Talking to Gary Paulsen
Colby: The first book I ever fell in love with was Gary Paulsen’s ‘Hatchet’. I was a fourth grader in Mrs. Collins’s class. She read it aloud to us. I’ll never forget what it felt like to fall in love with a book for the first time. I owe so much to Mrs. Collins and Gary Paulsen. I wish that Mrs. Collins was still with us. I wish I could share this episode of The Yarn Podcast with her. The next best thing is sharing the episode with you. Maybe it will remind you of the power of read aloud, and what is possible when kids fall in love with books. If nothing else, I think you’ll love listening to Gary talk about writing, his life, and how books changed his life.
You can find the direct link to the episode on Spotify here, and Apple Podcast here.
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About Colby Sharp
Colby Sharp is a third grade teacher at Parma Elementary in Parma, Michigan. He is the co-founder of Nerd Camp and Nerdy Book Club. He co-hosts the monthly twitter chats #SharpSchu (with John Schu) and #TitleTalk (with Donalyn Miller)
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Man — this was just beautiful. Thank you. I’m in tears right now thinking about the power of handing a student a book. And the circle that means it is so often Hatchet. Isn’t that just amazing that the universe has created this man whose life was changed by a book, and his book has in turn changed so many lives.
This was great. Thank you both!
That was such a heartfelt talk. Thanks, Colby!
Thank you for resending this one. It was a powerful listen, especially just after reading Gone to the Woods.
Gary Paulsen will be missed by so many. His own story is unbelievable, but it seems he needed to live it so he could write profoundly and unforgettably for so many kids.