A classroom visit — loved every minute
May 26, 2026 — Last week I was invited for my first classroom author visit to read Into the Thicket and I led a simple art activity. This came about after I had lunch with my previous supervisor and the current communications staff for my former department at the University of Michigan: ecology and evolutionary biology. The current EEB communications specialist has a son in third grade at a private school in Ann Arbor, Clonlara School. They brought up the possibility of a classroom visit at lunch, and recently, she introduced me to his teacher via email.
It’s a small and charming school I’d never heard of, but I’m glad I know of them now. That’s just one of the things we’ve loved about Ann Arbor Schools — a wide variety of options to best meet your child’s needs.
I went to Clonlara on Thursday morning, May 21. One of the staff from the building, Heather, took me to the Maples classroom. That’s the name of the third graders classroom. They have tree themed names, which is really cute. The younger children’s classroom is called the Pines. They’re a small school that includes high schoolers.
The class was seated on the carpet in a semi-circle. We greeted each other and I met their kind and enthusiastic teacher, Emily. I did a quick introduction and began to read my book. A hand shot up and the boy wanted to say that he heard the book is based on a true story. I thought it was impressive that they had discussed the book beforehand. I confirmed that and told them a little about my son’s experience.
I’d done a read-through the night prior to Tim, who had just gotten into bed. He fell asleep. I hoped the children wouldn’t. I learned that it takes about 22 minutes to read the book.
I asked the students a few questions during the reading. They are really bright! We talked about the way the craters on the moon can look like a rabbit. I wasn’t aware of that when I wrote that part. One of the boys had read a book about the craters being shaped like a rabbit and some of the children had noticed this about the moon. I asked why they think Patrick’s stomach might have been feeling like it had tumbling rocks in it and he wasn’t hungry. One student said “he was concerned about the rabbit” who was not doing well at the time. I asked if they saw anything in the trees when Patrick was frightened about the goblins who might be in the thicket. “Faces!” They laughed at the pages where the other children all appear as rabbits. I heard a girl say, “What?!” when she saw the rabbit students in the classroom. A conversation started up about what their rabbit names would be. I told them to check out the many details about rabbits in the illustration on the classroom page. John’s illustrations are next level! He wasn’t able to be there, unfortunately.
I got them engaged in the reading by asking them to repeat the onomatopoeia after me, like CRASH and whoosh. That was fun and they were great at it. I think that really helped pull them in. It’s hard to describe what a joy it is to be with children hearing your book for the first time and reacting to it. They were good listeners. At times, once we got to talking about the book, their conversations continued for a bit among themselves, which was fun to see.
I was thinking they might be getting tired of the story and so when I got to Part III (it’s a longer picture book, so I broke it into three parts), I let them know we were on the final part. One boy said, “Aw,” like he didn’t want it to end too soon. The same sweet kid, when I finished reading the book, said in a loud whisper, “That is an amazing book.” I told him that he’d just made my whole year! Hearing something like that from a child, the main audience for the book, just felt so affirming. He happened to be the son of the one who arranged the visit. I wrote her an email about his kindness and how she’s really doing something right to have such a caring young man. We all love hearing positive feedback about our children, right? I recall it being the best possible feedback you can receive as a parent.
I took several questions after reading the book. They had good ones, like “how long did it take you to write the book?” I said it’s hard to say and started to explain how I’d done it in stages. He clarified that he meant from idea to publication! I thought that was such an insightful way to ask. Because I’d drafted the story some 22 years ago and published it in 2025, after going through a couple rounds of edits over the years with my editor, Bob Comenole, the answer is about 20 years from idea to publication.
We took a short break after the reading and Q&A. During that time, Heather gave me a brief tour of the school. When we got back together, I led them in a step-by-step drawing of a rabbit from a book I have, Illustration School: Let’s Draw Cute Animals by Sachiko Umoto. It was the first time I’d done this activity and I think I have some better ideas for next time, like to take the drawing steps a bit slower and with a bit more explanation. Although, as I told them, there were no mistakes and they could each put their own creativity into the rabbit. Every rabbit was unique, just like the children. One boy gave me his picture of a construction rabbit, which was very kind. I got photos of many of their drawings. A couple different people took photos of me reading to and drawing with the class that I hope to receive.
Afterward, several of the children wanted to show me something they’d written or drawn or talk to me, which I loved. One girl shared the comic books she’d created with me. They looked really creative and cool, with diagonal line patterns on the pages creating the different blocks for text and pictures. Another girl showed me some buttons she’d made from her drawings. She loved my earrings and said they look like “fairy bells.” I love that so much and told her from now on, I’m calling them my fairy bells. The minds of children are so fantastic! So unencumbered, fresh, innocent and new. It’s a great energy to be around. I loved every minute of my time with the Maples. I gifted and signed a copy for their classroom.
I’d forgotten to leave book postcards and the stickers, so I dropped them off later in the day at the front desk. I look forward to more classroom visits in the future. To be invited to take part in their school day felt like such an honor and privilege.
NOTE: When I receive photos from the classroom visit, I will add some to this post.