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School or Library Visit

Library Visit – Philadelphia

Peace y’all, I just came back from a cool trip to Philadelphia to read the at the main branch of the public library. This is my first trip to the city and it was great to see it and connect with some old friends. Get ready, there A LOT of photos in this post!

I flew out on the red eye which I will not be doing again cuz I didn’t get much sleep. Once I landed I started hearing Black Thought lyrics in my head though because of street names and things like….

“South East Pennsylvania Transit Authority is what I’m probably on, if I ain’t rippin the land throughout ya section” -Black Thought of The Roots

One of the things I loved about the city is the beauty and abundance of murals. I thought the Bay had a lot of walls but Philly is truly the mural capital. I didn’t get to meet up with her but Michelle Angela Ortiz is one of my favorite muralists out there. Another thing I love about the city is the styles of Graffiti which are distinct and historic. They often write tall and skinny tags!

On my way inside the library I met Lynne Haase, a Philadelphian librarian who answered the call when I set out to visit schools and libraries last year for the first time outside of the Bay. Me and my folks headed into the library (its amazing by the way), and headed down to the kids section where we saw lots of letters and drawings from children. Then we went into a theater where the children would listen to me speak.

First it was one classroom, then 2, then 3 whole classrooms full of children from a local school came on in to listen to me read. They had such great energy and questions!

The room was full, I introduced myself and I got down to business asking them questions and trying my best to engage them so they would not just be listening, but talking back and participating. That means questions, call and response, and good interruptions. I read my book Fresh Juice to the kids!

I wish I could show you photos with the faces of the children unblocked but I was not able to get permission slips for each child. But, they were there and thats the important part.

As I usually do, I brought some of the artwork from the book with me because its like a doorway to understanding how stories get made. Its a process and I try to drive that home with kids, not just about my story but about how the video games, cartoons, films, or other forms of media they consume are created.

Ok , the reading was awesome and if you’d like to see more visits I’ve made to schools or libraries I invite you to check out some of these:

After that I walked around the library to check out the art books and music books.

The library is underrated yall. You can check out tools, seeds, films, records, CDs, musical instruments, and so any different types of BOOKS!

I love walking around libraries. Especially kids sections because each librarian, city, and region is different. I love seeing Bay Area creators work up in other cities too. Here are some fotos I took walking around and some of the librarians checking out my prints. If you would like to see my prints, you can see them here.

A few fotos from around the city from the downtown area, West, South, etc. My good friends who I stayed with took me to a place called Saad’s Halal Restaurant in West Philly that had some of the best Falafel and bean pie I’ve ever eaten:) My friend also took me on a hike around Cobb’s Creek park. I saw Osage ave, infamous for the bombing of the MOVE family, and I saw the famous Hakim’s Bookstore. One of the oldest Black owned bookstores in the country.

Next, I took a trip to Germantown to see my friend Sarah and Uncle Bobbie’s coffee and bookstore!

Uncle Bobbie’s was a beautiful store w/ lots of light and a strong curation. After that I went for a nice hike in a local park w/ my friend Sarah Kolker who is from Philly but lived in NYC and the Bay, where we met!

Lastly, I went to check out The Philadelphia Museum of Art; one of many museums! I also went to meet w/ my friend Dr. Li Sumpter before heading back to the Bay!

Dig this? Check out my trip to Detroit to read out there:)

April 6, 2026
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School Visit – Lila Bringhurst (Fremont)

This is from a recent visit to a school in Fremont California called “Lila Bringhurst Elementary”. Its a chinese immersion school in the South Bay and I had a blast reading to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders while I was there.

I caught BART from “Fruitvale” station out to “Warm Springs” in the morning and walked to the school where a parent and PTA member Ina was waiting for me.

I got set up in their huge auditorium and then the students started to file in! The school is big so I did my presentation twice with the students split up into two groups. I read Fresh Juice!

As always I shared a story and a bit of the art that goes into making it. Here’s a video reel I made of the visit. BIG thanks to Ina who took a bunch of photos for me while I was presenting.

Dig this? Check out some photos from other school or library visits

March 4, 2026
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Library Visit – Castro Valley

This February I read at the Castro Valley Public Library thanks to librarian extraordinaire Angela Moffett who I met years ago at Fairyland in Oakland. The above photo was taken while I gave a demonstration of how to make the juice from my book Fresh Juice. I made juice for 20 people using carrots, ginger, apple, orange, greens, and cayenne pepper. All the participants got to try a sample and I showed them my juicer and how it works.

Via Alameda County library

When I arrived that day it was raining and it was dark outside already. Here’s some photos of Angela setting things up and a volunteer.

As I mentioned above, immediately after reading the story to a crowd of children, adults, and elders the volunteer students and I went into serving/ demo mode. Photos taken by Angela Moffett.

