A typical 1 day school visit includes 3 presentations. The first session provides an inter-active presentation to the K-1 students and lasts approximately 45 minutes. A second presentation to Grades 2-3 would last about 1 hour. A final session for the older students (Grades 4-6) also would last one hour. At the conclusion of each presentation, a participative 15 minute Question & Answer session is provided. As a practice, a special lunch is organized to “eat and chat” with those special students who are either interested in writing or who have won a school contest on –Why I would like to have lunch with an author?

Grades 1 and 2

This session teaches the importance of learning about the geography and history of our country state by state. Using the alphabet as a model I encourage students to write an alphabet book of their state. It is a wonderful model for creative writing as the alphabet is a familiar medium to use. This opens the door for journal writing, reading and research.
I use stories of adventures I have had and how writing is an adventure for everyone.
I use some of the frames from my books in a PowerPoint presentation. The Q & A session is very important. The questions are usually sincere, very honest and often extremely humorous.

Grades 3-6

This is a high energy presentation with strong group participation. I lead the students through the process of creative writing. Using The Scholastic Book of Rhyming, I teach the importance of metering thus creating poems that tell a story. We discuss where we find our ideas, do we get them right first time, is it easy to rhyme and what tools do we use and how do we know when words sound right? I then lead the discussion into exploring our country and its history through a series of questions.

(Included in all sessions)

The process in the art of bookmaking. We discuss ideas, writing, proof reading, the artists work, spread sheets, and how finally the book is bound and put together. The students are fascinated with this, as many do not have a clue of how a book is made. Also included are samples of alphabet books from other state schools.

Kindergarten Visit

I highlight the visuals in the books and read some of the rhyming lines.

Honorarium & Expense Reimbursement

As you may know, many children’s authors and illustrator’s school visit fees range well above $1500/day. Due to my long standing commitment to bring experience and knowledge into the classroom, I’ve have maintained my honorarium at a minimum level of $750/day. In addition to this fee, travel and accommodations are charged to the school (see contract details). In addition, if your school is within a 200 mile radius of my home (Holly Springs, North Carolina) I will drive and charge mileage and an overnight stay. Consecutive school day visits within the same district are available at a reduced fee.

Looking forward to visiting your school.

Sincerely,
Carol Crane
165 Lumina Place
Holly Springs, NC 27540
ccranelit@aol.com

The following is a letter I have received from a teacher and would like to share it with you:

"March, 2006

Dear Mr. James,

I've always had a dream of having an author come to our school. And I think you can make my dream come true. I think it would be great for the kids of our school.
For one thing, having an author come to our school would make us kids better writers than we already are. I mean, if kids need help with their writing having an author coming to our school could help them. When I was little I didn't know I could write anything I wanted until some one with writing experience told me I could. Maybe there are kids here with the same problem I had. We could easily fix that by having an author come to our school. By doing this we can help out with everyone's writing."

This is a picture of me from a visit to a school where I met a student author. She will have her name on a book one of these days.