“ART has been a true inspiration to me and to my students. This past school year we completed our fourth annual RT production, and it proved to be our most challenging yet most rewarding to date. A group of four boys chose The Fighting Ground, and they did an amazing job from reading the book to choosing their scenes to developing and performing the script. One boy in that group has a significant reading disability, and when we started, he read word by word with virtually no fluency. His strong interest in your book combined with the support of some really good group mates helped him make tremendous gains, and he added so much to their performance. RT really does work!”
—Kristi Miner, 4th grade teacher. Tioughnioga Riverside Academy, Whitney Point School District, Whitney Point, NY
"A colleague and I saw A.R.T. perform at the NCTE Conference in New York City. We enjoyed the performance so much that we are attempting to do our own version as a Teacher's Reader's Theatre. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with A.R.T. It really has brought a whole new dimension to the way I think about teaching... THANK YOU!"
—Brittany Hulme, sixth grade teacher from Snow Hill, MD
“Teachers know that reader’s theater is one of the most engaging ways for children to become more fluent oral readers. But "engaged" isn't a big enough word to describe what happens when an audience of teachers gathers to hear four best-loved children's authors read aloud from scripts they created from their own works. As the authors' voices lift, glide, and meld, they create characters afresh. Old favorites become our new favorites again, and new works are read in ways that will 'sound' in our ears long after. In the question-answer session that followed the performance, the authors urged teachers to take license with these works so as to create scripts that will help literature live through children's voices, too.”
—Nancy Roser, Professor of Language and Literacy Studies, University of Texas
"Listening to the combination of wonderful voices and texts was
absolutely awesome. This was the most wonderful readers' theatre I
have ever heard! Thank you!"
—Tina Fortune, Reading Specialist
"I enjoyed your performance at the New York State Reading Conference and am excited to launch Readers Theatre in my classroom, as I know my students will be receptive to it. Your production was the highlight of the Conference. What a fantastic and worthwhile adventure!"—Sandra Athans, Chittenango Central Schools, 4th grade teacher
"The audience howled with laughter, wept, grew hushed, and was constantly moved as the vignettes from the authors played out. It was such a pleasure to see authors--who normally engage in such solitary work--cooperating, collaborating, syncopating, and enriching each other's words. The program included a variety of pieces, two from each author, ending with Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. This performance was the final crescendo as Walter Dean Myers took his own part in a book in which he appears as a character. It felt as if I were witnessing children's book history--it was an honor and an inspiration."
—Betsy Franco, children's book author
"Recently I had the pleasure of seeing an A.R.T. performance with Avi, Sarah Weeks, Sharon Creech and Walter Dean Myers. It was breathtaking, emotional, beautifully done, and very personal. To say their reading made the literature come alive is a major understatement. I received a whole new insight into each work, and will revisit them all. An event not to be missed."
—Caroll Webster, Redwood City Public Library
"You honored me with one of the most memorable experiences I have had in the world of books. I was moved by the readings and astounded that the talent behind the words were standing side by side on the stage. I'm generally not star struck, but you had me that Saturday afternoon... It was professional, moving, and if the audience was not inspired to rush to their shelves (after pulling themselves emotionally together) and read, read, read, then I have no idea what will inspire them."
—Valerie Lewis, Hicklebee's Bookstore, co-author of Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children, A Lively, Opinionated Guide.