What I Wish I'd Known: Gail's First-Ever School Visit

 by Gail Kuhnlein

Wednesday, March 20, 2024 — I was so happy to receive a “real” email through the contact link on my author website. It was from Michelle Cox, a Title I teacher at Brick Elementary School, Ypsilianti, inviting me to participate in their Literacy Night. Her enthusiasm radiated off the computer screen and it was contagious. 

We decided that I would read my book, How Happy Is a Lark?, twice over the course of the evening, which ran from 5 - 6:30 p.m. And that I’d lead the activity from the back of my book with the children. This was my first in-person school visit (I’d done one via Zoom to a school in North Carolina, where my niece is the curriculum coordinator) and I was both nervous and excited. I pushed myself, and it all ended up feeling very natural. Initially, I was in a small classroom just inside the main school entrance. I had a number of parents, grandparents and students stop in. 

We started with the activity: 

1. Think of a simile like “You’re as silly as a goose” or “She’s as cute as a button” (with help, if needed)
2. Turn the simile into a question “How silly is a goose?” “How cute is a button?”
3. Brainstorm and answer the question in a fun way 
4. Draw a picture to illustrate your answer 

One girl, Bella, polished off two so quickly and would have done a third if she’d had more time. Her third idea was “How elegant is a swan?” I would love to see that one!

A fifth grader, Lucas, came up with the sayings, “let the cat out of the bag” and someone who has their “head in the clouds,” both great sayings and while they’re actually metaphors rather than similes, I’m all about flexibility and creativity, so he decided to draw the cat coming out of the bag.

For my first reading, I had about eight to ten people. I try to read with emphasis and emotion and occasionally ask the children questions about something in the book. Some of the things I engaged the children with were: having them laugh along with the hyenas and yell “BUZZ OFF” with me for the angry wasp. I ask if they can find the black cat in the drawing on a dark night, and how many of them have cats or dogs, when I’m reading the pages about cats or dogs. Lots! 

After my first reading, Lucas told me he really liked my book. This made my night, especially since he is older. It’s nice to know that children of different ages enjoy the book. 

Later, a couple of teachers asked if I wanted to move to the cafeteria, where many activities were happening. 

In the cafeteria, there was a tent set up with a paper bonfire out front and lots of pillows inside. My second reading of the night was inside the large tent in the cafeteria. I thought it would be fun to read inside. That seemed to be a popular draw for the kids, who kept on climbing in, to my delight. 

At Brick Elementary School
(Photo credit: Brick Elementary School Teachers.
Shared with permission)

During my readings, I loved to hear laughter, see smiles, and one little girl kind of shrieked and threw herself down on the ground when she heard that the hungry hippo could eat a whole elephant. 

I think that events like these are what it’s all about for authors, introducing more children to our books. If they/their parents like the book enough, they just might purchase one. But that’s sort of a side benefit, a nice one for sure, but not the main point, at least for me. 

Michelle was so kind and appreciative from the beginning — ours was a mutual appreciation club. I donated and signed a book to the Brick Elementary students. Throughout the evening, I met many sweet children and their parents or grandparents and dedicated teachers. 

What I wish I'd known was how comfortable and relatively easy the night would be. As a person who leans toward introversion, I'm accustomed to having a hurdle to get over on occasions like these, especially for the first time. Everyone was kind, and being referred to as "our author" was a bit unreal. 

Michelle invited me to read at two more upcoming events, Reading in the Park and their STEM Career Day. Michelle’s email after the event read, in part: “ … It was a privilege to have you in our school! … I can’t wait to share your book with my students tomorrow!” The following day she told me she’d read my book about 20 times to her reading groups and that the kids love it. Absolutely priceless.

A longer version of this post recently appeared on Gail's Outta' This World blog.

Gail Kuhnlein published her first children’s picture book, How Happy Is a Lark? in late 2022. Gail majored in journalism and public relations at Michigan State University. Most recently, she was the communications specialist for the University of Michigan’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The publication of this book is a dream come true for Gail. She lives with her husband, Tim, just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. They have two adult sons, Davey and Trevor. Lark is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, at several local libraries and shops, and a Trinidad bookshop. Her next picture book, Into the Thicket, is anticipated fall 2024. 

What I Wish I'd Known is a new series on The Mitten. If you have a kidlit-related "first" that you'd like to share - the good, the bad, the funny - we'd love to hear about it! Please email Sarah.Prusoff.LoCascio@gmail.com if you have one you would like to share. 

New Series Idea: What I Wish I'd Kown

As members of SCBWI-MI, we are at different stages of our writing and/our illustrating careers. Some are you are well-known published authors and illustrators. Some of you may have just started out on your kidlit journey and joined SCBWI to find out more. And many are somewhere in between. But everyone was new to writing/illustrating at some point. And most of us have made mistakes or felt surprised along the way.

So, in the spirit of being able to look back at our past with humor and wisdom and sharing that hard-won wisdom with others, I'd like to propose a new series to be published here on The Mitten:

What I Wish I'd Known...

My hope is that you will look back at one of your firsts like your:

First submission

First shoptalk

First critique 

First conference

First portfolio review

First contest

First published article

First published book

First school visit

First fair or book-selling event

And share what went right, what went wrong, and what you'd have done differently, or what you wish you'd known. These memories can be funny (I hope some will be!), sad, or optimistic (maybe you wish you'd known that something was easier or more fun than you expected!). 

Like usual, aim for around 400-600 words (but as anyone has read this blog recently, I'm not too strict in either direction if it takes more or fewer words to say what you want), include an image or two if you have them, and send your posts to me at: sarah.prusoff.locascio@gmail.com.

I hope to hear from you soon!