NORTH AUGUSTA --- If only for a day, high-water pants with white socks, coke-bottle glasses and bad hair were in style at Hammond Hill Elementary as pupils celebrated the visit of children's author Michael Buckley.
The author of The Sisters Grimm and NERDS was welcomed with overwhelming fanfare, he said.
At home, he says he's just Michael, the guy who changes a 2-year-old's diapers and can't load the dishwasher. But at Hammond Hill Elementary, he's a celebrity; one who's welcomed with a parade of characters, including nerds, from his books. The books are tough to find; there's even a 2-month wait at all Aiken County libraries.
The excitement surrounding Mr. Buckley though wouldn't have started without a Hammond Hill fifth-grade teacher using The Sisters Grimm series to get her pupils not only reading for fun, but understanding that becoming a writer is an attainable goal.
When Nikki Mock began reading The Sisters Grimm to her fifth-grade classes three years ago, she encouraged pupils to contact Mr. Buckley and ask about how he created his characters and where he found his ideas. The response was a visit to the elementary school by Mr. Buckley in 2007.
The school has used the momentum since that visit to foster a love for reading in pupils, rather than let them think reading for an assignment is enough.
"We're finding out what books motivate students," said Janet Vaughan, Hammond Hill principal. Mr. Buckley's influences of comics and graphic novels are also more available as pupils have begun to feel at ease sharing with teachers and librarians what they want to read.
"I find students reading the books as they're walking to class," Mrs. Vaughan said. "We've just seen such a transformation."
Cross-curriculum lesson plans are also easily incorporated with books. NERDS includes geography lessons as the fifth-grade characters travel to save the world. Each chapter includes coordinates so pupils can follow the characters' progress. Mr. Buckley also touts the message that nerds grow up to be the popular adults of the world has also fostered more acceptance of pupils' differences, Mrs. Vaughan said.
The Sisters Grimm series is about traditional fairy tales with a twist, so younger classes are able to tackle the classics. But their understanding of the traditions will allow them to get the inside jokes of Mr. Buckley's series as fifth-graders when he changes expectations, such as Little Red Riding Hood going from a protagonist to an antagonist.
The lessons also stick with former pupils. A book reading at Nancy Carson Library was scheduled because so many middle school pupils threatened to sneak to the elementary school for the character parade to see the author again.
Reach Julia Sellers at julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com or (706) 823-3424.
Were you Spotted at Michael Buckley Day at Hammond Hills Elementary?
View and share photos FREE at spotted.augusta.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Back 
Oh so very cool !!!