Energizing, engaging, and interactive, a typical presentation to a grade level or multiple grade levels of students lasts about an hour. Entitled, Ideas are Everywhere, Charley performs his original poetry, including poems published in his book Beyond Old McDonald, and shares the behind-the-scenes background stories for each poem, emphasizing where he gets his ideas for writing. He describes his day as a writer and shares the tools he finds helpful for organizing his writing and overcoming writer's block.  

A recent favorite of ours! Rather than performing for the entire student body, a couple of schools have had Charley and Jo visit and do a presentation for a single grade level, then return on an annual basis to perform for that same grade level. For example, performing for 3rd graders every year instead of K-3. This way new groups of students can experience Charley's enthusiasm and inspiration each year and it becomes a meaningful event that teachers can plan for in their annual curriculum calendar!

We frequently hear that attendance increases dramatically at evening family events when Charley does an author visit during the day, then returns to perform for parents and children that night! Students experience the author visit during the day, then for the evening family night, Charley asks students to request poems that they enjoyed during the day. Students love the "Total Request Live" aspect of the performance and parents enjoy experiencing what their children have done during the day.