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2008 Global Read-Along Stories
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Comments from Educators: "This is such a great thing to get to read to the children about. We use it to finalize the year and talk about respect to everyone." -- M. Tener-Smith, West Terre Haute, IN "We are doing this as an entire school. I believe that this book gets students to respect and enjoy the differences of others and themselves." - K.Hayden, Cordova, SC Thank you for writing this book. I also have a portwine
stain on my face. It is VERY similar to the author's. My students
are use to me, but the story opened up some discussions that we
hadn't had before. Mary Ann, Mensha, Wisconsin
Just wanted to tell you that the Buddy Booby Birthmark materials were great! Our class really enjoyed the book and had a great discussion about differences, kindness to others, and acceptance. It was precious. Bess, Educator/Program for 4 yr. olds, Tennessee
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2007 Global Read-Along Stories South Carolina - Andrea & Kayli Fogle's Read-Along experience was covered by Journalist, Richard Walker of the Times & Democrat newspaper! View article Here Sandra Peters - Wisconsin - "...The kids were so intent on the story and totally got the message. In both read-along sessions, a minimum of 1/2 raised their hands and wanted to show us their birthmarks...My daughter's teacher said they just talked about differences; ones other than birthmarks. At first it started with simple things, but then she challenged them to think of things that made them different and might sometimes make them feel out of place. One boy pointed out that he was the only one in the class with glasses...another told everyone that he feels different because he has to go to speech therapy. (The teacher) said it almost brought her to tears. She was so proud of them. ...The first session was about 80 children, the second session was about 50...After the reading we talked about the meaning of the story, and they were all really sharp...In the afternoon session there was a little girl who is deaf in the audience. Her signing teacher signed everything. It was sooooo great...The CBS affiliate came in and filmed. They did a good job...I know that the teacher is going to purchase another book for the library. The teacher took a ton of pictures too, which we'll send you. I hope your day was as thrilling and rewarding as ours."
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Ana Maria Luey - Staten Island, NY - mother of Alex, reads Buddy Booby's Birthmark to Pre-K students at George Cromwell Elementary School. Pre-K teacher, Ms. Henrickson shows the illustrations. "I could only say it was a very successful presentation!" said Ana Maria, "The majority of the kids only said, 'I don't have, but my mom/aunt/sister/brother has one on his/her face or arm or leg, etc.' The kids were excited with the pages I brought to color."
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Dorothy Allen and her therapy dog, Sandy - Florida - read Buddy Booby's Birthmark to some 130 children at St. Andrew School. Evan was thrilled to have Sandy as his first-ever "animal representative" for the Read-Along! Dorothy read in honor of her grandaughter Madilyn, who was born with a birthmark. "...the book was well-received, especially by the special needs school," said Dorothy. Joelene - teacher, Appleton, WI - "Fabulous! Kids need to understand people's differences and that those differences make us wonderfully special." Carolyn Davis, FL - "The classes enjoyed the book and meeting (my daughter) Journey...We had some great discussions about birthmarks and just differences in general. I'll be donating copies of Buddy Booby's Birthmark to several other schools and libraries. My daughter loves the animals and call it her "special book." | |
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Mary Rydzewski, Teacher - "I read the book to the class today and they loved the story and activities. I had Tanner sit next to me while I read the book. After reading the story, Tanner walked around and showed the pictures of Carter (his brother, who was born with a hemangioma), to the other students. I think it was a great experience for Tanner. He was very proud and excited to present this to the class. I really enjoyed the book, it was such a great story..." Shannon - Lawrence, MA - "I read the book to 4 classes at our elementary school (Gr. 2-5) They really loved it...They enjoyed the story so much and really tuned into the "message." I got to share a little about my daughter and our own hemangioma journey and I do feel like the children are a little more aware of how important it is to treat people with sensitivity and kindness. We talked about how words can really hurt and how stares and pointing can hurt just as much. Hopefully this will pop into their minds the next time they are tempted to make fun of others, for whatever reason... I had the students write a response. One of the questions was, "If you were Buddy what would you wish for?" One student wrote: 'If I was Buddy, I would wish everyone had a birthmark. I would wish that because, people can see that they're still themselves.' I just thought that was interesting because it shows that this child understood that the birthmark doesn't change who you really are on the inside...and he realized that it's hard to understand this unless you've been through the experience yourself. I thought that was very insightful. The whole thing was a great experience really. Looking forward to next year...although, I'm not sure if I'll be able to wait until May 15th to share the book with my class! (I'll be teaching a 4th grade homeroom). Thanks for your perserverance and commitment to getting this book published. I plan on telling our pediatrician about it...Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Evan and Donna!" Dawn - "All 27 classrooms participated. The children and teachers have been sharing how they all enjoyed the story. It is a wonderful book. It was a pleasure to share the story and participate in the VBF awareness day." Images shown here from the book are © Mike Motz. All other images and text retain the copyright of their original owners. Buddy Booby is a "TM" (trademark) of Donna Ducker
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