Author of the Month
August’s Author of the Month at Waldorf Publications
Arthur Pittis, author of Pedagogical Theater and the Pittis Reader Series, is the Library Lady’s choice for author of the month! Arthur was a long-time class teacher at the Waldorf School of Baltimore, taking two classes all the way through. He and his family then moved to Austin, Texas, where he did two years of class teaching, and where he developed the high school at Austin Waldorf School. He is now Collaborating with the Lexington faculty to bring the second panel of the Angel Imagination to life, in alignment with AWSNA’s Shared Principle on shared agreements and teacher freedom.
During the early 2000s, at the request of delegates at the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), Arthur collected stories from around the world to create readers for students in grades 1 through 4. These stories are designed to help early readers using the Basal Reading Approach to gradually introduce young readers to new vocabulary and sentence structure. Added to this is a true Waldorf teacher’s eye for a compelling story that helps a child want to read and keeps the reader engaged. Africa, Asia, Russia, South America, North America, and Australia are all represented in these readers, and the stories are grand! There are some simple illustrations to enhance the reading experience.
o Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum! is a fine reader for second graders
o As My Heart Awakes is geared to early readers in late second grade/early third grade
o When I Hear My Heart Wonder is a rich collection for late third graders
o Snip, Snap, Snout is designed as a remedial reader for third graders
o Sun So Hot I Froze to Death is chock full of American legends like “Paul Bunyan” getting youngsters ready for fourth great North American geography
These readers give a teacher a chance to have a whole class read together in practice sessions and to diagnose the needs of young readers, while traveling children through literature — compelling, poignant, and hilarious — from around the globe.
Authur Pittis also holds a master’s degree in dramaturgy. As an expert in theater, his class and high school plays were community events to remember both for actors and audience alike. He has written some particularly excellent plays for different class levels that have been used by class and high school teachers across North America.
What a grand thing to have Arthur Pittis as our author of the month. Waldorf Publications is pleased and proud to have his fine books among its offerings.
