Author Robin Pulver Visits Council Rock

Popular author Robin Pulver presented her work to an enthusiastic audience.

Robin Pulver, the author of over a dozen well-known children's books, visited Council Rock Primary School on February 24, 2003. Virtually every child in school got a chance to meet her and hear about her work, as she presented her work to three groups in the auditorium. The author's visit was arranged by Council Rock librarian Maryanne Beiter, and funded by a grant from the Brighton Education Fund.

Robin, a Pittsford resident, began by talking a little bit about herself and her family -- "the characters in my life" -- to underscore the fact that authors are real people, too. She based the balance of her presentation on two of her most popular books, Mrs. Toggle's Zipper and Axle Annie.

In helping the children understand her work, Robin described the interplay of the author, the illustrator, and the editor. While some authors illustrate their own books, Robin does not. She focuses on the characters and the problems they face -- and resolve -- leaving the illustrator to decide how her characters should look. Robin loves playing with words, and she has an especially good time playing with her characters' names ...and working out the bits that will make a story funny.

There were lots of excited questions.

After her presentation, Robin answered questions from the kids, such as:

      "How old do you have to be to be an author?"

"There's no minimum age, but getting published takes a lot of practice."

      "Is it hard work to get all the words and all the sentences just right?"

            "Yes, it takes a lot of fiddling and changing to get them just right, but I love playing with words, so the work is fun for me."

For more about Robin Pulver and her books, visit http://robinpulver.com.

February 26, 2003

Brighton Education Fund
c/o Brighton Schools, 2035 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, New York 14618
(585) 461-0434