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One of the best parts of school visits is going through the thank you letters afterwards. They are beginning to arrive from last week's trip.

Check out these hip rollerskating foxes:



On the back of this one it says "I likt yors books vare muh":



One packet included some Abigail coloring sheets (you can download them here), I like this kid's abstract approach:



And of course there is always at least one big letter from the whole class:

I've just returned from a week in my hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia doing school visits for the Va Festival of the Book. This was my second trip down for the festival. Its fun for me to attend because not only do I get to visit schools in the neighborhoods where I grew up, but I get a little dose of spring before it arrives here in Boston.

In Charlottesville the daffodils are in bloom:



The forsythia is bursting yellow all over:



And the friend's house where I stayed sits next to a fully blooming plum tree that floats tiny pink petals all over place:



Ah, the good life. Sitting on porches on warm afternoons, waving a lazy hello to the neighbors. I can't say I was thrilled to return to the grey cloud that is Boston in March.

When I wasn't staring wistfully at the flowers and trying to soak up as much sun as possible, I was touring around local schools and doing my school visit presentation. I think this is the most public speaking I've ever done in 3 days. I visited 5 schools and gave 14 talks to more than 1000 kids.

The last day I was there was the most intense... on Thursday schools were closed due to a bizarre incident on the highway that runs through town. Charlottesville is a pretty peaceful place so it was fairly shocking that someone would sit on the side of the highway and shoot at cars. Fortunately they caught the guy pretty quickly, he was caught on video shooting at a bank awhile back, in a bright orange Gremlin. Did he want to get caught?

Anyways, as a result of the schools shutting down when I was supposed to visit them, I needed to fit two days worth of visits into one. I began on Friday at 8 am and gave 2 presentations at one elementary school. I hopped in my car and drove to a second school and gave another. Then I drove back to the first school and did 2 more talks. Then finally to a third school where I gave one more talk. Normally I don't do more than 4 talks in one day, it was a marathon for sure!

I was greeted by enthusiastic librarians who did a phenomenal job of prepping the kids (so important). One in particular went above and beyond decorating the school before I came:



I don't have many shots of the larger groups I visited, but here is one of me (midsentence of course, ha, pics of me talking are always super nerdy) visiting a Head Start program. This was my first time visiting Head Start, and was a fun reminder of my preschool teaching days (the kids are SO tiny). Here I am making a drawing with some 4 year olds, they came up with this character which they named Tina the Turtle:



Favorite quote from the week:

Me: "Does anyone know what happens when a book gets published?"
First grader, in a sweet southern accent: "They fancy it up!"

Last week I was lucky enough to be a visiting author at the Virginia Festival of the book in Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville is my hometown, so I was extra excited to be invited to visit schools I had actually attended as a grade schooler. One librarian actually remembered my attendance at her school, over TWENTY years ago! Amazing!

I can't say enough how well organized and interesting the festival was, the organizers kept me up to date on my schedule and all the events like the pros they are, and I was amazed at how many events they managed to pack into 5 days! There were lectures and events nearly every hour of the day... including talks by a writer of the HBO show The Wire (which is breathtaking if you haven't seen it), and veteran journalist Helen Thomas. I highly recommend the festival both to other authors, and any teachers or educators interested in learning about all aspects of books and publishing.

Here are some pics from my visit to St.Anne's Belfield Elementary last Friday. My dad is a professional photographer and got some great shots...

Starting with a slide show:



Kids are invited to compare sketches to paintings:



Here I am drawing a character the kids created (a flying, knitting monkey):



One of my favorite parts of visiting schools is when the talk is over and kids rush up to ask a question or tell me about a book they've made or just say hi. Because I told them all about my work, they want to tell me about theirs, its a nice way to tie everything together...

This weekend I was invited to visit the lovely Portland, Maine for the Lunch Box series, a monthly event that brings authors and illustrators to the city to speak with kids about their work. The event is organized by Curious City, a fabulous company that comes up with creative ways to get books in kid's hands. They were a pleasure to work with and orchestrated the event like real pros!



My presentation covered a little about where I grew up and why I became an artist, then showed the kids some art and talked about technique. The event really focused on process (these kids know a LOT about books!)... after my talk everyone took part in an art activity based around how I make my illustrations. See below a kiddo's gorgeous version of Francine, from my book Francine's Day. Note the very sophisticated "cross-hatching" technique used on the shirt!



The kid below is the cutest. After I did a demonstration of how I draw Francine, the kids were invited to come up and color her in. This one could barely reach but was very creative!



All in all a great event, and a needed break from my deadline inspired hibernation!