Children’s book illustrator to visit elementary schools

Children’s book illustrator to visit elementary schools
Carrie Hartman book illustrator

Carrie Hartman, a children's book illustrator and author, will be visiting Winona elementary schools Oct. 24-25.

An illustrator and author of popular children’s books is coming to Winona Area Public Schools later this month.

Carrie Hartman, a professor at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and a freelance illustrator and author, will visit Jefferson Elementary on Thursday, Oct. 24 and Washington-Kosciusko and Goodview elementaries on Friday, Oct. 25. 

Families can preorder an autographed book and Hartman will bring the order on the day of her scheduled school visit. Place your order at carriehartman.com/shop by Tuesday, Oct. 15. 

Hartman’s visit is possible through the Elementary Enrichment Fund, which was established in 1998 to expand the horizon of elementary education. 

Hartman’s latest book, “The New Bird in Town,” was released in June of 2019. She also illustrated “Where Are All the Minnesotans?,” a special book about Minnesotans and winter. 

Other titles include: “Gordy and the Magic Diet,” “Izzy the Whiz and Passover McClean,” “The Mischievous Mom at the Art Gallery,” and others. “My Mouth is a Volcano,” published in 2006, was the winner of the Best Illustrated Picture Book Award by the Association of Educational Publishers.

Some of her titles are available in WAPS elementary media centers. All three schools have "My Mouth is a Volcano" and "It's Hard to be a Verb." Goodview has "Personal Space Camp." 

Her work has also appeared in New York Magazine, St. Louis Magazine, The Baltimore Sun, AAA Travel Magazine and Midwest Living. Her clients include HGTV, Target, Office Depot and American Greetings.

Hartman says she loves writing and illustration picture books. Books feel very “magical” when she is working on them. She remembers drawing all the time when she was little and illustrating her own stories. She always dreamed about being able to work on picture books and never gave up on that dream. 

Hartman is married with four kids — two girls and two boys — and also has a new puppy.

For more on Hartman’s visit, go to winonaschools.org.

About the Elementary Enrichment Fund

The Elementary Enrichment Fund, set up under the Foundation for WAPS umbrella, was started 
as a memorial to Sue Weinmann, a mother and elementary educator, who believed that children responded positively to gentleness, care and concern from their teacher.

Weinmann was an elementary teacher in the public and private school systems of Winona who approached teaching as more than just academics. She wanted to instill values in her students, and did so by sharing her concern, love and positive attitude. Weinmann tried to bring enjoyment and happiness into their lives. 

The Elementary Enrichment Fund was established to provide a financial vehicle that will allow elementary students to experience special enrichment activities and experiences. The fund was designed to reach every public school student in District 861 at least once during their elementary education. The long range goal is to have sufficient funds available annually for all elementary administrators and teachers so they can provide their students with life experiences that give purpose and meaning to their education. 

All contributions to the fund are tax deductible. The Foundation for WAPS invests and manages all fund assets and is responsible for its financial administration. 

More information is available at foundationwaps.org.