Tedd Arnold Author Study

Tedd Arnold may not be a household name, but young students absolutely love his books. Arnold's Fly Guy series is humorous, easy to read for beginning readers, and adored by K-2^nd graders everywhere. As a school librarian I love teaching kids about author Tedd Arnold through this Tedd Arnold author study.

About the Author. Tedd Arnold is both the author and illustrator of his books. He grew up all over the Eastern United States and with his fine arts degree, he worked as a commercial illustrator in Tallahassee, Florida for several years. Tedd Arnold now lives in Elmira, New York, where he was born, with his wife and children.

Best Books. Tedd Arnold has written more than 50 picture books, but his Fly Guy series of books are the most well known and beloved of all. His book Hi! Fly Guy won the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award from the American Library Association. Arnold has also written and illustrated Super Fly Guy, Hooray for Fly Guy, Shoo Fly Guy, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly Guy, Fly High Fly Guy, and most recently, Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl.

Learning Activities. As with all children's authors, there are many learning activities that go along perfectly with a Tedd Arnold author study. First of all, Tedd Arnold's website offers a printable Fly Guy coloring sheet. The coloring sheet asks children to become the illustrator and decorate Fly Guy's helmet as if he played for their favorite team. This is a fun activity for students to enjoy around that big football game each February.

Tedd Arnold's website also has printable Fly Guy bookmarks. These bookmarks are a great tool for incorporating book care skills along with your Tedd Arnold author study. Print the bookmarks and let students decorate them. Laminate them if desired. Then have a discussion with students about why we use bookmarks. Discuss how we need to use bookmarks instead of placing books face down on a table so that we do not break the spine of the book. Other book care information can follow.

If your students or kids are not yet familiar with author Tedd Arnold, it's time they discovered him. Tedd Arnold's Fly Guy books are funny and great reads for challenging beginning readers as they are easy to read but not as easy as some simpler picture books. Check out the resources below for more information on author-illustrator Tedd Arnold.

Sources: www.teddarnoldbooks.com

http://www.teddarnoldbooks.com/flyguyfootball.html (Direct link to Hooray for Fly Guy football coloring sheet)