Thank you so much Krysten! I had a wonderful time visiting Lobbestael!

I had so much fun reading my book, The Fanciest Flower, to four different classes of preschoolers at the Early Childhood preschool in Portage, Michigan! They loved the silliness of the story and were quick to giggle about everything from the fork on the cover to the spaghetti on the last page. As I read, we talked about the different kinds of flowers mentioned throughout the book. Many of them were familiar, like roses, lilies, and tulips. Others were brand new to some, like

My second stop in Portage, Michigan, was West Middle School. The 6th graders I talked to were just as much fun as their peers at North Middle School. I gave them the same presentation, starting with different ways an artist can make money (advertising, licensing work for products, collaborating with content creators, etc.) before moving on to the main topic: writing and illustrating children's books. After reading them my book and telling them a little bit about the process,

I got to talk to my first ever group of 6th graders at North Middle School in Portage, Michigan! I was a little nervous that, as middle schoolers, they might find my presentation (and pants) a little silly, but to my delight they were happy to play along and full of excellent ideas!! I started by talking a little bit about life as an artist. I walked them through different ways I've used my art to make money: working in advertising, licensing for products, partnering with con

I had the pleasure of spending my St. Patrick's Day this year at Lobbestael Elementary in Harrison Township, Michigan. I did two assemblies for about 150 students each, broken up into two groups. The first group was Kindergarten, first and second grade. The second group was third, fourth, and fifth grade. We had so much fun! For the younger kids, I started by talking a little bit about what it's like to be an author and illustrator. I showed them some early work (a book I wro

I had so much fun doing my first in-person author visit at Yacks Elementary in Harrison Township, Michigan! I got to read my picture book, The Fanciest Flower , to the kindergarteners and first graders in their fabulous media center. They loved the story and they were especially impressed by the cartoonishly large prop fork I brought along to go with it. After the reading, the students asked some great questions. My favorite was: “How do you draw the lines perfectly where you

I recently received my first-ever fan art from the wonderful artists at Kent City Elementary! Ms. Bakos read my book, Zilbo’s Forest: What’s Up With That , with her special education class, and afterward the students created their own artwork inspired by the story. They even added word and thought balloons in the same comic style as the book. It’s exciting to see students connect with a story and then turn around and create something of their own. I’m looking forward to them

A little over a month after the publication of my first book, Zilbo's Forest: What's Up With That , I had the chance to visit a preschool class at The Brownstone School over Zoom! I read them the story and then opened the floor for questions. It was so much fun seeing kids react to the book for the very first time. They were excellent listeners and had some truly great questions. Some wanted to know how I came up with the story. Others were curious about how the characters go