![]() ![]() Whenever I give a paid speech to organizations or conferences, I like to talk to classes or groups of kids in the area. ![]() I leave them giggling about flushy toilets. ![]() And I finished up with a reading of More Spaghetti, I Say! and a rhyming game: Cats are silky cows are_. I also talked about how books are made: first words, then illustrations (in my case, by a separate illustrator). I always say something about the importance of cooperation in making things happen. Minnie tries all the advice (singing, spotting herself, gluing on feathers, making wings), but she keeps flopping…until all the animals come together and catch her in a sheet. When I read the book, Why Can’t I Fly?, they eagerly repeated the refrain, “I can fly, I can fly, I can flop,” with Minnie the monkey who is trying to fly by following the advice of a host of flying creatures: a bluebird, a canary, a ladybug, a duck, and a butterfly. ![]() And they giggled when I talked about the dance of the blue-footed boobies. The kids, from toddlers to fourth graders, were wonderfully attentive as I squawked (and got them to squawk) like a Galapagos frigate bird looking for a mate, with his basketball-sized red “balloon” under his beak. It was part of the library’s summer program. I am writing as I return from giving a talk to kids at the Coquille, Oregon public library: about my life, my books, and the incredible world out there that I hope they will discover in the years to come. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |