catching up on school visits: Friends at the Friends School!

I (like all authors & illustrators) spend a lot of time alone writing and drawing and I always have to fight the small doubts that whisper: Does this matter? Will anyone care?  

But, when I visit schools and meet the enthusiastic readers of my books those doubts are so, so happily squashed. The joy of seeing my books well-loved is really the fuel that makes my finish my books.  Just the memory of it is like having a team cheering you on.  

And one recent visit was particularly nourishing. Many years ago, I received a letter from a teacher, Felix Chen. It was so long ago, I don't even remember what he said or what I replied! But I do remember after hearing about my book-in-progress, he even sent me photos from his trips to Taiwan so that I could use for reference  as well as telling me some of his humorous experiences there. It was so helpful that I thanked him in my book Dumpling Days:

I think he was the one who told me about the puppies in the vending machine at the night market!

We continued to correspond and last year I was so thrilled when he told me his third class had put on their own Where the Mountain Meets the Moon play.  So I was over the moon (so to speak) when this past May, I was able to visit his school! It was a red letter day!

Or maybe I should say it was rainbow-lettered day, for the welcome sign was an artistic thing of beauty:

Do you notice how each letter is made into something inspired by my books:

And the sign was adorned by incredible projects:

Welcome to the City of Bright Moonlight!

the giant toad in Starry River of the Sky!

And that was just when I walked though the door! The hallways were hung with more incredible art!

mixed-media portraits of characters from my book!

The King's Garden from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (the King & Minli are sculpted figures!)

Classrooms did group projects:

the Kindergarten made a collaborative mural!

isn't it beautiful?

The third grade made puppets of everyone who was in  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon :

including the author!

it's quite flatter, I think!

For another collaborative project, one grade made the Village of Moon Rain:

Each student made their own hut, which they put together for the village:

 

complete with a mountain cave:

where Minli & Dragon hid! Do you see the well where the Green Tiger met his demise?

When I walked into the third grade classroom, I was a little surprised to see they were all playing board games.  But when I looked closer, I saw they were all playing student-made games--all inspired by my books!

A Year of the Rat board game!

a  "Minli's journey" board game!

I loved all their "danger cards." This one says, "The monkeys attack you! Move back three spaces!"

There was even a Where the Mountain Meets the Moon chess set:

Look at the neat game pieces:

Do you recognize the characters? I see A-fu, A-gong, the Green Tiger and A-fu!

and the buffalo boy, buffalo, Minli, the Old Man of the Moon, Ma & Ba!

I was so excited to see some the costumes from last year's play on display that I asked if I could see some of the students wear them. 

In reply, they just led to the auditorium where I saw this:

Yes! It was an encore of last year's show, just for me:

I think they gave the professional show a run for their money!

the incredible cast of actors and actresses!

It was an amazing day! I'll always remember it!

incredible-teacher Felix Chen & I as a couple of Ugly Vegetables! They made these awesome cut-outs, too!

Thank you so much, my friends at the Abington Friends School!

how does our garden grow?

The weather has been a yo-yo--warm to cold, dry to wet; and the garden, much to Rain Dragon's chagrin, been slow to grow:

The daily inspections have been a disappointment to her:

and it seemed we were much better at growing clover than anything else:

But, finally, the garden has begun to improve:

And one day... 

The start of tomatoes!

catching up with some school visits: Augusta Baker's Dozen Storytelling Celebration

And then, back in April, I was in Columbia, SC where southern hospitality was on display the moment I stepped in to my hotel room:

  

Hey, notice what that basket is on?

Yes, that was me and my work on wall those posters and postcards and magazine covers:

Because, I was featured author for  the Augusta Baker's Dozen: A Celebration of Stories, an amazing program in its 29th year. 

oh, did I mention, they also made buttons?

My favorite part of the program is that on one of the days, they bus in 4th graders from surrounding schools for a storytelling speed date! 

Dozens of storytellers set up around the garden of a historic home and students, broken up into groups, go from one storyteller to the next for ten minute each (they hear from three different storytellers in total).

It's really amazing!  

By the end, the kids are clamoring to tell their own stories--even telling them to each other as they walk to the bus.

But that was only part of the program. The other part was centered around the work of yours truly!

I thought this fish pond was a very creative idea!

kids decorated their own fish to put in the pond

And there were lots of dragons:

drawn dragons! 

this one was created by kid-painted paper plates and streamers

this was made out of kids' handprints

hand prints decorated to make the scales

this one was hung so high that I'm not sure how they made it!

even origami dragons!

And speaking of origami, there were lots of paper crafts like:

lanterns!

and fortune cookies!

There was even a puppet show featuring my books (I'm hoping to get the script and make it available on my website for anyone interested): 

dancing dim sum!

Dragon and Pacy!

Pacy's family!

After all this effort, I was relieved that a good crowd came to my talk:

 

I think it was a great event, though I really can't take too much credit for it. The kudos really go to all the hard-working librarians, administrators, volunteers! 

A few of the many people responsible for this awesome event! 

Thanks so much, Richland Library!

catching up with some school visits: One Book, One Read in TX!

Another great visit I don't want to forget was in Houston, TX, where two schools chose Where the Mountain Meets the Moon as their One Book, One School Read title.  

Can I tell you how much I LOVE when schools do this? It's my absolute favorite thing when a whole school reads my book. I admit I get a bit disheartened when Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is pigeon-holed as "ethnic," but when it's used for programs such as these my faith is restored.  

Because, I truly believe that my books are for everyone and anyone can enjoy them, not just for those that look like me. And when my book is chosen for a program such as this, I get to to see and really know that all the kinds of students--boys and girls of ALL races--- enjoy my book and it's wonderful. It's the difference between believing and knowing. 

And these schools were awesome!  First there was the welcome:

isn't that so sweet?

One school had t-shirts of the book made:

I'm holding a special origami book that these students made me, all decorated with compliments about the book!

And then there were the projects:

 

Each student made their family connected together by a red string!

bulletin boards that showed everyone reading the book and where they read it!

And students re-illustrated the cover of the book (I'm only showing two that I picked randomly--there were so many!):

 

 

And because it was a school-wide read, the school made discussion questions to help the students follow along (by the way, I'm planning to have a copy of their discussion guides available online at my website in the future, in case other schools would like it as a resource).  I have to admit, I loved seeing how the youngest grades answer!

I think this is a first grader's! All the answers are quite correct! 

I am told this is a kindergartner's! I am impressed!

It was such an honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to be chosen for these schools' One Book, One School Read programs! Thank you so much, Harvard and Travis Elementary!