One Year with "No Boots!"

By Lindy Schneider

I can't wait to hit the road promoting my book and I
would go in stocking feet! I've written and
illustrated a children's book entitled No Boots! It
portrays a stubborn little girl named Sara Beth who
has no boots and doesn't want any despite her mother's
best intentions. When she finally steps into a pair of
rain boots and allows her imagination to fly, she
discovers a whole zoo of puddle-critters that she can
release just by stomping.

On my stomp across the country to promote NO BOOTS! I
would have to begin in Seattle, the rain-capital of
the United States and continue to a new major city
each month. I would wear a rain slicker but NO BOOTS.
In speaking to children at schools and libraries I
would ask them what I was missing. When they noticed
that I had no boots I would begin my presentation. I
would read NO BOOTS! out loud while projecting the
illustrations on the wall behind me. Then I would lead
them in a discussion of why Sara Beth didn't want
boots and why the ones she did like were different, or
were they?

In 1998 I earned a national Excellence in Education
Award for creating a young writers club in Montana
where kids in kindergarten through high school wrote,
illustrated and bound their own children's books. I
would offer similar workshops to any schools that
would welcome them. The workshops could be taught on
several different levels depending on the ages of the
students. I would have the children start by choosing
an animal or character and take away something that
that character would normally have. Sara Beth had a
raincoat, but no boots. Perhaps they could write about
a dog that had NO BARK or a bear that had NO BITE.

I would also offer hands-on illustration workshops
showing the students how I created the illustrations
for NO BOOTS! and how they could too. I would also
teach the students how to illustrate their own stories
even if they can not draw.

I would create and maintain a website that would have
my biography on it, a summary of NO BOOTS!, how to
obtain a book and several items for use by parents and
teachers. There would be projects and curriculum
tie-ins for classroom use as well as tips about
writing and illustrating a story. Colorful games for
kids would invite them to find and match boots to
their owners. For example, a fisherman would need to
be matched to waders, and a cowboy to his cowboy
boots, etc. The illustrations in NO BOOTS! show Sara
Beth being led through a shoe store filled with shoes
that reflect different careers or professions. That
lends itself readily to being used as a teaching aid
in pre-school and elementary grades on Career Days.
Another page on my website would direct teachers in
that process as well. Finally, There would be a
section where I would post stories that students had
written in my workshops to serve as inspiration to
other young writers.

Before any visit to a city I would contact the local
foster-care organizations and partner with them on a
city-wide shoe drive. Children who are removed from
bad situations and placed in foster care often have no
shoes to take with them. Even when they do have shoes,
they are growing so fast that the shoes need to be
replaced regularly with a larger size. Shoes are one
of the most expensive things that foster parents have
to buy. I would ask the local shoe stores if they
would act as collection sites for the new, donated
shoes. I would provide the local radio and TV stations
with  public service announcements about a Shoes for
the Shoeless Drive and offer to speak with them on the
air. The drive would culminate in my presentation of
NO BOOTS! at the local library or recreation center
and the awarding of the donated shoes to the local
foster-care organization.

Through writing articles for parent magazines on
encouraging kids to free their imaginations by reading
and creating stories, I would hope to generate
wide-spread interest in my book and programs. I would
send press kits to newspapers and talk shows and
follow-up with postcards created from the
illustrations in NO BOOTS! to generate interviews.
Only after all that would I put my author shoes back
on and begin writing my next book!
 

Lindy Schneider - lindy_schn@yahoo.com