6 Reasons To Give Your Kids The Unforgettable Experience Of Meeting Their Favorite Author

I really should say “meet one of” because if your kid likes to read, they have more than one favorite author (but that just gets a little too complicated for a title). The other thing is, when it comes to meeting an author, you can’t always be picky because it means finding the author at an event near you. When you find that the author’s coming to that bookstore right in your city, though, or maybe a city away, start working to make the magic happen. Your kid will love your for it, and really, you’ll be a little excited yourself to see the author whose story captured your child’s imagination and heart.

1. It Puts A Human Face To Their Hero

This thing happens, to adults and kids alike, when we have a hero that we’ve elevated into some sort of god where we become so enamored with them that we hardly realize they’re on this same plane of existence. Something changes when we know our hero is a real-life person walking around with a real-life body. This is especially powerful for kids because it shows them that their favorite author is really kind of just like them.

2. It Shows Your Kids That They Can Be A Writer, Too!

When your kids sees their favorite author, possibly dressed in jeans, maybe wearing sandals and looking very ordinarily human, they’ll get to truly experience the fact that although the characters in the book they love are fiction, the person who created the story is not. Being a writer is a real career, and if your kid loves to read, then they’ve probably wanted to write their own story at some point or another. Seeing one of their favorite authors at work is a great way to show your kid that it could be possible for them!

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Source: Tammy Yee

3. The Experience Of Hearing The Author Read Their Work Is Priceless

An author knows exactly when to make dramatic pauses, exactly when to speak in a funny voice, and exactly when to pretend to be sad. Hearing the author read the work out loud brings it to life and can give it new meaning. No doubt, when your kid goes to reread that book later, they’ll hear their hero’s voice dimly behind their own. For a few months, while the memory is fresh, it will be like the author is there, reading the book with them.

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Source: Washington Post

4. Autographs Leave A Lasting Memory

While your kid will most likely forget the exact day of the event and the small nuances of that day, (like the way they blushed when the author said their name), an autograph will forever remind them that they got to meet their childhood hero. In the meantime, though, before your kid is old enough to look back and reminisce, they will have the inky proof that they met their favorite author!

5. It Gives Your Kid A Personal Connection To Their Favorite Book

Getting to see, in real life, the author behind the book makes that book ten times more exciting. The book becomes attached to the experience and the thrill of meeting their hero. It becomes the book that gave them access to something exciting.

6. You Can Bond With Your Kid Over The Experience

You’ve likely read the author out loud to your kid, or read the book with them, or listened to them talk on and on about how awesome it was, so you might be just as pumped as your kid to meet the person behind the story that put that smile on your kid’s face.

It can be tricky to arrange to meet an author, but if you can make it work, it’s an experience that could hardly be regretted.

YouTube Channel: DerektheGhost

 

Featured image via CMOM Productions

h/t Brightly