Feedback from my April 2025-March 2026 author-visit hosts, pt. 3: “What do you wish that Chris had done more (or less) of during his presentation(s)?”

I’ve done about 120 school presentations in the past year, for audiences ranging from pre-kindergartners to high schoolers. No matter the age group, at the end of a visit a school principal or other administrator will often ask me how things went.

I always tell them, honestly, that my perspective is the one that matters the least — what really counts is how the students and staff feel about our time together.

That’s why after each visit my hosts receive a survey so that I can learn more about what worked well and where I might be able to make improvements. I’m not through visiting schools for this academic year — I’ve got at least a dozen campuses on my itinerary for April and May — but as we near the end of the 2025-26 calendar, I’m taking stock this week of the feedback I’ve received in the past twelve months.

Yesterday’s focus was on the question, “What was the most valuable or beneficial aspect of Chris’ presentation?” Today, I’m sharing responses to the survey question, “What do you wish that Chris had done more (or less) of during his presentation(s)?”

Nothing. It was amazing!!

I have no notes.

Honestly it was a really nice visit! He balanced talking and letting the kids participate!

He did great!

I think the presentations were well balanced with a good amount of time for both instruction and questions.

Nothing. Great presentation.

As an educator and facilitator, I really appreciated Chris’s grasp of the Q&A portion. Sometimes this can get out of hand, and then the presentation ends, and it is a bit messy for dismissal. Chris handled the Q&A like a pro. He answered the questions, warned of “time for one more,” and then had a slide or two to end the presentation purposefully. I really appreciated this way of purposefully ending and setting the students up for success for an organized dismissal.

Now, as flattering as it would be if all of my survey respondents answered this question with something along those lines, there were a few responses that offered something a little more constructive. I’ll be giving some thought to these to as my booking agent and I look at things to tweak for the 2026-27 school year:

I had already read [the featured book] to those classes, but he did not know that.

I think everybody enjoyed the bit about other [unpublished] stories Chris wrote. A little more please.

The kids really identified with the list of things Chris mentioned at the beginning of this presentation. Many students referenced the Rewriter, Rewriter, Rewriter part of that list during our debriefing.

I’m SOOOOO sad I forgot to ask him to autograph my library copies!

[During the demonstration of why picture book page counts are multiples of eight,] I would like to see a real signature of 8 pages, or a large format demo of paper cut to make the 8 pages, though I did like to see the demo on small paper. I am fascinated at how books are assembled.

Honestly I thought it was wonderful! I wish we had been able to get book sales going so we could do a signing, but that’s on us, not him (all the info given to us to make it happen was thorough!)

ERNIE! of course! We will never get enough Ernie!

[OK, and I appreciate the sentiment in that last one, but I’m still not bringing the canine star of How to Make a Book (About My Dog) to schools and giving him a chance to upstage me at my own author visits. I will, however, continue to show my video of Ernie playing piano.]

Please see my Author Visits page for more information about hosting me, including a video of me in action as well as details about grants and other funding tips. I’d love to visit your campus or library soon!

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Next: Responses to the survey question, “For better or for worse, what stood out about the feedback that you received after Chris’ visit?”