Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Friday, November 07, 2008

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Children's author Jon Scieszka read from his newest book, "Melvin Might?," at Garden Springs Elementary.

The man behind the Trucktown series really knows his audience.

Jon Scieszka stopped by Garden Springs Elementary to promote his newest picture book, “Melvin Might?,” to K-1 students. A receptive, enthusiastic crowd packed the school library.

“They know these stories,” he said Friday. “I was impressed with them.”

A teacher for 10 years in New York, Scieszka (SHEH-ska) now writes children’s books. Many are “fractured fairy tales” where the story is told from a different point of view; the results are invariably funny.

Scieszka spoke for about 15 minutes at Garden Springs, recalling childhood favorites like “Green Eggs and Ham,” sharing drafts of text and sketches from “Marvin Might?” and then reading from the finished product.

“If you look closely at the drawings, you can see where the guys used real dump trucks, then they put faces on them,” he said of the illustrators.

Scieszka also explained how he became a writer and talked about the dreaded blank page. “It’s kind of scary being a writer, you know,” he said. “It’s kind of like having homework every day.”

But he noted that every book in the library started out the same way – with a blank page.

The kids were undaunted. When Scieszka asked who had already written or illustrated a story, dozens of hands shot into the air.

Garden Springs writing specialist Julie Mullins confirmed it. “We’re already making books and writing true stories,” she said after Scieszka’s time with the youngsters.

Scieszka’s work also appeals to older students. Persuasive letters from fourth- and fifth-graders secured his visit to Garden Springs before his Friday evening book signing at Lexington Green. He deemed their effort a good example of how children can perceive their writing as useful rather than a chore. “They saw that they wrote great letters, and something happened,” he noted.

Among Scieszka’s well-known books are “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs” and “Math Curse,” all of which have won various awards. He is also the principal author of the “Time Warp Trio” series.

A nationally recognized reading advocate, Scieszka was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature earlier this year. His Trucktown series, including “Melvin Might?,” is an attempt to encourage boys to pick up a book.

“The stuff is out there. We just have to let kids read it,” he said, citing humor, nonfiction and fantasy genres as of particular interest to boys.

Scieszka also hopes that adults are amused by his books, especially in the classroom setting. “(Kids) see the teacher having a good time and think, ‘Here’s a reason to be a reader,’” he said. 

About the book | “Melvin Might?”

Cement mixer Melvin worries a lot. He worries he might get dirty or stuck or that he can’t keep up with the other trucks. But when Rescue Rita needs help, Trucktown’s biggest worry-wart is the only one who can save the day. There’s just one problem: He worries that he can’t.

Interested?

Award-winning author Jon Scieszka will be at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at 7 p.m. Friday Nov. 7 for a book signing. The bookstore is in Lexington Green; (859) 273-2911.