In need of a fizzy, inspirational keynote address or presentation for your gathering? How often do you get to hear and see, visit with a harmonica-playing author/illustrator? One who might even show up in period costume?

I¹d be happy to talk about:

CREATING BOOKS FOR YOUNG TIMETRAVELERS The scenic route I took from Laura and Mary on the Prairie by way of a long-ago teaching degree to ending up as writer and illustrator of historical picture books and first-time novelist.
PLUS a show & tell (rough drawings, marked up manuscript, actual paintings:
I bring'em along) whizbang: how I do one of my books, from concept to final
artwork.

PLUS a slide show.

AND if you all have Qs, I've got As.

10 BIG FAT REASONS FOR STUDYING HISTORY
Just in case you (or a student you may know) ever thought that history was
boring, a lively, thought-provoking countdown from someone who makes her
living writing about dead people.

An exciting, entertaining, educational day: that¹s what your students will have when I come to visit your school.

Will I draw pictures? Play my harmonica? Show up in period costume? Probably! I've got a very fetching 18th century gown this year in honor of my new book about Benjamin Franklin.

Will I engage kids' imagination? Answer questions? Give writing tips? Sign books? Share my love of history? You bet! My talk is a mixture of writing, humor, bookbiz, and history, mine and the nation's.

Before I¹m done, I'll show and tell how I research, write, revise, draw, and paint my books and I¹ll inspire more than one young writer or artist, showing them the path to telling stories of their own.

While my audiences are mostly Kindergarten through 6th graders, I'm plenty happy to talk with middle schoolers and high schoolers. How about presentations for gatherings of grownups? Absolutely!

Length:
My program lasts from 45 to 50 minutes - or longer when the Qs & As are flying fast. A half an hour seems to be a fine length of time for the wiggly kindergartners and first graders.

Audience Size:
Smaller groups of students, meeting in a library: this is ideal, but large groups, seated on a nice, comfortable floor in the gym are fine too. Either way, we'll have a jammin' good time.

Additional Programs:
Young Author Conferences and Festivals.
On the day of the school visit [or the night before, depending on travel plans] evening programs are available at no extra charge, for parents, siblings, and community. Writing workshops + handouts for smaller groups.
GET READY
1.   Email me and we can discuss our calendars, yours and mine.
They fill up quickly! Are REFERENCES available? Yes, indeed:
 

Naomi Williamson
Associate Professor Library Services
Central Missouri State University
Director: annual Children’s Literature Festival
James C. Kirkpatrick Library 2444
Warrensburg, MO 64093
ph. 660.543.4306
williamson@libserv.cmsu.edu

Janis Hyland
Northwood Elementary School
433 North Greece Road, Hilton, NY 14468
(585) 392-1000 ext. 4212
jhyland@hilton.k12.ny.us

Joyce MacMurray, library media specialist
Fire Prairie Middle School
24810 East 24 Highway
Independence, MO 64058
816.650.7169
jmcmurray@fortosage.k12.mo.us

Susan Harmon
Librarian - Travis Elementary School
900 East Gist Avenue
Midland, TX 79701
432-689-1544 (school)
seharmon@cox.net

 Jerry J. Mallett, Ed. D.
Director: Mazza Collection
University of Findlay
Findlay, Ohio 45840
ph. 419.424.4560
mallett@findlay.edu

Joan Arth, library media specialist
Andrew Doniphan
Elementary School
1900 Clay
Liberty, MO 64068
816.736.5406
jarth@mail.liberty.k12.mo.us

Pat Perry, Librarian
Scioto Elementary School
20 West Scioto Street
Commercial Point, Ohio 43116
pperry@teays-valley.k12.oh.us
2.   Details: For one day 4 or 5 sessions, depending on the needs of your
school (30 min. for the K-1st graders; 45-50 min. presentations for the older students, up to & including 6th graders), I charge $1400.00 plus travel expenses (no travel expenses in Missouri). An evening presentation for parents, siblings, and neighbors may be available at no extra charge.
3.   BOOKS. To have books available for purchase and signing, you can work with your neighborhood bookstore or go directly to the publishers:
SIMON & SCHUSTER Books for Young Readers
1230 Avenue of the Americas, N.Y., N.Y.  10020
212.698.2300
www.SimonSaysKids.com

The NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
1145 17th Street NW
Washington, D.C.  20036
202.857.7001
www.nationalgeographic.com

HarperCollins Publishers Children's
1350 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
(212) 261 - 6644 phone
(212) 261 - 6925 fax
cara.gavejian@harpercollins.com

Dutton Children's Books
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.penguin.com/youngreaders


Be aware that my books are published by more than one company including Scholastic and Aladdin (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) paperback. To see which book is published by which company, please click to the BOOKS page.
GET SET
1.   The students will get the most out of our day together - and will have
learned a bunch of history and met some some mighty interesting dead people!
- if they've read or heard my books.
2.   These American Historical picture books of mine may be related to
language & composition, art, social studies, and they open doors into our living past.

Students might like to :
  1. design alternative book jackets for my or other subjects/people I've seen some great ones! posters, presidential portraits, a majorly cool White House pop-up book (in Marion, Iowa) and time-lines, too, How about a map of time-space intersections: what ELSE is going on around the world in, say, 1492 or 1865 or 1912?

