Dr. Mike Shoulders, a teacher-turned-children’s book author, talks about his transformation and the importance of motivation. He achieves that motivation using various materials, including Read Alouds and Alphabet books. An Interview by Dr. Sam Bommarito

My regular readers know that one of the conferences I always present at each year is the Write to Learn Conference held In Columbia, Missouri. The conference attracts a variety of educators, especially those who work with older students, middle school, and high school students. This year, I had a special surprise when I went to man the Missouri Literacy Association’s booth for the conference. Have a look at the picture below.

The picture is of Dr. Mike Shoulders and me. His booth was right next to ours. He is the author of a couple of dozen children’s books. The one that really caught my attention was the one he was featuring at his booth. The name of the book is The Legend of the Christmas Pickle.

Like many teachers attending conferences, I’m always on the lookout to add good trade books to my collection. Once I looked inside this one, I knew I had to buy it (and I did!!!). One of the advantages of buying a book directly from the author in person is that you can usually get them to sign it. And Micheal graciously agreed to do that.

Michael talks about this book during this interview. In a nutshell, there is a Christmas tradition of having Santa Claus add a small ornament to the tree after he’s finished dropping off the presents. Accompanied with this ornament is a present wrapped in green. The child who can find the very small, hidden pickle ornament gets to claim that present as their own. While looking for the ornament, the children can look at all the other ornaments on the tree. Both Michael and I have Christmas trees where the ornaments are keepsakes from vacations, baby’s first Christmas ornaments, ornaments made by special people in the family, ornaments made by our children when they were kids, etc. It is, in effect, a form of family history. Listen to Michael in the interview as he talks about his family’s Christmas tree. This year, there will definitely be a Christmas pickle ornament on the Bommarito Christmas tree.

As I talked to Michael that day, he told me about “his journey from Gradebook (teacher) to Picture book (author).”   I realized that this was someone I’d like my readers to meet. He agreed to do this interview. As you listen to the interview, you’ll discover how he transitioned from being a classroom teacher to being a children’s book author. I think you’ll especially like the part of the interview where he raps it out instead of reading his book The Dump Truck. He also shared some wonderful ideas about how to help children write books of their own. This reminded me of my own practice of using Language Experience to teach kids of all ages LINK. Michael put a new twist on this practice by giving an impromptu example of how he would help me create an alphabet storybook about Grandpa Bommarito. By the way, alphabet storybooks are for kids of all ages. I could easily imagine middle school/high school students becoming interested in things like the state alphabet books that Michael wrote. He contributed three books to an overall series about the states. What a wonderful resource for teaching social studies! The links to those books appear later in this blog.

Before we look at the interview, let’s have a look at Michael’s biography:

YOUTUBE INTERVIEW: https://youtu.be/nPJagcp__fI

MICHAEL’S WEBSITE: LINK

LINK TO MICHAEL’S MANY BOOKS, including The Legend of the Christmas Pickle, V is for Volunteer and the Dump Truck book – LINK

You can also find more of Michael’s books on Amazon LINK

FINAL THOUGHTS FOR THIS BLOG

Michael has worn many hats during his career in education. He knows about being a teacher and an administrator. He knows firsthand the ins and outs of how to best implement reading programs. I think teachers will find his ideas and methods valuable. His comment about read-alouds at the end of the interview tells a lot about the current state of the reading world. I’ll remind readers that there is plenty of research behind the idea of making read-alouds a part of your reading routines. See what Molly Ness had to say about that at a Write to Learn Conference in 2022 LINK. Especially notice her ILA leadership brief on that topic. Yet, despite all the research, Michael reports that an administrator in one district has effectively banned the practice in that district. Moving to extreme positions seems to have become a part of the current landscape in the reading world. I think my readers know I take the position that we need to move the center instead LINK and use all the research as we make our decisions around literacy issues LINK. No cherry-picking!

I have several exciting interviews in the works. I just completed a 3-part interview with Dr. George Hruby. There will be lots to unpack from those interviews. I am also scheduled to talk to Susan Vincent about her work and what she teaches her university students about using various texts, including decodables. So, lots going on in the upcoming weeks.

In the meantime- Happy Reading and Writing

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.