"With this program, your students will contribute poems and/or illustrations for an actual trade paperback book, virtually the same as my published paperback books, fed through one of my publishers. I helped out a Bristol, Connecticut school this spring and it turned out to be such an overwhelming success as a motivation tool to get the kids to care about and work hard at their writing, that I decided to add it as a regular program."
Jeff Nathan

Here are some examples of some schools' published books:

Here's what staff members there said:

"I thought the book program was phenomenal. I didn't realize how great it was until the kids actually had those books in their hands. When you first came, it was a wonderful activity - they really enjoyed it. Creating the poems was also something enjoyable for them in the classroom. But to actually have that published book and have the celebration of authors in the kind of meeting that we had -- that was wonderful. Afterwards, the kids sat, read their poems read the kids' poems who they know in school and they totally enjoyed it and I hope and expect that they'll bring the books home and read to their parents, too."
Mary McCormick      Grade 2 teacher      Bingham Elementary      Bristol, CT

"My kindergartners took to this very well once I explained to them that their poems were going to get put together in a published book. It’s hard to get them going at that early age so I think that having such a motivational factor gave them a push to do a really good job. They loved the idea of getting into a book. I showed them a poetry book and they got very excited about being in one. We were actually surprised with how well they did with their poems. They learned about poems and how to write them. We had them draw a picture of an animal first and then describe the basic details for the poem – how does it look, how does it feel? They loved it. They really did."
Shannon Lindberg      Kindergarten Teacher      Bingham Elementary      Bristol, CT

"The book publishing project was excellent. We were excited about it all year long. It got the kids very involved in thinking about writing and putting poems together. The fact that we utilized the PTA parents and the community was a win-win situation for everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was worthwhile and something that we'd like to do again. Every kid that I saw with a book seemed to be really pleased with what they had. It's something that they are proud of. Everyone that was involved in the project had a great time."
Steve Bent      Principal      Bingham Elementary      Bristol, CT

“The students did a great job. They were extremely motivated when they knew that they were going to be in a published book. That motivation led them to work very hard. Bringing it full circle and allowing them to see the finished product was very exciting for them."
Terri Schaffrick      Grade 4 Teacher      Bingham Elementary      Bristol, CT

“The kids absolutely loved the books. I thought it provided the ownership and involvement in seeing their work published. It was very exciting for them. This project allowed us to explore different types of poetry and it was really fun for the kids – they tried many different kinds before they settled on the poem that they wanted to publish. We did lyric verse and limericks and haiku which was really fun. We saw a lot of ties into our spelling program which we’re using now – the kids worked with the homophones and homonyms and played with the letter sounds and silent letters. It was great. Starting with your assemblies and then finishing with the book made for a wonderful, wonderful project."
Cindy Subik      Grade 5 Teacher      Bingham Elementary      Bristol, CT

This is the most exciting motivational tool
for getting kids to do their best writing.

Contact Jeff for details on this
exciting, motivating, valuable program.