School Visits

Tell Me Your Author Visit Stories

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Sep 11, 2015 in Educators & Librarians, Events, School Visits | Comments Off on Tell Me Your Author Visit Stories

AASL National Conference

Dear Fellow Authors and Illustrators,

Later this fall, I am going to be speaking at the AAASL (American Association of Awesome School Librarians)–oops, I might have slipped an extra “A” in there. I’ll be telling the cool librarians how they can work with authors, illustrators, teachers, staff, students, and families to get the most out of an author or illustrator visit.

If you’re a veteran of school visits, you probably know that subtle but real feeling of excitement when you walk into a school that’s READY. Maybe there’s a cool display up on a wall; maybe a kid does a double-take and gasps, “Are you the author?” (or as it often comes out, “Are you the Arthur?”). Or maybe there’s just a feeling in the air, and you know it’s going to be a good visit. The kids will be excited and engaged; the teachers will be interested; each presentation will seem too short.

Do you have any stories about schools that have done a great job creating this kind of energy and excitement? What have librarians or teachers done to get their students to the point where they are revved up about what you have to share and ready to put it use in their own creative work? What, to you, makes a GREAT school visit different from a ho-hum one? Please share in the comment section, and let me know if it’s okay to use your story in my talk.

Thank you!

Around the Neighborhood in the Garden

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Jul 30, 2014 in Book: Around the Neighborhood, Educators & Librarians, Events, School Visits | Comments Off on Around the Neighborhood in the Garden

Author Sarah L. Thomson (that’s me!) reads her picture book Around the Neighborhood.

Such fun visiting the Friends School of Portland to share Around the Neighborhood for their Stories by the Garden program! If you’re in the Portland area with little ones, do check out this program. What’s nicer than a visit to sweet, scenic Mackworth Island, a story to hear, and maybe a picnic lunch to enjoy afterward on the trail that goes all around the island?

The kiddos were energetic and delightful. We read the book (in the gym rather than the garden, due to weather), sang the song, and then scattered outside for a scavenger hunt.

This is such a happy, adventurous book for a summery activity or story hour. Check out the fun and free Activity Kit if you’d like to recreate our scavenger hunt. We had a great time!

Tea & Celebrity

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Mar 28, 2014 in School Visits | Comments Off on Tea & Celebrity

Just back from a three-day visit to Biddeford Intermediate School. Oh, my, my, my! The kids lined up to clap and cheer when I arrived. They sang me a song with fabulous percussion accompaniment at the assembly. And the Life Skills class baked me lemon-poppyseed cake and chocolate chip muffins and brought me tea every single day.

Now, while it’s nice (and I won’t deny it) to be treated like a rock star for three days, the really amazing thing was the way all of this enthusiasm and energy from the teachers and staff was transmitted to the students. They came into my writing workshops with wide eyes, bubbling over with glee, convinced that a middle-aged, mid-list children’s writer is a celebrity, that books and writing and the people who create them are the coolest things ever. That was way more than I could have done on my own in three days of one-hour writing workshops. My writer pals, if you ever get invited to Biddeford Intermediate–go. And not just for the muffins.

Thanks to the 5th graders at Tomie Barfield Elementary…

Posted by sarahlthomson on May 22, 2012 in School Visits | Comments Off on Thanks to the 5th graders at Tomie Barfield Elementary…

…for one of the best questions I’ve been asked in an author visit: “If you had to describe being an author in one word, what word would you pick?”

(Phew, these 5th graders don’t believe in easy questions.)

The word that popped into my head was “liberating.”

Being an author means that all the thoughts and dreams and characters and ideas that congregate in my head are free to come out, be shared, find connections and communion with readers. It means that I’m free to imagine, create, dream, wonder, and share. It means that I’m free to sit around in jeans and t-shirt with bare feet to do my work. All of that is wonderfully liberating, and I’m grateful for it–and for the question that made me realize it more fully!