The co-author of Chick, Chick 1, 2, 3 and other titles taught in Ukraine on a Fulbright scholarship before moving to Warsaw, where he now helps resettle Ukrainian refugees.

It was another sleepless night for children’s author Michael Sampson. These days, he jumps with every text message and remains agitated with worry and guilt.

“I have a warm apartment with food and water, and I shudder to think of the children and parents in Ukraine who may not have gas or electricity and are surrounded by the noises and the hammering of war and Russian forces,” Sampson wrote in an email to SLJ from an apartment in Warsaw, Poland, where he was transferred from his Fulbright Scholar assignment in Dnipro, Ukraine. “I wake up with every text message, frightened by new negative developments in the war. All my Fulbright colleagues report the same. We worry about our friends back home and feel guilty for not being there to support them. »

Sampson had spoken with SLJ the day before. But come morning he had more to share – more thoughts on the war, more news from those who are still in Ukraine or who have just fled, more hope that telling these stories might somehow help. ‘another one.

The author, who has co-authored numerous books with Bill Martin Jr., including Chick Chick 1, 2, 3, Bill Martin Jr’s Big Book of Poetryand the next armadillo antics— chose Ukraine as a Fulbright location because his wife’s family is from there. She and their 12-year-old daughter joined him in Dnipro.

Sampson on his first day at Dnipro National University of Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Sampson taught a course at Dnipro National University. As part of his research project, he also worked with teachers and children in grades two through eight to teach English with new strategies he developed using children’s books. Throughout his time in Ukraine and now in Poland, he has also taught an online course at St. John’s University.

In November, Sampson grew concerned when the US State Department issued warnings about Russian troops assembling along the Ukrainian border. But the Ukrainians he knew were not concerned. Troops had been there since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, they told him; nothing would happen.

But the US State Department thought otherwise and on January 24 withdrew Fulbright scholars from Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine about a month later. Now Sampson spends his time in Poland doing whatever he can to help Ukrainians.

The Fulbright group teaching in Ukraine had the option of returning home or going to Poland to do what they could to help Ukrainians. Only one of the 18 scholarship recipients chose to return home, according to Sampson, whose wife and daughter returned to New York. He and his wife often talk and text, as he tries to update her on the situation from there and calm her fears. While her mother is no longer in Ukraine, her brother remains as part of the Ukrainian effort to fight Russian forces.

“The citizens are all determined to repel the Russian invasion, so everyone is participating and helping so he is there, so she has a lot of worries,” he said.

People kiss on the border between Poland and Ukraine.

In Poland, Sampson is responsible for helping refugee families settle. He rents a car, drives the four hours to the border and then brings them back to Warsaw, installs them in an apartment, takes them shopping and puts them in contact with local resources. The people he sees have all arrived safely in Poland, but there is no celebration.

“They feel guilty, because family and friends are there and they’re here,” Sampson says. “They’re safe, but they think they should be. [in Ukraine.] And so it’s just, it’s really a nightmare in terms of the feelings that they have and how they deal with it. And you know, and some people [tell them] “You should have stayed here and helped the war effort. It’s hard.”

So far, Sampson has helped five or six families get from the border to Warsaw. He continues to teach his class virtually at Dnipro National University, but the course format is not the only difference.

“The boys are actually in the army to fight the Russians, and the girls – a lot of them go to the hospital to be nurses and so on, because there are so many wounded soldiers,” he says. .

But it’s there on the other end of the Microsoft Teams connection for anyone who can show up and wants to learn or just talk.

“I think I work more as an advisor,” Sampson says.

He spends much of his time texting and emailing people he knows who remain in Ukraine. His communications with elementary school teachers are heartbreaking, while offering hope for normal times to come when they can meet in peace. (The names of the educators in the text exchanges below have been changed.)

Sampson with students in Ukraine before the war.

A teacher stopped responding days before Sampson spoke with SLJ. As he worries about her and others, he continues to teach his online course at the National University of St. John’s and Dnipro, as well as work on his books, which now include a project on Martin’s life, something Sampson had wanted to do for years. but did not have time.

As he works on new titles, he can’t help but think of the stories of the people around him and those still in Ukraine. In a recent conversation with a history professor at Michigan State University, they discussed a book about children and war.

“What would that look like? How to make it positive but realistic? Sampson said. “I’m sure there will be something that will come out of these experiences.”

Sampson’s Fulbright term ends on June 30, but he plans to return to the United States in April for an expected two-week term. armadillo antics book tour, including speaking at the Texas Library Association conference and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. In the meantime, Sampson is doing all he can to educate people in the United States about what’s happening in Poland and Ukraine in hopes that people will be brought in to help however they can.

“All I can do now is help raise money for Ukraine and write about the horrors of war and what they face,” he says. “I have a dream of peace and of returning to see the land and the people I have come to love.”

