Children's book author Sam Swope is winning award for his book, I am Pencil (Henry Holt).
I am Pencil recently won a Books for a Better Life Award and a Christopher Award. After Swope gave a workshop to a third-grade class in Queens he was so enchanted that he "adopted" the class for three years and taught them to write stories and poems. The class included twenty-eight students and almost all were new Americans.
His class included students fom twenty-one countries and Swope was drawn deep into their real and imaginary lives, their problems, hopes, and fears. I Am a Pencil tells the story of his years with this diverse group of students.
