Fun times at the Chippewa Valley Book Festival!
I visited with more than 500 students at 4 Eau Claire, Wisconsin schools last week as part of the 11th annual Chippewa Valley Book Festival. Big waves to all the 3rd-5th graders (& one 6th grader!) at Lakeshore, Sam Davey, Roosevelt, and Montessori schools! Yea!!
I had a great time making new friends and meeting so many super cool kids. I met some super cool children's authors too, including Loretta Ellsworth, Kathryn Gibbs Davis, and Gary Schmidt!
A local TV station came to my school visit at Lakeshore Elementary. They interviewed me and some of the kids, and filmed part of my program too. Then they put together a very nice story for the evening news. You can see the video at WQOW-News 18. Just scroll down to the "Top Video" section and then click on the little photo of me (I'm directly after the photo of a giant pumpkin!)
That's the wonderful Chris Kondrasuk, on the left, in the above photo. Chris was my book festival host and accompanied me to all of my school visits. She got to do The Lion Hunt five times! :) Thanks, Chris!
I presented my program twice at Lakeshore on Thursday. A big thank you to librarian, Caroline Akervik, for setting up the visit. :)
Here I am, bright and early on Friday morning, at Sam Davey Elementary with 200 amazingly fantastic students! I carried their good vibes with me as I continued on to Roosevelt Elementary and the Montessori Charter school. Another big thank you to librarians Dawn Pearson and Wendy Bawden for making me feel so welcome at all three schools.
On Saturday, I attended author Gary Schmidt's talk, which was very interesting and funny and inspiring. He is one of my favorite authors so meeting him was a big thrill for me. In this photo, Gary is signing my copy of The Wednesday Wars... twice! I didn't have my camera handy when I went through the autograph line the first time, so I waited until the end and then went back up to him and asked if he would mind pretending to sign the book for a picture. (What a nice guy, he didn't mind at all.) When I got home later that day, I noticed that he had added the word "Again!" to his signature. :)
New friends! The girl on the left was at one of my Friday school visits. What a treat to have a chance to chat with her, and her sister, at Gary's event.
I met Loretta Ellsworth there too and was happy to have her company at a lunch afterward. I was so pleased to get an autographed copy of her book, In Search of Mockingbird. And I only made her sign it once! :)
I had a great time making new friends and meeting so many super cool kids. I met some super cool children's authors too, including Loretta Ellsworth, Kathryn Gibbs Davis, and Gary Schmidt!
A local TV station came to my school visit at Lakeshore Elementary. They interviewed me and some of the kids, and filmed part of my program too. Then they put together a very nice story for the evening news. You can see the video at WQOW-News 18. Just scroll down to the "Top Video" section and then click on the little photo of me (I'm directly after the photo of a giant pumpkin!)
That's the wonderful Chris Kondrasuk, on the left, in the above photo. Chris was my book festival host and accompanied me to all of my school visits. She got to do The Lion Hunt five times! :) Thanks, Chris!
I presented my program twice at Lakeshore on Thursday. A big thank you to librarian, Caroline Akervik, for setting up the visit. :)
Here I am, bright and early on Friday morning, at Sam Davey Elementary with 200 amazingly fantastic students! I carried their good vibes with me as I continued on to Roosevelt Elementary and the Montessori Charter school. Another big thank you to librarians Dawn Pearson and Wendy Bawden for making me feel so welcome at all three schools.
On Saturday, I attended author Gary Schmidt's talk, which was very interesting and funny and inspiring. He is one of my favorite authors so meeting him was a big thrill for me. In this photo, Gary is signing my copy of The Wednesday Wars... twice! I didn't have my camera handy when I went through the autograph line the first time, so I waited until the end and then went back up to him and asked if he would mind pretending to sign the book for a picture. (What a nice guy, he didn't mind at all.) When I got home later that day, I noticed that he had added the word "Again!" to his signature. :)
New friends! The girl on the left was at one of my Friday school visits. What a treat to have a chance to chat with her, and her sister, at Gary's event.
I met Loretta Ellsworth there too and was happy to have her company at a lunch afterward. I was so pleased to get an autographed copy of her book, In Search of Mockingbird. And I only made her sign it once! :)