Marty is a two-time Academy Award winner -- Academy Award for Literature, that is. My 9-year-old son, Sawyer, won an Academy Award in his third-grade class for his literature project.
Every year our school holds an "Academy Awards of Literature" competition. It is a big deal and treated and run just like the Academy Awards in Hollywood and has all similar categories. The "Best Director" award is also known as favorite author. "Best Actor" would be favorite character" Best Cinematographer" would be favorite illustrator and so on.......everyone dresses up for the awards and the winner in each category wins an "Oscar" and walks the red carpet to receive their trophy.
Two years ago my daughter did her presentation on Marty and won the "Best Director" award and we were thrilled. She worked really hard on her presentation and Marty was a huge help to her and had written her a poem for her pony that died that year and she put that on display along with pictures of Lady her pony. It was really personal and special to my daughter and when she won she was so excited.
This year my son also wanted to do one on Marty but since his sister had already done her he had to work harder to make it totally different and all his own.
He succeeded in a huge way because he was awarded the most prestigious award the "Affinity Award" which is an overall award or the best of all the winners. When they announced him as the winner they said he was chosen because he showed a special connections to the author and he shared a family hobby (our minis) that also tied in with his choice of favorite author. He displayed pictures of our minis and wrote about how much he learned when we first got minis from Marty's book "Happy Horsekeeping with Dirty Holly".
He also wrote a letter to Marty with lots of questions about her books and advice for aspiring young writers and she wrote back to him and he displayed that letter along with information and photos from Marty's website.
There is quite a bit on his presentation, but here is one part - what he filled out on the nomination form.
I decided to nominate author Marty Garrison for “Best Director†because she writes books, poems and stories that are fun for all ages to read and the stories mix real life with make-believe and she always has a positive message or moral of the story. She writes the sort of books that can be read over and over. There are lots of better known authors in the world, but Marty Garrison is more real to me than anyone else. I’ve learned a lot from her books, so she deserves this award the most.
As part of my project, I wrote a letter to Mrs. Garrison asking her questions about the books she writes and for advice for young writers. Even though she doesn’t know me personally, Mrs. Garrison was very nice and took a lot of time answering all of my questions. In addition to being a great writer, Mrs. Garrison is a thoughtful and caring person.
I also learned from her that the book I chose to review (Barney the Buckskin from Hidden Pines) was inspired by her son, Michael. When Michael was little he always thought he didn’t fit in anywhere and he wanted to run away because he felt he was different and because he was small for his age and kids made fun of him. He ended up being a very popular boy and loved by many and was considered a hero because he always was helping people in need. He was very modest and took no credit for the amazing things he did. As a teen-ager he took a public stand against drugs and alcohol. Sadly, on June 10, 2006, just days after graduating from high school, Michael was killed by a drunk driver who also was on drugs.
I am dedicating this nomination to Michael.
What was so amazing is that I knew how much time and work and effort he put into it and when he wasn't announced as the "Best Director" winner I felt so bad for him and was so disappointed and then at the end of all the regular awards they announced the "Affinity Award" winner and it was him....what an emotional rollercoaster. I think that sort of thing is harder for the parents than for the kids!
When we got home I took pictures of Sawyer with his trophy and presentation and then had Samantha get hers out and took pictures of them together.
ANYWAY.....Everyone please congratulate Marty!!
:aktion033: Two times now she has beat out authors like J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl in this competition. :aktion033:
Every year our school holds an "Academy Awards of Literature" competition. It is a big deal and treated and run just like the Academy Awards in Hollywood and has all similar categories. The "Best Director" award is also known as favorite author. "Best Actor" would be favorite character" Best Cinematographer" would be favorite illustrator and so on.......everyone dresses up for the awards and the winner in each category wins an "Oscar" and walks the red carpet to receive their trophy.
Two years ago my daughter did her presentation on Marty and won the "Best Director" award and we were thrilled. She worked really hard on her presentation and Marty was a huge help to her and had written her a poem for her pony that died that year and she put that on display along with pictures of Lady her pony. It was really personal and special to my daughter and when she won she was so excited.
This year my son also wanted to do one on Marty but since his sister had already done her he had to work harder to make it totally different and all his own.
He succeeded in a huge way because he was awarded the most prestigious award the "Affinity Award" which is an overall award or the best of all the winners. When they announced him as the winner they said he was chosen because he showed a special connections to the author and he shared a family hobby (our minis) that also tied in with his choice of favorite author. He displayed pictures of our minis and wrote about how much he learned when we first got minis from Marty's book "Happy Horsekeeping with Dirty Holly".
He also wrote a letter to Marty with lots of questions about her books and advice for aspiring young writers and she wrote back to him and he displayed that letter along with information and photos from Marty's website.
There is quite a bit on his presentation, but here is one part - what he filled out on the nomination form.
I decided to nominate author Marty Garrison for “Best Director†because she writes books, poems and stories that are fun for all ages to read and the stories mix real life with make-believe and she always has a positive message or moral of the story. She writes the sort of books that can be read over and over. There are lots of better known authors in the world, but Marty Garrison is more real to me than anyone else. I’ve learned a lot from her books, so she deserves this award the most.
As part of my project, I wrote a letter to Mrs. Garrison asking her questions about the books she writes and for advice for young writers. Even though she doesn’t know me personally, Mrs. Garrison was very nice and took a lot of time answering all of my questions. In addition to being a great writer, Mrs. Garrison is a thoughtful and caring person.
I also learned from her that the book I chose to review (Barney the Buckskin from Hidden Pines) was inspired by her son, Michael. When Michael was little he always thought he didn’t fit in anywhere and he wanted to run away because he felt he was different and because he was small for his age and kids made fun of him. He ended up being a very popular boy and loved by many and was considered a hero because he always was helping people in need. He was very modest and took no credit for the amazing things he did. As a teen-ager he took a public stand against drugs and alcohol. Sadly, on June 10, 2006, just days after graduating from high school, Michael was killed by a drunk driver who also was on drugs.
I am dedicating this nomination to Michael.
What was so amazing is that I knew how much time and work and effort he put into it and when he wasn't announced as the "Best Director" winner I felt so bad for him and was so disappointed and then at the end of all the regular awards they announced the "Affinity Award" winner and it was him....what an emotional rollercoaster. I think that sort of thing is harder for the parents than for the kids!
When we got home I took pictures of Sawyer with his trophy and presentation and then had Samantha get hers out and took pictures of them together.
ANYWAY.....Everyone please congratulate Marty!!
:aktion033: Two times now she has beat out authors like J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl in this competition. :aktion033:
