Community Corner

Award-Winning Authors Hold Workshops at Chelsea Schools

John Nickle, Jim Ottaviani and Tony Abbott will meet with students on March 27 in Chelsea.

CHELSEA — The Chelsea District Library will hold its third annual Authors in Chelsea event on March 27.

This day-long event brings three nationally known authors and illustrators to Chelsea schools to present workshops, free of charge. Children and their families are also invited to the library in the evening to meet the authors and get books signed from 6:30-8 p.m. This year’s line-up includes John Nickle, author and illustrator of The Ant Bully, Alphabet Explosion, and illustrator of Hans My Hedgehog; Tony Abbott, author of more than 75 books for elementary readers, including The Secret of Droon series and The Postcard; and Jim Ottaviani, an Ann Arbor-based author who writes about science in comics. His most recent books include Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception and T-Minus: the Race to the Moon.

Authors in Chelsea provides children to meet with nationally known award-winning authors and illustrators to explore the art and craft of writing and illustrating, in order to encourage students to read and appreciate literature.

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“We continue to support the library with their efforts to bring relevant authors to our students here in Chelsea. Our students benefit from the interactions with these masters of the art of writing," Marcus Kaemming, principal of North Creek Elementary said. "Because our students are just beginning, it's invaluable to bring in authors who have devoted their lives to children's literature."

Through intensive workshops with the authors, students will work to improve their creative writing, drawing and reading abilities.

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The library is donating books by each author and illustrator to the participating school classrooms.

“To have a communal experience for our sixth grade students is exciting in its own right. To have a visiting author the caliber of Jim Ottaviani is celebratory. Our students and staff are currently reading his works and we are thrilled to welcome him to Beach,” Nick Angel, principal of Beach Middle School said.

Each author will be visiting Chelsea schools on March 27 to teach writing and drawing workshops in the morning and afternoon with all classes in second, fourth and sixth grades. The public is invited to the library in the evening to hear a brief presentation from each author, ask questions, and get books signed. Books by each author will be available for purchase at the library, courtesy of Just Imagine bookstore.

This is an all-ages event and registration is not required.

Authors in Chelsea is a joint venture of the Chelsea District Library and the Chelsea School District and made possible with a grant from Target Corporation and funding from the Chelsea Education Foundation and the Friends of Chelsea District Library.


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