School visits are fun! They are fun for me and fun for the kids. Imagine! Your students engaged in questions and answers with a real-life children's book author/illustrator! It's kind of a big deal.
When an author reads from their own work, children get excited. When an illustrator shows kids how to draw something, they get super excited. School visits are inspiring events that help foster a love of reading and an appreciation of what goes into making a book. An author/illustrator visit can help motivate even the most reluctant readers.
My program is best suited for Grades K-4. Usually, I do a Power Point presentation of one of my books. That way the illustrations can be big enough for everyone to see. I'll cover the steps I take to making a book - from initial idea, to writing, to sketches, to re-writing, to more refined drawings. And then I talk about the process of submitting a book proposal and the back and forth between editors and creators. I will have actual "dummies" of some books and can show how they develop into a finished book. There are lots of questions and answers after this.
Then I think perhaps the most fun part is the drawing lesson. I use basic geometric shapes to make different animals. With circles, triangles, ovals, bean shapes we can draw all sorts of animals!
Presentations work best if the students have been prepared. Please read some of my books beforehand so that the kids are familiar with me and are excited about my coming. This makes it a lot more fun for everybody! If you are interested in booking a school visit, please contact me for details about the program, ordering books and fees. I look forward to hearing from you!