AUTHOR DAY

“Good morning, girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman.

Sara hurried to her seat. So did the other kids in Ms. Colman’s room. Another Monday was about to begin.

“Chris, would you take attendance, please?” asked Ms. Colman. Chris walked proudly to the front of the room. Ms. Colman handed him her book. Then she collected homework papers. Finally, she said, “Class, I have something exciting to tell you.”

Oh, goody, thought Karen. One of Ms. Colman’s Surprising Announcements.

“In one month,” Ms. Colman began, “we will have Author Day here at Stoneybrook Academy. Several authors will visit. They will talk about their books and about writing. Guess who is going to talk to the second- and third-graders.”

Natalie Springer raised her hand. “Babar?” she suggested. (Her classmates covered their mouths and giggled.)

“No, not Babar,” said Ms. Colman. “Babar is a character in a book. An author is a person who writes books. And the author who is going to visit us is … Robert Bennett.”

“Robert Bennett!” cried Ricky. “He is an author and an artist.”

“Cool!” said Tammy.

“Coming to our school?” asked Nancy Dawes.

“To our classroom,” Ms. Colman replied. “Right to our class.”

Ricky could not believe this. Nobody could.

“Will he show us how he draws pictures?” asked Ricky.

“I think so,” said Ms. Colman.

“Will he tell us how he thought up the idea for Sloppy Sam?” asked Sara.

“I think so.”

“Can I bring my own book by Robert Bennett to school on Author Day?” asked Audrey. “I have a copy of Awful Alligators at home. Maybe Mr. Bennett could sign his name in it for me. I collect autographs.”

“Unfortunately,” said Ms. Colman, “that is one thing Mr. Bennett will not be able to do. He will be very, very busy on Author Day. He will not have time to sign books.”

“Boo and bullfrogs,” muttered Karen.

But Bobby said, “Oh, well. At least we get to meet him.”

“Where does he live?” asked Jannie.

“How does he think up all those funny books?” asked Leslie.

“Those are very good questions,” said Ms. Colman. “And you can ask Mr. Bennett himself on Author Day. I wonder, though, if Mr. Bennett might like to know your questions before Author Day. That way, he can think about the answers to them ahead of time. So in a few days, you will each write a letter to Mr. Bennett. You are also going to be writing stories of your own. You will work in pairs. We will choose one story to make into a big book to read to Mr. Bennett. We will read it to him at a party that the second-graders and third-graders will give Mr. Bennett in the library at the end of Author Day. While the story is being read, several of you will perform it. You will put on a skit. The students in the other classes will plan things for Mr. Bennett, too. We might also want to think about a gift we could make that we could give our guest at the party.

“As you can see,” Ms. Colman went on, “we are going to be very busy before Author Day. We have lots of things to plan and do.”

Ricky smiled to himself. He could not wait for Author Day. It was going to be the most exciting thing that had ever happened in second grade.