THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411020216
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 6K EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HEIDI GLICK, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The laughs grew higher and higher in pitch at Arrowhead Elementary as visiting author Jerry Pallotta joked with students about his bald head, their missing front teeth and a goosefish that looked like his sister.
The laughing reached a climax when he placed lobster pinchers on principal Carolyn Garrett's nose.
The children's author, on a weeklong tour in Virginia Beach to promote his 15 alphabet and counting books, kept students giggling for an hour as he spoke about his writing, himself and the animals that serve as subjects for his books.
But don't expect to open up one of his alphabet books and find ``D'' for dog. With Pallotta's books, it's more like ``H'' for haddock, ``L'' for lobster, ``U'' for unicorn beetle.
Although entertaining - and often downright funny - his books also are educational. He's uncovered all sorts of exotic animals, like ``X is for Xiphia'' and writes informative yet funny facts about each one.
Students who read his ``The Ocean Alphabet Book'' will learn, for instance, that a goosefish is ugly looking, has lots of teeth, a mouth as big as its body and also is called a monkfish.
Katelyn Ouellette, a fifth-grader at Arrowhead, said reading Pallotta's books reinforced a marine biology course she took in the summer.
``Some of the fish I saw in the class were from his book,'' she said.
Pallotta, who lives in Massachusetts, never considered writing books until he started reading to his own children. An avid lover of the ocean, he tried to find an alphabet book that focused on animals in the ocean.
All Pallotta found were ``A is for apple'' books.
``But the books didn't say anything about the apple,'' he told the students at Arrowhead, explaining that he wanted the ``A is for apple'' books to tell a story: Like someone gave the principal an apple. The apple had a worm in it. The principal ate the worm.
That brought screams of laughter from the kids.
After searching unsuccessfully for an ocean alphabet book, Pallotta wrote his own. Published in 1986, ``The Ocean Alphabet Book'' soon became a best seller at the New England Aquarium. Some of his other books include: ``The Icky Bug Alphabet Book,'' ``The Dinosaur Alphabet Book'' and ``The Frog Alphabet Book.''
His books are known for their animated, but realistic, illustrations. At the top of the page in one of his books, there's an illustration of a rose, violet, bowl of sugar and a mirror. It's a riddle for children to solve: ``Roses are red. Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet and so are you.''
In another book, there's a picture of a half drawn unicorn beetle. Pallotta writes: ``U is for unfinished painting.'' On the following page, readers see the finished drawing.
Pallotta was such a success with the students that about eight children came in to the school library the following day to check out his books, said Carol Ann Sewell, Arrowhead's library secretary. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by HEIDI GLICK
Lydia Moretz, a second-grader, shows off one of Jerry Pallotta's
unique alphabet books. She attended the special benefit for
childreen who completed the summer reading requirements of at least
12 books.
by CNB