I always bring art samples if its a book I have illustrated and I handed out my sketchbook, drawings, and paintings from the book.

That’s it for this one. I have been reading in SF, Oakland, and Berkeley for over a decade. Recently I have been reaching out to libraries beyond these cities to read to more students. I’d never read at Castro Valley at a school or library so it was cool to see their library and meet some folks there.

My name is Rob. I’m the author and illustrator of “Fresh Juice” and I’ve been reading and presenting to children in schools and libraries for over 14 years. If you’d like me to visit your school or library give me a holler.

Here are some other places I’ve read at:

February 25, 2026
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Library Visit – Detroit/ Grosse Pointe

This past November I flew out to Detroit Michigan to do a library visit and see the city for the first time. Here’s a shot of me reading to a small crowd at the central Detroit Public Library thanks to Halima Davis who gave me a shot!

I didn’t get many shots of the flight out there but I flew from Oakland to Chicago, then to Detroit and when I arrived it was night time. I took the bus from the airport through the city. Once I got downtown I took the Q-Line to stay with my homie, artist, organizer, and mama Halima Cassells who I know from my time living in Brooklyn NY over 15 years ago.

The next day I would travel down Woodard to the central Detroit Public Library, one of the largest and most beautiful libraries I’ve ever seen. I walked in, found the children’s room which was HUGE and started to get set up.

I walked in and met Halima the librarian and one of the owners of SourceBooks; Allyson Turner!

I gave them both some prints and then we started the reading!

When doing any readings at a public place it’s hit or miss. Sometimes people show up, sometimes they don’t. Halima gathered a few families who came to the library that day and I had two visitors who came specifically to listen to my story.

The reading went pretty good! They asked questions, I got some of my regular call and response in, I showed them some of the process art, and I even grabbed books from the room to share with them to entice them into getting their own library card :).

Big shout out to Halima for snapping photos during the reading and giving me a tour of the library!

Next, I went to go check out the Detroit Institute of Arts!

They had many different sections, both modern and old. But what I really came to see was the Diego Rivera murals and man did they live up to the reputation. They were absolutely beautiful and because they were painted in fresco style, they look just as vibrant as they day they were painted!

The following day I went to check out a really cool Black Owned bookstore called Source Booksellers who’ve been in Detroit since 2002. I also met up with my friend Tiffany Rachann, founder of Imagiread, educator, artist, mama, and incredible producer

This is me, Tiffany Rachann, Janet Webster Jones, and Alyson Turner

Me and Tiffany Rachann!

Next up, I did a workshop about merchandise at Grosse Pointe Library which is east of Detroit. Big shout out to author, artist, comedian, mama, and librarian Stephanie Fazekas invited me to come present!

While walking around the library I saw some books by some Bay Area friends 🙂

The first thing I did was set up a table featuring the kind of merchandise I create which is bookmarks, stickers, postcards, art prints, and I brought my most recent book.

In my merch workshop I talked about:

  • My origins, what I make
  • I defined what it means to make merchandise
  • Shared examples of merch or reasons for making it
  • Ideas for finding your niche
  • How and where to sell it
  • How to package it
  • Some basic book keeping
  • And how to keep going when you hit a block

Here’s an example slide that I used to talk about product packaging.

This was a small workshop with just 4 of us but it was a great trial run for me regarding merch, how I’ve made what I have, and how to begin if you’re beginning. Ok, thats about it fam. This was a great trip and I hope to venture out to more places to do school or library visits and meet new folks.

BIG thanks to Halima Cassells, Halima Davis, Stephanie Hardy, The Source Booksellers, and Tiffany Rachann for making me feel so welcome in the D. Much love!

Dig this? Check out some photos from my visit to Sacajawea Elementary school in Seattle

December 15, 2025
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Library visit-81st Ave Library Oakland

This summer I got to do two presentations at the 81st Ave branch of the Oakland Public Library. One was about art books and one was about character design. These photos are from a huge room of students and families doing an exercise in character design.

I have done this workshop several times but never to a room this large. It was organized by Aspire Education in Oakland who provide tutoring, mentoring, and support to public school students in the Bay Area.

When I start the workshop I talk to them about “line of action” and how to make characters seem calm, or dynamic. I demonstrate figure drawing to get them to warm up, then I have them model for each other. Librarian Isaiah Hurtado brought a bunch of cool books for them to see examples of what they were learning in practice!

Here you can see kids drawing. While they’re doing that I typically talk about how character design and how its used in the media they use like films, video games, animation, and more. These kids are freaking awesome!

