New Book News!

 

Fall 2019 Events

I'll be doing three events this October for my Sukkot picture book WHO'S GOT THE ETROG?

Bring a stuffed animal friend for an interactive read-aloud of Who’s Got the Etrog?, a story about the Jewish harvest holiday Sukkot in the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda.  Auntie Sanyu builds and decorates a sukkah harvest hut in her garden. On each of the holiday’s eight days a new guest comes to join the celebration — Warthog, Lion, Giraffe, Rhino, Camel, Parrot, and Auntie Sanyu’s niece Sara. They all want to shake the lulav branch and hold the fragrant etrog fruit, but Warthog just can’t seem to let it go. . . Hear the story, shake a lulav and etrog, help decorate our mini sukkah, and learn more about the Abayudaya, one of the many diverse Jewish communities around the world.  


Saturday, October 5th, 2019
11:30 AM
Barnes and Noble
1 Worcester Rd
Framingham, MA 01701
508-628-5567 

Thursday, October 17th, 2019
11:00 AM
Unlikely Story
111 South Street
Plainville, MA 02762
508-699-0244


Sunday, October 20th, 2019
2:00 PM
Aesop's Fable
400 Washington Street
Suite 200
Holliston, MA 01746
508-429-2031
Parking:
In the Red building below CRAFTED, at the opposite end of the Bertucci's Plaza. You can park in the upper level spots or the larger lots on Curve Street. 

Upcoming Events!

PJ Library Sukkot Story and Craft Hour

Friday, September 21, 2018
4 - 5 PM
Dover Public Library, 56 Dedham Street, Dover, MA

Celebrate Sukkot, the Harvest festival! Come in your PJ's and bring your favorite plush pal. Jane Kohuth, author of Estie the Mensch, will be reading and signing copies of her new book, Who's Got the Etrog?. We'll have activities and snacks to get us in the Sukkot spirit. For more information, contact metrowest@jccgb.org. 

Please RSVP: Bostonjcc.org/metrowestrsvp

Who's Got the Etrog Interactive Storytime

Learn about the Jewish Harvest Holiday Sukkot and the Abayudaya Jewish Community of Uganda

Holliston Public Library 

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

6:30 PM

752 Washington Street, Holliston, MA

Free and Open to the Public!

Bring a stuffed animal friend and join Holliston author Jane Kohuth for an interactive read-aloud of her new picture book, Who’s Got the Etrog?, a story about the Jewish harvest holiday Sukkot in the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda.  Auntie Sanyu builds and decorates a sukkah harvest hut in her garden. On each of the holiday’s eight days a new guest comes to join the celebration — Warthog, Lion, Giraffe, Rhino, Camel, Parrot, and Auntie Sanyu’s niece Sara. They all want to shake the lulav branch and hold the fragrant etrog fruit, but Warthog just can’t seem to let it go. . . . Hear the story, shake a lulav and etrog, help decorate our sukkah fort, and learn more about the Abayudaya, one of the many diverse Jewish communities around the world.  

I Will Be at the Writer's Loft Holiday Bazaar & Book Fair at An Unlikely Story

I am excited that I will once again be signing and selling books at the Writer's Loft Holiday Bazaar and Book Fair! And I am even more excited that the fair will be held at An Unlikely Story, the brand new indie bookstore founded by Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (and staffed by former colleagues and friends!). If you live in the area, this is a fantastic and unusual opportunity to meet an whole room full of authors at once and get signed, personalized books for everyone on your gift list, all in one place.

Young Authors Club and Grub Street Writing for Children Classes at the Greater Boston JCC

Do you know someone who would be interested in joining the Young Authors Club at the Greater Boston JCC in Newton? This class is open to young writers ages 8-11 (approximately). The next class session begins Sunday, January 18th. I've been inspired working with such passionate talented kids and I hope to meet some more of them this winter. Here's a link to the registration page: http://www.bostonjcc.org/CalendarDetails.aspx?eventID=5633

I will also be teaching a Grub Street class for grown-ups at the JCC on writing for children. This class will take place on Thursday afternoons beginning January 22nd. We'll be focusing on picture book and middle grade writing, and I will tailor the class according to the interests of the students. Here's a link with more information about that one: https://www.grubstreet.org/findaclass/class/writing-for-children-2/

Young Authors Club at the Greater Boston JCC this Fall!

Excited to share that I will be teaching a kids' writing class at the Greater Boston JCC on Sundays this fall, starting Sept. 14th. The Young Authors Club combines fun writing exercises and a real professional writer-style critique group for kids in grades 4-6 (and advanced 3rd graders). We had a blast last winter, and I'm hoping for lots of new poets and storytellers. You do not need to be a JCC member or Jewish to sign up!

So . . . What's a Skype Author Visit and Should I Do It?

The Sock Poem

Stinky

Soft, Sweaty, Smooth, Slippery, Stretchy

Soggy and Soaked!

by the first grade at Cleveland Road Elementary School in Bogart Georgia

First graders recited this original alliterative poem for me when I visited them to read and talk about my book, DUCK SOCK HOP. They were in Georgia. I was at home in Massachusetts. For the last few months, I've had the pleasure of doing quite a few Skype in the Classroom visits with schools around the world. It's been remarkable to sit down at my computer in my office and be able to talk with students in Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, British Columbia, Texas, and Grodno, Belarus, to name a few. (Next week, Xiamen, China!) Though it takes a little while to get the hang of interacting through a screen, seeing the faces and listening to the thoughtful questions of students and teachers has been a valuable experience for me as a presenter, a writer, and a person. You send your books into the world and imagine children reading them, enjoying them, and thinking about them, but how else would I have the opportunity to see HOW children are interacting with my words, what they are responding to, what makes them laugh, what makes them bounce. They may be learning from me, but I'm also learning from them. Also, it's been said many times before, but writing can be a lonely vocation, and actually seeing my tiny impact is something to hold onto when things get hard.

Art from the Malta Avenue School in Ballston Spa, New York

I do want to say that electronic visits aren't a full substitute for in-person visits. They let me go to far-flung places that neither schools nor I could otherwise afford, they help me out as a person with a disability who has trouble traveling distances. There's nothing quite like an in-person visit, though, at least for me. When I go to my local schools and libraries, I can be more interactive, more kinetic, and even more creative. So if you're a teacher or librarian, have local authors come in person, and have far-away authors come by screen.

And here's some frank talk. I get asked a lot if I get paid for Skype visits. Right now I'm offering twenty minute visits free. I get asked to low-income schools, which now have an opportunity to have an author visit when they never would have before. I want to be there for those kids. But writers are people, too, and we rely on selling books. So I hope that if schools can pay, they will. I hope they buy my books so that students can borrow them from the library after our visits. I've had one teacher (that I know of) reach into her pocket to buy DUCK SOCK HOP for her classroom.  I'm going to send her the rest of my books. But I'm not sure we can go on this way. What do you think teachers? Authors?