5 Reasons Why Your Kids Should Meet One of Their Favorite Authors
by Tom Burns
Thatâs an easy thing to say, isnât it?
âYour kid should meet their favorite author!â
But itâs not always the easiest thing to do.
In fact, sometimes, itâs literally impossible to do â particularly if your childâs favorite author is E.B. White or A.A. Milne. And, if the author is still alive, sometimes geography and/or fame just makes the chances of a meet-and-greet impossible. (I recognize that the likelihood of my daughter getting to see J.K. Rowling in person is fairly low.)
That being said, there ARE so many opportunities for children to interact with authors they love. Book fairs, library events, bookstore readings â authors head out on the road to market their works more often than you might think. And, if youâre the parent of a book-loving kid, it becomes your job to become aware of those events, so your kid doesnât find out that âOMG, my favorite author ever was at the library yesterday and we didnât even know!â
Can it be a lot of work to find these author events? Yes. Is the experience of attending worth all that effort? YES. YES, YES, YES.
If youâre not sure that you want to brave the lines at your local bookstore to have your kid meet the creator of that new book or series they love, here are five reasons why meeting an author has the potential to be one of the coolest experiences your kid will ever have:
1. It humanizes their heroes.
Kids develop a really intimate relationship with authors they love. They see the name Rick Riordan or Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Brad Meltzer or Matt de la Peña on a book cover and, from that name alone, they know, âThat book is for ME. Thatâs MY kind of book.â Thatâs a powerful connection that only gets deeper once your child has the opportunity to see the author in person.
Last summer, I was lucky enough to get to take my daughter to an event to meet Kate DiCamillo, an author sheâd been calling her âfavorite writer EVERâ since she was six years old. I canât describe to you what happened to my daughterâs face when Kate walked into the room. There was a flash of recognition, then disbelief, then one of the biggest smiles Iâve ever seen.
It was like watching someone meet an old pen-pal or long-distance acquaintance for the first time. It was magical.
2. Thereâs nothing like hearing an author read their own work.
Often, when youâre at an author event, you get the privilege of hearing an author read their work aloud. Maybe itâs a chapter from a new book, maybe itâs a short passage from an old favorite. Regardless, there is something wonderful about hearing a writer read their own writing to a large group of children.
It really is fantastic to hear the person who created a fictional world bring it to life with their own voice. They know how to hit all the jokes just right. They bring emotion and depth to pauses you never anticipated on your own. For a kid, itâs like watching an act of creation right in front of them. Itâs unbelievable.
3. It lets your kids know âI could do that TOO!â
When your kid gets to see their favorite author in the flesh for the first time, itâs a strange moment. Itâs almost like seeing a fictional character brought to life.
But thatâs why this is a great experience for kids â because it lets them know that authors ARENâT fictional. Theyâre real. Theyâre just like you or me and, most importantly, just like THEM. When a child realizes that an author they adore is just a normal person, it reminds them that theyâre capable of creating the exact same kinds of things. They can be a writer too, just like that oddly normal person signing books at the front of the line.
4. Autographs mean something.
They do.
Your child met the person who created that book they loved, and they have PROOF. The author mightâve even written your kidâs name in the inscription as well. It might just be a signature, but it means so much to the person who gets to carry that signed copy of the book around with them for the rest of their lives.
(And, if you meet an author who is also an illustrator, sometimes they draw sketches too! My daughter still canât get over that Lane Smith actually sketched a picture of the title character of one of her favorite books, Grandpa Green, on the title page of her copy. She will keep that book FOREVER.)
5. It gives them a more personal connection to their favorite books.
As I mentioned, these chances to meet authors arenât always possible. Sometimes, they only happen in big cities or, sometimes, your childâs favorite writers are already dead.
But, when the opportunity arises, if your child has the chance to meet the author of a book they love, that experience burns that book into your kidâs brain for the rest of their life. The book is elevated. Itâs not just a better-than-average read. It becomes a book they now have history with. Itâs a book that allowed them behind the scenes. A book that let them meet its author, ask a question, maybe get an autograph.
Iâm not saying that meeting an author will always be a phantasmagorical experience. Maybe your kid will be shy. Or the author will be grumpy. Or the lines will just be way too long.
But, if youâre lucky, if your kid gets to meet a person who wrote a book they loved, that book will become a part of your childâs personal history in a way that most creative works never will.
So, if you have the opportunity to take your kid to an author signing, believe me, itâs worth it.
To find out what author events are happening in your neck of the woods, click here.Â