Off to see some kids

Hi everyone,

This morning, THE DIRT BOOK is showing in 1st place in new releases for children’s zoology books. As an old zoologist, I’m thinking about all those classes and labs I took at Drury and Emory more than sixty years ago — and smiling.

I’ve packed my notes and book samples and am off for my first in person school visit in more than a year. Look out, boys and girls in Leeton, Missouri. Here I come!

What makes me smile?

Hi everyone,

What could possibly be more fun than visiting with a bunch of 4th grade students about writing poetry? Visiting with a bunch of 4th grade students at David Harrison Elementary School. And that’s what I’ll be doing this afternoon.

Next week when AND THE BULLFROGS SING comes out from Holiday House I’ll pay a visit to the student body at Harrison for a while to hear kids read their own writing and read from the new book, but today I’ll have the three 4th grade classes all to myself in the cafeteria and we’ll talk about poetry. How sweet is that?

Home again!

Hi everyone,

We had a wonderful time in Florida and I already look forward to the next time. But for now it feels good to be home again. We arrived yesterday afternoon so today is catch up, unpack, put away, remember what we doing before we left, pay bills, return calls, day.

Our good neighbor across the street, Linda Goodman, is having us over for brunch and at 12:15 I’ll be at Westport Middle School visiting with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. It’s a great way to get back in the groove.

Also, I’m out of picture space so I can’t post another new picture here until I go in and delete some pictures from earlier posts, always a painful process.

Onward and upward everyone!

Family Night in Centerview

Hi everyone,

Today I’ll finish pulling my thoughts together for a school family night presentation on Monday evening. I’ll be leaving from Branson that afternoon for the drive to Centerview, Missouri, a small community in western central Missouri between Kansas City and Sedalia.

I haven’t been to Centerview before so I look forward to meeting parents, teachers, and kids there at Crest Ridge School and spending an evening talking about reading and writing. I’ll drive back that night so it will be a good day. I’ll be quite safe because Sandy is going with me.

The arrangements for my visit came through a grant and include an all day visit at the school next year plus a family night and day visit in another community during the 2019-2020 school year.

Skype school visit

Hi everyone,

Posting got a little tricky yesterday. Sorry to deliver in segments. I didn’t finish revising the desert story last week for the same reason: too many unexpected stops and starts — mostly good ones with friends and family. On the advice of another friend, who sometimes reminds me to stay in the moment, I enjoyed the moments and look forward to finishing the story, hopefully, this coming week.

One highlight of the week will be paying a Skype visit to Wallenpaupack Middle School in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania. Beth Troop, the teacher who arranged the visit, is a friend of many years. We met in the days when she worked in editorial for Boyds Mills Press before she completed her degree in education and went on to become a teacher. I look forward to seeing Beth and meeting her 7th graders on Friday.