THOMAS ROCKWELL

PRESENTS:

OPENING UP A CAN OF WORMS

INTRODUCTIONThomas Rockwell is an American author best known for his best-selling book: How To Eat Fried Worms.He is also the son of world-famous artist Norman Rockwell, known for his iconic paintings of American life for The Saturday Evening Post.

EARLY LIFEThomas was born March 12, 1933.Rockwell grew up in Arlington, Vermont. As a boy, he worked on a local farm, gathering hay.We had a one-room school house and a Grange hall, recalls Rockwell. Every-thing else was just farms. There were only twenty-three students in my high school graduating class.Rockwell briefly attended Princeton University and graduated from Bard College in 1956.

WRITINGTom Rockwell knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. Both of Toms brothers followed in their fathers footsteps: one is a prominent sculptor and the other does wall installations in the Berkshires. But Tom knew from early on that his first love was the printed word. Of course, I also wanted to play third base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he adds.

HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMSYet it was a literary set-back that led to Rockwell's greatest success. Id just come back from a meeting with an editor that hadnt gone well, he explains. They didnt like the book Id just written and I was feeling unhappy, like I could eat fried worms. And all of a sudden I decided that I wanted to write a book about a young boy who eats fried worms. In the book, two boys bet a third fifty dollars that he wont eat fried worms, one per day, for fifteen days; as he grows closer to reaching his goal, they engage in multiple tricks to stop him from winning. The book, How to Eat Fried Worms, won multiple awards and gained Rockwell national renown.

OTHER BOOKSTom Rockwell has written a total of fourteen childrens books, a few are:Rackety-bang, and other verses (1969) Squawwwk! (1972) How to Eat Fried Worms (1973) The Portmanteau Book (1974)How to Fight a Girl (1987) (the sequel to How to Eat Fried Worms).How to Get Fabulously Rich (1990).Emily Stew: with some side dishes (2010) He is now working on a new challengea volume on Shakespeare for adults!

WORMS ON FILMHow To Eat Fried Worms has been adapted twice to film:The first time was in 1985 for television an animated half-hour film was made for CBS Storybreak.The second was a live-action, full-length motion picture made in 2006 by New Line Cinema.

A NUTSY THE SQUIRREL PRODUCTIONCOPYRIGHT 2013 OAK HILLS MEDIA CENTERALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

BIBLIOGRAPHYhttp://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2003/march03/issue/car_rockwell.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rockwellhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV3HV-O3rsk

MUSIC: Andy Asteroids Earthworm Jim Special Edition Soundtrack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ck51D4odbI

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