OKANAGAN FALLS hosted a RAISE A READER visit on Friday, Nov. 22nd. This was the first class to be introduced to the recently published novel, FRENCHIE DIVA- FOLLOW the BLOG. The students were entertained by some of Ethan’s (the 13 year old main character) blog entries to FBF (Frenchie’s Best Friend). Stories were shared explaining what inspired the Frenchie series, as well as a YouTube video that encouraged the writing of FRENCHIE DIVA. The students shared how they personally related to Ethan and his Frenchie, friend, school and family drama, as well as his teen-age angst. Everyone understood why blogs are written and what essential ingredients are crucial to writing a powerful blog. It was a pleasure to visit Okanagan Falls and sign each student’s personal copy of FRENCHIE DIVA!
The students were left with a Blog Post Challenge. These are some possibilities for postings:
- an opinion about the Raise a Reader presentation or the Frenchie series introduced
- a short review of the Frenchie series
- a recommendation of Mary Laudien’s Frenchie series to other readers
- personal connection/s the reader made to the novels/blogs/ characters.
The two most informative and entertaining blogs will qualify for FRENCHIE prizes and the two winning blog entries will be shared within the next week.
There is nothing that I enjoy more than sharing my series with tweens. Meeting with classes and inspiring blog writing and reading for fun is the best part of the writing process for this author. Anyone interested in booking a visit can contact me through my website: http://www.twocandobooks.com. I encourage schools and libraries to use my books for a fundraiser and 15% of sales will be donated to the SPCA.
What are your thoughts about the Raise a Reader program and the blog challenge after the visit? I value your feedback and would be pleased to have you leave a comment.
Remember, you can purchase BOOK #3 of the Frenchie series (Frenchie Diva- Follow the Blog) from Red Tuque Books:
Phone: 778-476-5751
Website: www.redtuquebooks.ca
Order by Email: orders@redtuquebooks.ca
You know you want to read it…and not just for the adorable photos of the Frenchie puppies in the FBF blog posts.
Dear Mary,
Great job with the books, They’re truely a funny adventure filledd with French bulldogs! (and the anal puss From the first book you showed us!)
Thanks Emmitt for your reaction to the Frenchie series. I hope you’ll read all three books, as the Frenchie fun and chaos never ends. I think you’ll relate to Ethan and what it is like to be a teenager with the responsibility of not one – but 2! French Bulldog puppies to care for and train. You are so right that it’s a funny adventure! Enjoy!
I was at the presintation at Okanagan Falls Elementary. Your book reminds me of my dog Bella and some of the funny things that she has done. My dog is not a Frenchie though she is A small white dog. But I dont know if I want to read your books, They seem to be not very pleasent. When you were talking about when Ethan was cleaning the dogs anal glands my stomach felt weird but not in a good way. I am sure that many people like your books but the are not my type of book. Your presintation however was done well.
Thanks for your honest comments about the anal gland cleaning chapter Christopher. It was meant to be humourous, but in a gross way and I guess if it conjured up that reaction, then I must have done a good job of writing it. As you know, in Frenchie’s Best Friend (Book #1), Ethan will take on any job that his customers demand because he’ll do anything to own a Frenchie puppy. Most of his customers expect much more than the usual wash and blow dry. And, of course, poor Ethan isn’t a trained dog groomer, so he doesn’t groom the dogs according to the best methods. I hope you’ll give the other two Frenchie books a chance, as there is lot of humor in them and I think you’ll be able to relate to Ethan in many ways. Thanks for having me out to your class Christopher!
i was at the presentation at ok falls elementry. your main character ethan reminds me of one of m friends who really wanted a dog. So he tried to convicne his parents to buy him a pitbull but they kept sayning no so he also tried to raise money to buy the dog.
That sounds really familiar Brendon! Did he come up with a subterfuge plan to raise money without his parents knowing like Ethan does in Frenchie’s Best Friend? If he did, I’d love to know how his plan worked out and whether he raised enough for his dog and if he did, how did his parents react? I have questions… ha! It was a lot of fun to come to OK FALLS and share by Frenchie series with your class.
When you came to my school (Okanagan Falls Elmentary) and gave that really great presentaion i was really excited. My opinon of this presentation was how you were able to talk about the anal glands cleaning i thought that it was gross but shocking at the same time. it really caught everyones attention i think, which is a good thing. A thing i really did enjoy about your presentation was the video of the dog and his owner (Ashleigh and Pudsey) . Since you gave my class a funny story about your dog here is one for you. At my house I have a lttle kitten named Friskey and when you first walk into my house there is a tree and every day i get home I look in the tree and there’s Frisky with her arms and legs wrapped around the tree like a chipmunk.
