At next week's Sweet Apple Elementary School Literacy Fair children's author Leslie McKinney will teach from her latest book, "Too Much!"

The Literacy Fair, March 13-14, is an interactive event that encourages beginning elementary students to enjoy reading and explore creative writing skills that will benefit them throughout their academic careers, according to information about the event provided by the school.

"Sweet Apple is committed to developing lifelong readers, both through our classroom lessons and through innovative activities, like our annual Literacy Fair," said SAE Principal Natalie Richman. "Author visits are wonderful for our students because when they understand how a book is created, they appreciate each story they encounter."

McKinney's presentation will focus on her book's core theme, homophones, and she'll share highlights of how a story becomes published. In addition, the fair organizers say the event will offer the following interactive displays:

• Word Wall - Students will record their favorite action or describing words to create a vocabulary mural.
• Story Starter Journals - Students will explore their creativity to author a story of their own.
• Bookwalk - Students will walk, dance, or hop to music along an alphabet path to win a book for their personal library.

McKinney is the third author to visit Sweet Apple this school year, according to th press release. She follows writer David M. Sargent Jr. of the "Doggie Tails" series and local Roswell author Julie Ferris author of "Badges, Egg Salad, and Green Jackets: The Masters A to Z." Children's authors Diane Shore and Anne Wainscott-Sargent will present to Sweet Apple students later in the school year, concluding a series of five author visits, states the release.