Presentation Honorarium and Content Information
for Jenny Whitehead
(updated September 2010)

Contact Information:
Website: www.jennywhitehead.com (additional teacher info/ideas available on website)
E-mail: jennywhitehead1@gmail.com
Phone: (home) 816-363-4520
(studio) 816-651-4723
Address: 6512 Charlotte Street
Kansas City, MO 64131

Honorarium
In the Kansas City area: $700 a day for four presentations (plus a shorter one for K)
(One option: split a day with another school in your district if budgets are tight.)
Outside the Kansas City area: $800 a day for four presentations (plus K) and travel expenses.
(Coordinating with other schools in the area/district to share travel costs or
splitting the presentation schedule might help ease expenses.)
For either, I can do a “Parent Night” with kids/parents, which includes a shorter presentation, questions, book signing and book-related activities for an additional $100 as long as it falls within
the days I am doing visits to your school.
I am happy to sign books for however long it takes and have lunch with the kids!

Presentation Content
My talks last about 50 minutes (although I can easily go longer with good questions!) and cover many things-----
We talk about Lunch Box Mail, Holiday Stew and Punctuation Celebration (it’s especially fun when the kids are familiar with the books before I get there) and the projects I’m currently working on so they can see the process of creating a book from the beginning.
I share how I create artwork for a book and talk about the different techniques and materials,
about using a sketchbook for ideas and really looking at something to learn how to draw it etc.
We read poems together and I talk about writing poetry (reading my poems and explaining what went into making them, from the ideas to the structure, rhyming, meter etc.).
I do a Powerpoint presentation on creativity and creative-thinking (how boredom breeds creativity). I’m finding it’s an especially effective topic these days since kids automatically turn to their t.v. or computer toys for amusement.)
I talk about the influence of some of my teachers.
We talk about seasons....
We talk about holidays i.e. ones we all celebrate and ones we don't....
How would you write about something you don't celebrate?
Example discussion: are you allowed to go to a Chinese New Parade or
Cinco d’Mayo Festival if you're not Chinese or Hispanic? What about Passover?
A lot of kids I meet have not traveled much---they don't know about all the
cultural festivals and museums and experiences available...
I tell them about how I became an author and illustrator...it was not a conventional road.
I talk about getting published but also about other careers in writing, illustrating and creative thinking.
I always leave a little time to draw and answer questions...
If possible, I like to sign books after my presentations are over for the day because I usually draw a picture and personalize it, which takes time. I don’t like to take away any presentation time with the kids in order to get it done (unless there are just a few books, in which case that is no problem!)
Sometimes the schools will have a poetry contest and I "give out the prize" or I have lunch with the winners.

What I Would Need on Presentation Day:
BOOKS:  Having books available for the kids to buy is recommended (for kids who can’t get a book, a bookmark can be available—see below). I find that kids tend to want to buy
books after the event than before so ordering some extra is usually a good idea. Most
schools send out a form with the discounted price and book info. a week or so before I
come so they have time to send in money. Schools get a 40% returnable discount from the publisher.
The paperback version of Lunch Box Mail is popular because it’s the least expensive.

Book Contact Info: See attached or contact Timothy Jones at Henry Holt, Inc.
Tim Jones
Library and School Marketing Manager
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
175 Fifth Avenue, 10th floor
New York, NY 10010
p: 646.307.5281
f: 646.307.5247
www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com

I’ll need to know if your school has a Smart Board or projector. I can bring
a disc with my Powerpoint presentation on it and my laptop. I also have
a projector if needed. I have my own “clicker” so I can move the slides ahead
from anywhere in the room; having a USB port on the side of your computer/projector
to plug in the remote would be necessary. (I find that usually in not a problem!)
I’ll need a table upfront to put my materials on and a dry erase board with a black
marker and an eraser.
Bookmarks: I have included a sample of a sheet of bookmarks that I can send you with your
school’s name on it. If you can copy the amount you need and trim them, than all the kids
can have a “souvenir” from the day, whether they were able to order a book or not.
If you’d like, I’m happy to do a black line drawing on a large sheet of paper to leave behind for the library.
Again, it’s really important that you read the books to the kids in advance so they are familiar
with who I am before I arrive. It makes the day all the more special for everyone!
I can provide an invoice or forward an ‘event form’ to make the arrangement official.
Often school districts need this to issue payment checks.