Are Farting Robots Allowed on YouTube?

A few nights ago, Sarah McGuire (author of The Flight of Swans, which hits shelves this coming Monday!) hosted a truly excellent #MGBookChat. Her topic was “Teacher-Librarian-Author Collaboration” – something YOU all certainly know is a passion of mine. Here’s a look at the questions Sarah used for discussion:

I was particularly interested to see educators’ and librarians’ responses to Questions 2 and 3. They shared TONS of wonderful ideas and suggestions, but one thing definitely stood out: nearly every single educator and librarian who participated in the chat mentioned, among other things, how both they and their students/patrons LOVE videos.

Now, I’m well aware of the popularity of YouTube and its stars – I couldn’t hang out with kids as much as I do and not be aware of it – and I know how tremendous a resource Flipgrid has become. But I guess I just never made the connection between all of that and my author website – a place that, I must admit, doesn’t have all that much to excite the KIDS I write for.

All of which is to say that . . . I’ve started a YouTube channel! And I’ll be sharing all the videos I post over there here on my website, too (I know educators like to use these videos in school, and some schools block sites like YouTube).

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are my first two (very low-budget) videos — an EngiNerds booktalk and a read aloud of the book’s first few chapters:

Booktalk:

Read Aloud:

I’ve got some ideas about what else I’ll be posting – peeks at my rough drafts, discussions of my process, drawing demos, etc. – but if any of YOU have ideas about what sort of videos I should be making, LET ME KNOW. You can contact me using my Contact form, which you can find in the Menu at the top of this site, or, of course, you can find me on Twitter (I’m probably hanging out over there at this very moment). And if you want to make sure not to miss any of my future videos, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Thanks, as always, for reading — and thanks, in advance, for watching!

~ Jarrett

. . .

Check out the archived version of the “Teacher-Librarian-Author Collaboration” chat here. And find past #MGBookChat discussions to read through here.

Don’t know what Flipgrid is, or just want to learn more? Listen to this episode of the Books Between podcast, during which host Corrina Allen interviews Flipgrid MASTER Nicole Mancini about both it and how to use it to inspire readers.

More information about Sarah McGuire and her new novel, The Flight of Swans, can be found at her website, here. Also find her on Twitter at @fireplusalgebra (a handle which makes more sense if you know that Sarah, in addition to being a novelist, is a high school math teacher!).