Children's Author
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April
Pulley Sayre Children's Author |
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| Talks & Seminars |
 April Sayre presents to school children and to educators, librarians, and community groups. She and Jeff also present wildlife gardening and natural history talks to adults.
"April Pulley Sayre...best known for her non-fiction writing is hands-down one of the most engaging author-speakers in all of children's literature." "I loved her presentations! April Sayre enriches the world of non-fiction books both with her wonderfully worded books and her fantastic presentations to students. Her lectures intrigue, excite, and inspire the students." "Thank-you again for such a wonderful visit to Monroe Elementary. I've been having authors and illustrators in for a long time, and your visit really stands out. The teachers are still talking about how great your presentation was. You made me look really good, since I booked you!" "We were so thrilled to have you present at the Picture-Perfect Science GREEN Teachers Institute Workshop this summer! Your presentation was a perfect fit for our program. You showed teachers how naturally science, literature, and writing fit together, and you presented the information in a format that was both interactive and entertaining. Many teachers remarked that they were inspired by your passion for science, nature, books, and learning. We highly recommend your program to teachers of both science and language arts." "You were a true jewel at our Wisconsin Conference! Our participants describe you as an ‘enlightening, entertaining, and compelling speaker. Consider yourself floating in a sea of perfect ‘10’s.’ Everyone was so invigorated by the light you shed on their creative worlds. Your presentation, words, and work proved truly empowering and participants are now wandering around uttering 'Word Joy.' You need to know you touched many people this weekend in a most incredible way. Thank you so much for being an integral part of our conference and making it such a hit!" "April Pulley Sayre's presentations are like her books: wonderful blends of the scientific process and the writing process. Through the use of animal noises and slides, she helps the audience discover the world and work of a scientist in the wild. April's love of nature and her interest in the sound of language combine to motivate students to become better writers. I highly recommend her presentations for budding authors and voracious readers of all ages." "You were great! You had 600 middle school students with their attention glued to you for an entire hour! Your presentation was wonderful. I especially like what you said about the writing process." |
| Wild Words! Writing Inspired By Wild Adventures |
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This is my main talk. I have versions for every grade level and I vary it every year with new video and anecdotes from my current books and adventures. Time permitting and according to the audience's interests, I do the following: Share some of the content that inspires my work: experiences in rain forests and with creatures closer to home Introduce what I call word joy (word choice, fluency, rhythm, rhyme, and the pleasure of puzzling with words) Touch on my writing process and the aspects of quality writing (in some schools called 6 plus traits) Share my revision process and show actual manuscripts with comments on them Teach specific techniques that make nonfiction writing more powerful: Share sounds I have recorded in rain forests as a way of learning to describe and add sensory depth to material Answer questions about the writing process, the life of a writer, the business of writing, and other writing topics. I am frank in my responses to children about the joys and challenges of writing as a career. I consider answering questions to be one of the most important aspects of my job. Unlike T.V., I am interactive and I want to respond to the curiosity of the audience. For the very youngest students, pre-K, I briefly talk about what an author does and the differences between fiction and nonfiction. We talk about words, rhythm, rhyme, and the pleasures of reading and writing. For them I do not go in depth with the writing processes above. I read texts of my recent picture books. We do several activities for these youngsters. I introduce them to sounds. For the very youngest students, this talk may last 35 minutes but usually it is 45 minutes. |
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| Put On Some Antlers and Walk Like a Moose: How Scientists Find, Follow, and Study Animals In the Wild |
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| This presentation is focused on science and is done by special request. This program leads kids into the excitement about science that inspires my nonfiction writing. Using slides, I stage an interactive photo quiz to exchange ideas with the audience about how to find and study wild animals. The program gets kids thinking about writers not just as people who make up stories, but also as people who investigate, adventure, and learn by asking questions. | . |
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| Speaking Fees |
| To reduce paperwork and complexity, I have recently changed my fees to make them ALL INCLUSIVE. Fees cover honorarium, mileage, hotel, food, car rental, plane tickets, i.e. everything. These categories are based on driving distance calculated by Mapquest from downtown South Bend, Indiana.
ALL INCLUSIVE FEES
What's Included? (If you have previously contracted me with expenses separate for an upcoming visit and want to change to these all-inclusive fees, please contact me.) My husband/co-author Jeff Sayre, is available to appear as a second author for Young Author Conferences. Add $1000 to the fee and you have us both for the day. Fees are the same for schools, libraries, young author's conferences. Email me for conference fees. |
| Adult Seminars For Educators, Librarians, Community Groups |
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| (Contact regarding keynotes. Sayre can tailor a talk for your conference needs.)
