Around the Neighborhood in the Garden
Author Sarah L. Thomson (that’s me!) reads her picture book Around the Neighborhood.
Such fun visiting the Friends School of Portland to share Around the Neighborhood for their Stories by the Garden program! If you’re in the Portland area with little ones, do check out this program. What’s nicer than a visit to sweet, scenic Mackworth Island, a story to hear, and maybe a picnic lunch to enjoy afterward on the trail that goes all around the island?
The kiddos were energetic and delightful. We read the book (in the gym rather than the garden, due to weather), sang the song, and then scattered outside for a scavenger hunt.
This is such a happy, adventurous book for a summery activity or story hour. Check out the fun and free Activity Kit if you’d like to recreate our scavenger hunt. We had a great time!
Read MoreTea & Celebrity
Just back from a three-day visit to Biddeford Intermediate School. Oh, my, my, my! The kids lined up to clap and cheer when I arrived. They sang me a song with fabulous percussion accompaniment at the assembly. And the Life Skills class baked me lemon-poppyseed cake and chocolate chip muffins and brought me tea every single day.
Now, while it’s nice (and I won’t deny it) to be treated like a rock star for three days, the really amazing thing was the way all of this enthusiasm and energy from the teachers and staff was transmitted to the students. They came into my writing workshops with wide eyes, bubbling over with glee, convinced that a middle-aged, mid-list children’s writer is a celebrity, that books and writing and the people who create them are the coolest things ever. That was way more than I could have done on my own in three days of one-hour writing workshops. My writer pals, if you ever get invited to Biddeford Intermediate–go. And not just for the muffins.
Thanks to the 5th graders at Tomie Barfield Elementary…
…for one of the best questions I’ve been asked in an author visit: “If you had to describe being an author in one word, what word would you pick?”
(Phew, these 5th graders don’t believe in easy questions.)
The word that popped into my head was “liberating.”
Being an author means that all the thoughts and dreams and characters and ideas that congregate in my head are free to come out, be shared, find connections and communion with readers. It means that I’m free to imagine, create, dream, wonder, and share. It means that I’m free to sit around in jeans and t-shirt with bare feet to do my work. All of that is wonderfully liberating, and I’m grateful for it–and for the question that made me realize it more fully!
Read MoreMaranacook High School
They also had matching chef’s hat for my daughter and me!
A shout-out to Bunkie Wilson, librarian extraordinaire, and the book club of the Maranacook High School, who gave me one of the best author visits I’ve had. Enthusiastic prep, intelligent questions, and one of the loveliest gifts a visiting author ever got–a recipe box (they discovered from my online bio that I like to cook) covered with favorite quotes from my novels. (Mercy, of course, plus The Manny, The Secret of the Rose, and The Dragon’s Son.) It was so touching to discover, in such detail, exactly what had captured the attention of my readers. Some were my favorites too–some I had completely forgotten writing! But all were great to read. It will have an honored place in my kitchen.
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Readers will treasure the blossoming friendship between opposites in this whimsically illustrated tale. Short chapters and plenty of action make for an accessible and appealing reading experience. . . . Touching and inspiring.”
—Kirkus Reviews