Children love meeting authors and illustrators. They see the creators of their favorite books as celebrities, even superheroes. And this is why kids are quick to open up during author visits in the most wonderful ways.
Our clients shared with us some of their best experiences with children during events, and they left us in tears of joy and laughter.
Here are their stories:
Janet Fox, author of THE CHARMED CHILDREN OF ROOKSKILL CASTLE: “For a couple of years, I’ve been adding color to my hair (blue, green, pink) just for kicks. Every school visit, one or more of the kids comes up to me and tells me that they like my hair. Usually (to be expected) it’s a girl. But the best one was this – I was in Missouri doing a series of presentations. A couple of boys came up to me after I finished talking. They were very serious twelve-year-olds. I was sure the question would be serious, too. But one of them said, in a low voice, no smile, ‘We really like your hair. It’s awesome.'”
Laura Gehl, author of ALWAYS LOOKING UP: “After a school visit, a little girl told me she had been planning to be an explorer, but now she was planning to be an author. I told her she could be both and that she would have lots to write about!”
Carmen Oliver, author of BEARS MAKE THE BEST READING BUDDIES: “In October 2018, I was invited to appear at the West Texas Book Festival, and while I was there, I visited several schools. At the end of my school visits, I tell the students that I think they are the best reading buddies and I like to challenge them to write their own stories. Mrs. Espinoza’s and Ms. Hartman’s first-grade classes took me up on that challenge and sent me their book JAGUARS MAKE THE BEST READING BUDDIES. This is their dedication to me (Warning: May cause tears): ‘To Mrs. Carmen Oliver, Thank you so much for inspiring us to read and to write! Your encouraging words helped us come up with our new book! Love, Mrs. Espinoza’s Class, 1st grade 2018-2019.'”
Bethany Hegedus, author picture book biography GRANDFATHER GANDHI: “At a recent school visit, a student rushed me at the end of my presentation. ‘Did you know this little known fact about Gandhi?’ I waited for her to reveal what the little known fact was. ‘He didn’t eat until change was made,’ she revealed with the biggest grin. I high fived her and told her hunger strikes work–just not to try them at dinner time!”
Caroline Starr Rose, author of MAY B.: “During a school visit in Chicago, I met a middle-school girl who’d recently immigrated from Korea. She’d given her mom her copy of MAY B. to help her learn English. At a visit in New Mexico, I met a PTA mother who’d shared her copy with her mother, too — an 85-year-old woman who, like May, was dyslexic but was never identified as such. Something about MAY B. has struck a chord with more readers than I could have ever imagined. People from every age group and all walks of life have claimed May as their own.”
Laura Gehl, author of the PEEP AND EGG series: “After a school visit, a second grade boy asked if I would write a story with his name [Christian] and lots of ninja robots attacking. I said, ‘That sounds like a great story. Why don’t YOU write it?’ The girl next to him said, ‘I’ll illustrate!’ and within seconds they were deep in conversation about plans for their book. When I was saying goodbye to a line of kids after [another] school visit, a little boy told me he had written a story called ‘Fred and the Lion.’ Then he said, ‘And I’m going to write it again so I can show it to you.'”
Mitali Perkins, author of YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR: “After I shared about how some of my books are about kids who are growing up without much money, a fifth-grader asked, ‘Do you have any friends who are poor?’ It was a great question. If I can’t answer yes, I have no right to cross that border to tell a story.”
Kwame Alexander, author of REBOUND, got this letter from a young reader: “Hi Mr. Kwame Alexander, I’m Brock, I’m 10, and I love your books, because they inspire me to do more. When I read REBOUND, that changed my personality to be better and work harder because he was bad at basketball and he practiced every day and he turned out to be really good! My mom just ordered me SWING, the baseball book you wrote. I told her you inspired me to be better, and she said I should write you a letter to let you know. So I was just telling you that I appreciate you, and I enjoy your books!! THANK YOU!!!!!”
Laura Gehl, author of ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR: “After I showed a slide with all of my book covers, a student asked, ‘Don’t you get tired writing all those books?’ YES!”
Jessixa Bagley, author of BOATS FOR PAPA: “These are some memorable questions that kids have asked me in the past: ‘What is your IQ?’ ‘What is your credit score?’ ‘Are you famous?’ ‘Why are you such a good drawer?’ ‘I like Power Rangers.’ ‘Do you like cats? I like cats.’ My most asked question pertains specifically to my book BOATS FOR PAPA. The papa is absent, and I never say why, so at most school visits, someone asks me, ‘Where is Papa?'”
Penny Parker Klostermann, author of THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON WHO SWALLOWED A KNIGHT: “While at a school visit, a first-grade girl asked, ‘Do people take your picture?’ I wasn’t sure why she was asking, but answered, ‘Sometimes the teachers do.’ She responded, ‘Well, what about those people who hide behind bushes and jump out to take pictures of famous people.'”
Lindsey Lane, author of picture book SNUGGLE MOUNTAIN: “During a presentation to first graders who will all grow up to be math geniuses, I was telling them about the inspiration for my picture book SNUGGLE MOUNTAIN and taking them behind the scenes, from sloppy copy (first draft) to finished product. “My daughter was two when she sparked the idea for the book,” I told them. “She was seven when the book was published. I am going up to her graduation from college next month.” A kid replied, “That makes you twenty years older from when you first wrote the sloppy copy.” Ummm…yup.
Caroline Starr Rose, author of RIDE ON, WILL CODY!: “My goofiest encounter was the time a boy asked me to sign his writing notebook as … King Kong! Of course I did it.”
Of course!