So during my leave of absence from my job at the American School of Belo Horizonte during the 2016-2017 school year, I had the opportunity to do presentations in schools around the world.  Thank you to the amazing students, teachers, librarians, and parents I had the privilege of visiting with this year! Wanna see how much fun we had? Here are pics from just some of the SUPER schools I visited. (And if you’re interested in having me visit your school this year, I have a few open dates! Email me at kristydempseybooks @ gmail.com).

 

 

 

 

I may soon be at a school or conference near you! I still have lots of open dates if you would like to book a school visit. I also have some pending and unconfirmed dates at schools that I haven’t listed here, so be sure to check with me for specific dates.

January 12, 2017: Pelham Road Elementary, Greenville, SC

January 21-23, 2017: American Library Association Mid-Winter meeting, Atlanta, GA

January 25, 2017: Mitchell Road Elementary, Greenville, SC

February 10, 2017: Paris Elementary, Greenville, SC

February 13, 2017: Bell’s Crossing Elementary, Greenville, SC

February 24, 2017: Oakland Elementary, Greenville, SC

February 25 – March 6, 2017: American School of Guatemala and Colegio Maya, Guatemala City, Guatemala

March 8-10, 2017: International School of Panama, Panama City, Panama

March 24-25, 2017: SCASL meeting, Greenville, SC

April 18, 2017: Oakview Elementary, Greenville, SC

May 2-4, 2017: The American School of Lima, Lima, Peru

 

 

 

I just returned from Rio where I presented for two days at the American School of Rio de Janeiro. It was excellent.

We celebrated both National Poetry Month and International Children’s Book Day with poetry workshops and Writer’s Life presentations. It was a full two days, but full of fun and learning and celebration. Those EARJ students know how to throw a celebration! Also, they figured out how old I am. (I think this was planned because one kid asked me how old I was when I published my first book and another asked me how long it had been since I published my first book. 33 and 12, respectively. 🙂

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved visiting these smart kids and their superstar teachers. Can I go back soon?

And now, I’m a few days late but I’ll kick off National Poetry Month with “Recipe for a Poem” which was originally published in the Poetry Friday Anthology put out by Pomelo Books. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong at Pomelo are putting out some of the most fun and exciting poetry anthologies for children of late and are making them very accessible to teachers with activities and hands-on tips. Be sure to check out their site.

Recipe for A Poem

by Kristy Dempsey

Fill a pot
with red-hot thought.
Boil a bit,
Simmer.
Let sit.
Wait . . .
some more.
Open a drawer,
pick a spoon,
a hammer,
a kite,
anything might
be of use.
Choose.
Weigh the contents.
Stir the depths.
Season with truth and
a dash of laughter.
Stretch like taffy,
Slice into bites.
Throw to the wind
and listen.