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READ BELOW TO
LEARN ABOUT MY SCHOOL VISIT PROGRAM -- OR, CLICK
HERE TO READ IT FROM A TO
Z!
I am a writer of many interests. I have written more than
two-dozen children's books – fiction and nonfiction, serious
and humorous, poetry and prose, picture books and chapter
books, about everything from baseball and birds to heroes
and hiccups. My alphabet books for Sleeping Bear Press
(which include letter-by-letter poems for younger readers
and expansive sidebar text for older readers) have sold more
than 200,000 copies. One of them,
H is for Home Run, is
dedicated to my fourth-grade teacher.
I have also written three acclaimed travel memoirs about
small-town America. In the latest,
Turn Left at the Trojan
Horse, I ponder what constitutes a heroic life.
I conclude that if one person considers you a hero,
then you’re a hero. So I enjoy visiting schools to try to
spark the imagination of students the way my fourth grade
teacher inspired me.
SCHOOL
PRESENTATIONS
The goal of my visits is to GET STUDENTS INVOLVED
– capture their attention by discussing subjects that pique
their interest and use humor to teach.
I have several different presentation
options, all of which have been very well-received, in
part because I appeal to reluctant readers. Plus, I try to make it
fun for the teachers, too, which is an often overlooked part
of the process.
I have presented to students ranging from pre-K to high
school. My message is simple: Writing can take many forms
and open doors to adventure. I discuss some of those
adventures – tales about serving as a batboy for a major
league baseball team (my first published article), competing
in the Masters of Miniature Golf (my favorite story about
developing a story idea), and being a contestant on “Who
Wants to be a Millionaire” in front of 25 million viewers (a
lesson in the power of learning through writing).
But I focus mostly on various facets of the writing life --
how I became a writer, the importance of reading and
research, how I get my ideas, and the book creation process.
For my K-5 audiences, I recently developed a
presentation (also PowerPoint with fun images) in which the
students and I create a story together, illustrating how
creativity is simply about making choices with your
imagination

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