School Visits

Author Visits / Illustrator Visits to Your School

I would love to visit your school!

Author/Illustrator School Visit Program:

My program is best suited for grades K-3. I give a Power Point presentation of The Aliens Are Coming!  This really brings the book to life with cool sound effects and big illustrations which can be seen easily by the entire group. This book is great to tie in with your geography curriculum!

My presentation covers the steps that go into making a book, from writing, to editing and drawing. I show how a drawing develops from a rough sketch to a finished illustration. We even go on to a brief history and look at the printing process; I've found that children always want to know, literally, how a book is made.

After the slide show, I show the children actual "dummies" (rough sketch mock-ups) and artwork from some of my books. I leave time for lots of questions and answers.

Then we have a drawing lesson! I use basic geometric shapes to teach the children how to draw Peggy the Pig and other animals. Even the youngest kids have a lot of success with this method and are able to do beautiful drawings!

Author Visit Fees:

Each session of my school visit is approximately 45 minutes long and can accommodate about 75 children (usually 3-4 classes). The cost per session is $250; I can do up to 4 sessions in a day. The school also pays for travel expenses.

Equipment Needed from the School:

I will need a PC computer that is set up for Power Point, a computer projector and a screen. Please have these ready for me before I arrive! The kids will need pieces of paper, pencils or crayons and something hard to draw on (clip boards) if possible. An easel or a big white wipe-off board would be helpful for my illustrator's lesson. Some water would be appreciated,too.

Preparation for Author Visits:

Author visits work best if the students have been prepared. Please read some of my books beforehand so that the kids are familiar with me and are excited about my visiting the school. This makes it a lot more fun for everybody! It is also a good idea to prepare some questions in advance.

Author Visit Book Sales:

Book sales are most easily handled by the school, in advance, with pre-paid orders. Currently, the two books available through your local book store are The Aliens Are Coming! and A Dark and Noisy Night. Most book stores will offer schools a discount and an order form. Please allow a few weeks for the store to order and deliver the books. The students can pre-order and pre-pay for any books they want so there's no need to do that on the day of the author visit. All I'll need is the name of who the book should be inscribed to, and time to sign the books.

Benefits of an Author Visit:

Imagine! Your students engaged in questions and answers with a real-life children's author! The questions fill the room: "Why did you make it funny?" "Where do you get your ideas from?" "Is the main character based on someone you know?"

When an author reads from their own work, children get excited! Author visits are inspiring events that foster a love of reading and many educational opportunities. When authors speak to young people, students are motivated to read more, write more, and learn more. Even the most reluctant reader may want to pick up a book!

Biography:

Awards & Recognition:

Contact:

Please contact me directly to make arrangements. I'll work with you closely to ensure a successful visit, and I'll be happy to answer any questions which you may have. I look forward to hearing from you!

Contact Author/Illustrator Lisa Thiesing