Author-Illustrator School Visit: Early Elementary Excellence

THE POWER OF YOUR NAME IN A BOOK!

Visiting schools as an author-illustrator to share my work with students is a dream come true. Even more basic than that? Having work to share is a technicolor dream come true. Seeing how teachers direct their students in response to my projects? What is a dream in technicolor quadrupled on a multi-plex? It is #MusicCitywithTheMusicLady!!! Yes. I had my own hashtag: a first!

This is my second time to have the opportunity to work with THE Mr. Greg of Kindergarten Smorgasboard. This time we had more lead time to plot and plan. This time we got his entire TEAM of ECE teachers on board! Here's my personalized polka-dots of welcome! Our day was EPIC!

After posing with the polka-dots I got to have a quick tour of Greg's room. I took hundreds of photos on site and will be sharing those over the weeks to come. This little corner of the student's names made me smile. Stickers! Fine motor Fun! Happy colors. What a great way to add to the name recognition process. 

Before we knew it...... it was time to get my act together for our BIG presentation. Have polka-dotted suitcase, will travel! This is us getting warmed up. Did I mention that I'm excited to have an invitation to visit in schools? I have written over 100 original songs for children -- so I mix those in between my three picture books. Everyone's involved from beginning to end. That's my goal. 

For this year's visit, Greg had the where-with-all to track me down in the midst of my spring whirlwind of travels and get me to personalize a set of my books -- so he could get the whole team on board. He's brilliant like that. Seemed like a fairly simple request: PERSONALIZING my books. It wasn't till I was in his school, that I was stopped in my tracks during a Kinder Q&A session next door. 

One of my favorite things within my school visits is to allow the students enough time to ask me questions. As the day unfolded and I was visiting in individual classrooms, I had a very earnest kindergarten boy raise his hand with the question that has had me thinking ever since. What was on his heart? What did he want to know? 

"Why is Mr. Greg's name in the book?" 

It was a lightbulb moment for me. A true ah-ha. There are children that I visit, that I meet, that have never owned a book 'with their name in it.' As a new mom, one of my favorite things was to write my daughters names in the books that I got them -- well before they could ever read them, even before they could hold them up. 

Visiting my grandchildren, those same books are on their bookshelf, with the message I wrote to their mommy. The books that I purchase for my WonderPeeps? I always write their name and the date of the occasion for the gift. That act has a whole new level of meaning to me now. 

It is one thing to have books in your home. I now realize anew, that it is a whole 'nother level of ownership, when YOUR name is IN the book. Personalized. From the gift-giver. This is not a library book. On loan. When your name is in the book in permanent marker, it is a signal to the world that you OWN that book. Permanency indeed. Ownership. Power. 

I have only had one school, in my nearly ten years of being an author-illustrator, that had the brilliance to secure funds for each of their kinders, 178 on that occasion, to receive one of my books. Now, I wish that we'd had the wisdom to have had me write those names inside! Mr. Greg and I are brainstorming a way to make that happen for his 'staches' before the year's end. 

Brainstorms are a good thing. Brainstorms initiated by a kinder? PRICELESS. 

I made the illustrations in my book from fabric as small quilts. 

Seeing classroom quilts in response to my work is a real thrill. 

{I have an earlier RoundUP of tons of classroom quilt ideas.}

I walked into the first grade classroom downstairs as they were hard at work creating their decorated classroom door. A whole new level of integrating writing skills with the message of my book. LUV, LUV, LUV it!

Digital "You're Wonderful" available at TpT (Just click)

I never tire of donning my giraffe hat during the fifth verse of 'happy lappy'........ 

It ALWAYS gets the brightest smiles of the morning. 

***NOVELTY: is the brain's way of being awakened all over again.

It makes ME happy to make them so happy! 

Digital "Tall Giraffe" at TpT: just click 

Painted hand prints to form a flag in response to my newest, patriotic book?

I'm getting all misty eyed. 

Civics in kindergarten is an important topic. 

Signing, "I love you" to follow "Red, White and Blue" brings me to my knees.

Particularly when the littles join in!   

Digital Download: Red, White and Blue at TpT

As if that wasn't enough fun for one day? 

Greg got the word out to the Music City bloggers and we gathered! 

YES! They taught me things! 

From the top of the pyramid on down: 

Kristine, of "Mrs. Harrison's Sweet Nuggets"

who hosted me the very next day, cross town at her school! 

Dana of "Common to the Core"

Latoya of "Flying into First"

Jenny of "The Hartmann Sparkle"

Following all the food, fun and fellowship of our mini-working meet up 

we still had sufficient brain cells to gather together to pose a shot in the national headquarters for 

Kindergarten Smorgasboard!

Look how well behaved Butters is for our pose! 

No camera hog, that one? 

Just as Jenny was taking our picture above,

 we realized that one CRITICAL pose was forgotten! 

I always feel like such a DIVA when my name is up in lights! 

Greg & Jenny realized that I had forgotten to strike a pose by their school sign?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?! 

Then.The.Most.Amazing.Thing. Happened. 

Jenny volunteered to make us 'avatars' to pretend that we were next to the evidence! 

***And yes. Greg did take me to Sonic on the way to his building!!

*I have asked Jenny and yes, she is willing to have you commission her for your own personalized likeness. She is new to clip art and now has a store over at TpT. 

Now. In real time. This morning. We woke up. Look what we saw!

Last night, in the darkest of dark, we arrived to our summer haven home up here in the great north woods of Wisconsin. 

Door County, to be exact.

We have never seen ice on our harbor before! 

The end of April. ICE! Not just a little, either! 

I just hit 150,000 followers on Pinterest!!! Come join us!