Welcome to the Guestbook!
I’m always eager to read your comments about my books and stories, so please feel free to pitch in. Here are a few things for you to know:
1) I answer the messages here personally.
2) No message shows up here until I actually answer it to prevent spam and other inappropriate postings. So there will sometimes be a delay before your message posts, especially if I am traveling.
3) Teachers, a gentle request: Please do not have multiple children send me variants of the same message. A group email is much easier to respond to and not such a drain on my time. My thanks in advance for being alert to this.
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Dear Mr. Coville,
Our third grade class really enjoyed reading Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. We liked how you created a fun, mythical dragon story. Our class enjoyed the mystery of the magic shop and all of the excitement of Jeremy’s discovery of the dragon egg.
We liked Jeremy’s and Tiamat’s crazy world of feelings. We enjoyed it when Jeremy sent notes to Tiamat in his head. We thought that it was exciting and funny when Tiamat sang, “Fire, fire,” to Jeremy during the dinner scene.
It was so cool when Jeremy took night flights with Tiamat. Those are some reasons why we think Jeremy Thatcher is the best!
Now, we have two questions for you:
What is your favorite book that you wrote?
How did you get the idea for the magic shop series?
Sincerely,
Your readers in Ms. B’s 3rd grade class
Our third grade class really enjoyed reading Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. We liked how you created a fun, mythical dragon story. Our class enjoyed the mystery of the magic shop and all of the excitement of Jeremy’s discovery of the dragon egg.
We liked Jeremy’s and Tiamat’s crazy world of feelings. We enjoyed it when Jeremy sent notes to Tiamat in his head. We thought that it was exciting and funny when Tiamat sang, “Fire, fire,” to Jeremy during the dinner scene.
It was so cool when Jeremy took night flights with Tiamat. Those are some reasons why we think Jeremy Thatcher is the best!
Now, we have two questions for you:
What is your favorite book that you wrote?
How did you get the idea for the magic shop series?
Sincerely,
Your readers in Ms. B’s 3rd grade class
Reply by Bruce Coville
Ahoy, Ms. B's Class -
Thanks for this lovely message. I'm delighted that you so thoroughly enjoyed JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER! Your reasons for liking the book match some of my own favorite parts of it. I had a blast writing the dinner scene.
As to Jeremy's night flights with Tiamat, here's a bit of a secret: The first version of the book I sent to my editor didn't contain that. I hadn't figured out how Jeremy could deal with a bigger Tiamat, and so have him returning her to the Magic Shop when she was only about the size of a dog. My editor wasn't having that! She wrote back and said that I had ended the story too soon!
She was absolutely right, of course, and I wrote a lot of new material after I got that letter. So the book absolutely benefitted from having a really good editor who encouraged me to make it better!
As to your questions:
1) I don't like to name a favorite book, as it would be like trying to say which of my children I love the most. But I can tell you that JEREMY is close to the top of the list.
2) The idea for the Magic Shop series grew from the fact that when I was a kid, I always hoped I could find a shop that sold real magic. When that never happened, I gave Magic Shop to myself by deciding to write about it!
Thanks again for your great message. I hope you all have fabulous school year!
BC
Thanks for this lovely message. I'm delighted that you so thoroughly enjoyed JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER! Your reasons for liking the book match some of my own favorite parts of it. I had a blast writing the dinner scene.
As to Jeremy's night flights with Tiamat, here's a bit of a secret: The first version of the book I sent to my editor didn't contain that. I hadn't figured out how Jeremy could deal with a bigger Tiamat, and so have him returning her to the Magic Shop when she was only about the size of a dog. My editor wasn't having that! She wrote back and said that I had ended the story too soon!
She was absolutely right, of course, and I wrote a lot of new material after I got that letter. So the book absolutely benefitted from having a really good editor who encouraged me to make it better!
As to your questions:
1) I don't like to name a favorite book, as it would be like trying to say which of my children I love the most. But I can tell you that JEREMY is close to the top of the list.
2) The idea for the Magic Shop series grew from the fact that when I was a kid, I always hoped I could find a shop that sold real magic. When that never happened, I gave Magic Shop to myself by deciding to write about it!
Thanks again for your great message. I hope you all have fabulous school year!
BC