Mary Amato

Writing with Humor & Heart

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Books
  • Bio
  • Teaching
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • What’s New
loading...

Readers Theater Script for EDGAR

October 18, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

New Readers Theater Script for Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook!Edgar Allan final cover

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New

Children’s Literature Festival of the Ozarks

October 13, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

 

 

A huge thanks to all the librarians, teachers, parents, and great students who made the Children’s Literature Festival of the Ozarks such a special event.

Quotes: “My class really enjoyed your presentation today! Your story touched a few of my kiddos who are afraid of making mistakes in their writing. Hopefully hearing your experience will help them fight that fear in the future. Thank you!” Ashley Harris

“One of my teachers came in this morning to tell me how much her students enjoyed your presentation… She said they listened very intently when you spoke of losing your mom and how difficult that was and how your poured all of that into your writing. That was powerful stuff for her kids! That was great, but even better was that you chose one of her students and called him to the front of the group. That engaged all of those students immediately and she said they were intent on every word for the rest of your presentation. Thank you.”
Karen Martin

“Mary Amato kept her student audiences engaged through every session of our Children’s Literature Festival. With a brief personal account she taught them the value of learning to write in school—without the children even realizing they’d had a lesson! The importance of each part of story development and also editing was shown through the fun of audience involvement. There was no formulaic “when I got published”, etc., but the students became authors, acting out and improving on their own stories. Most enjoyed was her singing (and guitar accompaniment) of one of her original songs from Guitar Notes. Mrs. Amato was warm, affirming and enthusiastic and the audience reacted in the same way.” Ruth Spargo

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New

Sherman Elementary (NY)

May 24, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

What great readers and writers at Sherman ES (NY). Guess where the school is located? On Author’s Avenue!

 

 

 

 

 

Media specialist Jody Harris did an amazing job preparing the students for my visit. I loved so much about this school, especially the atmosphere of learning and sharing and the enthusiasm of staff and students.

 

 

 

 

 

During my presentations, students did a fantastic job of creating stories and characters on the spot.

 

 

 

 

 

Second grade teacher Mrs. Winters gave me a whole book of stories that students wrote RIGHT AFTER my presentation! I was so excited to read each story. Thank you Sherman ES!

 

 

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New Tagged With: Sherman ES

Indian Landing Elementary (NY)

May 24, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Check out the cool stoplights they have at Indian Landing (NY) ES. Stop. Think. Act.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed my visit with students and staff. Isn’t this a great compliment a student wrote about a media specialist?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Mrs. Logghe, the staff, students, and PTA and all for hosting the 2013 author visit.

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New Tagged With: Indian Landing

Burtonsville ES Stars

May 17, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Wow. The students, staff, and parents of Burtonsville ES (MD) were fantastic hosts for author day! I loved meeting everyone and so enjoyed all the stories we created together during the assemblies. Big thanks to everyone, especially media specialist Patricia Warnock-Safford for coordinating my visit. The flowers, cookies, lunch, and beautiful displays were so heartwarming. burtonsville ES

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New

Saint Anastasia School (PA)

May 9, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

Thanks to all the students, staff, and parents of Saint Anastasia School in  Newtown Square, PA, for hosting me on Author’s Day. I loved being with each grade level…so many bright faces, so many great questions, and such fun improv! Thanks to Kathy Zito, parent volunteer, for all her work in coordinating the visit.

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New

Guess where Invisible Lines is now?

May 1, 2013 by Mary Amato 2 Comments

Hot off the press…guess what country will be reading this book?

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New Tagged With: Grit, Grit lit, Stories with Grit

St. Andrew’s Authors & Artists

April 25, 2013 by Mary Amato 2 Comments

What an honor to be a part of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School’s Young Authors and Artists Festival. I enjoyed reading students’ stories and seeing their art, speaking with them about writing in assemblies, and meeting staff and students. Thanks to the parents’ association for providing the funding and to Library Director Anne Macdonell for expert coordination.

Check out the mini Mary Amato books students in Ms. Levenson’s class made me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great prep was done by staff to make sure students were ready for my visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I worked with kids from preschool all the way up to sixth grade. Check out the cute clothespin giraffes from the little ones.

 

 

 

 

Keep reading and writing and doing lots of art, St. Andrew’s!

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New

Classroom Journals

April 16, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

It’s always a thrill to walk into a classroom and see a sign that the classroom has been inspired by my book Please Write in This Book to start a classroom journal.

I had a wonderful residency teaching mystery writing at Bannockburn Elementary and noticed this sign in Ms. Obstgarten’s room.

PW in classroom

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New

West Ridge ES Readers

February 20, 2013 by Mary Amato Leave a Comment

WOW is what I say to this amazing envelope filled with fan mail about my book Edgar Allan’s Official Crime Investigation Notebook from West Ridge Elementary School (NY) Library. The letters are wonderful, too! Thanks to the students and staff! A personal reply will be headed to NY in my own envelope soon.

Here is the front:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the back:

 

Filed Under: Scrapbook, What's New Tagged With: fan mail, West ridge elementary school

Next Page »

Get Updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Humor and Heart

I give voice to the funny, sad, messy, and wondrous stories of life, especially the stories of children and young adults. My mission: each book has humor and heart. If you are a teen and/or you're looking for info about my books and music for older readers, please check out my www.thrumsociety.com site.
Learn more about my mission and resources.

Appearances and Private Lessons

See my appearance list and find out about private lessons via Skype or in person.

Get Updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Please note, if you use Gmail, Mary Amato messages may land under your “Promotions” tab or even in your Junk folder.

I play Luna Ukes & Guitars

Copyright © 2021 Mary Amato.