Thanks Michelle for your comments. I knew you would enjoy the Ashleigh and Pugsey video, as it is good for you to find out where authors get their inspiration from when writing through their imagination. I hope you read all 3 novels in the Frenchie Series, but you will understand why that video was significant when you read Frenchie Diva! Thanks for sharing your story about Friskey; I can just picture her wrapped around the trunk! Sometimes students share stories about their pets with me and they become incorporated into my books. There are two such stories in Frenchie Diva that originated from conversation and blog writing at Hazelgrove Elementary in Surrey. It was my pleasure to come out and meet you, maybe I’ll get invited back sometime.
During the presentation at Okanagan Elementary, I learned Mary Laudien is a very inspiring writer; her books are humorous, smart, creative, and satisfying. Right now I am reading the third book of the series, Frenchie Diva. So far this book is amazingly entertaining, and very relatable. The book reminds me of when I had a basset hound back in England, called Wellington, for first time (in my life) I saw snow, same for Wellington. It only snowed about an inch but, to me it was like a miracle, and same for my dog! The things he did in it were hilarious, and it was a great experience.
Thanks Freya for the Frenchie Series recommendation. I’m thrilled to know that my readers find the books as entertaining and humorous as I did while writing them. I agree that anyone who has owned a pet can relate to Ethan and his hilarious adventures with his Frenchies. I can just picture your basset hound enjoying his first snowfall! I think you’ll have some fun with the ending of Frenchie Diva! Do you think there should be a fourth book in the Frenchie series?
to mary
hi my name is sydney and i go to ok falls elementry school.the book was really funny and i have a pet story of my own. once my dog chased after a porcipine and when he tried to eat it then he got needles in his nose! i thought the presentation was really cool! thanks for a great time!
Thanks Sydney for sharing your porcupine story with me. That must have been a pretty painful experience for your dog! I can tell that you can relate to Ethan’s challenges with his 2 Frenchie puppies. I’m glad you are enjoying the Frenchie Series; you can obviously relate to the novels with all of your own doggie experiences!
Dear Mary, I thought that the presentation was great! I love those books, they are filled with adventure and all sorts of stuff. I hope you come visit again. I like how you told us a lot about the books! This is a GREAT way to make french bulldogs more popular and noticable. People need to pay attention to dogs too! I love your work! It was a wonderful experience to have you here!
Thanks Aja for your feedback. I’m so pleased to hear you are enjoying Ethan’s adventures with his French bulldog puppies. You obviously can relate to Ethan and all the craziness in his teen life, as he manages his puppies, his reluctant mom, his quirky Cher look-alike grandma Sis and all the angst related to being a teenager. I hope you read all three books of the series!
Hello,my name is Laura Doherty and i am from ok falls elemantary school
and i am going to enter the blog contest so here is my blog.I love dogs just as much as you do i am not just entering this blog contest and just to win prizes i want to learn abouyt dogs and other animals to! i love this blog thing and i love your books i just went and bought theother 2 books yesterday cause i love your books!!:).I love pets to me and my family have about 15 pets no joke!!(lol) i have 4 birds 7 fish to rabbits 2 dogs and 1 hampster and i might get a other pet for christmas speaking of christmas merry christmas Mary!!! and i hope your dogs have a very good one to!! and my dogs name is shushi and he had a plastic bad on its head last night!! lol) well i hope you injoyed my blog today!.-laura dohery a student from ok falls elemantary school
Laura, thank you for your post comment. It made me laugh when you told me about all the pets you own. How do you manage to care for all of them? I think you’ll be able to really relate to Ethan and his crazy, chaotic life caring for his puppies. When you read Frenchie Diva, you will see some photos in the Ethan’s blog posts. Those are actual photographs of my grand dogs – Bert and Cecile. They have adorable personalities and I have a lot of fun dog sitting them. They were the inspiration for Ethan’s puppies – Sissy and Pierre. Shushi sounds like she is quite a character. I’m so pleased that you purchased my other 2 books in the series! I think you’ll be highly entertained! Merry X’mas to you, Laura!
Laura, I can’t believe you have so many pets! How in the world do you manage to care for them all? No wonder you can relate to the chaos and insanity that Ethan experiences with his 2 Frenchie puppies. I’m delighted to hear that you purchased the other two books of the series and I’m confident that you will continue to be entertained. It sounds like Shushi is full of funny antics, as well. Maybe you should consider writing a pet blog of your own.
Hi Mary! I just wanted to say thank you for the prizes, I love the shirt, its very cute.
Thanks again,
Freya
Congratulations Freya! I’m glad you like the tee-shirt! It should remind you of the Frenchie puppies in my series- Sissy and Pierre! I will continue to put up posts on my blog for students to use as examples of entertaining and informative blog posts. Maybe you can glean some good pointers for your posts.Have a great X’mas Freya and keep writing!