Zoom author visit at Valley View School, Glendale, CA, with Ms. Jenks, her umbrella cockatoo, and her second grade students.
On February 28, 2022, I had an excellent author visit at Valley View Elementary School in Glendale, California, as part of the Authors and Illustrators in the Schools program sponsored and organized by the Glendale Assistance League. I especially thank Linelle Vincenti and Kathy Blyth for all their support and making sure that everything ran smoothly. I was one of four authors at Valley View on Monday. I met with four groups of first and second graders, each class for about forty minutes, sharing my books and my life as an author and answering questions from the students. I enjoyed it immensely. And I could tell that the teachers and kids enjoyed it too. One teacher wrote me at the end of the day: “Thank you so much for sharing! You were wonderful. The kids talked about you all day!”
The theme of my presentation was gardens–featuring my new book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6: From Seeds to Salad, as well as my fiction book WIGGLE AND WAGGLE (reading the first story and singing the gardening song with my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets), and sharing my miniature garden inspired by Mr. McGregor’s garden in PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter.
The mascot of Valley View School is the Bald Eagle, and that prompted a discussion of my books about birds (including A BALD EAGLE’S WORLD and HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6) and showing the children my collection of feathers and my ostrich egg. As a special treat, one of the teachers, who was Zooming from home, showed us her beautiful Umbrella Cockatoo, who erected her handsome crest and demonstrated how she can talk.
I also shared my illustration process, showing them how I do my cut-paper art for my book A ZEBRA’S WORLD.
Altogether, it was a full and satisfying day!
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