I Love To Visit Schools!
It is a privilege and a responsibility. And it's fun! I am currently booking schools for 2024-2025 school year. I may already be coming to your area!
Presentations:
.My aim is always to inspire students to be excited about reading and writing by emphasizing nature, animals and adventure and using stories from my life (and visual aids that include dog booties and Eskimo yo-yos) to personalize my talks. I cover a whole range of topics, from the Iditarod Sled-Dog Race to chasing whales. I talk about where my ideas come from, and the importance of research and accuracy in writing. I tailor my presentations for groups of any age and size. Since I rely heavily on Keynote presentations as visual aides, please make sure that the room can be darkened for better viewing. Also, because I am such an animated and energetic speaker (no kidding, I am!), I must limit my presentations to a maximum of 3 per day. However, I would prefer to tailor my time to fit your school's needs. Sometimes two assemblies (one for the little kids, and another for the big kids) and a series of question and answer sessions is more personal. Many teachers feel the smaller the assembly the better, but I can easily keep a room of 800 motivated and entertained, because, trust me, they LIKE this stuff!
Book Sales and Ordering:
Students generally get more out of my visit if they are familiar with my books beforehand. I am happy to offer a 30% discount to schools. Please pre-order books from me at least 6 weeks in advance. You can use this form to fill out and email your order to me. The books will be drop shipped from my publisher directly to you. For the 30% discount rate, have parents' and students' checks for book orders made out to your school, and then write me one check. If your school sells out of books, you can order more, even after my visit. (These books can also be personalized.)
Book Signings:
Kids love to have their books autographed by the author and I love to be able to do this for them. I am more than willing to sign books the day of my visit if time is available for an autographing session. If we run out of time, I'll sign books in the evening after my visit.
Student Preparation:
Finally, traveling all over the country, I've had the opportunity to see just how creative schools can be in managing their author visits. In one school, I was met by a bevy of bears: brown, white and black; at another the band played songs from Thunderfeet while the 1st graders, in full dinosaur regalia, escorted me to the gym. At another, bulletin boards shouted the themes of snow, Arctic animals, etc. while another school organized "dog sled races" on their track, even though it was a sunny California day! The point is, since we all want to get kids excited about reading, we need to become Reading Wackos!
What Others Say:
Click here to read what teachers and school administrators have said about working with Shelley.
If you'd like your students to get a taste of what it's like to have an adventurous spirit while they learn about the environment at the same time, contact us about scheduling a visit from Shelley.