A Visit From Steve Harpster

 It happened yesterday.  Steve Harpster came to visit, talk, teach, draw, and motivate the kids at my school. 

We had been prepping them for this visit for weeks!  They explored his books. Watched his videos.  They created Harpster-inspired art, that I used for decorations:

There was excitement in the air and when he walked into the room during breakfast there were mummers and whispers..."He's here....That's Steve Harpster!"  There were even rumors that girls were screaming in the bathroom.  He was the celebrity of the day at my school!

And that is just fine with me.  This is the first author/illustrator visit that the students in my school have experienced.  So I was thrilled that they viewed the visit as a big deal.  Because IT WAS!

If you are not familiar with Steve's How-to books, they show, step-by-step, how to create creatures by starting with a letter or number.  His focus is on imagination and visualizing of a story. 
Yes!! Thank you!! Just what my kids need to be good storytellers!

He started off with a great presentation but quickly slid into drawing with the students.  You could have heard a pin drop!

They started with a number or letter...

They followed along with Steve Harpster as he walked them through each drawing.

The drawings turned out so cute and the kids felt really successful!

After the presentations, I helped to fill all the book orders that we had collected.  Oh, wait!  Did I mention that this visit was FREE and that we get 30% of the book order sales! 

My daughters each got one of his books.  And what did we do that night after dinner?  We all sat down and drew Steve Harpster pictures together.  It was the best part of my day.  This little turtle is by my 4 year old :)

I am so thankful that we had this experience.  The teachers loved it, my principal loved it, and (most importantly) the students loved it.  Plus, we earned some money for our library!
If you have not checked out his website, here it is.
Steve Harpster