Erica Perl's school visit was cancelled. She fought back. And won.

Erica writes about the experience over at School Library Journal, My School Visit was Cancelled. I Fought Back and Won.

Why was the visit cancelled? As Erica explained:

a parent had complained because of a social media video I had made celebrating Pride month. In it, I mention that Snail, a character in my Whale, Quail, Snail early reader series (illustrated by Sam Ailey), is nonbinary. Most snails are. “It’s a fiction series,” I add, “but that’s a fact.”

There's much more to the story, like Erica having a strong contract, a background as a lawyer, and the school wanting to penalize the librarian who had booked the visit by making the librarian pay out of her own pocket -- and how Erica fought that, too.

Erica sued, and won – the school paid her fee. As she explains, 

It’s not the win I wanted, because that would have had me standing in front of a gymnasium full of elementary school students.

...

In my case, one parent prevented an entire elementary school student body—over 400 kids—from having an author visit. That is a shame because, as any school librarian will tell you, author visits are transformative.

Read the full piece.

We are in a frustrating moment where intolerance to diversity is rampant. Standing up to injustice is really important, and I applaud Erica's standing up for herself -- like standing up against any injustice, it helps others, too!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

Bruce Hale Shares Three Excellent Tips For School Visits

Author/Illustrator Bruce Hale

Reading Bruce's latest newsletter, I was impressed by this article, and with his kind permission, share it here:

3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SCHOOL VISITS

Ah, school visits -- the bread and butter of a working children's
book author.  We all know the basics, right?  You stand up in front
of a room full of kids, read from your work, and answer questions.

But if you want to take your school visit from good to great, here
are three things to bear in mind:

1. It's not about you

Say what?  Aren't they paying me to talk about myself? Well, yes
and no.  Yes, they want to hear something of your life story and
how you came to write your marvelous book.  But no, they don't want
to hear the "me, me, me" song all day long.  That can turn off your
audience quicker than anything.

If it's not about you, then who IS it about?  Your listeners.  Just
like adult audiences, kids are tuned into one radio station:
WII-FM, or What's In It For ME?  If you're going to talk about
yourself, find a way to let them know you're thinking of them
first.  Use humor. Frame your talk from their point of view.  Draw
parallels between your life and theirs.  Find lessons that can help
them from all the mistakes you made along the way.  And above all,
encourage and empower them.

2. Fun is king

Even if you're not Joe or Josephine Public Speaker, school visits
can be a blast.  You have license to make things fun, for yourself
and your audience.  Use it.  Tell appropriate jokes, show
embarrassing photos, break out the goofy props, sing, dance, or
draw.  If you appeal to as many senses as possible, you'll capture
their attention.

What if you can't sing or dance?  Review the contents of your
stories and your own native abilities to find something different
and enjoyable to share with kids.  At the very least, you can dress
colorfully and give them something to look at.

As authors, we're not just talking heads, we're entertainers.  And
the more you embrace that, not just in your writing, but in your
speaking, the more positively your audiences will respond.  Yes, we
do often convey serious messages, but there's no reason they can't
be conveyed with a dash of silliness or panache.

3. Interactivity rules

The more active and engaged your audience, the better.  Ask
questions with clear answers that kids can respond to as a group.
Get them to raise their hands with broadly applicable queries like,
"Who's ever had trouble coming up with an ending for their story?"

Bring up volunteers to draw, participate in reader's theater, or
write something on the board for you.  Even if you only call on two
or three students, they will serve as surrogates for the rest of
the group, and the audience will feel more involved.

There's a reason that call-and-response figures strongly in both
sermons and storytelling.  Use it wherever you can.  If your
picture book has a refrain, get the kids to say it with you.  Every
time they say something or do something that relates to your
presentation, you raise the level of energy and engagement in the
room.

And if you can do that, schools will keep coming back for more.

Bruce Hale is the author-illustrator of nearly 30 seriously funny books for young readers, including the award-winning Chet Gecko Mysteries, SNORING BEAUTY, and his newest series, SCHOOL FOR S.P.I.E.S. You can learn more about his books online at www.brucehale.com, and subscribe to his e-newsletter of writing tips at www.brucehalewritingtips.com.

2010 Amber Brown Grant School Visit in Seattle: A Guest Post by Gee Cee Addison

To honor the beloved late author Paula Danziger and her mission to connect kids and books, SCBWI offers the Amber Brown Grant. This grant allows a school that cannot normally afford to bring in authors and illustrators to speak to their students the chance to spend the day with a creator of books for young readers with the tab covered by SCBWI. The grant also includes a generous serving of the visiting author's books for the school library.

