Grade: Third
School: Palo Verde
What makes her stand out: Got to be the "model" for a character in an illustrated children's book called "Best Friends Together Again," by Aliki, a British children's book illustrator and author.
How she met Aliki: "I went to Kepler's to see her, and lots of people went to see Aliki. She autographed (my book). She asked me a few questions about myself and one day she wrote to me. She asked me how I was doing." Aliki also had her photograph taken with Amadi, and gave her a drawing of a dog to take home with her.
What happened next: Aliki wrote to Amadi and told her that she wanted to use her for one of the girl characters in her book. "I was excited," Amadi said, "I thought it would be fast, but it took a long time. One day I got a package in the mail and I opened it. (It was the book.) And I was looking at the pages and I saw myself because I saw the beads (in her hair)."
What the book is about: "It's about two friends. One of them goes away. He sends his friend a letter. He's coming back to see him."
Who she is in the book: "I guess Ellie." Ellie appears four times in the book, wearing a white hat and her hair in cornrows with red beads on the ends. In one picture, she is trying to catch a paper airplane and she's wearing a button that says "I was at Kepler's." Aliki drew Amadi from the photograph she had taken at Kepler's.
What she does outside of school: "Read. I like to read 'Anne of Green Gables' and 'Chronicles of Narnia.' I like to play with my dog."
Why she likes to read: "I like that I can understand more. It explains, not like TV, (which) just says a word and doesn't explain. I like long chapter books. My mom and dad read to me before I go to bed and when I get in bed I read to myself. I watch TV, but I guess I read more than I watch TV."
Favorite subject: "Sustained silent reading. It's a period of time when you can just read about normal things."
Subject in school she finds hard: "Writing about myself, writing in general. It's hard to think of things to write."
Favorite teacher: Lisa Martin, her first-grade teacher
How she feels about being "famous": "I just feel fine. I shared the book (at school) and they seemed like I'm famous, but I'm not."
--Elizabeth Darling
Back up to the Table of Contents Page