On my mind this week:
I’m getting ready for World Read Aloud Day next week when I’ll be virtually visiting classrooms from New York to New Mexico. If you’re an author or illustrator I’m sharing some tips below on how to have a great virtual visit.
I love this from James Clear’s newsletter:
"You should always be rooting for the people you know. Not only because you may need their support tomorrow, but also because it feels good to celebrate something.
Celebration can rescue your day—even if it is someone else's victory. Envy will ruin your day—even if you're actually winning." - James Clear
I hope it’s clear how much I agree with this, I’m passionate about celebrating my kidlit friends and community. I love my in-person and online kidlit communities, especially 12x12. If you’re a picture book creator, I highly recommend becoming a member. Locally, we show up to launch events and story times. It makes such a difference to see friendly faces in the audience.
I met most if not all of my local writing community through SCBWI but also from going to local events and getting to know the authors.
We covered Using Lyrical Writing To Light Up Your Manuscript on Kidlit Survival Guide this week for paid subscribers. You can see what we have planned the next few months here.
Just a reminder that I’ll be at Linden Tree Books on Feb 4th at 11am with Stephanie Wildman. Preorder her book and bring your kids along for story time to hear us both read.
Tip of the Week
As it’s World Read Aloud Day next week, here are some tips on how to have a great virtual visit with classrooms.
Look at the camera not the screen - I have heard some people put googly eyes either side of the camera so they look at it!
This can be tricky remotely but to engage kids, see if there’s something you can do that is interactive like ask for a show of hands or do another action that goes with your books.
Check your set up (background especially) and lighting in advance and even use a second device to try a run through to see how everything looks on camera.
I have my picture book on slides so I don’t have to try and angle it in shot while holding it up to the screen.
I have the teacher in the room call on kids for me to ask questions and they usually come up to the camera or the teacher relays them.
I’d love to hear your tips for presenting remotely to kids.
Happy writing,
Christine
Christine, I'm finally playing catch up with all I have going on and I have to say, this note is spot on for the topics covered here. Especially, showing up and supporting each other, not because you want anything back, but to just genuinely be there for someone else. Because we ALL suffer from imposter syndrome no matter how far along we are in our careers. Seeing familiar faces and creatives who believe in us and admire our work, makes a big difference. And loved your WRAD tip share too!
It is so hard to keep kids engaged over a screen but I think anything that grabs their attention is great, adding bits where they can make a noise or join in with the story is so great. One of our Spanish teachers used to get them to draw or paint along with some stories too or simple paper puppets to create more atmosphere which we really enjoyed.