Scott Foresman Reading Street

DISCUSS AUTHORS

Note: Although all Grade 3 authors and illustrators are included in this section, there is an abbreviated version of the biographies of authors and illustrators specific to Volume 2 on pages 414–423 in the Grade 3, Volume 2, Student Edition.

The following information will add to students' understanding of the writing done by the authors whose biographical information appears on pages 408–411.

Writers of any kind of fiction need good imaginations. They also need good storytelling skills. Writers of realistic fiction also need the research skills of a nonfiction writer.
Writers of realistic fiction need to know about the settings of their stories and the details that would surround their characters. They may use places they know or research new places. Whatever setting they use, they need to get the details right.
Writers of realistic fiction must also be good observers of human nature. They must look at people's lives and understand the emotions, problems, issues, discoveries, and events that make up real life. Because, even though the story is fiction, the events that occur, the problems people face, and the feelings and reactions characters have must be realistic, or readers will not connect with the story.

More About Tololwa Mollel

Tololwa Mollel grew up in a small village in Tanzania, Africa. He lived with his grandparents and many relatives. Mr. Mollel says that it is very unusual for kids in Tanzania to have bicycles. "You had to learn on huge grown-ups' bikes, your feet barely reaching the peddles." Mr. Mollel hopes children in the United States learn that "family life is valued everywhere." He says the boy in My Rows and Piles of Coins doesn't want the bicycle for just himself. He wants to use it to help his mother. "Children in Tanzania help the family earn a living," he relates.

More About Frances and Ginger Park

Ginger Park, the younger sister, loves to tell stories. Frances Park is more of a poet. She says, "I've always been in love with the sheer beauty of language. For me, it's music, my way of playing an instrument." Together, they have written books for both children and adults. Often they tell stories about Korea.

More About Susan L. Roth

Susan Roth dedicated Happy Birthday, Mr. Kang to her uncle, John Kang. "I used his real name, but he never worked in a Chinese restaurant or had a hua mei. But he did write poetry after he retired." Mr. Kang always wrote his poems in Chinese first. Then he translated them into English. Ms. Roth says she hopes her books teach children to appreciate different people.

Students can use a student-friendly search engine to learn more about the authors on these pages and find additional works by the authors.

Eve Bunting

The author of A Day’s Work, p. 178 of Vol. 1

Eve Bunting grew up in Ireland. When she was seven years old, she went to a boarding school. “Perhaps it was there in
the telling of tall tales after ‘lights out,’ that I got my first taste

of storytelling. It was certainly there that I developed my lifelong love of books and reading.” She and her family moved to the United States in 1958. “We had it pretty hard at the beginning,” Ms. Bunting says. A Day’s Work shows her understanding of some of the difficulties that immigrants face. Some of Ms. Bunting’s books are happy and fun. But she often writes about serious topics such as homelessness, war, and poverty. Other books: Dreaming of America and Butterfly House

Tololwa Mollel grew up in a small village in

Tanzania, Africa. Mr. Mollel often went to the market with his grandmother. “It was the only time I got any money!” he says. “But the boy in the story is smarter than I was because he saved his money.” Other books: The Orphan Boy and Kele’s Secret

The author of My Rows and Piles of Coins, p. 120 of Vol. 1

Tololwa Mollel

Claire Hartfield likes to dance. She began taking dance

lessons when she was five. Dance was always her way of telling stories. But in Me and Uncle Romie, Claire Hartfield wanted to show how an artist can use art to tell stories. Although Me and Uncle Romie is fiction, it is based on the life of collage artist Romare Bearden. Today, Ms. Hartfield is a lawyer in Chicago. Other books about art: Loo-Loo, Boo and Art You Can Do and Recycled Crafts Box

The author of Me and Uncle Romie, p. 248
of Vol. 2

Claire Hartfield

Frances and Ginger Park are sisters. They often

work as a team to create a book. Although their parents came from Korea, Frances and Ginger Park were born near Washington, D.C. The sisters own a chocolate shop. People often stop by to talk about their books. “We pack up truffles, and then talk books,” says Frances. Other books: Where on Earth Is My Bagel? and My Freedom Trip

The authors of Good-Bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong, p. 198 of Vol. 2

Frances Park and Ginger Park

Susan L. Roth got the idea for Happy Birthday

Mr. Kang from a newspaper story about a group of Chinese men who brought their hua mei to a park each Sunday. Ms. Roth went to the park to see. “It was very noisy,” she said. “The birds were clearly communicating with each other.” Other books: The Biggest Frog in Australia and How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be

The author/illustrator of Happy Birthday Mr. Kang, p. 308 of Vol. 2

Susan L. Roth