Whether you have kids or not, it’s been hard to miss World Book Day celebrations this week, with photos of fabulous costumes all over social media and children heading to school dressed as their characters from favorite fiction.

How did the royal children dress, we wonder? Well, the Duchess of Cambridge said there was a certain fictional Charlotte who was very popular in her household, as she shared a list of her favorite children’s books.

Kate said the book Charlotte’s web is ‘loved in our house for obvious reasons’.

The tale, written by EB White, features a spider that shares its name with six-year-old Princess Charlotte. Kate described it as “a charming story of friendship, loyalty and love”.

Another classic on the Duchess’ list was Dump Stig by Clive King. Kate said she “loved spending time outdoors, making dens, digging, discovering and doing odds and ends” as a child.

“Was that why my father recommended this book to me or if this book inspired my imagination, I can’t remember, but I’ve never forgotten this brilliant book and the values ​​it he teaches,” she said.

The owl who was afraid of the dark by Jill Tomlinson – of which the Duchess recently read a version for CBeebies – was also on the list. “I loved this book as a little girl and listening to my own children read it brought back so many wonderful memories,” Kate said.

The Duchess shared her recommendations on a new children’s section of the reading room website, which was created by the Duchess of Cornwall, an avid reader.

Young students from Santa Rosa County will soon participate in the the district’s newest effort to improve literacy and create a love for reading.

The district is expanding its partnership with the StoryBook Treasures organization so that all children in kindergarten through grade three receive a book, tote bag, and t-shirt to keep for themselves.

The full program typically includes a multi-day lesson plan for five books throughout the school year. Each of these books also includes a tangible “treasure” to help students connect with the stories. A bookmark with reading comprehension questions is sent home with the book to add parents to the reading process.

The district introduced the program at WH Rhodes Elementary School in Milton several years ago, but now all students in kindergarten through third grade will participate in a partial version of the program, which includes only the book, bag and the shirt.

Superintendent Karen Barber said around 9,000 children will receive the gifts this week, and Barber added that she wanted every child in the target age range to be able to take part in the full version of the program – which would include the addition of the ‘treasure’ and lesson plan – starting next school year.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP – A new storybook garden at Cranberry Lake Farm in Oakland Township aims to connect the present with the past.

The township recently developed the garden in honor of Helen Southgate Williams, who lived at Cranberry Lake Farm in Oakland Township from 1948 to 1949.

Oakland Township Historic Preservation Planner Barbara Barber pitched the idea while looking for a way to showcase the history of Cranberry Lake Farm and the people who lived there.

“We wanted to do something that would honor some of the people who lived here, so we could get more people involved to come out and be a part of our story,” Barber explained.

The garden theme focuses on seven of Williams’ children’s favorite characters and stories, which make up the seven sections of the garden. These include Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit and Ferdinand the Bull, as well as “The Secret Garden”, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, “The Wind in the Willows”, and “Charlotte’s Web”.

The garden also includes a small free library — which organizers want to make sure contains all of Williams’ favorite children’s books — and has plenty of spaces for people to sit and enjoy the books.

“The little free library was specifically designed for books to borrow, because we selected those books specifically because they were Helen’s recommended books. There are some wonderful books in there,” Barber explained.

The garden was made possible through donations from community members, as well as the Oakland Township Historical Society, the Historic District Commission, and the Department of Parks and Recreation. St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Youth Group, which worked on the garden, also contributed to the project in Williams’ honor.

Known to some as the “Pied Piper of Reading” and “The Story Lady”, Williams has dedicated her life to bringing good books and literature to children throughout the metropolitan area.

Williams – who taught children’s literature at Wayne State University and the University of Chicago – operated a bookstore called The Old Red House from the living room of her home on West Second Street in Rochester for 15 years.

In 1964, she moved her book business to Main Street in downtown Rochester, after her house and property on Second Street had been sold for an apartment development.

From 1964 to 1974, Williams owned and operated her bookstore, called The Book Stall, where, officials say, her love of books and her skills as a storyteller challenged the imagination and expanded the world for many children and adults.

Although Williams closed The Book Stall in 1974, she continued to operate an educational consulting business from her home until she was over 80 and was a popular speaker for schools, churches and communities. private organizations.

For eight years she published “The Incessant Trumpet”, which contained her essays and thoughts on children’s literature, and she was appointed to the International Council for Children’s Books, an agency of the United Nations.

Williams died on May 10, 2002, at the age of 97.

The Cranberry Lake Farm Historic District is located at 388 W. Predmore Road in Oakland Township. For more information about the farm’s storybook garden, visit www.oaklandtownship.org or call (248) 651-4440.

RILEY VETTERKIND Wisconsin State Journal