School Visits

I am available for visits to schools. I present interactive, assembly-style programs on writing and illustration, tailored for each audience's age level.

Inviting an author or illustrator to spend time in your school can play a big part in fostering literacy - and everyone agrees that literacy is vital to every kind of success in life. A well-planned author/illustrator visit can generate an enthusiasm and excitement that will motivate and focus the entire school for many months. Preparations and related activities can begin well before the actual visit, and follow-up activities can continue long after it has taken place - and all of this enthusiasm, excitement, and activity is focused on reading, writing, and books!

I have been writing and illustrating books for young readers for many years, and I have visited hundreds of schools to talk about my work. I have seen first-hand the marvelous excitement about books that my visits have generated. I would enjoy visiting your school.

Please look over the information in this section of my site, and feel free to email me with any questions you may have. I would love to talk with you.

Here's to literacy!

Book a Visit with Wendy Watson

Preparing for Your Visit

About a Visit

I begin by drawing for my audience. As I draw, I invite audience participation - and there is usually lots! Following my audience - suggestions, and explaining my own choices as I go, we together develop a character, invent a setting and situation, and begin a story line. The dialogue between my audience and me is usually lively and thought-provoking, with plenty of spontaneous laughter along the way. We touch on many topics and problems of the creative process as they arise naturally during the demonstration - color theory, portraying emotion and personality, creating a mood, building suspense and tension, making changes, dealing with mistakes, and more.

I then continue to address these same creative problems as I show a series of images, based on one of my titles, that illustrate the process of creating a picture book from beginning to end, including research, writing, and editing; sketches, dummies, and final art; reproduction and binding. For smaller audiences I can augment these images with color proofs, sample bindings, and other visuals.

I finish my program with a time for questions.

My fees are negotiable, based on your school's budget and the number of programs you want me to do.