This year's Amber Brown Grant recipient was First Place School in Seattle. SCBWI's Director of Operations Cee Gee Addision along with SCBWI TEAM BLOG member and media escort Jaime Temairik accompanied author George Shannon as he interacted with students ranging from pre-school through 6th grade. "I spent the morning at First Place with Gee Cee and George," Jaime says. "I believe SCBWI/children's book people never underestimate the resilient spirit of kids or their capacity to adapt, but it was a humbling experience knowing these kids have been through more hardships than many adults and yet are still smiling and full of energy for their day."

And, Jaime says, the kids and adults at First Place loved George Shannon. "His tales and prompts for them to write their own stories were such a gift. And what greater gift could Paula Danziger via SCBWI pass on--providing such deserving kids with wonderful books to keep them company and provide them joy for years to come."

 

Melissa Collett of First Place, Jaime Temairik, author 

George Shannon, and SCBWI's Gee Cee Addison

Here Cee Gee, in a guest post, shares her full report on their day at First Place School.

Friday, May 14th, was an amazing day for me. I made my way to Seattle’s First Place School, met with Melissa Collett, who I had been working with coordinating the event, and, to my surprise the author, George Shannon, was there waiting for me with a bright smile on his face. It was meant to be, because the weather in Seattle that weekend was beyond superb--sunny, warm and not a cloud in the sky.

First Place School is not publicly funded school, yet it's a place for children to go who are in transition and don’t have the luxury of certain things that other children in public schools have--and when I say luxury, I am speaking of clothes, shoes, jackets, the necessary tools to keep up their hygiene. Most to all of the children who attend First Place are in transition, meaning in between housing, parents in a struggle trying to find work so they can find permanent residence, etc. This school prepares them for what's to come when they get placed in permanent living situations with their families.

Our first hour was spent with the pre-school/kindergarten class. They pranced into the classroom, some wearing tutus and fairy princess outfits, with whispers of “Is that the author who is going to read to us?” You could hear the excitement in their little voices and see the smiles on their little faces. George came in, sat down and got down to business--the business of making the children dream and think what if! They participated in his wonderful games, poems and when he would pull out his next book, a child would yell out with joy, “We have that book!”

 George Shannon poses with two students and one of his

 books during his Amber Brown Fund-ed school visit.

It was a wonderful hour filled with storytelling and make believe--all the things that little one's dreams are made of. You could feel that the children were so happy to see someone come into their comfort zone and spend time with them and have the focus be on what they love…reading.

As the morning went on, George's audience got a bit more challenging--next was the 1st-3rd graders. You can imagine the energy level would be high with this group, but he was ready. We moved locations to their wonderful and surprisingly full library. They sat him in front of a great big picture window, children sitting in front of him, ready to listen. He reached into his bag of tricks, only to pull out a handful of stories and tricks to make the older children excited with giggles and plenty of hand raising to volunteer their services as his handy dandy assistant.

With winning the Amber Brown Grant, in addition to arranging a visit from a children’s book author for the school, the SCBWI helps the school throw a little party for the students, teachers and staff. So for First Place School we decided to have a pizza party for the children. You don’t have to be a genius to know what happens when you mix pizza and kids with a splash of Capri Sun--you get happy, happy kids.

The teachers were full of excitement too with the opportunity to enjoy some yummy pepperoni pizza and pop that straw into the Capri Sun pouch like they did when they were kids. It was wonderful to have time to sit down with the children, after having time to watch them participate. You got the questions and the stares: Who are you? What’s your name? How old are you? Are you a writer? What’s your favorite color? So many kids, so many questions, and definitely not enough answers to satisfy their wild curiosity! 

 George Shanon reading to kids in the
sunny First Place School library.

Last but not least were the 4th-6th graders. The teachers thought it would make more sense to do more question and answer with the older kids. George, being so skilled with dealing with the children, knew exactly how to get their focus. Getting on their level and opening up about his childhood made the older kids feel comfortable with him, and before you knew it the questions came rolling in: Do you like writing stories? How old were you when you wrote your first story? How do you come up with the ideas for your stories? Question after question with excitement and a glimmer in their eyes. The children were giving him ideas for stories before the end of the day.

When the day was over, I knew my life would be forever changed. I am so blessed and grateful to work for such a great organization. The Amber Brown Grant is our opportunity to give these children something to look forward to when they go to school; books to fill their libraries; a day full of dreams, fairy tales and make believe; a chance to say I want to be a writer when I grow up!

I can’t wait to report on our next winner for 2010.