When I Grow Up, I Want to Be  (grades 4 to 8, FICTION)

Young adult novelist Matt Beam's engaging, funny and sometimes silly presentation includes archaeological evidence of his first piece of writing (dug right out of his mother’s desk drawer), an interactive writer’s-life quiz, inside knowledge about Matt’s artistic journey, several short readings from one of his novels, all accompanied by an eye-popping slide show. Matt loves unlikely questions and finds that his presentations get more fun and entertaining when he’s given a couple of head-scratchers. In "When I Grow Up, I Want to Be," Matt Beam reads from one of his novels. See above for appropriate age levels.

Words, Images ... Everywhere! (Grades 7 to 12)

Matt Beam is so passionate about language and photography that he put them both on the same page. What he didn't realize was how much there would be to talk about once he did. Using the images from his photography book as a guide, Matt tells the story of his City Alphabet journey with writer Joanne Schwartz, touching on topics such as inspiration, collaboration, process, technology, and perspective, all delivered with his light-hearted and fun interactive approach. By the end of the presentation, the students will be both viewers and subjects of Matt's photographic work and in the process they will come out with a boat load of inspiration and a whole new view of the wordy world around them.

Contact Matt for more details!

Ontario schools and libraries interested in having Matt: contact Authors Booking