AUTHOR VISIT AT ECOLE BILINGUE, BERKELEY, CA: Celebrating Women’s History Month with KEEPER OF THE LIGHT

Ecole Bilingue, Berkeley, CA

Last week on Friday I had a terrific visit with third, fourth and fifth graders at Ecole Bilingue in Berkeley, California. The main focus of my presentation was my book KEEPER OF THE LIGHT: Juliet FishNichols Fights the San Francisco Fog. Learning about Juliet’s experience at the Angel Island Lighthouse and during and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake fit right in to the students’ studies of California history. While most of them had not personally visited Angel Island, it is a familiar sight, visible from any of the major bridges that cross San Francisco Bay—the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the San Rafael Bridge.

With the first slide of my power point presentation.

The timing of my visit was perfect because March is a national celebration of women’s history. After I shared the story of the book I asked the students what kind of a person Juliet had to be as a lighthouse keeper. Their answers: brave, persistent, hard-working, strong, committed. Clearly they understood that Juliet Nichols is a true hero. I also shared a few of my other books and details of my writing and illustrating process.

How plucky Mrs. Nichols wound up the fog bell machinery every fifty minutes for seventy-two hours and saved ships in Golden Gate from running on the rocks. (San Francisco Chronicle, 1906)

Ecole Bilingue is a bilingual school where children learn in both French and English. (I don’t speak French so my presentation was in English.) I have a special connection to EB because my granddaughter Paige was a student there from pre-school through middle school. My last visit to the school was in 2019 when she was in 8^th grade. It was a pleasure to return to EB and see many of her former teachers and meet the new staff as well. I especially thank Emily Kaltenbach, the English Program coordinator for arranging my visit and making sure that everything ran smoothly. I will be returning in April to celebrate Earth Day with the K-2 students.

 

AUTHOR VISITS at ECOLE BILINGUE Lower School and Middle School, Berkeley, CA

Wiggle and Waggle art project at Ecole Bilingue, Berkeley, CA

In late March I spent two very enjoyable days at Ecole Bilingue, a bilingual French/English school in Berkeley, California.  (My presentations were in English.) My granddaughter Paige has attended Ecole Bilingue since preschool. I visited the school several times when she was in the Lower School, but this was my first time speaking at the Middle School.

My books on display at the EB Middle School library.

At the Middle School, I was in the school library with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. I talked about both my writing and illustration process, with a focus on my books for older readers such as Easter Island and Global Warming and the Dinosaurs.

My book about the platypus and the translation by students at EB

Many of the 8th grade students remembered the project they had done when they were in second grade, translating my book A Platypus' World into French. It became Le Monde de Ornithorynque. The students’ English teacher gave them cards to write down questions as I talked and we had a lively discussion at the end of each session. One student wanted to know if I was ever worried about running out of ideas. The answer is no! My problem is having the time to pursue all the ideas I have. Another student wanted to know how I have the patience to do all the cutting for my cut-paper illustrations.

With EB Middle School librarian Olga Popova

I thank Olga Popova, the Middle School librarian, for arranging my visit and making sure that everything was ready. My books were on display and there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the front of the room. Afterward, we had a lovely lunch together at the café across the street.

In the EB Lower School MPR

My second day at Ecole Bilingue as at the Lower School where I did presentations to all the grades except for 4th. My program varied by grade level, ranging from more interaction with the younger students–singing the Wiggle and Waggle song, going on a lion hunt–to more discussion of the writing process with the older students.

Wiggle and Waggle art projects by EB second graders

There was a wonderful display in the hallway of art made by the second graders. They had read Wiggle and Waggle and made stick puppets to go in their garden pictures. I was pleased that so many students had ordered books. During lunch and at the end of the day I autographed them. I thank the Lower School librarian, Sophie Lemeur, for arranging the book orders and schedule of the day and coordinating all the arrangements. It was a full day, but very satisfying. Many thanks to everyone at Ecole Bilingue for a wonderful visit!

Author Visit at Ecole Bilingue, Berkeley, CA

Two weeks ago I made my annual visit to my granddaughter’s class at Ecole Bilingue in Berkeley, California. This year she is in fifth grade. Each year since she was in pre-kindergarten I have visited the school and talked with the children about my books and what it is like to be an author. Ecole Bilingue is a French immersion school and in the upper grades the students alternate French and English weeks. I do not speak French so I came during my granddaughter’s English week. I thank her teacher Luc De Armey for inviting me to the class and the students for their enthusiastic response and great questions.

Claude, albino alligator, California Academy of Sciences

Since my last visit I have published 10 new books, so there was a lot to talk about! The students were particularly interested in my book Albino Animals because many of them had visited the California Academy of Sciences museum in San Francisco and seen Claude, the albino alligator who is profiled in the book. On my visits to EB we often do a project or activity as well. All of the books in my new Caroline Arnold’s Habitat series have birds in them so we talked about wingspans. Every student in the class–and even the teacher–had a chance to measure their wingspan on my measuring tape. Most were about the size of a turkey vulture! I have enjoyed getting to know the children over the years and look forward to future visits.