author visit details
Laura Resau's
Author Visit Packet
For the 2023-24 school year
In this packet you will find:
· An Author Visit Overview with basic information about presentations, workshops, fees, materials/equipment needed, audience size, paying for author visits, and book-ordering .
· An Author Visit Timeline/Checklist, which ideally begins 6 to 9 months before my visit.
· Suggestions on Ways to Prepare Students for my author visit, which should begin several months before the visit.
· Book-Ordering Information
· A Book List to help you choose and order books appropriate for your students/community.
· A Sample Book-Ordering Letter, which you can adapt to your school's/library's visit and send home with the students to facilitate book-ordering.
*Please note that although this packet is geared toward teachers and librarians planning school visits, it's also useful for people planning library visits, conferences, and other community events. I realize that while some school communities can require that students have read at least one of my books, this may not be possible for other schools, libraries, and organizations. I do ask, however, that you do everything possible to encourage your community to read one of my books or at least become familiar with my work before my visit. Thanks!
AUTHOR VISIT OVERVIEW for Laura Resau
Stand as Tall as the Trees: How an Amazonian Community Protected the Rain Forest, elementary
Star in the Forest, mid-to-upper elementary
Tree of Dreams, upper elementary and middle school
The Lightning Queen, upper elementary and middle school
What the Moon Saw, upper elementary and middle school
Red Glass, middle and high school
The Queen of Water, middle and high school
The Indigo Notebook, middle and high school
The Ruby Notebook, middle and high school
The Jade Notebook, middle and high school
Presentations and Workshops are available in Spanish or English
Basic Presentation: Behind the Books with Laura Resau—I talk about my experiences abroad, showing slides of the people and places who inspired my books. I discuss my journey as a writer-- from a kid who loved story-telling all the way to a published author. Along the way, I explain the process of writing and publishing a book. I offer tips for young writers that support what they’re learning in their classes. Throughout the presentation, I ask students lots of questions to keep them actively engaged. (30 min presentation with 10-15 min q&a.) Please see https://www.lauraresau.com/visits for a presentation description you can use for promotion.
Creative Writing Workshops: These fun, interactive workshops emphasize basic creative writing skills including the use of sensory descriptions, specific details, imagery, character development, and showing-not-telling. Please see https://www.lauraresau.com/visits for descriptions of your workshop options.
Fees: $800/day plus mileage within a 1.5 hour drive of Fort Collins (Boulder and Denver included.) $1200/day plus travel, meals, and lodging expenses for visits elsewhere. If your school can’t afford these fees, or if I do regular visits at your school for less, please let me know, and we can try to work something out.
Group Sizes: Workshops work best with groups of fewer than 30. For presentations, groups of fewer than 100 maximize participation, although I'm happy to present to larger groups in an assembly-type setting if that's easiest. Limit 3 presentations/workshops per day. Please schedule at least a ten minute break for me between sessions.
Materials Needed: A PowerPoint projector, laptop, tall stool or podium, table to put my materials on. No Internet necessary. (As far as audio, there’s some audio in my Stand as Tall presentation, but it’s not essential to have audio speakers connected.) A microphone is needed if the audience is over 60 students or if we are in a potentially noisy area like the media center or gym. I'll bring a flash drive (and my laptop as a back-up.)
Book Orders: Please order books well in advance (at least 3 weeks), either through your favorite bookseller, your local bookstore (who may give a bulk/educator discount), or Penguin Random House, who gives a 40% discount plus free outbound shipping. To order most of my titles, including Stand as Tall as the Trees, please call Penguin Random House at 1-800-726-0600 or email them at csorders@PenguinRandomHouse.com . For The Lightning Queen, Estrella en el bosque, and Tree of Dreams, please order through a bookseller.
Signing/chatting: I am happy to sign books. I also enjoy talking with teachers, librarians, volunteers, or selected students during lunch (provided by you).
Preparing students for an author visit: Ideally, students in the audience should read one of my books in advance or at least be familiar with my work. You might do this by incorporating my books into your curriculum, doing library book talks, or holding a One Book One School program.
To request a visit, contact me at: Lauraresau@gmail.com. Thanks!
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Timeline/Checklist
Ideally, at least 6 months in advance:
Contact me at Lauraresau@gmail.com [subject: Author Visit]. We’ll go over the basics and set a date.
If necessary, apply for funding from grant organizations or your PTO.
Make sure your media center/ library has copies of my books and is displaying them prominently and promoting them.
Coordinate with teachers, library staff, and possibly parent volunteers to begin to prepare the school/library community for the visit.
3 months in advance:
I will send you a contract/invoice and completed W-9 tax form to pass along to your administrator, PTA, grant organization, etc.
