Becoming Pen Pals With A Children’s Book Author Get Kids to Write!
Pen pal, letter write a children’s author, Becoming Pen Pals With A Children’s Book Author, For Kids Who Love to Write or Journal
Pen Pals With A Children’s Book Author – Because of her joy for writing, award-winning children’s author, Lisa Caprelli, author of 15 books and counting, is currently accepting letters from grades 1st through 6th. This is a great writing opportunity to connect with someone near or far, anywhere in the world!
THE JOY OF WRITING AND SELF-EXPRESSION
“When I was in elementary school, there was no e-mail, you couldn’t Google it, there was no YouTube or social media,” says Caprelli, “I saw a television show on PBS that encouraged pen pal and letter writing. I wrote to a girl named Cathy. I anxiously would hurry to the mailbox to get her letter, read it and reply within a day or two. It was special to me.
Today with e-mail, text and social media, children still have the fun and entertaining opportunity to write a letter … and simply deliver it faster.”
Not everyone likes to write or journal and that’s okay. I have three sisters and a brother, and I was the only one who did the pen pal thing. It is not any wonder that I am a writer today and it is one of my favorite hobbies, passions and now full-time career.
Letter writing encourages a love of reading, writing, creating and touches upon imagination and the arts.
If your young scholar wants to get into writing (and an adult is not making them do this), then my Pen Pals With A Children’s Book Author form is for them. It’s great for children 6–12, educators, classrooms, and libraries.
Parent or guardian permission is required. I do cater to classrooms led by teachers as well. Just ask me! Here is a sample of FUN writing topics your student can send in via e-mail with instructions at the bottom!
Rest assured, all letters are age-appropriate and written for children. During the months of March to June and during elementary school closures, I have this is a COMPLIMENTARY writing opportunity. If I become inundated, I will select a Unicorn Jazz Ambassador of mine (on my TEAM page) to help and that will be disclosed to YOU.
No purchase is necessary for Pen Pals With A Children’s Book Author, however, I do APPRECIATE your support in purchasing any of my children’s unicorn book series that are available easily on Amazon, select fine bookstores and Barnes & Noble. This allows me to stay in my writing profession and to continue speaking and sharing to children all over the world!
Each letter is different and I do look forward (really, more than doing social media) to writing back and encouraging a thoughtful conversation. Some letters may be handwritten or typed and scanned back. Letters may include drawings, doodles, or photos. The letters are signed by hand, scanned, printed, and e-mailed to children around the world.
FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS WITH YOUR STUDENT…..
SOME OF MY FAVORITE WORDS & PHRASES I USE IN MY TALKS
- Serendipity (um, this word is in my book, EYE SEE YOU CHOOSING KINDNESS)
- Gracious (first book)
- Vision – the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination
- Imagination – picturing in your mind what makes you happy, play time (as in Beeing Happy With Unicorn Jazz and Friends)
- Create – I was asked by a 4th grader at an author visit after sharing the way I put my team together, illustrator, singer, song writer, graphic designer, social media help, my husband who listens and supports all my ideas … well the 4th grade boy asked “Is it hard to create?” My reply was, “Is it hard to dream?” He nodded and graciously smiled, as did everyone in that room.
- SKIP A STEP – I created Unicorn Jazz because of my 2.5 year journey of research, asking questions, writing, pondering to form the book SKIP A STEP Imparting Wisdom for Young Entrepreneur Minds and the Skip a Step Journal that came at the end, when shared by my sister, Ruth, “I love all the stories by the 13 people in here and their meaning for happiness and why they did what they did, but now what, give me something to reflect back on.”
- Be Bold, Be Brave – message comes across in Unicorn Jazz book one.
- I Believe In You – We all love affirmations. We all have different “love languages.” Mine happens to be Time and Words of Affirmations. I taught my kids young to learn what theirs is and to learn to give others joy as well. You can do this with your kid: the Five Love Languages for Kids Quiz
TWO THINGS I DO FAST
I can write fast and can cook fast.
In my early 20’s, I was a court reporter. This meant I had to read, write, think and deliver at over 250 words per minute. Perhaps this is how I trained my brain early on to multi-task and spit out the words in my brain’s dictionary.
Coming from a Hispanic culture and family who loved to eat, my grandmother was a great cook. I spent hours watching her cook, and eating her delicious Mexican food. It is not any wonder that I learned how too cook for large families. However, today, living with my husband and teenage son, cooking for three comes easy to me.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A WORD MEANS – LOOK IT UP
To this day, if I am not clear of a word’s meaning, I look it up on Google. I have a MEMORY BANK that is deep, but ask me what I had for dinner last night and I could not tell you.
GROWING UP SHY AND MY FORMER FEAR OF SPEAKING
Because I grew up introverted and very shy, I believe this was a way for me to get my thoughts on paper.
“Think of the shyest person in your classroom, from grades first to six, well, that was me,” I laugh when I share that statement to students. I am honored to be in front of large audiences and sharing my life experiences. It is kind of easy.
What is more worthwhile and purposeful is that they are fully engaged, entertained and raise their hands often. I know my skills and books have led to something worthy to teach.
lisa caprelli award winning childrens book author of unicorn jazz
“Books Matter, you matter, people matter, the words you say matter,” are phrases I often leave them with. “Be kind, tell others you BELIEVE IN THEM. Say I believe in you to someone and often. Thank your teachers and parents for believing in you. It was what made a difference in my life,” and that is why my animal character, Woof the Crow, is Unicorn Jazz’s friend, who believes in her in the very first children’s book story I wrote.”
ON UNICORN JAZZ COMING TO LIFE ON AUDIBLE, VIDEO BOOK AND ONE DAY TO BE CARTOON SERIES
“The first time hearing the full audible book of Unicorn Jazz come to life, I was sitting in my home office. It was dark. As I was closing my eyes, and imagining a child read the story of Unicorn Jazz, a shy, young unicorn who learned to be BOLD AND BRAVE, tears came running down my cheeks. I thought to myself, Wow, how I wish I had a story like this when I was young, when I was 7.
This story and what was to come would have changed my life. And that’s why I write, work incredibly long hours, wake up at the crack of dawn. It is important to never give up on your journey. I intend to reach as many children as I can in this one lifetime of mine.”
When speaking in front of children at school assemblies or classrooms ranging from 25 students to 1,000, I share my vulnerability and experiences. I would not change it for the world. I get to now do WHAT I LOVE!
CHOOSE LOVE
The KVIA news channel interview – below – talks about how “painfully shy” I was. Being on TV interviews is not easy. I have learned how to get radio for a radio or podcast interview. And I have learned how to CONNECT and entertain in front of students. It is easy to share and get over your introvertedness when you love what you do. With that said, that’s how I have trained myself to overcome the fear of speaking.
I also learned from many great CEO’s, notable speakers, TED Talk leaders, attended countless speaker groups and have done decades of reading and personal development. It also helped that I produced radio AM and FM broadcast hours from 2003-2012, followed by podcasting various shows interviewing hundreds of people. It did not come as easy as writing, but I was determined.
It is easy to interview others and of course write about them. I am beginning to do more written INTERVIEWS on my blog here to share with the world. I already have a few interviews of school librarians, educators, podcasters, in my writing pipeline.
This is a school live author visit recent video compilation. Just look at these smiling faces I get to connect with:
Next, oh, snap, below is a video a friend put together on my author’s journey while visiting my home town of El Paso, Texas in 2019. My sister, an early childhood teacher and mom, is interviewed in the video. I am so grateful that Suzanne Funk has accompanied me on many author visits. She has been a strong influence in my learning and creating-for-kids journey!