Why Invite Me?

Why Should You Invite Me?

Hosting an author visit is one of the most rewarding ways you can foster a love of literature in your students. As a visiting author, I want to inspire and motivate your students to read and write each and every day through an engaging, interactive presentation. I hope to plant a seed that helps children realize that every single one of them is already an author and artist. When I share my journey with them, I love watching their eyes light up as they realize that I'm just like them in many ways: a blank piece of paper overwhelms me at times, I revise...a lot, and I get asked to add details, details, details to my stories all the time! It's exciting to have authors and illustrators visit your school. I should know! As a K-5 librarian, I've hosted over twenty-five visits for my school library. I worked hard to ensure the visits in my library were successful. As an author about to visit your library, I will do the same!

Haven't booked an author before? Not sure what to do? I've got you covered! No worries! I'll offer suggestions and work with you to ensure the visit is 100% successful. As a teacher, I understand YOUR NEEDS. I am FLEXIBLE, PROFESSIONAL, and COMMITTED! See a partial list of schools I've visited. Extensive Teacher/Curriculum Guides are available for some of my Katharine books. These guides will offer many opportunities to integrate the books with all areas of the curriculum: Language Arts/Writing, Character Education, Science, Social Studies, and more! Teachers will have an array of lesson plans that can be adapted to fit their needs. View the guides HERE.

I'll speak to as many students as you need me to. My K-5 school had over 600 kids! I understand the need for multiple presentations so I offer up to four presentations a day. While smaller groups are more intimate, I have no problem speaking to larger groups. I'm used to it and I'm able to hold the attention of even the very youngest child. I LOVE sharing my passion for books with children and teachers.

I talk about a wide-range of subjects that can be tailored to each grade level: My Journey To Publication (with lots of rejections!), Editing (They'll love to see that my editors have asked me to edit my stories/projects just as much as their teachers have asked them!) The Steps Involved in Making a Book, and, with each grade, I prove that authors are just regular people like them as I share stories about my life, family, and writing experiences that they can relate to. What else? How about songs, props, book talking some of my favorite books, and LOTS OF FUN! I have also been involved in writing workshops through my The Write Stuff Programs sponsored by the PTO/HSA.