I attended junior high in Yellowknife, which is not the most isolated place in Canada, but definitely felt like it sometimes. Fortunately, the school library was huge, and offered a portal to endless worlds I could visit in my imagination.

And then there was the time children’s author Sheree Fitch came to visit as part of Canadian Children’s Book Week. She recited her work-in-progress to us – a work that became There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen. It was the first time I’d really understood that the books I loved were written by actual human beings. From there, it was a very short leap to the notion that I could write books, too. By 2024, I was the one touring with Book Week. How weird and awesome is that?

The chance to inspire kids the way I was inspired so long ago is an incredible gift. While I love speaking to educators and other writers, my STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) presentations for kids are my absolute favourites. Young readers are alert, and engaged, and ask great questions. Teachers and librarians often tell me they’ve never seen kids so excited about an author visit, and sometimes, if I’m very lucky, the kids tell me so themselves.

While I’d love to take the credit for that, the real reason for this response isn’t me – it’s the science. Because science is COOL.

Librarians and educators: if you’ve never considered hiring a science writer to talk to your classes, here six reasons you should think about it:

1) Science is Cool

Bears repeating! In my STEM presentations, I talk about incredible shrinking brains, eyeball parasites, and the survival value of projectile vomit. All of which are massive hits with elementary-aged kids.

If science is cool, so are scientists. When I told high school students about the time Alec Jeffries, inventor of DNA fingerprinting, cut himself and smeared his own blood around the lab to figure out how long DNA could survive outside the human body, they were so excited to discuss his scientific bad-assery I had trouble getting them to refocus on the rest of the presentation.

2) Kids Love Nonfiction

Research shows that, when given the freedom to choose their own reading material, many young readers prefer nonfiction to fiction. In one study, 84% of first graders chose nonfiction over fiction picture books. Eighty-four percent!! Many kids say they like both fiction and nonfiction, and see value in reading both. In the words of one fourth grader* – 

Reading a story is for adventure, just let your imagination go wild, to have fun. Science texts tell you more information, what happened in the past, or in the present, teach you more stuff that you didn’t get from the storybooks, improve your mind… You need both to live on the world. Without stories you would have no culture and feelings. Without information, you’d be a dope.

But many well-meaning grown-ups emphasize novels, and that bias can have devastating effects** –

Jeffrey was convinced he wasn’t a reader because he didn’t like literary reading, which he equated with school reading. In his mind, his preferred kind of reading, nonfiction, didn’t really count, since most of his school experience had taught him that it was not valued as much as literary    reading.

In other words, a lot of kids think they don’t like to read because adults keep forcing them to read the types of books they don’t like. Once those kids discover fact-based books, they often become voracious readers and consumers of information. A presentation from a science writer can be the spark that lights the flame!

3) Science Writers Offer Two for the Price of One

Budget for speakers is often really limited, so why not get two for the price of one? A presentation from a science writer supports both the Language Arts curriculum (because writing) and the science curriculum (because STEM) – a bargain! 

Nonfiction writers use all the same literary techniques used by fiction writers, meaning that science books can be mentor texts for writing lessons. I once gave a “true story” writing workshop, and the teacher told me she’d never seen a particular student so eager to write something. I asked her what he liked to read, and she immediately said “history books.” Well, no wonder!

As if that weren’t enough, research shows that kids will choose nonfiction that’s “too hard” or “above their reading level” if they are interested in the information. And free reading on curriculum topics builds background knowledge, which is directly linked to test scores. In one study, 9th grade science students who spent 10-12 minutes a day reading relevant nonfiction (including picture books!) averaged 86% on their exam. The class that didn’t do the reading scored an average of 59% on the same test.*** 

Mind-blowing, right?

4) Make that Three for the Price of One…

… because we can talk about research skills, too.

5) STEM Programs Can Include Hands-On, Inquiry-Based Learning

Science writers can lead experiments. I’ve taught kids how to test their pet’s communication skills, how to dust for fingerprints, and how to extract DNA with dish soap. Every demo or experiment leads to new questions and a better understanding of the topic – and the scientific method!

And if your high school students need help writing lab reports, this science writer will break out the LEGO. :)

6) Science Writers Inspire Future Scientists

When my book Fox Talk was fresh and new, I did a lot of school visits about Dmitry Belyaev’s domestication experiment. But there’s one visit I’ll never forget. I finished up and asked for questions, and a fourth-grader at the back raised his hand. “I never liked science before this,” he told me, “but now I want to be a scientist when I grow up.”

I had to blink away the tears. It was hands-down the greatest moment of my career. 

I would love to share a transformative moment like this one with your school, library, or community group. Contact me to inquire about rates and availability.

* Caswell & Duke (1998) Language Arts 75 (2): 108-117.

** Hynes (2000) Language Arts 77 (6): 485-495.

*** Fisher et al (2010) The Science Teacher 77(1): 23-26.