Send home book-ordering letters (included in this packet).
Remind teachers/librarians to plan activities related to my books. The Resources page on my website has activities, lesson plans, and reading guides.
1-2 months in advance:
Finalize the schedule and let me (and the faculty/staff/administration) know.
Order the books (at least 3 weeks in advance). You can order from your favorite local bookstore, the publisher, or an online bookseller.
Make sure people are being prepared for my visit, through doing book talks and fun activities, and by having students read at least one of my books.
Make sure you have the space reserved, preferably media center or classroom/community room for small/med groups, or auditorium for large groups.
1-2 weeks in advance:
Have your school community make displays/posters to generate excitement about my visit.
Double-check that you have equipment available: microphone (if large group), computer with PowerPoint projector (I'll bring a USB stick/flash drive.)
If I'll be having lunch with you and students or faculty, please make sure you've arranged for this.
If you're planning a book-signing/ chatting session, make sure the students can be excused from class.
If I will be signing many books, please have the students write their names on sticky notes.
Thanks!
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Ways to Prepare your Students
Students will get SO much more out of the visit if they're familiar with my books before my visit! Any author who has experience doing school visits will tell you that the difference between a good visit and a *spectacular* one depends on whether the students are already psyched about the books. If students have been prepared, their enthusiasm multiplies a hundred fold, their questions are fantastic, and they obviously treasure the opportunity to meet a real live author.
Get students excited
Ideally, make sure they've all read at least one of my books. See the attached Book List to help you select appropriate books. Students can read the books as an all-school read, an independent read, as a class, as an in-class book club choice, or as a read-aloud. Note that Red Glass, Tree of Dreams, and The Indigo Notebook are also available as audiobooks.
Well before the visit, create some buzz in your school, among students, parents, administrators, faculty, volunteers, and staff. Encourage teachers to integrate the book into their curriculum (Social Studies, Foreign Languages, Language Arts, ELL, etc). Ask people in your school community for ideas on generating excitement for the event. Arrange for local media coverage if you'd like.
Have students do projects leading up to the event. For example, students can
make video trailers or podcasts
design their own book jackets
draw pictures of characters and settings in my books
make posters of connections they have with my books
have class discussions
do creative writing assignments inspired by my books
perform skits of scenes from my books
hold a book-themed day or have a book-themed party with food
write short reviews of my books and post them in the media center
Have a creative writing contest with the prize being lunch with me, for a group of ten or fewer students.
Book talk my books to all the students who will be attending my presentation. Read some excerpts. At the book talk, consider serving Mexican hot chocolate or other foods that appear in my books.
Have students go to my website – www.lauraresau.com-- and write five book-or-writing-related questions to ask me that they didn't find answers to on my website.
Make sure your media center is stocked with several copies of each book and display them prominently.
Have students make posters to hang around school to promote my visit and familiarize other students with my books. As a reward, these students (twelve or fewer) can have lunch with me. They can download high-resolution photos of me and my book covers on the Press page of my website.
Publicize the visit in the school newsletter and on the school's website.
Invite parents to come hear my presentation, or have lunch with me.
Encourage students to buy my books
Students love having their own personalized signed copy of a book written by an author they've met.
Students will be more likely to want to purchase their own book if you've already familiarized them with my books.
6-8 weeks before the visit, send home a letter to notify parents of this opportunity. (See sample letter).
3-6 weeks before the visit, order the books from the publisher or make sure the bookstore you're working with has ordered them.
See the Book Ordering page below for details.
Thank you for your hard work!!!
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Book List
Laura Resau's Literary Books
These books fit in beautifully with Reading, English, Spanish, Geography, ELL, and most Social Studies curricula (Latin America, Immigration, Environment, and Indigenous Peoples themes). These novels won awards and starred reviews, and were selected for prestigious lists.
Stand as Tall as the Trees: How an Amazonian Community Protected the Rain Forest (co-authored with Patricia Gualinga, also available in Spanish as Con la cabeza en alto, picture book, Gr. K-5) An inspiring true story about how an activist in the Amazon worked with other Indigenous communities to protect and preserve their sacred lands and forests.
