Last week author/illustrator Aaron Zenz visited our school. Let this web log post serve as the photographic evidence.

Librarians/teachers out there: now that I’ve hosted a few visits, I can say with confidence that student prep is the make or break factor when an author comes to town. Should I chart it out? Okay, I’ll chart it out:

(I don’t think this is how you actually make this sort of graph, but you get the picture)

Knowing this, it’s good to let your celebration flag fly. First of all, we read Aaron Zenz’s books (and watched videos from his YouTube channel) like crazy. We did bulletin boards and window displays:

I also made some bootleg coloring pages that students colored. We hung those around the school:

By the time AZ set foot in our school, students felt like they knew the guy.

Then it was time to start the show:

Aaron did a great job – funny, engaging, informative. It scored high in the three main Kid Fun Food Groups: humor, drawing, a puppet.

Aaron has made a lot of books:

Here’s Aaron with the dummy and finished copy of his first book, The Hiccupotamus:

Presentations complete, books signed and passed out, why not record a podcast in a messy office?

Look for Aaron in a future episode of The Yarn that focuses on the author visit experience.

It was a great day. Thanks for visiting, Aaron.