NEWS! NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, by Jeri Chase Ferris, has won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for “best non-fiction book of 2012" from the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.
Fun Facts 1. When I was a kid, I milked cows by hand at my grandfather's dairy farm. 2. When I was demonstrating how well I ride at a big horse show, I fell off my horse and broke my arm. 3. I put my husband through school with my shorthand (what's that?!) and typing skills. 4. My favorite Olympic event is dressage (no, not dressing). 5. Myhorse Pamyat is a warmblood (what's that?); my dog Nasha is a Scottie; and my car Eleanor is a Prius.
Jeri Chase Ferris Author
Recent Titles NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) ARCTIC EXPLORER: THE STORY OF MATTHEW HENSON (Lerner Publishing Group) NATIVE AMERICAN DOCTOR: THE STORY OF SUSAN LAFLESCHE PICOTTE (Lerner Publishing Group) REMEMBER THE LADIES: A STORY ABOUT ABIGAIL ADAMS (Lerner Publishing Group).
Presentations This is what I do, tailored to suit your needs:
Speak to grades two through twelve, each presentation 45-60 minutes depending upon the grade level; give a lively multicultural presentation using props which include a log, a quill pen, a pair of boots, a sunbonnet, and a buffalo. (okay, it's a toy buffalo).
Take your students back to the time of the American Revolution, the Civil War and slavery, the Native American past, and the Jim Crow era through the lives of boys and girls and men and women who were there.
Show how the brave, determined people in my books made a difference to America; what they did, and why, where, and when (see above eras).
Show students how an author/detective gets the facts and what she does with them.
Help your students learn that, yes, even a real author has to write it again (and again), as they see the process from idea and first notes, rough galleys and proofs, to completed book.
Give a keynote slide presentation as a grand finale which neatly ties up the threads of the entire event.
Provide teacher handouts, with puzzles and follow-up activities.
Accolades "This was the best author¹s presentation I¹ve ever attended. Please come back again!" - Teacher, California
"Thank you for capturing the attention, imagination, and heart of my students!" - Teacher, California
"I can't begin to state how much I enjoyed your presentation. Our students were spellbound." - Teacher, Oregon
"That was a masterful performance! You had us all in the palm of your hand." - Senior Librarian (retired), UCLA Research Library, California
"I learned many things but most of all I learned about the lives of people who have been left out of history." - Student, Ohio
