Katie Teresa McKy

Author

Eau Claire (Eau Claire County)

742 Fall Street
Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54703
(715)-834-3144
E-mail: katemcky@post.harvard.edu

Wisconsin Connection
I taught Wisconsin children for 19 years. I lived in Osseo, Wonewoc, Muscoda, and Richland Center. I now live in Eau Claire. I have also studied at Silver Lake College, the UW Madison, and UW Platteville.

Published Works
It All Began With a Bean (Tanglewood Press, November 2004)
Illustrated by: Tracy Hill

Tough Kids, Tough Classrooms (TeachingPoint Press, September 2004)

Wildchilds (Plain Girl Press, Fall 2005)

Catfish Off Mama's Porch (Plain Girl Press, Fall 2006)

Pumpkin Town; Nothing is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins (Houghton Mifflin, Fall 2006)
Illustrated by: Pablo Bernasconi

'Roos at the Window (Tanglewood Press, Unknown)

The Green Gorilla (Tanglewood Press, Unknown)

A Remedial Reading Series of 5 chapter books (TeachingPoint Press, Fall 2005)

Wildchilds II (Tanglewood Press, 2008)

Wildchilds III (Tanglewood Press, 2009)

Presentations
The Green Gorilla. Storytelling. A story told to thouands of children, Katie has been told, years later, by many adults: "I now tell your Green Gorilla story to my children. But would you mind telling me it again?" The story will be bundled with various age appropriate writing and art activities. This story is being made into a book by Tanglewood Press. Target audience: All ages. There is something in storytelling that cannot be replicated in the fanciest movie or video game.

Pumpkin Town. Storytelling. This is a plush telling with hundreds of props. Students are seemingly dropped into the story, which considers issues of stewardship, honesty, and restitution, but in the framework of great fun. Target audience: K-5.

The adventure and misadventure in the indoor woods. Tents, smores, and a campfire fire up students' imaginations. We huddle around a campfire and hear a rustle in the 'woods.' We then brainstorm what might have made the noise, recall the events of our adventure, edit the chaff from the seeds, and use all this to sprout a story. Highly interactive and oodles of fun. Target audience: K-5.

Fees
$700 per full day. $300 for a large group storytelling. Plus travel expenses.

Additional Comments
I majored in English at Ohio State University and have an EdM from Harvard's Graduate School of Education. My experiences as a teacher greatly inform my writing. I worked with students that struggled to read and struggled to comply (learning disabled and emotionally disturbed). When I first started teaching, I employed a simplified curriculum, which bored my students as much as it did me. I came to realize that my students hungered for complex stories and my challenge was to locate complex stories that they could decode. I couldn't find such stories, so I started to write them. My students, being frank critics, accelerated my learning. I now have four Young Adult novels under contract, four Young novellas, and three more picture books, all of which, I believe, honor a child's appetite for complex narratives, but all are written at levels that allow for a wide readership. My first book, "It All Began With a Bean," is based upon a Wisconsin second grader's question: "Miss McKy, what would happen if everyone and everything farted at once?" Anyone that has worked with younger children knows that such questions are not uncommon. Rather than discourage such questions and leave my students to contemplate it, unsupervised, at recess, I'd tweak such questions into something sweet or whimsical. "It All Began With a Bean" is an example of such a tweaking. My second picture book is "Pumpkin Town," which is published by Houghton Mifflin, which also publishes "Jumanji," "Lord of the Rings," and "The Polar Express." It is a sweet story, a fun tale with themes of honsety, stewardship, and restitution. It is beautifully illustrated by the award-winning Pablo Bernasconi.

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	Quick Guide CCBC Webcasts Original Interviews Wisconsin Book Creators CCBC Directory of Wisconsin Children's Book Creators Katie Teresa McKy Author Eau Claire (Eau Claire County) 742 Fall Street Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54703 (715)-834-3144 E-mail: katemcky@post.harvard.edu Wisconsin Connection I taught Wisconsin children for 19 years. I lived in Osseo, Wonewoc, Muscoda, and Richland Center. I now live in Eau Claire. I have also studied at Silver Lake College, the UW Madison, and UW Platteville. Published Works It All Began With a Bean (Tanglewood Press, November 2004) Illustrated by: Tracy Hill Tough Kids, Tough Classrooms (TeachingPoint Press, September 2004) Wildchilds (Plain Girl Press, Fall 2005) Catfish Off Mama's Porch (Plain Girl Press, Fall 2006) Pumpkin Town; Nothing is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins (Houghton Mifflin, Fall 2006) Illustrated by: Pablo Bernasconi 'Roos at the Window (Tanglewood Press, Unknown) The Green Gorilla (Tanglewood Press, Unknown) A Remedial Reading Series of 5 chapter books (TeachingPoint Press, Fall 2005) Wildchilds II (Tanglewood Press, 2008) Wildchilds III (Tanglewood Press, 2009) Presentations The Green Gorilla. Storytelling. A story told to thouands of children, Katie has been told, years later, by many adults: "I now tell your Green Gorilla story to my children. But would you mind telling me it again?" The story will be bundled with various age appropriate writing and art activities. This story is being made into a book by Tanglewood Press. Target audience: All ages. There is something in storytelling that cannot be replicated in the fanciest movie or video game. Pumpkin Town. Storytelling. This is a plush telling with hundreds of props. Students are seemingly dropped into the story, which considers issues of stewardship, honesty, and restitution, but in the framework of great fun. Target audience: K-5. The adventure and misadventure in the indoor woods. Tents, smores, and a campfire fire up students' imaginations. We huddle around a campfire and hear a rustle in the 'woods.' We then brainstorm what might have made the noise, recall the events of our adventure, edit the chaff from the seeds, and use all this to sprout a story. Highly interactive and oodles of fun. Target audience: K-5. Fees $700 per full day. $300 for a large group storytelling. Plus travel expenses. Additional Comments I majored in English at Ohio State University and have an EdM from Harvard's Graduate School of Education. My experiences as a teacher greatly inform my writing. I worked with students that struggled to read and struggled to comply (learning disabled and emotionally disturbed). When I first started teaching, I employed a simplified curriculum, which bored my students as much as it did me. I came to realize that my students hungered for complex stories and my challenge was to locate complex stories that they could decode. I couldn't find such stories, so I started to write them. My students, being frank critics, accelerated my learning. I now have four Young Adult novels under contract, four Young novellas, and three more picture books, all of which, I believe, honor a child's appetite for complex narratives, but all are written at levels that allow for a wide readership. My first book, "It All Began With a Bean," is based upon a Wisconsin second grader's question: "Miss McKy, what would happen if everyone and everything farted at once?" Anyone that has worked with younger children knows that such questions are not uncommon. Rather than discourage such questions and leave my students to contemplate it, unsupervised, at recess, I'd tweak such questions into something sweet or whimsical. "It All Began With a Bean" is an example of such a tweaking. My second picture book is "Pumpkin Town," which is published by Houghton Mifflin, which also publishes "Jumanji," "Lord of the Rings," and "The Polar Express." It is a sweet story, a fun tale with themes of honsety, stewardship, and restitution. It is beautifully illustrated by the award-winning Pablo Bernasconi.