I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary, just another school visit in small town Pennsylvania. Half the challenge is finding the school, after that it’s a breeze. School visits are fun.


Liberty Bell Elementary was only a little more than an hour drive from my home, so I decided to head out in the morning instead of staying at a hotel. The sun was just beginning to rise as I pulled into the school driveway. As usual, I was two hours early.


I had an inkling this was going to be no ordinary school visit the moment I arrived. At the entrance to the driveway was a welcome sign, the kind of sign you might see in front of a hotel hosting a wedding reception congratulating the bride and groom.  The office staff hadn’t arrived yet, but a teacher let me in. There was no need to explain that I was the visiting author/illustrator. Everybody knew who I was, perhaps because of my mug on the big video screen in the main foyer and the accompanying proclamation that it was ‘Lee Harper Day’! There were also several beautifully painted welcome banners created by Liberty Bell parent, Kristina Bealer.

I was directed to the gymnasium where my assemblies were to be held. Awaiting me was a large easel, a pad of paper, an LCD projector, and a bottle of water just as I’d requested. I connected my laptop, plugged in my Targus clicker and fired up the PowerPoint. The tech guy arrived with the wireless mike. We checked the sound. Everything worked perfectly.


The reason I always arrive so early to a school visit is in case I get lost, or if there are any glitches with the audiovisual equipment. When all goes well I use the extra time to draw a picture to leave with the school. This drawing is also something I work on later as the children file into the assembly. Nothing holds the attention of a child quite like watching the illustrator of some of their favorite books bring the characters to life right before their eyes.


I laid out my Crayola markers on a table beside the easel and began drawing. I like to use what the children use to help them connect with what I’m doing. Soon, Jessica Dimmig, the librarian and organizer of my visit arrived. We went over the day’s gameplan and afterwards headed for the library where there were 215 books waiting to be signed!

The Book Connection provided Ms. Dimmig and her assistant Jeanna Anderson with book order forms, which were distributed to the students weeks in advance.  After receiving the books, Ms. Dimmig and Ms. Anderson arranged them according to title, with the teacher’s name and the child to whom each book was to be signed. All I had to do was operate my Sharpie.


Ms. Dimmig did a super job preparing the children. The students had spent the prior two months reading my books. They created craft projects based on the characters. They had book discussions. As we walked the hallway from the library back to the gymnasium I admired the walls covered with Emperors in cool clothes, dogs in the snow, wild-wooled Woolburs, Easy Life monkeys, and turkeys in various disguises.


“I believe in making author visits very special events,” Ms. Dimmig explained as we walked down the hallway from the library to the gymnasium. “Rock stars shouldn’t be the only ones treated like rock stars.”


Her enthusiasm was contagious. The children were excited to see and hear everything I had to share with them. They were so jazzed up about ‘Lee Harper Day’ my job was easy. They were energized and energizing.

My assemblies were each one-hour in duration, with each assembly being divided into two halves. The first half was a PowerPoint. In the PowerPoint I talked about my childhood, how I became a picture book author/illustrator, dealing with rejection, where my ideas come from, and how my books are made. The second half of each assembly was devoted to guided drawing. Step-by-step we drew several of my characters, with some fun and games thrown into the mix. We did the Woolbur Stretch, performed the Dog Dot Sweater Symphony, invented disguises for Turkey and generally had a blast.  One child from each group was selected to be my assistant.


After two morning assemblies I had lunch with randomly selected students, who were full of questions and great ideas for books of their own.


Between lunch and the afternoon assembly, more book signing.


By the time the last assembly was over I was a combination of exhausted, happy and inspired.

I signed the remaining books and said goodbye.


On my drive home I thought about how lucky the students at Liberty Bell Elementary are to have a librarian like Jessica Dimmig and everyone else who helped organize this awesome author/illustrator visit.  And I thought about how lucky I was to be the author/illustrator who visited Liberty Bell Elementary this year.