Carrie Finison
Author of picture books with humor and heart
About Carrie
Carrie Finison writes children’s books with humor and heart that are fun to read aloud. Her books include Dozens of Doughnuts and the sequel, Plenty of Pancakes. She is also the author of Don’t Hug Doug, an ALA Notable Children’s Book, which received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and the companion book Even Steven: A Book About Sharing, which was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection with starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal. Her other books include Lulu & Zoey: A Sister Story; Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time for School; Pigs Dig a Road; and Touch a Truck Day, a lift-the-flap board book. Carrie's school visits are lively and interactive with lots of audience engagement, and focus on writing essentials like "show don't tell" and using strong verbs and interesting words — sometimes even made-up ones! She lives outside of Boston with her husband, son, and daughter, and two cats who permit her to work in their cozy attic office.
Books
What educators say
“Carrie’s presentation was really excellent. It was great when she got the kids up and moving... Both the library media specialists and the classroom teachers loved her emphasis on finding and using stronger verbs. Her messages about revision were totally on point with what the teachers say every day.”
“Our kindergarten and first grade students loved Dozens of Doughnuts. Carrie’s engaging read aloud, the beautiful drawn animal characters and topic of doughnuts drew the children in. The students especially loved being able to call out, “Ding-dong,” whenever a new animal friend arrived.”
Visit formats
What a visit includes
I offer three different presentations: In-person or virtual story time and author Q&A I will read one or two books of your choice aloud with your group, share a little about how I wrote the story and the publishing process, and then have time for questions and answers. Writers Play with Words (in-person, ideal for grades 1-2) One of the things I love most about writing is finding perfect, juicy words — or even inventing them when I can’t find just the right one! I’ll share some examples of juicy words, vivid verbs, and onomatopoeia from my books, and then do some group writing and movement exercises with students to brainstorm our own fabulous words and use them in sentences. Revision with Extra Sprinkle (in-person, ideal for grades 2-5) “Good stories are not written. They are rewritten.” In this presentation, I’ll talk about the process of publishing a picture book from idea to publication with a special emphasis on revision, focusing on how a single page of Dozens of Doughnuts changed throughout both the writing and illustration process.
Fees vary by format, travel, and your school's needs. Reach out directly for a quote and open dates.
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