Andrew Clements
Teacher, Editor, Author
Overview
• Personal History
• Progression of Books
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Picture Books
Easy Reader/Reading Program Books
Beginning Chapter Books
Middle Grade Novels
• Philosophy on Reading
Personal History
• Born in 1949 in Camden, New Jersey
• Parents were avid readers
• Reading independently in
kindergarten
• First trip to the school library in
kindergarten
Favorite Childhood
Stories
• Classics
– A. A. Miline &
– Robert Louis
Stevenson
• Mysteries
– Sherlock Holmes &
– Hardy Boys
• Adventure Stories
– Robinson Crusoe &
– Swiss Family
Robinson
• Biographies
Clements never really dreamed of being
an author but often thought,
“Ah, I wish I had written this.”
College
• B.A. from Northwestern Univ. in 1971 in
English Literature
– Wrote a lot (poems and song lyrics)
– Teachers really enjoyed his papers
• M.A. from National Louis Univ. in 1972 in
Elementary Education
Career
• Taught in Illinois for seven years
– loved being with kids, conversing with kids and reading
to kids.
• Editor
– Worked for various publishing companies
– Learned what good writing sounds and feels like
• Author
Author
• Career as an author began when he
was 35 years old.
• First book was a picture book: Bird
Adalbert
• Latest book is a middle grade novel:
Things Not Seen
Current Repertoire
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Picture Books
Easy Reader Books
Reading Program Books for Schools
Beginning Chapter Books
Middle Grade Novels
Picture Books
• Double Trouble in
Walla Walla
– Lulu has trouble
speaking and passes
on to others
– With the help of
school personnel,
they are able to
return to normal
Picture Books
• Bright Christmas:
An Angel
Remembers
– The first Christmas
from an angel’s
perspective
– Historically
accurate
illustrations
Picture Books
• Workshop
– Illustrations by David
Wisniewski
– Explains how individual
tools work
– Shows what happens
when tools work
together
Easy Readers
• Pets to the Rescue Series
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Ringo Saves the Day: A True Story
Brave Norman: A True Story
Dolores and the Big Fire: A True Story
Tara and Tiree, Fearless Friends: A
True Story
Beginning Chapter Books
• Jake Drake, Bully
Buster
• Jake Drake Knowit-All
• Jake Drake
Teacher’s Pet
• Jake Drake Class
Clown
Transition from Picture Books
to Chapter Books
• His first chapter book, Frindle (award
winning novel), began as a picture book
• Several editors encouraged Clements to
transform it into a chapter book
• Expanded ideas so that paragraphs and
sentences became chapters
Typical Characteristics
• School setting
– Familiar
• Conflict between
student & teacher
– Believable
• Resolution =
learning experience
– Comfortable
• Plot Driven
– Exciting
Trelease’s Views
When adults want to read for
pleasure they don’t want an “issue
driven novel or complex study of
human character.” They want a good
plot-driven page turner. Kids are the
same!
Frindle
• Clements’
breakthrough book
• Nominated for
more than 30
awards
• Won the 1997
Christopher Award
Other School Story
Novels
• The Landry News
– A 5th grade girl
starts a school
newspaper.
– Due to her editorial
comments, her
teacher’s passion
for teaching is
reignited.
Other School Story
Novels
• The School Story
– A 12 year-old girl
writes a great
story.
– Her determined
friend helps trick
the girl’s mother
into publishing it.
Other School Story
Novels
• The Janitor’s Boy
– A 5th grade boy is
embarassed by his
father, the school
janitor.
– When he becomes
the janitor’s helper,
he learns a lot
about himself and
his father.
Latest Novel
• Things Not Seen
– Not a typical
middle grade novel
– Main character is a
15 year-old boy who
becomes invisible.
– Problem is not
school centered.
Clements on Reading
“When we read, we decide when, how
long and about what. One of the few
places on earth that it is still
possible to experience an instant
sense of freedom and privacy is
anywhere we open up a good book and
begin to read.”
Wisniewski on Clements
Children’s lives today are so preprogrammed with activities that they
have little sense of freedom or
privacy. Reading Andrew Clements’
familiar, believable, and comfortable
stories, provides them with both!
In closing…
• Kids love
• Clements’ comfortable
• School stories