Speaking - Elizabeth Verdick

School Visits

Kids enjoy meeting authors and illustrators, so let’s get together!

My books for young children cover a wide range of topics, everything from wood ducks to snowplows to better behavior at home and at school. Please let me know which specific books you’re using in your classroom, and we can tailor a visit to fit your needs.

Small Walt

Fee: $200

Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs

Fee includes travel time and art supplies.

Walt is the littlest snowplow in the fleet—can he handle a big blizzard? In Small Walt, he and driver Gus prove that teamwork and determination are the perfect combination. Snow-fighters work all-nighters!

In Small Walt and Mo the Tow, two truck friends show their can-do spirit while helping a car that has slipped into a snowy ditch. Varrooom goes Walt! Brumm-humma-hum goes Mo! Friendship wins the day.

Both stories share themes: winter, transportation, community helpers, persistence. And both stories are filled with engine noises and Walt’s rhyming chants: We clear the snow/so the cars can go, and I may be small/but I’ll show them all!

If you’d like a visit to your toddler, preschool, or kindergarten classroom—with my wooden trucks in tow—please let me know. Choose either Small Walt or Small Walt and Mo the Tow for your story. I’ll bring art projects that suit your group.

Best Behavior Series

Are you reading titles such as Teeth Are Not for Biting or Voices Are Not for Yelling in your classroom? The Best Behavior series can help toddlers and preschoolers become more aware of how they act and treat others. Each of the titles in the series focuses on self-awareness, respect for others, and social skills. I would love to join your class to read any two of the books—and the illustrator will come too!

We can talk about:

What authors do
What illustrators do
The behavior topics you’d like to address
Tools for positive change

Together, the author and illustrator will do an art project with the children, based on the books you choose. For example, we make “self-portrait” puppets or color and decorate small posters. We also provide a take-home sheet for parents/caregivers about the visit and how to foster positive communication within their own family.

If you’re part of an animal-care organization and would enjoy a visit based on Tails Are Not for Pulling, we can tailor an event around this one book. We are available for visits at humane societies and animal-adoption organizations around the Twin Cities.

If you’re a health organization interested in a visit that focuses on the book Germs Are Not for Sharing, please let us know. We can create an event that emphasizes staying healthy and avoiding the spread of germs. Our title Noses Are Not for Picking may be included, if you wish.

Note that many of the titles in the Best Behavior series include two versions: a board book for toddlers and a longer paperback for older children (PreK-3). Please let us know the age range of your children and which book versions you prefer.

The illustrator—Marieka Heinlen—and I are also the creators of the Toddler Tools series, a collection of board books focused on self-regulation and day-to-day routines (for example, Sharing Time and Calm-Down Time).

In our visits, it’s possible for us to focus on one book from Best Behavior and one from Toddlers Tools, if that works for you. For example, you may want to pair:

Voices Are Not for Yelling and Calm-Down Time

Teeth Are Not for Biting and Mealtime

Words Are Not for Hurting and Sharing Time

We will do our best to meet your needs!

If you wish, you can arrange to have books on display and for purchase.

The best fit for these visits is toddler and preschool classrooms in schools and childcare centers. Each talk lasts about 30-45 minutes, depending on how long children can sit and the time it takes to complete the art activities. We can visit with two classrooms per day (each class under 30 kids, preferred). If your school is larger and you need a presentation for more children, we can make special arrangements.

We prefer local visits: Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs

Fee: $300

Our fees include our travel time and art supplies.

Peep Leap

This picture book is a nature story about wood ducks, the most colorful duck in the U.S. One baby wood duck is afraid to leave the nest and jump to the pond below. With encouragement from his family and a countdown from 10, he finds the courage to take a leap. The story fits with classroom themes such as springtime hatching, ducks, and being braver than you thought you could be.

I would enjoy visiting your toddler, preschool, or kindergarten classroom for a read-aloud and art activity. Together, we’ll talk about wood ducks and make a poster to hang or take home.