blue

ANSWERS: 1=B; 2=D; 3=C; 4=D; 5=A; 6=B; 7=C

                     

Dot-to-Dot Activity               Brain Coral Maze PDF             Sea Horse Diagram PDF

STORY SUMMARY: Rumors of an approaching sea dragon cause frightened sea creatures to flee the reef, but brave Sea Horse stays behind to defend his helpless friend, Coral.

THEMES:  The dominant themes are COURAGE and FRIENDSHIP. Sea Horse’s friendship with Coral enables him to overcome his fear and face the sea monster in the hope that he will save Coral. Sea Horse has a lot of courage to face the dragon alone, but his courage allows him to meet family members he didn’t even know he had: sea dragons!

CHARACTERS:

Sea Horse is the HERO or main character.

Sea Dragon is the TEACHER who mentors the hero. At first it seems that there is no teacher character; however, when the Sea Dragon arrives, he contributes the most to the hero’s understanding of his journey.

Coral is a ‘chorus’ of HELPER characters who assist the hero on his journey. Coral helps by telling Sea Horse to swim away, but he chooses to stay behind and protect his friends.

TROUBLEMAKERS are opposed to the hero’s goal or are an obstacle for the Hero to overcome. In this story Sea Horse assumes that Shark, Eel and Octopus are helpers, but they are really troublemakers because Shark, Eel, and Octopus spread rumors that frightened all the animals.

CHARACTER ROLE REVERSALS: Sea Dragon changes from troublemaker to teacher. Shark, Eel, and Octopus change from helpers to troublemakers. And in the end, Sea Horse changes from hero to teacher when he reassures Sea Dragon that he is safe from Shark, Eel, and Octopus.

Sea Horse Diagram

Activity for “SEA HORSE, RUN!”.

Click on the image below and print the “half-size” version or…

To download or print the full size PDF, click here-> Sea Horse Diagram PDF

Dot-to-Dot Activity

Activity for “SEA HORSE, RUN!”.

Click on the image below and print the “half-size” version or…

To download or print the full size PDF, click here-> Dot-to-Dot Activity

Brain Coral Maze

Activity for “SEA HORSE, RUN!”.

Learn more on the page entitled, “Brain Coral.”

Click on the image below and print the “half-size” version or…

To download or print the full size PDF, click here-> Brain Coral Maze PDF