TITLES

• Icky Bug Shapes written by Jerry Pallotta (Scholastic, 2003)
• Ocean Counting: Odd Numbers written by Jerry Pallotta (Charlesbridge, 2005)
• Sharks: Big, Bigger, Biggest written by Jerry Pallotta (Scholastic, 2005)
• Snakes: Long, Longer, Longest written by Jerry Pallotta (Scholastic, 2006)
• The Feeding Tree written by Pamela Hall (Mitten Press, 2008)
• My Sister, Alicia May written by nancy Tupper Ling (Pleasant Street Press, 2008)

Coming Soon:

• The Eyeball Alphabet Book written by Jerry Pallotta

Also the cover artist for the National Science Teacher's Association books:

• Exploring Safely: A Guide for Elementary School Teachers (NSTA Press, 2002)
• Inquiring Safely: A Guide for Middle School Teachers (NSTA Press, 2003)
• Investigating Safely: A Guide for High School Teachers (NSTA Press, 2004)
• Science Safety in the Community College (NSTA Press, 2006)

GRADES

K-12. In addition I offer customized presentations for colleges and adults.

LENGTH

Approximately an hour each presentation with up to 5 presentations a day.

AUDIENCE SIZE

From 1 to 100 per presentation, the smaller the better because my presentations are interactive.

PROGRAMS

Book Reviews

My presentations bring children along with me on my often humorous quests to research and hunt down my "models" on beaches, boats, city streets, even in the dusty private collections of eccentric professors. Children will learn valuable observational and research skills with my fun and interactive presentation and become young authors and illustrators themselves.

Included is a video clip of my handling a rare two-headed milk snake that I illustrated for Snakes! Long, Longer, Longest. This is part of a 20 minute movie that I show describing my work and how I create it, from initial sketch to published piece. In my movie I even fall off a dock and "swim" with a Great White shark! The actual shark footage is combined with my original shark illustrations and I tell the children many scientific facts about the various creatures. Students are left in awe, while being entertained and educated.

I am available for Conferences, Teacher Workshops, Young Author Fairs and School and Library Visits. I discuss all the stages of creating a picture book, from initial sketches, researching, illustrating with traditional media and using a digital tablet, through design and production. And, of course, what it's like working with the wonderful Jerry Pallotta! In addition to my movie, I have an informative and colorful PowerPoint Presentation which includes a digital tablet demonstration and lots of sound effects and surprises!

With help from my audience, I finish off my presentations showing students just how large a whale shark, a basking shark, and a reticulated python is. I keep them guessing until the end which one is the longest! These are all creatures I have illustrated in my books.

ALSO AVAILABLE

I am delighted to speak to high school students about a career in illustration. With small groups, we discuss how to assemble a portfolio.

I offer two small classroom workshops. One is for highly able students working on an actual assignment of mine, an ocean pop-up book.

My second classroom workshop features hands-on production of a booklet of students' own work. Up to 15 students per workshop, workshop length is approximately 3 hours. Students should have worked on a story with basic illustrations ahead of time. Special care will be taken to help students design pages and develop finished illustrations.

I bring all the computer equipment to produce their booklets in your classroom. An extra $100. a workshop is required to cover the cost of inks and paper.

FEES

$1,000.00 a day plus travel and lodging expenses beyond 100 miles of Boston. This can include up to 5 presentations per day or a combination of 1 presentation and 2 workshops; whatever reasonably fits into a regular school day.

A WORD FROM SHENNEN BERSANI

"There is nothing more satisfying to me than inspiring a child to draw, create, openly express themselves through words and pictures. I love hearing a teacher tell me that their quietest student returned to the classroom and 'copied' their favorite piece of my art.

"With the popularity of Snakes Long, Longer, Longest selling a half a million books, I still continue to work on new projects with Jerry Pallotta. But I am also very excited to be branching out. The year 2008 will bring the British pop-up book, Ocean Odyssey Zig Zags; a fiction picture book, The Feeding Tree written by Pamela Hall and an exciting non-fiction picture book, My Sister, Alicia May written by Writer's Digest Grand Prize award-winning author, Nancy Tupper Ling. Based on the lives of two real sisters, My Sister, Alicia May touches on the joys and challenges of growing up with a sibling who has Down syndrome. This is very near and dear to my heart for I grew up with a sister with Down syndrome.

"The full story behind this book can be found at http://tinyurl.com/2oejuy. I have a unique program describing the process of illustrating this special book as well as coping with special needs family members. Inquire for further information."

EQUIPMENT NEEDS

1. Table for props
2. Darkened room with screen
3. A/V cart with extension cord
4. Large pad of paper and easel
5. Markers or colored chalk
6. A bottle of water

AUTOGRAPH INFORMATION

I enjoy taking the time to autograph and personally meet with each child who wants my autograph. I am often amazed at the various items children will ask to be autographed! I will happily autograph anything!

Books can be purchased and autographed through me ahead of time or purchased directly through the publishers. The Scholastic books are in the book club order forms. Contact me directly for details.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SHENNEN BERSANI

• Biography
• Testimonials
• References

CONTACT INFORMATION

Shennen Bersani
PO Box 1447
Brockton, MA 02303-1447
Telephone: 508-345-3330
2nd Telephone: 508-583-1648
Email: sbersani@mac.com
Website: www.shennenbersani.com
My Blog: www.shennen.com
Online Store: www.cafepress.com/shennenbersani
Story Behind the Book: My Sister, Alicia May

NOTE: If your email receives no response, PLEASE CALL. I try to respond within a day of contact. Thanks!