The topics I talked about:

  • Figure drawing
  • Fan Art
  • Group work
  • Remixing existing characters
  • Film, Gaming, Animation, Theater, etc
  • Art career

Aspire hit them with a double whamy of food, snacks, and lots of books so families went home with bellies full and lots of books. Hopefully some inspiration too.

I ran out of time on this one, but we still got some fan art, drawing, and group work in during the workshop before folks had to leave.

Early in the afternoon I spoke to some teen students about the power of art books. Its always hard to tell if they’re feeling the topic, but there were a few students who came forward to ask questions about careers in the arts and I definitely had fun talking about ART!!!

Dig this? Check out some photos from other visits:

November 19, 2025
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School Visit – University of San Francisco

These are some photos from a recent visit to the University of San Francisco (USF). Artist and professor Liat Berdugo invited me to come speak to her class through a referral from another designer and professor Sabiha Basrai! Check it out!

I’ve been an art teacher for elementary, jr high, and high school students. In fact it was one of the biggest and most consistent jobs I’ve ever had. I started speaking to children in 2012 as an author and have been doing so ever since. But its only within the past 3 years that I’ve been invited to speak to college students.

When I speak to them it has been to assist the professor in driving home a few points of experience, or to give insight into a particular part of my career. But what I really want to do is provide a regular everyday person’s experience of being an artist. Not a famous or wealthy one, a working class artist.

This means no bullshit. I try to be as honest as possible about making a living, debt from college, and how to scrape by because thats what I know. I also want to get them thinking less about working for a big company and more about running their career like a business, and working together with others like them because when we build unions, cooperatives, collectives I think our skill, wages, and power grows. This might be contrary to some schools instruction though.

This is a short video shot and edited by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi (Fist Up Films )

I also like to bring my sketchbook because its something tangible they can touch and feel. But also, its behind the scenes. Its the making of. Its not finished or perfect, its messy, and its a reminder to me that its important to practice and generate ideas. I show finished work too of course, but I like bringing in physical media.

Me talking about my “why” regarding my career in kid lit.

All in all, I had a really great time talking to these students who had really astute questions about being a working artist. I think adults who are currently working in the biz of dance, music, design, whatever are experts who can really help prepare students to survive as beginners in an artistic career. You don’t need a big name, what you have is experience and that is valuable!

In this talk I spoke about:

  • Best practices as a working professional
  • Solidarity w/ social justice issues, working class people, and international struggle
  • Community building with other artists rather than an individual focus
  • Art education about different forms of art
  • Art practice and being multidisciplinary
  • Career: Kid lit, Mural Making, Merchandise making, and Public speaking

On another note: If you dig these photos, these were taken by my brother Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi who is not only a talented photographer but an organizer of the Fist Up Film Festival and a talented filmmaker! Watch the trailer for his most recent film “We Still here”!

Dig this? Check out other visits to colleges

November 6, 2025
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School visit-CCA Picture Book Workshop 2

Alright so I must be lucky or highly favored or something because I’ve been invited to give a workshop to young artists at one of the most prestigious art schools in the Bay; California College of the Arts. And, they allowed me to come in and speak about a format of art that i LOVE. Picture books!!!!!

I’ve taken classes about making picture books. I have literally read hundreds of them. I’ve illustrated them, and written a few. I love making them, reading them, studying them, and I have enjoyed sharing what I know about the mechanics of picture books as I understand them.

OG artist, Papa, cartoonist, and professor Fred Noland invited me to speak and I began by talking about my non linear path to a career in the arts. I laid out a series of picture books for the students to check out. Some really old, some from the last twenty years, some new ones, and some of my own.

On the table is a series of picture books by creators that also worked in comics.

In this workshop I focused on:

  • Character
  • Story taglines
  • Synopsis
  • Thumbnails
  • Picture book spread

I asked the students to go through the process of coming up with a picture book story as an exercise and they DID! We used original and existing characters to achieve this. Then we shared them so they could see each others work.

I started doing a similar method of exercise that I began doing 20 years ago teaching while teaching graffiti lettering to young people all over the Bay Area and NYC. Its a way for me to teach but also for them to learn from their peers who inevitably have a different take on it.

All in all, one of my favorite things about being a visiting artist for high school or college undergrads is being able to give no bullshit answers about what its like to make your living doing this. Sometimes the answers are dreamy and sometimes they’re more blunt. Fred’s class had great energy and questions. I feel like I learned from them too.

Dig this? Check out these other visits to colleges.

October 12, 2025
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School Visit – San Francisco State University

This past month I got the opportunity to speak to undergrad and graduate students in “Ethnic Studies” and the “Department of Latino/a Studies” at San Francisco State University (SFSU) in California. Leticia Hernandez-Linares, a bad ass poet, professor, mama, activist, and my co-creator of “Alejandria Fights Back/ La Lucha de Alejandria” invited me to speak to a room full of students of all ages.

