Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Best Question Ever



In October, I spent a week in the Norristown area of Pennsylvania doing five days of school visits. On the last day, during my last presentation, I had the single best question ever from a student. Now, I’m not talking about a cute, “out of the mouth of babes” type question, such as, “When did you go bald?” I’m talking about a smart, thoughtful question that made me pause, and took me out of my “performer” mode and really made the day memorable.

During my presentation, I talk about how my boys, Declan and Gavin, give me lots of ideas. I explain that they are responsible for some of the more crazy and disgusting scenarios in an upcoming series I am working on. In short, I let the children know that my two boys are my biggest inspiration.

During the Q&A part of my presentation, I let the kids ask anything they want. Usually, they want to know how many books I’ve done, or which book is my favorite. But this one, wonderful, thoughtful and insightful fourth grade girl raised her hand, and calmly asked…wait for it…

“Before you had kids, what was your muse?”

Wow. Best question ever. Not only did she know, and understood, what a muse was, but figured out that I’d been making books long before my kids were born. I actually paused for a moment with a huge grin on my face. She completely made my day, and my week. It seems that the teachers were equally shocked and impressed.

My answer was, “My niece, nephews, and other kids that I have known,” had all inspired me in some way or another. Then I looked right at her, and said, “I also get very, very inspired by the kids I meet at school visits!”

4 comments:

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  2. dude, that rules! and you rule for sharing it! had a pretty great day with a student today too. sometimes the day bogs down moments like that, as you know. thanks for refreshing my teacher spirit! and hope you are keeping up with all the lovely Achtung Baby stuff these days! keep up the good work bro!
    Donny Hornsby

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  3. Awesome! I should write down all the amazing questions kids ask at school visits. It's true that most of them are predictable but every now and then someone shoots one that really surprises and shows unusual depth.

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  4. Thanks for writing this quality informational content. Its very informative and helpful. Your all book are knowledge able and enjoy able to read. Now it's time to get interior demolition for more information.

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