Utah Children's Writers and Illustrators: Authors/Illustrators Available for School Visits

Invite any of the following authors or illustrators to visit your school

Caralyn and Mark Buehner

Our presentations demonstrate the creation of a picture book. We cover the writing process, editing, planning the design of the book, thumbnail sketching, book dummies, and creation of the art. We use visuals, slides, white boards or paper (for drawing), and finish with reading (and showing slides) of our work. For more information, please call Mark at 801 467 1565.

Living the life of a writer: keeping a journal
Writing poetry
Reading like a writer/learning how to write from writers
Conferencing about our writing: learning to listen to our students talk about their writing

Finding Ideas for Writing Fiction and Nonfiction
Blending Fact and Fiction: How to Write Historical Fiction
Rules for Writers: general guidelines for writing for publication
The Murder of Emmett Till: a presentation on the Emmett Till case and its role in the Civil Rights Movements
How I Work as a Writer: a presentation about my writing process and some of the books I've written

Writing is Cool. I use overheads and examples and talk about the 6 major reasons why writing is really cool. I also read and talk about my books and stories, and use that as a springboard for talking about their own writing.
Where Do Ideas Come From?
Why So Many Drafts?
My Life as a Writer.
How to Write an A+ Term Paper.
Word Magic. I read and talk about my books and stories and talk about how kids can write their own stories.
I use my books and stories as a springboard for talking to kids about their own writing

I will do assemblies or individual classes, 4th grade and up. I talk about fairy tales, fantasy and sci fi, or what a writer does, and can (with individual classes), do writing exercises or help brainstorm a class story. Speaking fees vary.

Reading the book & talking about writing it.
A writer's life
Recording your life- keeping a journal
Concept Books (alphabet, counting, color, and shape books)- How to use them, Getting students to write them, Which ones are good choices to read to students? how teachers can use them to get students to write about their curriculum.
Writing workshops with a class- designed around the class studies

I do school visits for older elementary and up. I teach how to write your own fairy tale and will read and make comments on student papers, then return them to the teacher for revision. I can also do a follow-up visit on revision.

Mike Knudson

Interactive, humorous assembly on the writing process with focus on brainstorming and editing/revising.
Workshops on editing/revising

What's Your Dream? An entertaining interactive presentation about the hard work, perseverance, and determination it takes to follow your dreams. I discuss my own journey to publication (using humorous .gifs), but make it applicable to ALL dreams. It's an inspirational presentation about the power of dreaming big and working hard to make those dreams come true. Appropriate for upper elementary school - high school.
I also offer presentations on World Building, "So you want to write a book", and many others. I can tailor a presentation to your needs.

I talk about illustrating picture books to just about all ages. Contact me for more information on my presentations at smeidell@burgoyne.com or visit my website.

The Inner Extraordinary:" Appropriate and adaptable for any age, Jennifer helps the students understand what it takes to succeed, and shows how everyone has something extraordinary within themselves.
Creating Characters: An academic, interactive presentation that helps children create their own characters and prepares them to write a story featuring their own character.
The Writing Process: An academic presentation about the steps from idea to finished manuscript
Contact Jennifer at jen@jennielsen.com for more information about scheduling a visit.

The Illustration Process, I'll leave a drawing with the school/class
I read the books and talk to kids and talk more in depth about/show some illustration process, have them do a creative imagining exercise with me, and leave a drawing with the school/class

I enjoy visiting elementary schools and up, both intimate classroom settings and school assemblies. I'm open to presentation topics, and some of my most recent include: The Life of an Author, Different Kinds of Writers, How to Write a Book, Researching for Nonfiction and Fiction, and The Sirens of Greek Mythology (which my first YA, The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, is based upon).

Art of the Imagination: How to create art from our imaginations; I leave a drawing or painting with the class
The Art & Science of Drawing Dinosaurs: I explain the process of creating realistic dinosaur art based on fossils and scientific theory; I leave a drawing or painting with the class
Creating art from your favorite stories: I discuss my process for picking and drawing "dramatic moments" in a manuscript. I leave a drawing or painting with the class.

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