One of the real pleasures of my career is being able to go to schools and visit with all the kids. Over the years I have traveled to almost every state in the country doing my presentations.

Kids always seem fascinated by the fact that my brother Robert and I have done thirteen books together. I start my presentation by talking about what it was like growing up together and what it was that influenced us to create these books.

I talk about my own family and how my kids have been an inspiration for my work. The audience soon finds out there are lots of similarities between my family and their own families—some very funny. They will find that inspiration comes from many sources—sources that they are probably very familiar with.

Then I do a brief show-and-tell, showing the kids the process for creating a picture book. I show how I develop ideas into sketches and how the sketches turn into a picture book dummy. I spend some time with character development. I explain how I research my books. Some of the areas I cover are travel, as well as time spent in libraries and at wildlife refuges. I will end the show and-tell by taking the kids through the publishing process, showing how the final art becomes a book.

I follow this with a slide presentation. I take the kids through my studio. I also concentrate on specific books—showing the different ways I approach each one. I will end by doing storytelling with the illustrations from one of my books on the screen.

At the end I do a drawing on an easel and follow it with questions and answers. My presentation is usually one hour long, but the length can be altered to fit the age of the audience. I enjoy speaking to groups, so size is never a problem. I always look forward to autographing books.

If you are interested in setting up an author visit with me, please contact Loretta San Souci at sansouci@silcon.com

Last February Daniel San Souci literally went the extra mile to visit our rural school here in Colorado. He was warm and friendly and the kids found him very approachable. In the wake of his visit, our students showed an increased interest in authoring and a keener understanding of how paintings become illustrations in books. Almost a year after Mr. Sansouci's visit, his works are still some of the most popular in our library. We would be glad to have him again.
—Peter Brown, Sedalia, Colorado

Daniel San Souci was a resounding success with the students at Baywood.Elementary School in San Mateo, California. He held the children (kindergartners through 5th graders) spellbound during his presentations (no mean feat!), which included several of the folk tales upon which his books are based, a few highly amusing anecdotes of his own childhood and a wonderful slide presentation of his beautiful illustrations. The children were so impressed that they went home and reported on their assembly with him to their families, which many parents commented was highly unusual.
—Vivian Polishuk, Baywood School, San Mateo, CA

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