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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
