Vermont School Library Association

Award-Winning Children’s Book Author Jamie Gilson Visits St. Francis Xavier School

Young writers and readers at St. Francis Xavier School in Winooski were recently treated to a visit from children’s book writer Jamie Gilson, author of twenty funny and nationally acclaimed books for elementary school age students.   The visit was organized by School Librarian Kathleen Finn.

Students in grades 2 to 5 at St. Francis Xavier have been reading Mrs. Gilson’s books since school began. On the day of her visit, Mrs. Gilson spoke to these students about how her ideas develop and how the book process works, from manuscript to finished product.   The importance of the back-and-forth process between editor and writer – and many, many rewrites – was emphasized.   She showed the students samples of her original, edited manuscripts; some illustration drafts; and what her books look like when translated into German, Dutch and Braille. After the presentation, there was time for questions that students had formulated prior to the author’s visit.

Mrs. Gilson’s uncanny eye and ear for what kids are like at this age is key to her success, from her earliest titles first published in the late ’70s to those published in the last few years.   Notebook in hand, Mrs. Gilson has been prowling school classrooms for years in the Chicago suburb where she lives.  “This is the way my books grow,” she says.  “I watch what kids are doing and write stories based on what I see.” The everyday stuff of elementary school – such as field trips to catch spiders, chess clubs, class clowns, and substitute teachers – is foundational to her fast-paced, engaging, and witty books.  Mrs. Gilson’s most recent book is Chess – I Love It!  I Love It!  I Love It! (Clarion, 2008), and her 1982 title Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub (the winner of five child-voted state awards) is being reissued this fall as a “Classic” by Marshall Cavendish.  It has already sold over a million copies in paperback.

Jamie Gilson at Rick Marcotte Central School

Jamie Gilson Visits the Marcotte School

While in Vermont, Jamie Gilson also visited her grandchildren’s school in South Burlington, the Rick Marcotte Central School.  She spoke to the second through fifth grade students there.  Mrs. Gilson has a granddaughter in second grade, and a grandson in fifth grade.  Photos were taken by her son-in-law Martin LaLonde and sent to us by Mrs. Gilson’ daughter Anne Gilson LaLonde.

by Kathleen Finn