I love school visits!

Yay for author school visits! I recently got to share my love of writing and creativity with the second graders at Geneva Elementary here in Bellingham, AND I guided them in making their very own journals. We had SO MUCH FUN!

I love doing school visits!

These are kinda what the kids journals ended up looking like (they are the examples). Next to a gnome in the Library.

Some of my favorite comments from kids from the day:

“I think your name (kj) could stand for Kitty of Justice. That could be your superhero!”

“This journal I made is potentially very dangerous. I mean, think of all the paper cuts that it could give someone.”

When invited to share what a journal is or could be, one kid said: “My happy place.”

Other delights: I hung out eith lots of gnomes between sessions (the Geneva mascot) and I did a silly walk next to the silly walk sign. A happy happy day! Thank you to my friend Mrs. Ritchie for inviting me!

WWA SCBWI art show!

For those in the Seattle area, I have three pieces included at the Western Washington SCBWI art show at the Seattle Convention Center through mid-July. Check it out!

Happy World Read Aloud Day! And where to order a signed copy of my book

Happy World Read Aloud Day! Welcome to any students, teachers, or families who are visiting my website after I visit your classrooms! I’m always grateful to chat about writing and to read with kids. If you have follow-up questions, please feel free to email me!

And for any families or teachers who want to order my book, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, I’ve made arrangements with my local bookstore, Village Books, to sign copies for anyone who orders through Feb 12th. You can order at this link—when you check out make a note in the comments about how you would like your book personalized or who you would like it signed to.

Thanks for visiting my website! Make sure you check out my section with fun stuff for kids. Happy reading!

I can sign a book for you too!

I’ve had a few happy firsts this past week or so. Here are a few of them

The Elephants’ Guide To Hide-And-Seek at a bookstore!

Look what I finally got to see for the first time in person at an OPEN bookstore! Two months after it came out, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, my first picture book, on an actual shelf, at my favorite local bookstore, Village Books—which is now open because YAY Whatcom County, WA, we made it to phase 2!

I signed and personalized a big stack—so it kind of was my first bookstore book-signing too. Any copies of my picture book THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK purchased now and through the month of June at my local bookstore Village Books can be signed and personalized by the author—me! Village Books offers all sorts of shipping options including media rate (99¢!) or curbside pickup.

A huge thanks to anyone who had planned on coming to my local book celebration that would have been at Village Books—it means the world to me. While it was a bummer to postpone in May and now cancel in June (while VB is open, it’s uncertain when events will happen again), I’m happy that Village Books and I can collaborate in this way for now. And anyone who was holding out for a signed copy—here’s your chance!

Here’s the link to order. During checkout, there should be a comment box where you can make a note that you’d like me to sign your book and who you’d like it signed to. Please know that I’ll be going in and signing them all at once, so any books ordered will arrive in early July.

Another happy first from the past few weeks—I finally got to read my book to a classroom (via zoom)! It was especially sweet for me after having my first in-person visits with classrooms all cancelled this year. The 2nd graders I chatted with all asked great questions and it was a pleasure to spend time with them.

My first author visit—on zoom!

My main goal for this year was to enjoy the moment as I became an author and got to share my first book with kids. While I haven’t been able to do that the same way I’d planned, I’m enormously grateful to anyone and everyone who has helped me make lemonade out of lemons the last few months. Enjoying the moment seems more important now than ever—so cheers, health, and happy reading! For all who have celebrated with me—thanks!

Me with my elephant pals. I like to bring them to zoom events.

Yay for a successful virtual launch party!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who attended our virtual launch party for THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK! So wonderful to see so many new and familiar faces there. If you missed out, I’ve posted the video below for your viewing pleasure.

The highlight for me was being inspired by all Gladys Jose had to say—I’m thrilled to have had the chance to make this happen with you Gladys! And we even had elephants attending!

My son Lars dressed up!

If you attended (or watched the video later) and would like a bookplate signed by both Gladys and me, send me a message by April 24, 2020 to let us know (US residents only). We’d be happy to send you one! (note they may take a while but we will send if you ask). Books can be ordered anywhere books are sold but here’s a link to my local indie, Village Books—they can ship at media rates (in some cases only 99 cents!).

Download our activity kit—Gladys says the Elephant game was an instant hit with her daughter!

The activities for kids we mentioned during the launch are all posted here on my website, including:

• A fun activity kit made by our publisher

• Our virtual hide-and-seek game, where you can share silly creative hide-and-seek pics

• A link to a Pinterest page with elephant crafts of all kinds

• A link to a curated playlist of silly and wonderful elephant videos

Follow us on social media:

• Check out Gladys’s webpage to learn more about her other books

• Kjersten Instagram: @kjerstenhayes Twitter: @kjerstenhayes

• Gladys Instagram: @gladysjoseillustrates Twitter: @gladysjosedraws

A huge shout out to Joni Sensel for reaching out and offering to help us with tech support. Joni is an incredible writer for all ages. I’m especially a fan of her work related to creativity and grief. Check out her website here.

This image only captures one screen’s worth of attendees—loved seeing how many showed up!

If you want a signed bookplate, let me know by April 24. Happy to send one!

Thanks again to everyone for helping us celebrate our joyful book during a difficult time. Especially because the world is unsure and hard right now, I hope you find some time to play in the middle of it all.

Wishing you enormous fun!⠀

A Virtual Launch Party!

A party now? YES! A virtual party! All are welcome to come to a virtual book launch party on Monday April 13 at 11:00 am pacific time via zoom to celebrate THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, a picture book written by me and illustrated by Gladys Jose. BOTH Gladys and I will be there! Hooray! We’ll share a bit about how our book came to be, answer questions about writing and illustrating, and hopefully have lots of fun. Register here! KIDS ARE WELCOME! So are grown-ups. 🙂

There will be elephants but you have to bring your own cake!

*And—yes, I hope I’ll still get to have my local book launch party during Children’s Book Week at Village Books here in Bellingham (May 9 at 10:30—but if not then, hopefully at some point). But we need happy things in life RIGHT NOW and here’s a great excuse to have a party where friends from all over the country who wouldn’t be able to make it locally can join too! Hope to see you there!

Art for Bellingham!

Inviting all Bellingham kids (and the grown-ups who love them) to make art and messages for our senior community members who are self-isolating during this time! The goal is to create a virtual public art space to help our community stay better connected while we all social distance during the covid-19 pandemic.

I threw this project together because it breaks my heart to think of our beloved Bellingham community as fractured right now. I thought it would be lovely to empower kids to help their community while helping us all connect with some of those most isolated and at risk.

The video below I made as a mini art lesson to rally participation, feel free to share it with your kids!

Please send PHOTOS of any art or messages to me (use the contact form on my website). I’ll add them to a shared dropbox folder, where participating adult care facilities can access them and print them out for their residents (or share the link for those who are tech-savvy, no actual paper mail involved for safety reasons!).

I hope you’ll consider joining or inviting your kids to participate (messages from grown-ups are welcome too).

And please invite others! Thanks!

PS I originally posted this on social media but I am adding it here as an easy place to link for those who want to share. Thanks to everyone who has already participated! I’ll be sending our first round of messages by the end of this week so please get messages in by Thrusday April 2.