Yes, I am available for author visits to your school—virtually or in-person for 2022!

Stories are everywhere, you just have to be open to inspiration.

This is my message to students learning to write as well as those who have been writing for years. After my program, their blank pages will magically disappear. My goal is to get your students excited about writing and reading!

I can tailor a program to meet your specific educational needs, or you can choose from these workshops/presentations:

♦ Day in the Life
A humorous look at this pajama-wearing author’s daily kidlit escapades. I suggest a PJ Day for the school and I will visit in mine!

♦ Storystorm
Based upon my popular annual Storystorm writing challenge, these are brainstorming and idea-generating exercises to expand your students’ imaginations and help them create exciting stories.

♦ From Lightbulb to Nightlight
How a picture book is made, from first idea to finished book.

♦ Language Lollapalooza
Explore uncommon, tongue-twisting words (like those from my popular list of 500+ fun, cool & interesting words) and expand vocabulary through word games like “Crashwords!”

♦ How-to-Write Fractured Fairytales
I show students how fairytales can serve as the base for their stories and how writers can inject existing stories with their own personal style.

♦ Customondo
 I can tailor a program to fit your needs/curriculum–on just about any area related to reading and writing.

Plus…An Author’s Tea!
At every visit, I offer students the opportunity to have lunch or snack with me by winning a contest I create for the school. Since I won’t be there in-person, this can be a small virtual Q&A period with a few lucky students!

Presentations run 40-60 minutes including a Q&A period.

If you’re not doing whole-school or in-person assemblies, I can speak to classes individually. I can offer up to 6 presentations in one day for virtual events—and they can be a mix of any the options in blue above.

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My pitch, volume and pace is student-approved!

Recommended grade range for school visits is Pre-K thru 8th grade.

I offer readings of my picture books. Schools can pre-order copies for their students and I’ll sign and personalize each one…or send book plates. I can help with this via my local bookstore, The Bookworm in Bernardsville, NJ.

Please inquire at tarakidlit (at) gmail (dot) com for fees, availability, and to discuss your specific needs.

Educator resources:

skypevisits

Yes, I can do Skype (or Zoom or other video service) Visits! Free visits are 15-20 minutes long and I do them in my JAMMIES! Your class can guess the pajamas I will wear: hot cocoa, ice skates, conversation hearts, purple owls, or Scottie dogs. I do a magic trick, read a book and answer a few questions. It’s loads of fun! Book me now by emailing tarakidlit (at) gmail (dot) com.

I do Skype visits in my jammies--whichever kind the kids pick. This time it was ice skate jammies!

Teacher/Librarian testimonials:

“Wow. We sure enjoyed your Skype. One of our all-time favorites. You were so much fun. Thank you!”

“Thanks from the bottom of our feetie pajamas! Everyone in our school loves Monstore, and it was really cool to have you bring it to life!”

“Wow, I have a tough act to follow the next time I read a story. It was terrific listening to you read. Our fifth graders learned so much about writing and publishing.”

“Our grade 8 class had the joy of having Tara present a session on brainstorming. Tara’s session was engaging, funny and interactive. Our students readily began creating and building their own children’s story with the activities that Tara had provided. As a teacher, I was so impressed with the amount of students sharing their ideas and story writing after our session with Tara. We appreciated Tara’s unique perspective and approach to writing. We are very much looking forward to our 2nd session on story structure.”

“My kids thoroughly enjoyed the visit and have been talking about the day the author came to visit our smartboard ever since.”  Read more here. 

Author Laura Sassi recaps one of my virtual author visits—take a look!

And remember, I do Skype visits in my jammies! The kids guess which ones!

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Email: tarakidlit (at) gmail (dot) com