Virtual Visits:
Bringing Tennessee Authors and Illustrators to Nashville's Kids
Virtual Visits is an online literacy initiative designed to bring authors and illustrators based in Tennessee to Nashville's kids. In these videos, authors and illustrators connect with Nashville children about their roots in Tennessee, share the process of creating their book, and leave kids with an encouraging message intended to spark their interest in reading, or to create a story of their own.
Virtual Visits was a special COVID-19 project from November 2020 in partnership with The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and Parnassus Books. Book'em is spread the word about this online resource through bookmarks that accompanied each book distributed in December 2020. The Virtual Visits bookmarks contained a QR code which sent kids to the Virtual Visits YouTube playlist. The bookmarks reached approximately 14,000 children.
Authors and Illustrators in this project included:
- Ketch Secor & Higgins Bond (Lorraine)
- Jessica Young (Time to Shine)
- Susan Eaddy (Poppy's Best Paper)
- Rita Lorraine Hubbard (The Oldest Student)
- Alice Faye Duncan & Mary Reaves Uhles (The Twelve Days of Christmas in Tennessee)
- Rachel Tawil Kenyon (You Know How to Love)
- Jacquese Groves (Sassy Sisters vs The Sock Monster)
Scroll down to explore Virtual Visits or click here to visit the full playlist on YouTube. Although this project took place in during the winter of 2020, we believe that these videos can continue to inspire children throughout middle Tennessee!