"That was wonderful! There are great writers and great speakers but rarely both combined. You were both. Your program was terrific!" "I am one of the lucky media specialists who met April Pulley Sayre at this year's South Carolina Association of School Librarians' Conference. April has a passion for nature that can make even the most unsure of us want to read and teach more about science....Listening to her talks, viewing her photographs, and learning her animal calls has absolutely awakened my senses to the outdoor world.... Her message that I brought back to my students actually helped us realize that there is a field scientist inside each one of us. It is with pleasure that I can recommend April Pulley Sayre to you as a presenter." "April Pulley Sayre's passion for the natural world and her enthusiasm for
sharing that passion with others were evident in her presentations to the students in our school district. She tailored her vocabulary and speaking "April Pulley Sayre's presentation on her nature books is to the curious
reader like rain upon the desert: refreshing and long overdue. She is one
of the very few authors who provides a quality non-fiction program for young
readers." "Our library recently had the pleasure of hosting a visit from author
April Pulley Sayre. She did three presentations for us: one for first through
third grade students, and one for fourth through sixth grade students, and one for
an audience of adults and children. Ms. Sayre was equally at ease with each
audience. her talks were informative and humorous and she was able to keep
her audiences engaged by interacting with them throughout her program. Ms. Sayre was a joy to work with and I would highly recommend her as a
speaker for your organization." "When April Sayre visited our school she provided the students with a
wonderful slide show and talk about some of the fascinating nature information that she has written in her books. Our students were very
attentive during her talk and they had many questions. She adjusted her talks
to each grade level. April provided a memorable experience for our students." "Mrs. Sayre did a wonderful job speaking to both students and teachers. We
greatly appreciated all of the time she spent with the Safe Harbor children
and her commitment and dedication to preserving the wild and teaching us about its many wonders." "'Thank you for coming to our school. You helped us learn more about rain forest and writing. I hope you write a lot more books and get them published." "'I learned so much, like the big squid. I learned things like the chart that you go by, and that it's okay if you make mistakes. I never knew about the fish in the ocean that made weird calls..." "I learned not to be prickly when I have notes written on my paper...I also learned that writers make mistakes and are not perfect their first try." "Your visit to our school was excellent. I learned a lot of ways to make my writing better and where to get my ideas. I learned to listen to things around you." "Thank you for coming to our school and sharing what you do for a living. ...How did you get to meet Christopher Clark the bioacoustician who studied whale calls? And Katy Payne who studies elephant sounds and how they use infrasound to communicate? What gave you the idea to write Secrets of Sound? When I read that book I was already interested in animals but I did not know how whales or elephants could communicate with such strange sounds. After I got done reading that book I felt excited that you were coming to our school! So thanks for coming to our school and sharing your love of animals with us."
"I loved the way you wrote your books and still have a sense of humor. The
animal sounds were as great as you were. I really liked being an American toad....Maybe one day you will be as famous as
J.K. Rowling." "Thank you for doing a wonderful program. I love the book Crocodile Listens. Now that's a good book. I wish I could have that book. You’re the coolest author ever! Your friend, "Thank you for sharing your work...The process {inspiration} even happens to me. Then I get a brain rush (that's when my head hurts). My brain even has a hundred ideas." Your Friend, Thank you, "Thank you for coming to our school....I think it's really cool how you know all that stuff about hummingbirds and whales...I have learned how to be a better author or writer now. "You gave me a lot of hints to becoming a good writer." "I liked your show and how you gave us tips on our writing. After your
show I was feeling like writing a book." "I really liked you coming to our school. You are a great author. I hope I
will become an author just like you. It was funny when we made the frog sounds. I also liked it when we had to try and guess what the sound was." "I really liked your ideas for writing our stories. What I think you should do is write a book about how to write a good fiction, or non-fiction book....It's a good thing you write science and nature books, because those are my favorite subjects. "Thank you for coming to our school. I did not know that a hummingbird is
as light as a penny. And that the forest has so many sounds. I did not know
that much stuff. "I wish to become a veterinarian or a writer. There is one more thing I
have to tell you, you are good as an author." "When I grow up I want to be just like you and I want to study animals and
then write about them." "Thank you for teaching me more about books. I will use your advice in my
stories I do in class and just for fun. I will put comparisons in stories and
make them fun and not boring. I hope to become an author myself someday" "I really liked your speech. It was fun and interesting. I liked the tips
you gave us on how to write. ....I learned a lot." "We had a whole lot of fun listening to your adventures, and your funny
jokes. When I get older I want to explore Africa and its rain forests." "Your visit inspired me to want to be an author." "I hope you make some more good books like your other books. When you
write your books, do a lot of words come out of your mind?" "We all learned a lot from you. I especially liked when you talked about
camouflage." "I wish I could be a writer as good as you are. That's just a wish." "I thought your program was great. I liked the sounds from the rain forest
and the slide show was good, too." "I liked it when you made animal sounds." "Your program was very good. You know a lot about comparing. I think you're a good author. I'm glad you came to our school. You're really nice, and you think of good words. Thanks a lot." "I really hope you come back to our school and visit again." I really like animals, too. I think frogs are cool too. Thank you for visiting us today. I might study animals when i grow up too and maybe be an author. Thank you for coming to our school It was fun meting you. I like seeing the animal pikchers. It was one of my favrit days at school. Thank you for taking time off what ever you were doing. The presentation was very good. I think it was nice for what you did. I want to grow up just like you. Thanks for coming to our school. You’re the best. |
