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Summary
Summary
Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction
Author Notes
Eve Bunting was born in 1928 in Maghera, Ireland, as Anne Evelyn Bunting. She graduated from Northern Ireland's Methodist College in Belfast in 1945 and then studied at Belfast's Queen's College. She emigrated with her family in 1958 to California, and became a naturalized citizen in 1969.
That same year, she began her writing career, and in 1972, her first book, "The Two Giants" was published. In 1976, "One More Flight" won the Golden Kite Medal, and in 1978, "Ghost of Summer" won the Southern California's Council on Literature for Children and Young People's Award for fiction. "Smokey Night" won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal in 1995 and "Winter's Coming" was voted one of the 10 Best Books of 1977 by the New York Times.
Bunting is involved in many writer's organizations such as P.E.N., The Authors Guild, the California Writer's Guild and the Society of Children's Book Writers. She has published stories in both Cricket, and Jack and Jill Magazines, and has written over 150 books in various genres such as children's books, contemporary, historic and realistic fiction, poetry, nonfiction and humor.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Children preparing for an author visit at school will welcome this volume. Bunting and Bloom (previously teamed for Girls: A-Z) proffer a title that actually has three meanings. "My special day" refers to the narrator, a boy whose class has invited Miss Amanda Drake, a famous children's book author, for a visit; to Miss Drake herself, who has a wonderful time with the class; and, finally, to the book that Miss Drake writes based on her Third Street experience ("We love the dedication:/ To all the kids at Third Street School/ with love and admiration"). The story opens with everyone "in a state/ of great anticipation!": "We make a list of questions/ that we'll ask Amanda Drake./ Our teacher says `Don't ask her,/ `How much money do you make?' " Miss Drake quickly has the class eating out of her hand. She regales them with an insider's look at the creative process ("It doesn't seem like work/ if you are loving what you do"), cheerfully holds the class snake and proves she's way cool by stating that she owns a pet rat. Bloom stumbles somewhat in composing her watercolors-in aiming for classroom bustle, she fails to provide a focal point for many of the pictures. But the enthusiastic verse smooths over the visual rough spots, and Miss Drake emerges as a most approachable literary diva-a genial bohemian with electric white-and-pink hair, a kind gaze and a repertoire of dramatic gestures. Ages 5-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A boy describes his classroom's preparation for a visit by author Amanda Drake, who fields his question: will she write a book about her visit? In the end, readers learn that they're holding that very book. There's no denying the excitement generated by the story's lively art and original, although self-conscious, premise, but some of the rhymes clunk. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. Writers are often advised to write about what they know, but few could turn the humdrum routine of a school visit into such an engaging picture book. In rhyming couplets, a boy tells how his class prepares for author Amanda Drake's arrival: reading her books, decorating the room, making lemonade, baking a cake, and discussing what questions to ask (and not to ask). The writer appears, makes a terrific impression, and motivates the children to write their own stories later. Meanwhile, the narrator has made a suggestion to Miss Drake that inspires her next book, My Special Day at Third Street School.0 The circular nature of this clever revelation will please children as much as the naturally cadenced text and cheerful artwork.ust as Bunting's writing captures the action and the children's emotions in a convincing way, Bloom's gouache, colored pencil, and crayon artwork illustrates the contemporary classroom setting and the children's body language to perfection. An upbeat choice for reading aloud before author visits, though Amanda Drake will be a tough act to follow. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2004 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-Bright, splashy watercolors grace the pages of this rhyming story about an author's visit to a school. The students' preparations, such as decorating the room and thinking of questions to ask, are described and depicted as they get ready to welcome Amanda Drake. The faces of the diverse children are individualistic and expressive, exhibiting a variety of moods and thoughts. The spreads pull readers through the action and reflect the movement and excitement of the characters. As the story ends, youngsters learn that Amanda Drake has taken a student's idea and written this very book about a school visit. Bunting presents a wonderful display of the kinds of things that can happen when good educators, interested students, and talented writers connect. Bloom uses bright colors to create a realistic and inviting setting, paying great attention to details including the teacher's desk and science projects displayed throughout the room. Just as Amanda Drake inspires the children to use their imaginations and write stories, this delightful book will encourage readers to explore their own creativity.-Erlene Bishop Killeen, Fox Prairie Elementary School, Stoughton, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this fictionalized, but doubtless reality-based encounter, an author addresses a class of middle-graders, and it's all that a school visit should be. Before children's author Amanda Drake arrives, the children have read her books, decorated the school, and with their teacher's help ("Don't ask her, / How much money do you make?"), prepared questions to ask. Drake in turn, pink streaks in her flyaway white hair, sweeps in, cutting a larger-than-life figure as she cuddles the class pets, talks enthusiastically about writing--"There's something that I'd like to share / because it's truly true. / It doesn't seem like work / if you are loving what you do"--and leaves the children itching to write stories of their own. Though Bunting amply demonstrates here that writing in verse is not her forte, along with Daniel Pinkwater's hilariously flip-side Author's Day (1993), this exuberant alternative to Louise Borden's low-key The Day Eddie Met The Author (2001) should be required reading in all schools planning author visits. (Picture book. 7-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
