Todd Parr Visited!

This week we had the awesome opportunity to have author/illustrator Todd Parr visit our school!  You can read more about our preparation for his visit here.

My kiddos have known since they end of September that he was coming.  Their excitement built over the course of 2 months.  They wrote a book about feelings using is The Feelings Book as inspiration, and I told them then that he was coming to our school.  The rest of our building got excited around the beginning of November, and by the day before the visit, he was like a rock star.  The school was buzzing with excitement, and the kids could not wait for the day of the visit!

There were 2 presentations at our building and an evening program, open to the general public, at our local library.

Each session included: reading a few books, playing a game with feelings cards, an example of Todd drawing and questions/answers.

My kiddos lucked out and got to have lunch with Todd.  They had no idea they were having lunch with him until about 5 minutes before it happened.  I wish I could show you the video I took of their reaction because it was priceless.  I looked a little bit like an Oprah moment when she gave something away.  I wanted the room to be special (it is pretty boring as it is a classroom we don't use), so I decorated with brightly colored tablecloths and balloons.  My friend made AMAZING cookies based on Todd's characters, and the kids made little nameplates for the tables.

Todd took the time to sign any and all books that students and staff asked to have signed.  He posed for photos and made many kiddos (and adults) very happy!  Books were available for purchase prior to and the day of the event.  

This is what one of my kiddos wrote about the next day when given the prompt to write about what they were thankful for.  

In the 12 years I've been at my school, we have never had anything like this.  It was magical to see the kids' excitement.  Todd did not disappoint!  He was down to Earth and genuinely enjoyed interacting with the kids.  He had the crowd (200+ preschool and kindergarten children per session) engaged throughout the presentation.  

Our local library partnered with us to make Todd's visit possible.  It was an amazing day for our students and staff!

Have you ever had an author visit your school?  What made it special?