General Booking Information

Erick Ingraham’s Book Illustration Talk - Bringing Books to Life

CONTACT· Book Illustration Talks can be booked by email or by mail : 118 Meadowbrook Court, Paonia, CO 81428 

HOW MUCH FOR A DAY-LONG SCHOOL VISIT?

The honorarium fee for 2021 -2022 school year:
I give two 55 minute talks during the school day, in one location (one set-up) for $750.
Add $200 for a third 55 minute talk. $100 for a fourth.
The size of each presentation audience may be as large as is practical.
I can do the presentation in a classroom, the auditorium, gym or the library. It’s always nice to be able to darken the room for 10 minutes for the projector show.

Honorarium fees are not payable until the day of the school visit.

THE PRESENTATION

ALL AGES -My presentation is great for 1st through 3rd grade but there is a broad appeal to all ages. Older grades have fun and get just as much out of the presentation. Adults have a great experience as well. My main goal is to inspire. I let the students know that everyone can be good at something and that we all should start doing that “thing” as soon as possible. Art is just one example. It applies to everything. Some people want to be firemen, dancers, or computer whizzes. From a very young age, I knew I wanted to “draw for a living”.

WHAT IS ILLUSTRATION? My Talk touches on what it means to “illustrate”, how to be a better observer, getting a story to fit into the book, then creating a “storyboard”. Research is so important to my books that I describe what I do to “live” in my book as I develop it. I describe the process of getting from the scribble sketches, the refinement stage, researching, and the long hours needed to bring the story to life in the set of detailed single pieces of final art.

THE BOOKS ARE MADE BY A PRINTING COMPANY. I give my single pieces of art to them and they print, fold, and bind it. I talk about the finality of the printing press and that I have to be sure I’ve made no mistakes in that final art before it heads to the printer. Do you think any mistakes got through?

UNIQUE PEEK - Only my audiences get to see my foreign editions and hear me try to pronounce their titles: Chinese, Japanese, Swedish and, yes, British.

LAPTOP PROJECTION (Note: The presentation space should be able to be darkened.)
I put a break in the talk by a playing a recorded reading one of my books in a laptop projector show with a sound track.

TIME TO DRAW! After a summary of all that was covered, I go back to show how the process of inspiration begins with a quick drawing. I ask for suggestions from the kids and fabricate an action scene right before their eyes. The resulting drawings are always greeted with wonderment and laughs. Rapidly showing the drawing pad pages of previous visits inevitably causes a super-charged audience to burst out in laughter. It’s a great finale! It leaves them inspired and energized. Student’s love to come up after the presentation and tell me their ideas and later some gift me drawings of their favorite combination of animal and sport.

PREPARING If your school doesn’t have my books yet, can provide a small supply of books for immersing the students in the Henry series. Some teachers have worked lesson plans around the books and art classes create their own versions of Henry adventures. I’ve seen hallway murals waiting to greet me and I visited a classroom with two dozen hanging paper hot-air balloons hand decorated by the students.

KINDERGARTEN - I am happy to have the kindergarteners join the main audience.
They’re usually shy but they love it.
If scheduling issues arise, I can make a K classroom visit to talk about the fun of drawing and observing things and read my first book Harry and Shellburt in my funny character voices. This is not something I need to be compensated for.

TRAVEL EXPENSES are waived for schools located within an hour and a half drive of Paonia, Colorado.
Schools that are located at a distance of more than 1.5 hours’ drive (up to six hours) will be charged for any necessary travel and lodging expenses. Airfare, transportation, lodging are the responsibility of schools at a greater distance.

GROUP BOOKINGS The airfare can be divided equally between multple schools if they cooperate in having consecutive bookings in one area. I fly from Montrose Airport (MTJ) if you want to estimate airfare.
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BOOKS SALES
When school policies allow, I like to offer the six Henry the Siamese Cat books for sale.
Please note: I am very happy to sign and personalize any of my thirteen illustrated children’s books already purchased by the school and by students when brought to the school on the day of the event.
Books can be ordered and shipped in advance of the talk as well.

Note: Autographing is limited to inscribing the books.

ORDER FORM
I create a school-specific order form for the school to distribute ahead of the date for families interested in buying an autographed and personalized book. Student bring in orders and a check from home and I fill the order the best I can with my stock. I autograph and personalize each book. If there is time, I can sign them in the company of the young reader

LEGACY EDITIONS: I own a limited quantity of out-of-print editions of all my illustrated books. They include early editions and some used. Collector inquiries are very welcome. If you find some and purchase online, or other wise, I will be very happy to autograph and personalize them on the day of the event.