FLIP, FLOP, FLAPJACK GOES TO SCHOOL

I’ve had the pleasure of taking my picture book to several area schools now, and I admit to loving it! We’ve done readings for full school assemblies and for small, intimate classes of 20 students. We also presented to over 60 schools through the Calgary Public Library virtual author visit program, LITCON. Invariably, the students know more than I expect about historic Calgary and area. FLIP, FLOP, FLAPJACK is set in 1923 – 100 years ago, but also deals with sportsmanship and community spirit.

I ask the students if there was electricity 100 years ago, whether there were NHL teams, cars and airplanes, movie theatres and elephants (that last one’s a trick question!) They have thoughtful questions and answers, and listen well to the story. I attribute much of that to preparation by the teachers, that’s much appreciated. In most cases, I’ve sent a Teacher’s Guide in advance so they can prepare their classes and it really shows. I sometimes have my two oldest grandchildren with me to help dramatize the story (Isaac, left and Abigail, right in the above photo), and the kids love having someone near their age act out the story. Isaac also adds lots of hockey trivia to the discussion. 🙂

If we’re lucky, the book’s illustrator, Melissa Brugelmans-LaBelle, joins me for the school visit. She talks to the students about being an artist and gives a short drawing lesson. The results have been dramatic – every student can draw a horse by the end of the lesson! It gives the students a lot of confidence and hopefully inspires them to draw more and more.

Twice, local TV stations have filmed the readings. I’ve been impressed by the camera work, and all the editing the crew does before it is aired. The GLOBAL TV news clip was less than 2 minutes, yet they had filmed over an hour of reading, interviewing, etc. I watch TV news clips with a greater appreciation, now.

I had none of this in mind when I wrote this story, but I’m loving the adventure!