Barbara and James had never done a solo school event before, but I promised that I would make sure that both they and the students had a great time.
When Barbara and Jim arrived at the school, they were greeted by a sign outside and inside....
Previously, I had arranged for the school to receive 25 copies of The Glitter Trap. The librarian, Ms. Cristina, held a book club and the students who attended the book club were invited to attend the author visit.
It was important that students have a chance to meet and interact with Barbara and Jim. So, I met with them over lunch to discuss ideas. They had made "glitter traps" before and thought that would be a fun activity to do with the students. Barbara is a masterful shopper and must have a secret stash of glitter glue because she came prepared.
James led groups of students as they designed their own glitter traps on paper.
In another area of the room, Barbara had students working on a creative writing activity where they wrote about finding a magical moped and where it would take them. We provided each student with a blank journal which they used for the writing activity and also to redesign the cover of the book.
Another talent of Barbara that results from her resourceful shopping is amazing swag bags with magic wands, and frogs and bookmarks. Since we always have a snack or food at a Literacy Café, I provided popcorn. If you've read the first book, you'll understand the reference.
After the group work, students gathered around with their snacks and asked Jim and Barbara questions. I loved when they asked if it was hard to deal with the paparazzi. Yes, authors really are rock stars to kids.
After the question and answer time, we put Jim and Barbara to work signing all of the books.
Students also asked for their journals to be signed by the awesome writing partners. And of course, more questions were asked while in line.
All of the students had an amazing time visiting with our special guests. And if anyone was wondering, yes, there were actually quite a few boys who participated in the book club and author visit. They were just as excited about the book and the characters in the story and in meeting Jim and Barbara.
Thank you Barbara and Jim for such a fantastic visit and all of your wonderful goodies. You are magical.
For more information about Barbara Brauner and James Mattson and their books check out their website: http://braunermattson.com/
