Earlier this year I received an email from the U.S. State Department asking if I would be willing to travel as part of their Cultural Exchange Program. I responded that I would be fine traveling and sent my phone number. The phone rang five minutes later, and I was stunned to hear that I had been invited to visit schools and libraries in China.

As a children’s book author and illustrator, I have visited schools since my first book was published in 1981, but never like this. We arranged for my wife to come with me and after a few months of planning, our trip was set. We left for China on March 11.

One of the reasons that State Department was interested in my visiting China was to show my last book, Beautiful Oops (Workman, 2010). It’s an interactive book showing how a torn piece of paper or a spill can turn into a work of art. The message: “When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful.” We gave copies to each school and library I visited. I spoke to the students about problem-solving and creativity.

As I do in the States when I visit a school, I asked for a volunteer to come up and make a squiggle. I then turn the squiggle into a character. With a couple of characters, I like to brainstorm with the students to create a story. This was the biggest difference I noticed in China. These students were not used to playing this way. I would explain (as I always do), “anything you draw is perfect. There are no ‘wrong’ answers here.” I found that the concept of improvising and making up a story on the spot was unfamiliar territory for the Chinese students.

We visited Shenyang, Dalian, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing. Every visit to a public library or school (K-12 or university) began with a formal introduction with the headmaster and various important people. In each city the State Department made sure I had an interpreter and at least one or two people from the embassy with me whenever I had a presentation.

During presentations, it took a while to get used to the rhythm of speaking in short sentences and then waiting for the interpreter to translate. I play the guitar and sing a few songs when I present, which proved even more challenging. I usually teach a song’s chorus to the kids, so they can sing along with me. At each presentation, all of the kids were enthusiastic singers. I tried singing a line and having it translated. Listening to the translation after every line made my songs sound like Chinese rap. I also tried reciting the entire song before singing it and then just performing the entire song in English. I could see by their faces that no one had a clue what I was singing about. I returned to the singing and rap technique. As I said, these students were very enthusiastic singers. I found out that dogs don’t say “woof, woof,” they say, “wan, wan!”

I have an older Candlewick picture book, Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed? It’s a fun book that really illustrates what a picture book is; illustrations illuminate the text. “Did you put your toys away?” A mother asks. “Yes,” Cornelius says. The picture shows a pig, shoving all of his toys in the refrigerator—it’s a visual joke. The story ends with the boy going to bed, but the last spread shows him shining a flashlight on an electric guitar and amplifier across the room. A primary school student asked, “What’s the point to that story?” I asked if most of the stories he had heard contained morals. He responded that all of the stories he knew did. I explained that some books are “just for fun.”

As part of my presentations I showed a short video of one of my books being read to kindergarten students in Los Angeles. The Chinese students seemed fascinated by a classroom full of children, clearly from many different nationalities, sitting together.

I also show a tiny video of my commute to work. The entire journey consists of walking out my bedroom door and following my large, fluffy dog through the garden to my converted garage-studio. Everyone I met in China lives in multi-story apartment buildings. Many times, students broke out into applause when they saw my single story, Spanish-style house in Los Angeles.

At many of the primary schools I visited, the students made presentations for me, which does not happen very often in the States. Students performed everything from traditional dance to opera, music, and even painting. In addition to wanting to learn from an American author, the

school authorities were anxious for me to know more about them, as well. I was struck by how many students there knew or were learning English and also how steeped in history they are. There is clearly a focus on education that involves a lot of memorization. With the rapid changes in the world, from what I saw and heard on our trip, the Chinese government is exploring making some changes in their teaching style. In some schools they are beginning to encourage more participation in the classrooms and wanting their students to think beyond the memorization. It will be interesting to see where this leads.

I am so grateful to the State Department for a trip of a lifetime. I have to say, coming home and visiting a school back in the U.S., it was strange to sing a song and not have to wait for a translator to interject in Chinese after each line. Funny, all the dogs back home sang, “woof, woof.” Not a “wan, wan” in the house!