Lili DeBarbieri

2017 at LIBERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in Tucson, AZ USA

LILI GIVES KIDS CHOICE AT LIBERTY

Children ask the best questions: "But how does the book get made?" was a strong interest for the students in 2nd and 5th grade at Liberty Elementary school. Being very well versed in the writing process, we focused on what the reality of what an author actually does to both write and see the book published. We made connections between an editors' job and their teachers, to their writing assignments and mine (getting something published is a lot like getting a good grade!), seeing surprising similarities to what they and I write (lots of editing and thinking), sharing working drafts of my manuscripts along the way to publication and discussing reading interests—the inspiration and building blocks for writing.

The first graders and I focused more on desert wildlife behavior during our read aloud. Afterwards, they were eager to share stories of sightings around Tucson. I was so thrilled to hear one little boy talk about the desert bighorn sheep he had seen in the Catalina mountains having been involved a few years ago inviting an Authors for Earth Day presenter.

As part of A4ED, the classes researched five of my recommended conservation organizations prior to my visit that work to protect wildlife in the Southwest and wider United States. Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center (Scottsdale, AZ) won the student vote, and will receive my author fee to rehabilitate injured wildlife.

Best Student Quotes:
"One thing I learned was people have to cooperate with each other to write and publish a book." –Giselle
"I learned that you can write a story and get a publisher to see if they like it. They are like a teacher." -Jacqueline
"It takes a long time to make a book and a lot of money." -Earl
"I learned to never give up when writing books." -Andres