The World of Gerard van Oost and Oludara

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The Elephant and Macaw Banner in the classroom

Great news from Brazil, where The Elephant and Macaw Banner series is being used in classrooms.  At least two textbooks have already been published which use the series to work with students.

The book Roteiro de práticas leitoras para a escola II uses my series and Harry Potter as its two resources for teaching students about speculative fiction.  The book works with the theme song from the series and the website.  It also uses the series to teach history and writing at the same time, challenging students to write their own stories set in Colonial Brazil.  Photographs shows both my books and website being used in the classroom.

Some pages from the textbook (click for full-sized image):

RoteiroEnsino3

The complete text can be found here.

The other textbook is an activity book called Caderno de Atividades V.  It uses the series to explain the difference between fantasy, science fiction, and horror.  It also recommends playing role-playing games with students and relating this activity to my series.

Images:

combo

This book can be found here.

The two books are excellent, full of innovative activities for the classroom.  I’d like to thank everyone involved for using the series in this way.  Words can’t describe what an honor it is to see my stories used this way.

Christopher at Chicon 7

Sorry for reposting this… I’ve been having some trouble with the Facebook cross-posting.

For those who haven’t reat this yet, I’ll be at the 70th Worldcon next week in Chicago.  Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

Here’s my schedule for the event:

Thu Aug 30 12:00:pm – Buckingham Digital Narratives: What Are They, Where Are They, and How the Heck Do I Write Them? This panel discusses how digital technologies have changed the way we tell stories and explores what the future holds. Amber Clark, Christopher Kastensmidt, Daniel Levin, Nancy Fulda, Tom Dowd

Fri Aug 31 12:00:pm – Gold Coast F*** Your Knight and the Horse He Rode in on Part Deux: Fantasy Series Not Based on Medieval Europe A follow-up to last year’s irreverent panel of young writers challenging the predominance of medieval-inspired settings in fantasy. Christopher Kastensmidt, Dennis Y. Ginoza, Elizabeth Bear, T. L. Morganfield

Fri Aug 31 3:00:pm-6:00:pm – Volunteering at the SFWA dealer table

Sun Sep 2 10:30:am – Field Phineas & Ferb What is the attraction of this show? Is it the spy subtheme, the fantastic gadgets, the songs, or the fact that both boys and girls are equally competent? Christopher Kastensmidt, Gerri Balter, Isaac Sher, Jeanne Mealy, Kathryn Sullivan

Sun Sep 2 4:30:pm – McCormick Making a More Universal Worldcon Does the revitalization of the SF and Fantasy genre requires to embrace their younger counterparts in other parts of the world, leaving the nest of the English culture and language to venture in a more universal approach? Explore all the different approaches of the SF and Fantasy Genre in other languages and cultures. Christopher Kastensmidt, Kerri-Ellen Kelly, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Quifan Chen, Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Mon Sep 3 1:00:pm – Dusable Reading: Christopher Kastensmidt