Author Visits

I really enjoy visiting schools and libraries to talk with kids. For details about scheduling and fees, please send me an email with your name, phone number, and email address, as well as the name of your school and its location.

I tailor my presentations to fit the grade level of an audience. They generally run 30 to 40 minutes long, with an additional 10 to 15 minutes for questions. For illustrated presentations, I will need a projection screen and a projector that can handle a Power Point presentation. Please let me know if you have any special requests: I am happy to modify a program to suit your needs.

Presentations for elementary and middle school students:

• THE BIG THAW: EXPLORING CLIMATE CHANGE
• BREATHING LIFE INTO BIOGRAPHIES
• MEET A MIRACLE WORKER, ANNIE SULLIVAN
• MEET ALBERT EINSTEIN
• MEET THOMAS EDISON
• LOOKING FOR HEROES?

THE BIG THAW: EXPLORING CLIMATE CHANGE!
Based on my book Earth in the Hot Seat: Bulletins from a Warming World, this program is all about climate change: what's causing it, how it's affecting our planet and its inhabitants (from people to polar bears to tree frogs to cherry blossoms), and ways that each of us can help keep global warming from tumbling out of control.

In this program, I explain the phenomenon of and the science behind global warming, using real-life examples. I also explore the challenges—and the opportunities—presented by climate change. The tone of the program is serious but upbeat and is intended to inspire kids to care about the planet. We all have a part to play in bringing Earth's changing climate under control. Kids are encouraged to share their own ideas for protecting our planet.

In this presentation I also talk briefly about how I became an author and the special challenges of researching this book to get the science straight and to ensure that the facts and figures were up to date. (During the eight months I worked on the book, for example, Glacier National Park lost two more glaciers.) I conclude with tips for young writers and leave time for kids to ask questions about my books, writing, and the publishing process.

BREATHING LIFE INTO BIOGRAPHIES
Kids get the inside story on researching and writing a biography from the book author's perspective, with an emphasis on ways to breathe life into a person's story. I include examples from my own biographies of Annie Sullivan, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison, including some of the quirky facts about these people that fascinated me and found their way into my books. I talk about how I became an author, how I do my research, and how I approach the writing process. I also talk about the curious relationship that grows between me and the person I'm writing about, the way I practically live with her or him for many months or even a year. I conclude with tips for young writers and leave time for kids to ask questions about my books, writing, and the publishing process.

MEET A MIRACLE WORKER
Based on my book Helen's Eyes, this presentation introduces kids to two of the most fascinating and courageous women in American history: Annie Sullivan, one of the greatest teachers ever, and her famous student, Helen Keller. Kids will be captivated and inspired by the story of these extraordinary women.

Imagine having to sleep in a room where dead bodies were stored! This happened to nine-year-old Annie Sullivan and her brother Jimmie on the first night they spent in the poorhouse in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Annie lived in the poorhouse for four more years, and she didn't even start school until she was 14. But a raging thirst for education led her to succeed, and just six years later she took a job teaching a young blind and deaf girl named Helen Keller. Annie's innovative methods unlocked the world of language for Helen, who went on to inspire the world with her achievements. Annie became known as the "miracle worker." Together, she and Helen made history. They showed the world what a person with severe physical challenges can accomplish and worked to expand educational opportunities for all individuals with disabilities.

In this presentation I also talk about how I became an author and how I researched this book. I conclude with tips for young writers and leave time for kids to ask questions about my books, writing, and the publishing process.

MEET ALBERT EINSTEIN
Based on my book Genius: A Photobiography of Albert Einstein, this presentation introduces kids to the famous scientist whose heart was as big as his brain. Considered the most important of the 20th century, Einstein was also the world's first celebrity scientist. More than a half century after his death, this shaggy-haired scientist who upended traditional notions of time and space is still incredibly popular. Fascinating facts from Einstein's life (you might be surprised at what kind of student he truly was!), along with very basic explanations of his scientific theories, pull kids into the story of the scientist who transformed human understanding of the universe. Einstein's theories also laid the foundation for computers, CD players, laser surgery, and the global positioning system (GPS).

In this presentation I also talk about how I became an author and how I researched this book. I conclude with tips for young writers and leave time for kids to ask questions about my books, writing, and the publishing process.

MEET THOMAS EDISON
In this presentation, based on my book Inventing the Future, kids learn about Thomas Alva Edison, the tireless inventor who invented the first practical light bulb, the phonograph, and the kinetoscope. In so doing, he created the foundation for the modern power grid, the recording industry, and the motion picture industry. Einstein's way of working with a team was the model for the modern research laboratory, which some historians believe was his best invention of all. Filled with fun facts (Edison was granted 1,093 patents, more than any inventor ever!) and anecdotes (Edison nicknamed two of his kids "Dot" and "Dash" after Morse-code symbols), this program emphasizes Edison's "stick-to-it-ivness." As Edison put it, "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."

In this presentation I also talk about how I became an author and how I researched this book. I conclude with tips for young writers and leave time for kids to ask questions about my books, writing, and the publishing process.

LOOKING FOR HEROES?
In American Heroes, which contains "fifty profiles of great Americans who set out, spoke up, stood tall, fought hard, or truly dared to dream," I've tried to give readers the inside story of what it means to be a hero. Many of America's greatest heroes haven't been part of obvious heroic moments in history. Some weren't even heralded in their own time.

Think of Harriet Tubman bravely stealing through the darkness, following the light of the North Star, leading slaves to freedom. Think of Alexander Graham Bell harnessing inspiration to create the telephone—an invention that would change the world in ways he never imagined. Think of Sacagawea with a baby strapped to her back, playing an essential role in an expedition that helped chart America's destiny.

Through fun facts and stories, this program introduces kids to American heroes both famous and less well known and discusses why they are considered heroes. Together, the audience and I explore what it means to be a hero, and how our values—which can change from year to year, decade to decade—determine who we see as heroes. If there's time, we talk about who our own personal heroes are, and why. (One of mine is my eighth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Ellington.)

I also talk briefly about how I researched and wrote this book, and about how the 50 heroes in the book were selected. (I had lots of help deciding who made the cut!) I conclude with tips for young writers and leave time for kids to ask questions about my books, writing, and the publishing process.