I’m really excited! Camille Matthews (author) and Michelle Black (illustrator) will be signing their new book Quincy Moves to the Desert at Andrea Kristina’s in Farmington on Saturday (August 6) at 1 pm. I’ve seen bits of Quincy Moves to the Desert, and am really excited to see the finished product! This is a fantastic opportunity to hear an author read her own work, visit with her and the illustrator, and have your books signed.
Quincy Finds a New Home is Camille and Michelle’s first book, and is one of my favorite children’s books. It’s written from Quincy’s perspective as he is sold to a new owner, with his fears and emotions plainly seen. Another horse befriends him, and it is through talking with his new friend that Quincy is able to fully enjoy and trust his new owner. The rhythm of the book is soothing, and the text is accessible to children. The illustrations are totally beautiful–expressive and well-suited to the text. I loved that both boys and girls, horse fanatics and horse-shy, and artistic and not-so-artistic kids enjoyed this book. I’ve given this book as gifts a couple of times now.
Camille worked with our second grade students 2 years ago on a book-writing project. She came in several times–Michelle was even able to come in once! She showed the kids what it looked like to go from an idea to a finished book, with original manuscripts, revisions, photographs, portraits, and examples. Both of them talked to the students about what it was like to work as a team on a book, and what was required to pull that off successfully. Camille read her book Quincy Finds a New Home to the students and visited with them about what makes a great story. The kids then worked in teams (in my room; not in the other classes) to create their own books in the same style that Camille had discussed. She worked with me to develop aids that would help the kids understand more about the writing process. Best of all, Camille came back and sat through every single reading of these 8 year olds reading their own books. Have you ever seen a young child stand in front of an audience to present? How about 25 of them? In a row? Then you know what I’m talking about when I say what an incredible gift this celebration was to these children.
Camille still works with groups of students on writing in her Build a Book workshops. She is also available for author visits with anyone interested in horses and/or writing. Here are some links to get to know more about her and Quincy: Quincy the Horse Facebook Page and Quincy the Horse website .
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