CREATING BOOKS

FOR

YOUNG TIMETRAVELERS

 

 

“…an exciting, educational, entertaining day.” 

                    Traci Henning, Roosevelt Elementary School, Hays, Kansas

 

“…the only funny assembly we’ve had all year.”

                    genuine school kid named Bryce

 

“Cheryl’s presentations combine history, art, and humor as she talks about  writing and illustrating her books. She does a wonderful job of holding the interest of children and adults alike.”   Professor Naomi Williamson

                                                            Children’s Literature Festival Director

                                                            University of Central Missouri

 

 

When I come into a school, my intention is to reinforce the teachers' message: achievement is within their students' grasp if only they will engage themselves in the process. In doing so, they'll be so much more alive. Creativity is more than a generous muse switching on the light. It's the showing up and following through. So I tell about the search and the research, the writing and the rewriting, the drawing & the painting. I’ll bring along my smudged, scotch-taped, cut-up rough drawing, the marked-up revisions and my banged-up, lucky paint box, too.

 

My GOAL is for everyone, including myself, to have a day packed full of serious fun and come away inspired to, as totally-handsome, dead actor, Laurence Olivier once said, "Serve life with what you do best."  

 

 

• Will I draw pictures? Play my harmonica? Probably!

• Will I engage kids' imagination? Answer questions? Absolutely.

 • Give writing tips? Sign books? You bet!

My 45-50 minute talk is a mixture of humor, bookbiz, and history, mine and the nation's. After all, history is so much more than a load of factoids. A historical understanding gives you a lofty vantage point from which you can see how & why we all got to our modern world. It gives meaning to our surroundings.

 

I adapt my program to suit the level of my audience, whether they be wiggly kindergarteners or worldly-wise 6^th graders. And too, I'm plenty happy to talk with older scholars as well as their teachers* and other assorted grownups.

 

*Teacher INSERVICE

(Please note that Title 1 grants fund such professional development.)

 

Teaching the Social Studies: Making it Fun & Keeping it Real

 Come to one of my dynamic and motivational two-hour, half-day, or all-day workshops for educators of students in grades K-6. If you do, you and as many as 80 of your colleagues will have gained:

• Hands-on experience with quick, attention-grabbing projects and activities sure to inject fun and knowledge into your classroom. 

• Fresh social studies-related writing activities.

• A folder full of hand-outs, coloring pages, and puzzles.

• An introduction to nonfictions books (especially mine! C.H.) as a resource for you and your students AND as good reads. 

 

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