Slice of Life Day 2: Meeting Authors

I’ve been lucky in my life to meet countless children’s and young adult authors. Granted, being a librarian and book blogger does have it’s advantages! But I also met authors as a kid at school visits, the public library, and at other programs and festivals. Our school district had Robin Moore visit when I was in elementary school. He is the author of The Bread Sister of Sinking Creek, which was a book I loved growing up! I still have a few books that I got autographed as a kid – If You Lived At The Time Of The Civil War by Kay Moore and Remember the Ladies by Cheryl Harness.

As a kid, I loved these author visits because I was a complete bookworm, carrying books with me everywhere I went. I never really had any interest in writing as a career, but I loved learning about the writing process, the characters, and how authors came up with new ideas.

Giving kids an opportunity to meet an author is a valuable experience – learning about writing as a career, to meet someone who might have a shared experience, and bring books to life.

Opportunities to Meet Authors

The simplest way to meet authors is to follow and interact with them on social media. I know so many amazing authors (and illustrators) who are the kindest people on social media. You can also connect with authors through Skype. Authors offer short presentations on Skype for a small fee or free for classrooms. Often, independent bookstores will have authors and illustrators come to visit and share their new books. And of course, you can also have authors come visit schools and have programs for a wider audience.

Any way you can, give kids the opportunity to meet the authors of some of their favorite books to learn more about them!

This is my second year participating in the Slice of Life Challenge. I’ll be posting brief posts that show a glimpse of my life in story-format. A slice of my life as a librarian and blogger that I hope you enjoy!