For Educators

“Karen is a natural storyteller. I’ve never seen a group of ten-year-olds settle in as quickly with a book as those 5th graders at Payne Elementary did with Charlie & Frog.”
— Kit Ballenger, An Open Book Foundation, Washington, DC

School Visits

K-3^rd grade**
Monster Hands and G is First!

• Interactive reading of both books with students.
• Let’s practice some sign language from Monster Hands!
• I wrote both books with friends—one Deaf friend and one hearing friend! Writing a book with a friend meant we had to take turns. It is fun to write a story with a friend—a different story than one you would have written by yourself.
• What do you do when you are scared of something, like a monster under your bed? Can you use your friends to help you be brave like Milo?
• Letter g wants to be first! But Letter a believes if she is not first than she is not important. Is this true?
• Let’s practice the fingerspelled alphabet and some signs for words used in G Is First!
• If you change the order of the alphabet, will reading be destroyed, like Letter a says?

2^nd grade—6^th grade**
Charlie & Frog and The Boney Hand

• Charlie is abandoned in Castle-on-the-Hudson with grandparents who don’t want him there. How does Charlie find his own power? How do you find your own power when you need to feel strong?
• Finding my own power includes growth mindset, which made a huge impact on me becoming a writer.
• How did I become a writer? I didn’t always know I wanted to write. I was a nursing student and then a sign language interpreter before I became a writer.
• What’s my writing process? How do I start my books? Where do I find my ideas?
• I tell myself “It’s okay to write badly.” My worry about being “good” is my biggest barrier. But what do I do after I “write badly?”
• Are failures part of my writing journey? What does it mean to fail? Can failure lead to something you never expected?
• Let’s learn and practice the some of the signs used in both books!

 For all school visits:

• • I can present in either spoken English or American Sign Language (ASL).
  • If you order copies of my books, I will personalize and sign them for your students.
  • I can do one to four presentations at your school per day. My presentation is about 25 minutes, then a Q& A for total time of 45-60 minutes.
  • Please email me to inquire about the cost for an in-person or virtual author visit.

**This is a rough divide. I have presented to mixed grades with both picture books and middle-grade books. The presentations are flexible and adaptable to fit your student’s needs.

School Visits

Virtual Author Q&A sessions

If your class or school has read one or more of my books, I am happy to do a free 20-minute virtual author Q& A session. This would be an informal visit with the students asking questions about my book(s) they have read, my writing process, or anything else that is on their minds.

Resources

• Teaching Guide for Alphabuddies: G Is First!
• Teaching Guide For Monster Hands
• Discussion Guide and Activities for Charlie & Frog
• Learn the signs in Charlie & Frog
• Learn the signs in The Boney Hand
• The entire book of Charlie & Frog translated into American Sign Language (ASL) by Deaf educator Dr. Bobbie Jo Kite Herbold

Letters From Kids:

“We loved having you at our school! You gave the best presentation, and the kids are SOLD on your book. One student has been carrying Charlie & Frog around with him in the hallway, hugging it tightly to his chest. It was really touching to see the impact of your visit—it was the highlight of the school year!”
— Leslie Hussey and Meghan Blackmon, librarians at Texas School for the Deaf, Austin, TX