Friday Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce came to William Walker as part of their promotional tour of their middle grade novel Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures.
My class has really been into magical creatures this year. One boy draws and writes stories about dragons and many other students have created comics with characters who have special powers, like Fry Guy, a french fry who encounters, then, solves problems. Although they haven’t read this book yet (it will be our next read aloud) I knew they’d be interested once they got to the assembly, so we brainstormed good questions to ask before we went to the assembly.
Once we were there, Maggie and Jackson did not disappoint. They presented a lovely contrast, one dark, one fair; one looking at the bright side, one looking at the dark side.They had clearly practiced their presentation, which was fast-paced and engaging.
Although they mentioned their book, they spent much of the hour-long presentation talking to the kids about how to create a magical beast.
Jackson posed questions to the audience while Maggie drew the creature they designed, the Snowplace Pole Deer.
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Their goal was to inspire kids to develop their interests because you never know where they will lead. Jackson and Maggie nth told kids that, through writing, they are able to pursue interests they’ve had since childhood, just not in the way they imagined they would when they were 10 or 11 years old. And I think that is a powerful message.
booksandbassets 
Fantastic, wow….