Visiting the Episcopal Lower School in Little Rock, AK, I got to present in the room below. It’s a former mega-church purchased by the school some years ago and now used as their auditorium. (It was a little bigger than the libraries where I usually present.) Great fun!
A whole wall of Backbeard outfits spotted at a recent visit to Coles Elementary in New Jersey!
Inspired by my books Even Monsters Need Haircuts and Even Aliens Need Snacks, the students at Hubbard Elementary in New Jersey took it upon themselves to create some even better sequels:
A library full of floating aliens and crazy pirate costumes awaited me at Richard E. Byrd Elementary in Glen Rock, NJ today…
Check out these two cool Benjamin Franklinstein posters made by talented artists at Harrison Avenue Elementary…
Just before Christmas I had the chance to travel out to the tri-cities area in the southern part to Washington state to visit a bunch of schools. The landscape was not at all what I imagine when I think of Washington.
Everyone was so warm and welcoming, I really felt at home the whole time I was there. I visited fourteen schools and saw about ten thousand kids. (My apologies if I don’t remember all your names.) Check out some of these crazy aliens they made:
And just in case I run into some writer’s block down the road, the students at Marcus Whitman Elementary made me this amazing book of inspirational starting points, including story ideas about yetis, flying pigs, and kung foo cats. I’ll never run out of ideas again!
A really fun visit to J.D. George Elementary today, where I was blown away by the amazing preparations. These kids were ready for the visit! Just a few of the terrific projects below…
Mrs. Collins’ dessert is better than the illustration!
A real live Ben Franklinstein “Are Dogs From Mars?” science fair entry
A life-sized alien snack stand made by the 6th graders
Over the last two weeks I’ve had some terrific visits to Coxsackie Elementary, Penn Yan Elementary, Ginther Elementary and Rensselaer Park. Each one was special in its own way, and I wish I had time to give a full report. My thanks to everyone at those schools who worked so hard to make the visits a success. Here are just two highlights:
At Penn Yan Elementary they built a giant Backbeard puzzle, then added pieces to it every day, gradually revealing the secret of who was coming to visit.
And at Rensselaer Park Elementary students each created bookmarks. All the bookmarks were then assembled into a giant bookmark collage. (Click the picture below to get the full effect.)
At each school I discovered incredible projects and amazing artwork. What a welcome!
Monday I visited Lake Avenue Elementary in Saratoga, NY. It was a great visit, and one of the highlights for me was the fact that they still had their old card catalog. Even better, a bunch of my older books were still in it!
Finding my card in the drawer is an experience I haven’t had in a long time…
This Friday I visited Miller Hill Sand Lake Elementary in Averill Park, NY and enjoyed managed to choke down one of the most disgusting lunches I’ve ever eaten. The fifth grade had a contest to design food that aliens might enjoy, and some of them went so far as to actually cook their creations.
There were black egg-like things, dripping eyeballs, green brain matter, and stuff no one could quite identify. I sampled (nearly) everything, and forty-eight hours later my stomach hasn’t sprouted any strange, alien creatures. I take that as a good sign.
Thanks to everyone at MHSL for the fun vista and the delicious disgusting lunch. I hope we can do it again sometime!
Check it out – a real life Benjamin Franklinstein Scott Weaver potato battery spotted at Hardy Oak Elementary in San Antonio!
Also, a real Cousin Ernie-style bandolier belt with tools, batteries, and Tootsie Rolls:
And Angela Wilbrant’s science fair project, Are Dog’s From Mars?
Such a nice welcome at Tuscany Heights Elementary today: a wall of “McElligott’s Creatures” featuring all manner of aliens and monsters inspired by my books. Made my day!
Just finished a really fun day/evening visit to A.W. Becker Elementary in Selkirk, NY, where the kids and teachers went all out. The big theme of the day was the magnum opus the boy cooks in Even Aliens Need Snacks, a dish he calls “galactic pudding.”
When I drew the picture for the book, I never imagined anyone would ever try to recreate it for an author brunch, but that’s exactly the challenge that Ms. Westerfeld from the school cafeteria took on. You can see the original and her interpretation below.
In addition, there were alien/monster cupcakes and galactic pudding (with grape eyeballs) for everyone who ordered a school lunch that day. All this was inspired by some terrific artwork by the kids. My thanks to Ms. Mulligan, Ms. Westervelt, Ms. Defeo, and the PTA for all their work pulling it all together!
Love this poster from Pine Road Elementary near Philadelphia, where I spent two fun days this week. I also had a chance to finally visit a bunch of real locations from the Benjamin Franklinstein books. You can read all about that here.
At Calvin U. Smith Elementary the kids made 256 paintings of cakes (mimicking the elephant in The Lion’s Share) and hung them up all around the library. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Later, we had an evening program at the library and a bunch of teachers put on a Lion’s Share play. They dressed up in costumes and used the cake paintings to help tell the story. It was a great night, and between 200 – 300 parents and kids showed up for the event. What a night!
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