Welcome to the Website of Marianne Berkes

I am available for school appearances and would be happy to discuss your needs. Author visits are a great way to inspire your students, and to celebrate the joy of reading. I love visiting schools since students inspire me too! Please e-mail me as soon as you can as my calendar fills up quickly.

MY PRESENTATION
In addition to reading my books, I often use songs and visual aids during my presentations. My programs are interactive. For example, after I read Marsh Music , the students become part of a frog orchestra and we perform a frog symphony. With Over in the Jungle, a Rainforest Rhyme children mimic the various animals in the rain forest.

For children, Pre-K and K, I include puppets and other props. For Grades 1-4, I am happy to answer questions and gear my program to a course of study, such as the wetlands, oceans and the seashore, the rain forest, or the universe.

I enjoy working with smaller groups in individual classroooms, and also with larger groups,(as many as 200 at one time) depending upon your needs. If the group is larger than 40, I prefer to use an LCD projector so everyone can enjoy the illustrations. The room will need to be darkened if I show my books on a large screen.

Materials needed are:

1. an LCD projector, to which I hook up my laptop.
2. a large screen or white wall
3. a table and chair
4. a microphone (preferably a lapel mic)if addressing a large group.

When speaking to a large group, I need assistance with the LCD projector. A teacher or a volunteer who is acquainted with using a lap top, needs to be at the computer, while I am facing the students and explaining what they are seeing on the screen.

Students will get more out of the program if they are familiar with my work. Please share my books with your students before my presentation.

WRITERS' WORKSHOPS
I also enjoy presenting Writers' Workshops for Grades 3 and up, taking them through the fascinating world of book publishing. We discuss how a picture book is made, from the time I get my idea to when I am holding the finished project in my hand. Questions and answers are an important part of this workshop, which can be adjusted to a particular grade level, including Middle School.

FEES AND NUMBER OF PROGRAMS
My fee for an all-day program is $700. For this I will do three presentations with ample time allowed for autographing my books and a lunch break.

A half-day presentation ($200 for one presentation, $400 for two) is also a possibilty, if the school is within 50 miles of my home.

Sometimes schools work together and I stay in that area for two or three days. Lodging and reimbursement for meals and mileage, if coming by car, or airfare, are required.

Each program is usually 45 minutes long, possibly an hour for older groups and a little shorter for Kindergarten.

Travel expenses can be paid later, but I appreciate my $700 honorarium to be paid on delivery of service.

ORDERING AND AUTOGRAPHING MY BOOKS
Schools often raise enough money to pay for my visit by ordering books for students directly from my publishers. Lerner Publications offers a 44% discount and Dawn Publications 30% off the retail price of my books.Dawn publishes my books in both paperback and hardcover.

Another way to get all six of my books is through Crowley Distributors in Melbourne, FL, with a 40% discount. (www.Crowleybooks.com)

Please order my books, if they have to be shipped,a month in advance. Books can also be ordered from your local bookstore, but you would have to arrange for your own discount with them.

My media packet includes ordering information for both Dawn Publications and Lerner Publications (Millbrook Press)and also Crowley Distributors.

There is also a reproducible form to send to parents, indicating which books they want and what should be inscribed. It is a great help to have this all arranged before my visit so that students' names are spelled correctly, and all books can be autographed by the end of the day.

For those children who do not get autographed books, I have available a sheet of four booksmarks that can be reproduced to give away to your students as a souvenir of my author appearance.

MEDIA PACKET
If you would like me to visit your school, I will be happy to e-mail you my media packet which includes an Author Visit Agreement.