Star in the Forest (Gr. 3-6) When 11-year-old Zitlally's father is deported to Mexico, she takes emotional refuge in her trailer park's "forest" of rusted car parts. With the help of spunky neighbor Crystal, she tries to save her father by aiding a stray dog who she believes is her father's spirit animal. Delacorte/Random House (available in Spanish w/Scholastic en español as Estrella en el bosque)
Red Glass (Gr. 6-12)-- 16-year-old Sophie takes a road trip from Tucson to southern Mexico and Guatemala with four unlikely companions, and finds herself opening up to love and adventure along the way. Delacorte/Random House (audiobook available)
What the Moon Saw (Gr. 5-9) 14-year-old Clara Luna travels to Oaxaca, Mexico to visit the mysterious grandparents she's never met before. In their remote village, she discovers a part of the world and a part of herself she never knew existed. Delacorte/Random House and Yearling
The Queen of Water (Gr. 7-12) Co-written with Maria Virginia Farinango, this true story begins in an impoverished community in the Ecuadorian Andes. As a seven-year-old, Virginia became an unpaid servant in a mestizo household, where she struggled to hold on to her spirit. At age sixteen, after escaping, she must rebuild her life and reclaim her indigenous identity. Delacorte/Random House
The Lightning Queen (Gr. 4-8) Teo and Esma form a friendship across cultures in rural Mexico that spans the rest of their lives and embraces magic, music, and predictions of impossible destinies. Scholastic, Story Water Press, (audiobook available)
Tree of Dreams (Gr. 4-8) When Coco fears her life in the family chocolate shop is crumbling, a dream leads her deep into the Amazon rain forest. There she discovers how far and wide her heart can grow. Scholastic, Story Water Press, (audio available)
Laura Resau's Series Novels
These travel-adventure novels are great for fun, independent reading or book clubs.
The Indigo Notebook (Gr. 6-12) 15-year-old Zeeta and her flighty mother live in a different country every year. This year, in the Ecuadorian Andes, Zeeta helps an American boy search for his birth parents. With him, she encounters adventure, mystery, love, and ultimately, the truth about what she really wants. Delacorte/Random House (audiobook available)
The Ruby Notebook (Gr. 6-12) 16-year-old Zeeta's adventures continue in the French city of Aix-en-Provence, where the streets are full of musicians, mystery, and romance. Delacorte/Random House
The Jade Notebook (Gr. 6-12) The third and final book of Zeeta's travel adventures is set in a beach town in Oaxaca, Mexico where rare sea turtles nest. Delacorte/Random House
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Book-Ordering Information
Remember to order the books from the publisher or bookstore at least 3 weeks before you need them. This means you should distribute information about book-ordering to the students at least 6 weeks ahead of time.
You can get most of my books at a 40% discount from the publisher (with free outbound shipping) in association with a school visit, if ordered at least 3 weeks in advance. To order books (including Stand as Tall as the Trees and the Spanish version, Con la cabeza en alto), please call Penguin Random House at 1-800-726-0600. Tell them that this is in association with an author visit, and ask for the discount. For Estrella en el bosque, The Lightning Queen, and Tree of Dreams, you can contact an online bookseller or your favorite bookshop at least a month in advance.
Most bookstores also give discounts, and can be very helpful facilitating students' book purchases. Try to choose a bookstore with experience in selling books for author visits. In the Fort Collins area, I recommend Old Firehouse Books, whose staff is wonderful to work with. In the Denver area, I recommend The Tattered Cover, Second Star to the Right, the Bookies, and The Wandering Jellyfish— all fantastic. In Boulder, Boulder Bookstore is a great choice.
The attached Book List has information that will help you select which books are appropriate for your students.
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Sample Book-Ordering Letter
Dear Parents,
Award-winning author Laura Resau will visit our school on ________ to do presentations, writing workshops, and book signings. Resau’s books were inspired her time living abroad and traveling as a student, English teacher, cultural anthropologist, and writer. You can find out more about her at www.lauraresau.com.
This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to own an autographed book by an author they’ve met, and to have books signed and personalized for gifts. If you would like to order a book/ books, please fill out the form below and include cash or a check made out to __________________________________.
Please indicate the number of copies of each book.
$_____ Stand as Tall as the Trees # _______
$______ Con la cabeza en alto (Spanish version of Stand as Tall) # ________
$______ Tree of Dreams (hardcover) #______
$_______ What the Moon Saw (paperback) # ______
$______ Red Glass (paperback) # ______
$ ______The Queen of Water (paperback) # _______
$ ______Star in the Forest (paperback) # ________
$______ Estrella en el bosque (paperback) # ________
$_______ The Indigo Notebook (paperback) # _______
$_______ The Ruby Notebook (paperback) # ________
$ ______The Jade Notebook (hardcover) # ________
$______ The Lightning Queen (paperback) # _______
Please return the form and money to ______________ by this date: _________.
Thank you!
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BOOK ORDER FORM
Student’s name: ________________________________________
Teacher’s name: ______________________________________
Parent’s phone number: ________________________________
Total amount enclosed: ___________________________________