SFSU is the first college I went to straight out of high school. While there I took classes in design, fine art, and ethnic studies before transferring to an art school. I didn’t realize it then, but going to a school so rich in different types of people, and having access to so much knowledge about my culture was a gift. It was once I went to other schools that I realized what I took for granted. SFSU is the first college alongside UC Berkeley to fight for a curriculum that centered Black, Brown, indigenous, and Asian American history in the United States ever! Also know as Ethnic Studies which I talk about a lot here. Learn more about that college HERE.

Short videos about Ethnic Studies

I spoke about:

  • A career in the arts
  • Benefits/ effects of Ethnic Studies courses at SFSU and how I incorporate it into art
  • Public Art
  • Freelance Illustration
  • Political Art
  • Children’s Books
  • Solidarity and coalition building

Walls by muralist Juana Alicia (mural by artist above left), was greeted by the mural of Malcolm X by Spie One (above right).

While I was there I took a very brief walk on campus to reminisce about some of the buildings. The quad, the cafeteria, the huge grass field, the murals, etc. As a student I often attended my classes and went back to Oakland and Berkeley to hang with my homies. While I love them and doing that, I built some strong bonds w/other students and wish I would’ve taken advantage of the container of community there.

I spent sooo much time in this building as a student there. Books, food, sleeping, lol. Even met the mother of my first child there, ha!

I had a great time speaking to the students and I’m trying to be honest, forthcoming, respectful, and open minded not only as a visiting speaker but as someone who answers questions about what its like to be a professional artist or to be multi-disciplinary in my work.

Dig this? Check out these other visits to colleges and libraries.

October 12, 2025
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School Visit – Lincoln Elementary

Thanks to the organizing and kindness of Aspire Education in Oakland who provide tutoring, mentoring, and support to public school students in the Bay Area I was able to read to Lincoln Elementary. All photos by Beau Tindle.

Lincoln is smack dab in the middle of Oakland’s Chinatown and has a predominantly AAPI student body, but a lot of families from different backgrounds are mixed in there.

Staff from Community Reading Buddies and Aspire provided information and resources for the family, pizza, salad, cookies, and snacks, and free books!

As families started to pour in and get ready for me to read I began getting my daughter and my presentation set up.

I began reading “Fresh juice” published by Lee & Low Books to the little kids, tweens, and parents and found everyone super engaged, responsive, and curious.

There were several copies of the book given away that evening and many folks followed along with me as I read the story. I’ve read a hundred times but its still fun to engage the audience with details from their life experience like taking public transportation, going to farmer’s markets, or the kinds of fruits and veggies we eat at home or school.

After I read the book I got to share a little bit of the art process as I often do. I walked around showing my sketchbook as well. While it is nice to get ooh’s and ahhh’s from young people seeing your drawings, I don’t remember ever meeting an author or illustrator in school as a shorty. The work organizations like Aspire Education do is vital, for inspiration and academic success. So, I hope that some of them will be inspired to draw or write for books.

If you haven’t read “Fresh Juice” you can watch and listen to a reading HERE by actor Da’Vine Joy Randolph courtesy of Storyline Online and SAG Aftra Foundation.

One of the coolest things about my job by far is meeting young people who are not just artists, writers, change makers, etc but literally the future. This one was super fun too. If you’d like to invite me to come visit your school or library, check my contact page and hit me up.

Dig this? Check out these other school or library visits:

August 20, 2025
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Photos from Storyland Reading @ Kinfolx

This past June I read at a great cafe called Kinfolx in Oakland for a team of story lovers called “Storyland” started by Indya McGuffin and Bean Tupou. They are a new organization trying to bring stories to families.

It was a great event and my brother Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi (Fist Up Films) came through and blessed us with some photos from the event!! This one above is me sitting behind Indya and Bean.

During and after the readings they had coloring supplies and pasta shells there for making necklaces or bracelettes! Activities are always a hit with kids; especially those who have wiggles and want to move their hands, arms, etc.

Here’s a photo of the amazing set up Marcus Books had at the event! In case you didn’t know, Marcus is the oldest Black owned bookstore in the Bay!

Chapter 510 was also there with books created by young people and information about the incredible work they do as a literary organization that gives kids instruction and space on creative writing.

Here are some fotos from my portion of the reading. Eli really captured the work Bean and Indya put into the event because it was packed with families!

This was super fun and a great way to spend Juneteenth reading stories featuring Black families:) The babies had lots of questions and very cute comments to share as always!

That’s it fam. I’ve linked all the folks involved so please scroll back up to learn more about them.

Dig this? Check out these fotos from my visit to Alvarado elementary in Union City.

July 11, 2025
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