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The Perfect Author Visit
Featured Author:
Kim Norman
Kim Norman is a children’s book author whose first book, Jack of All Tails, was released from Dutton in June of 2007. Her second, Crocodaddy, will be released by Sterling Children’s Books in May, 2009. And in 1010, her book I Know a Wee Piggy Who Wallowed in Brown, illustrated by Henry Cole, will be published by Dutton. Learn more about her author visits at Kim Norman Books.
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I chatted with a few children’s book author friends recently about their idea of perfect author visit to a school.
What makes for a perfect visit, from the author’s perspective?
I’ve had many perfect visits myself – perfect in different ways. Take the two visits I did in northern Virginia last week: Monday’s visit was booked nearly a year in advance. That’s always nice because everything can be handled thoroughly, with no rush: email exchanges, contract, book sale, etc. The librarian who hired me was so kind; she even took me to dinner the night before so I wouldn’t be too lonely in my hotel room all evening. That was a treat for more than the obvious reason of enjoying a great little Greek pizza; it was also fun to get to know her and learn more about her school before I arrived. She did an amazing job with book sales, faxing an easy-to-read form in advance so I could sign the books before the visit. (Sometimes there’s time to sign on the day of the visit, but this was well over 100 books. Yay!!) They had also planned a nice little potluck teacher’s breakfast, so I had a chance to meet some of the teachers over coffee and quiche. Lovely! It almost goes without saying that such a well-planned visit would mean the students were well-prepped, too. And they were. I had sent a little poster, a video and music CD in advance, so they even recognized me in the hallway as they passed.
Tuesday’s visit was equally delightful. In this case, the school had bought books for each classroom before my visit, so the students had not only read Jack of All Tails, they were also wearing animal ears and tails. So cute! They were all familiar with my closing song, “The Storytime Boogie.” Even the 5th graders sang along. (Often, I don’t perform that song for 5th graders because many of them would think it’s too babyish.) This was another school where meals had been taken into consideration. The PTO catered a nice luncheon so I could spend time with the teachers, who were happy to enjoy a quiet, grownup lunch for a change. This particular visit impressed me as a true team effort with everyone – reading specialist, librarian, PTO, principal, even music teacher – all working to ensure its success.
Another factor in these two visits was flexibility on the part of those in charge. In the time since both visits were booked, my Crocodaddy had gone to press. So, even though I hadn’t discussed it with them in advance, both schools were happy to let me switch gears a bit and share the galleys of Crocodadddy with the students, who were excited to be among the first students on earth to see the images.
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