Families receiving an autographed book from author and educator David Miller
We host yearly Author Visits
This fall Turning the Page Chicago hosted Author Visits, evenings for families to share in the writing, illustrating, and even publishing process of children’s authors and illustrators. Each visiting author shared their books with families and their journey as an author.
We met some amazing authors this year!
We were fortunate this year to share these experiences with families and Natasha Tarpley, author of I Love My Hair; R. Gregory Christie, illustrator of Freedom in Congo Square; and David Miller, author of The Greene Family Farm and Khalil’s Way! Also, each author has a host of other reading materials and community projects they use to engage families.
During the events, families read the book aloud, created illustrations, and asked the authors questions. Later, parents discussed strategies to support reading and writing at home, gained tips to pursue publication for their own book ideas, and explored techniques to reach reluctant readers.
Lastly, each family met the author and received an autographed book courtesy of Turning the Page.
Students posing with illustrator R. Gregory Christie
Lessons learned from our visiting authors:
- Students learned how to use books as a vehicle to travel the world [in their mind]
- Families explored how books create opportunities to write and share real life stories
- Parents learned how books support literacy skills like comprehension and fluency
- Parents discussed how they can use their child’s illustrations as writing prompts at home
- Students discovered that illustrations nourish imagination and creativity
- Parents learned about ways to reach their children through stories
- Participants also talked about the importance of reading as a family
Overall, families got more insight into authoring books and the importance of writing and creating their own stories at home!
For more pictures from Turning the Page’s Author Visits and other events, visit our flickr page.