I just had a great school visit! Even though my manuscripts and dummies are still making the rounds I love to do school visits. I taught elementary and middle school for ten years and I love getting back into the classroom as the “guest speaker.” Today I went to I.’s class and spoke about how my poem got published in Babybug. I made a time line which included when they were born and how old they were on one side. And the progress of the manuscript on the other side. They could really understand how time was passing this way. I showed them my sketch books (brought a huge pile, they loved that) and finished art in my portfolios. I showed my rejection file. I showed my revisions. I showed them a couple of dummy books I have that are out at publishers now, and ended by giving them each a small dummy book that they could use as sketch books themselves. They got right to work. One kiddo was especially enthralled by the presentation. He wanted to look more closely at my sketch books. The teacher was so excited and mentioned that this is the first time he’s been really turned on to anything. I left with a huge smile and great pile of pictures they drew for me.
I’d love to do more of these!
Creative Chaos 