  2. "become" historical figures and be the subjects of their fellow student "reporters" questions: "Tell me, Mr. President. What did you want to be when you grew up? Where were you born, anyway?" or write a bit of "personal memoir"

  3. write a paragraph, skit, or poem using historical terms such as minuteman, musket, forty-niner, canal, gladiator, redcoat, etc.

  4. I've seen some totally swell drawings and paintings...Pony riders, canalboats, presidents.
I take out my harmonica and here we GO!
1.   Autographing Information:
My books may be ordered from the publishers or through your local bookstore. I won't be bringing or otherwise providing books to be sold, but I'll be glad to sign as many books as you request, including those in your school library's collection. If a book is to be dedicated, a label with the clearly spelled name is mighty helpful.
2.   Set-Up and Equipment Requirements:
(1.) A table for books and other materials.
(2.) A microphone is great to have and if its cord allows the author to move about and interract with the audience, even better. Best of all is a cordless lavalier. If none at all is available, I have a good loud voice.
(3.) A slide projector I'll bring slides in a Kodak carousel. A screen or pale wall, and a room which can be sufficiently darkened. If these are not possible, not to worry. Slides are fun, but my presentation does not depend upon them.
(4.) A sturdy easel and paper, if you'd like for me to draw. I'll bring my own markers and draw an old president or two for you to keep.
3.   It works great for the older students when they've written down their
questions in advance. And I usually save questions for the end of a LOT of pretty lively information on a bit of MY history, pets, where I work, then the step-by-steps of putting a book together. I thread into all of this the COUNTRY's history and why it's worthwhile and interesting to read about dead people. We ARE because they WERE. HISTORY's not WAS - it IS!
A word from me:

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence." That's what President Calvin Coolidge said and it¹s exactly what I want kids to remember. That and the knowledge that

(a.) authors and readers are ONE and
(b.) history is our inheritance, as well as a big fat rich, ongoing, complex drama -- not a bunch of boring factoids about dead people.

When I come into a school, my intention is to reinforce the teachers' message: achievment 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. I show the smudged, scotch-taped, cut-up rough drawing, the marked-up revisions and the banged-up paintbox.

My goal is for everyone, including myself, to have a day packed full of serious fun and come away inspired to, as actor Laurence Olivier (much handsomer than Calvin) once said, "Serve life with what you do best."
What people have said about me....

"...an exciting, educational, entertaining day."
Traci Henning, Roosevelt
Elementary School, Hays, KS

"...the only funny assembly we've had all year."
- Bryce

I try to keep it lively

"She told us about her research and about the parts of the book."
- Megan

"She knows a lot about history."
- R.J.

“She is a regular participant in the Children’s Literature Festival...where she speaks to hundreds of children each day...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...I have watched the children as Cheryl speaks and I can see the
enjoyment on their faces, and they don’t even realize they are receiving valuable information.”
Naomi Williamson
Children’s Literature Festival Director
Central Missouri State University

"She taught us how to make a step by step."
- Candace

“I really like you because you came in costume. Also, you’re not one of those people who say ‘This is a book I wrote. Anyone got any questions?”
Audra

"I liked how she played the harmonica."
- Kathy

"She didn't care how many questions we asked her."
- Zach

"Your visit inspired many young minds, and a few older ones as well!"
- Bette Rakowski, Reading Teacher, Bellamy School, Rome NY

"In a way, you made me want to write my own book."
- Anita

"I liked all of (the) things she did and showed us, she was funny."
-Anna

“...She started her presentation, out came her harmonica and the students were spellbound. It was absolutely silent...Cheryl was able to keep the attention of the various age groups because her program is diverse and moves right along. ...I’ve been to several other authors’ presentations and Cheryl’s is by far the best.”
Linda Cable, teacher
Kansas City, MO school district

Reader Nation by Cheryl Harness (c) 2005

My folks, they were tired
but did that stop'em
from reading me a book every night?
No, into their laps I'd be hoppin'
there we'd be, in a circle of light
from the lamp by my bed
shining out on the page, the chair,
my mom and the top of my head
every night you'd find us there
or else I'd be under the covers,
while my dreams got filled with glories,
monsters and what the pirate discovers
on the islands of my dad's stories.

We didn't have a lot of money
In fact we were kind of poor
but we had books! scary or funny
or sad, thin or thick, on the shelves, on the floor,
biographies, cook books, encyclopedia
histories, mysteries, books that taught you how
to build a boat, sew a coat, even run lots speedier
books about our country, from 1776 til now
books full of dragons & imaginary fairies,
laura, grace, mary and carrie, stuck out on the prairies
piles of magazines and dictionaries


Of course you guessed or you already knowed
lots o'books I'd already read
before first grade, I'd cracked the code
Because my folks filled up my head
with stories, my imagination was well-fed

I'll tell you something else I know for true
That wasn't all books helped me do
They kept me company when I was alone
They taught me almost all I knew
And when my folks were sick and old
I read to them. Words saw them through.

Let books be a part of all of your lives
Dare to be smart, to read and to learn
Don't be ignorant, like a drawer of dull knives
refuse to just smoulder - get out there and burn!
Read all kinds of books, refuse to be dumb!
Join the Reader Nation! World, here we come!
               
         
 

 
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