Presentations

Ron’s school visits can be divided into two styles. The first is a traditional author visit with a 40 minute slide presentation that includes images of whales, sharks, grizzly bears and other animals from his books. These are followed by a set of photos of kids involved with nature and environmental projects. The slide presentation is then followed by as many hands on writing/art workshops as can be fit into a day’s schedule. As Ron puts it, "I’m here to work, so use my time." Ron often spends as many as five days in a single school to assure all students have the opportunity to work with him on a writing project. Writing projects usually include unusual book designs he picks up from artist friends. He also draws on his love of chocolate to encourage kids to “think outside the candy wrapper” and has made many Hirschi Bar books, little folding creations with pages that slide out like chunks of chocolate.

Ron likes to work with a wide range of ages. He has paired high school students with elementary kids in which the older students make picturebooks featuring their younger partners. He has also used this pairing on many occasions within an elementary where the oldest kids make a book for and about a kindergarten or first grade reading buddy.

His less traditional school visits are many and varied. Schools often ask him to help with outdoor projects. Typically, he begins these visits with his slide presentation as an introduction to his work and to give kids ideas of  projects from other schools. Field trips are then taken to a stream, woodland, or other area of interest to teachers. Field trips are usually designed around a theme such as water quality, the seasons, woodland wildlife, nature photography, or the design of a garden or learning lab. Pond restoration and creation are also popular. Ron brings nets and other tools, including an underwater microphone that can be used to hear the fish sing and listen to the world beneath the waves. 

An artist as well as a writer, Ron also does a soft metal workshop with teachers and/or students. Copper animals and other creations might become part of a mural or other large project. At one school, copper dragonflies, fish, frogs, and other aquatic life were staggered along staffs to create a water depth measuring tool. His copper creatures are fire painted with a small torch that has prompted many of the best letters he receives from students. One recent note exclaimed, “You’re the best author in the world! No other author brought a TORCH to our school!

Fees negotiable with reduced daily rate for visits longer than a single day in a school or district.