Gloria HoustonGloria Houston
An Author that …. Hits Close to Home
Getting PersonalGetting PersonalBorn:
March 24 in Marion, NC Ruth (Ruthie) Greene and J. Myron
Houston (Littlejim)Childhood:
Sunnybrook store Played piano Wrote stories and plays
Education: ASU: Bachelor’s Degree In Music
Education University of South Florida:
Master’s in English Ed. University of South Florida: Ph. D.
CareerCareer
Educator: Began teaching in
Winston-Salem, NC Relocated to Dallas Then to New Orleans 1981-Tampa University
of South Florida Author-in-Residence
and Visiting Assistant Professor in College of Education Western Carolina
Writer: 1976-Tried to get
My Brother Joey published
• Rejected 54 times 1982-My Brother
Joey was finally published
Next wrote The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree
Published BooksPublished BooksPicture Books:
My Brother Joey Died (1982)-Written to help adopted daughter to deal with birthmother’s death.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree (1988) But No Candy (1992) My Great-Aunt Arizona (1992)Dr. Houston’s favorite
picturebook Littlejim’s Gift: An Appalachian Christmas Story
(1994)Novels:
Littlejim (1990) Mountain Valor (1994)- Civil War Dr. Houston’s favorite novel;
Worked on this book 10 years, while she was getting her Master’s and Ph.D.
Littlejim’s Dreams (1997)- Coming of age Bright Freedom’s Song (1998)- Underground railroad
““Mountains” Mountains” of of
AwardsAwardsand and
RecognitionRecognition
Who’s Who… in Education of American Women in the South/Southwest International …. of Authors
Something About the Author Contemporary…
Authors NC Authors
Forever-Young Author Award, NC Reading Association
Junior Authors and Illustrators National Literacy Award from
PARTNERSHIPS IN EDUCATION 1990 Distinguished Alumni Award,
Appalachian State University Distinguished Educator-
International Reading Association
The Author’s GuildSociety of Children’s Book
Writers & IllustratorsNational Council of Teachers of
EnglishChildren’s Literature Council International Reading
AssociationPhi Kappa Phi, education honor
fraternity
Personal ContactPersonal Contact
Three page letter concerning a field trip to Spruce Pine, NC
Follow-up letter concerning field tripConfirmation email about field tripField Trip details – photosPhone call to confirm date/time of tripEmail after tripResponses to 4 students about their field
trip experience
“We have lost the concept of reading for pleasure, for the experience. Dr. Louise Rosenblatt at NYU says we do not teach
students to read aesthetically, for pleasure. The questions at the end of books or chapters,
the analyses we subject children to in the classroom is creating a world of little word
processors, not readers! This is one of my soapbox issues.”
Levi Houston
Matilda“Valor”-Mountain
Valor John Houston
Arizona Houston Hughes
My Great-Aunt Arizona
Jim Houston“Bigjim”-Littlejim
J. Myron Houston“Littlejim”
Married Ruth (Ruthie)The Year of the Perfect
Christmas Tree
Gloria Houston“Lee”- ButNo Candy
Jerry
A Walk
Through
Gloria
Houston’s
BooksA Fieldtrip
The Year of the The Year of the Perfect Christmas TreePerfect Christmas Tree
The Year of the The Year of the Perfect Christmas TreePerfect Christmas Tree
SettingSetting: Mountains of North : Mountains of North CarolinaCarolina
Main CharacterMain Character: Ruthie Greene : Ruthie Greene HoustonHouston
IllustratorIllustrator: Barbara Cooney: Barbara Cooney
1988 1988 Publisher’s Weekly Publisher’s Weekly Best Seller Best Seller
ListList
Published in JapanesePublished in Japanese
Sold over 500,000 copies worldwideSold over 500,000 copies worldwide
The Year of the The Year of the Perfect Christmas TreePerfect Christmas Tree
“Ruthie
”
My Great-Aunt ArizonaMy Great-Aunt Arizona
SettingSetting: Mountains of North : Mountains of North CarolinaCarolina
Main CharacterMain Character: Arizona Houston : Arizona Houston Hughes Hughes
IllustratorIllustrator: Susan Lamb: Susan Lamb AwardsAwards: :
Named Notable Children’s Book (ALA)Named Notable Children’s Book (ALA) Notable Trade Book in the Language Notable Trade Book in the Language
ArtsArts
My Great-Aunt ArizonaMy Great-Aunt Arizona
Plan of study for the classroom:
Gloria Houston’s Family Tree Read The Year of the Perfect
Christmas Tree -Noting Sunnybrook Store, the Train Depot, Pine Grove Church, Grandfather Mountain Have students write Dr. Houston Plan a field trip to Spruce Pine Visiting
the places that the children read about in the book and meeting Ruthie.
Plan of study (cont.) Students will take pictures
The pictures will be scrap booked-children will write captions or paragraphs relating the picture to the book or connecting it to the fieldtrip.
Students will illustrate a cover for the scrapbook. Maps will be added to the scrapbook to
encourage students to use map skills. Dr. Houston’s family tree will be included to help
children see the connection between the author and the characters.