Wednesday found me at Winnwood Elementary–home of the Wildcats! I performed three shows in the library for three wonderful sets of kids. Everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoyed one of my favorite shirts–my red flame shirt.
I had a special treat when I had lunch with eight Winnwood students who won the chance to have lunch with me by writing short essays about … me! Although sometimes the facts strayed a bit, I must say they were all creative and entertaining. After lunch, some of the kids brought out an origami book and some paper and they showed me some of their favorite creations. I simply made a couple of paper airplanes (something I excelled at in elementary school). Soon, everyone made a plane and we ended up flying them around the library!
Thanks to Laraine Outly for inviting me and being such a great host. Thanks to all the Winnwood Wildcats for being full of energy and great questions. And a special thanks to all of my Winnwood lunch buddies: Ahmari, Alex, Brandy, Hailey, Sarah, Selma, Tyson, and Vivian.
I spent the first half of my day at Gashland Elementary in Kansas City. I was greeted by a wonderful banner that the students made and spoke with the principal, Mrs. Lakin. She told me all about how the students strive to read at least 100 books! In fact, if you look at the sign in the picture below, you’ll see how the students have already read 41,140 books this year! Wow! Pretty cool for a school with just Kindergarteners and 1st Graders!
For lunch, I enjoyed pizza in the library with 20 students who won a raffle to have lunch with the author (that’s me!). We had a fun time and I got to answer some questions that the kids didn’t get to ask during the show. I also heard about how many of the lucky winners want to be writers themselves.
Thanks to Mr. Duane for all the help setting up and for the fun conversations about Boy Scouts. Thanks to Mrs. Boekhout for inviting me and organizing such a great event. And thanks to all the wonderful readers at Gashland Elementary. You keep reading those 100 books and I’ll keep writing more. I’ve written more than 80 right now but I hope to be at 100 very soon!
After lunch on Tuesday, I followed Mrs. Boekhout over to her other school, Ravenwood Elementary, also in Kansas City. Although Ravenwood is K-5th grade, I still just presented to Kinder and 1st. The Ravenwood students were equally as enthusiastic and I enjoyed giving my performance in a quiet corner of the library (although it wasn’t so quite after I was through with them).
During both shows, there were hearing impaired students in the audience so I had interpreters signing my shows. I should have warned them that I talk fast because I have so much cool stuff to talk about in just a short amount of time. In fact, during my last show, I think I went through a few interpreters. I don’t know if they got tired or just had someplace else to be but I saw a few of them trade places by the time I was finished.
Thanks again to Mrs. Boekhout for being such a great host and setting up two schools for successful author visits. And thanks to all the interpreters, Cheryl, Mary, and the other two I didn’t get a chance to meet. I hope your hands aren’t too tired after signing my show!
My fourth trip to Kansas City began with a great day at Linden West Elementary, home of the Linden West Cougars! I was invited by Library Media Specialist, Emily Pokorny, whom I met last year when I worked with her mother, Janet Warman (the librarian for Crestview Elementary). And today I met Mrs. Pokorny’s grandmother (Mrs. Warman’s mother), Mrs. Peggy O’brian. I enjoyed discussing our mutual love of libraries and books.
Thanks to all the Linden West Cougars for being good listeners (not to mention good Dragon roarers). Thanks to Kristi Shea and Roger Davis for helping me set up for the show. And a big thanks to Mrs. Pokorny for inviting me and spreading the word to other schools about my visit—I hope Sophie enjoys her books!
I zipped back down to the Houston area to visit a wonderful school: Ogg Elementary in Clute, Texas! I enjoyed meeting and performing for all the energetic students, or Twisters (their whirlwind mascot). I also signed a bunch of books for many of the students. I was still signing at the end of the day!
I especially enjoyed looking over some of the books written by a few of the students themselves including All About Me by Deven Wallace. Way to go young authors! Keep up the good work!
Thanks to Mrs. Rumsey for inviting me and for the fun lunch discussion about some of our favorite science fiction authors. And thanks to all the Ogg Elementary Twisters! I hope you enjoy your books on Monday!
There was no better way to end my fall Houston tour than at the super-fun school of Memorial Drive Elementary! I mean, what other school library has giant spaghetti and meatballs all over it?!! It looked as if it had rained them—just like in the book, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! Actually, I think that’s exactly what they were going for (see below).
I performed all my shows in the library’s cool theater with a big screen projector. I enjoyed a birthday lunch with MDE students Kate & Samantha, courtesy of their father. And I got to sign many books brought in by the students, including a rare WISHBONE book that I haven’t signed in a while–The Ghost of Camp Ka Nowato.
I’d like to thank Nanette Gabriel for inviting me and for hosting such a wonderful author visit. Thanks to Kate and Sammy’s dad for bringing lunch. And a big thanks goes to all the MDE Ponies! Your interest and enthusiasm really sent me back to Dallas in the best of moods! Thanks for the great day!
I enjoyed an exciting day today at Jeter Elementary in Manvel, TX. I gave two performances to huge crowds of students (some may the biggest audiences in a while) and two writing workshops to several aspiring writers.
Several things made today stand out. First, I was greeted with a fun welcome sign as soon as I arrived. Second, I enjoyed a Thanksgiving lunch with many of the students and their families. Third, a roving pep rally followed my first performance complete with high school band members, cheerleaders, football players, and drill team members. And finally, I received a nice GIFT BAG full of all kinds of treats for back at the hotel (many I’ve sampled already).
Thanks to Mrs. Choules for inviting me and for the great gift bag and thank you card; it was quite appreciated. And thanks to all the Don Jeter Jaguars for being such a great audience! Keep reading and keep writing!
Halfway through my fall Houston area tour found me at Ney Elementary—home of the Ney Knights! I had an exciting time with all the kids, got to see part of another 3rd Grade Thanksgiving show, and even found that one of the Ney students (Joshlyn) posted a greeting on my Facebook page when I got back to the hotel.
The only downside to my visit was that many of the books the kids ordered didn’t come in on time. But don’t worry, just like Mrs. Roland said, when I visit nearby Ogg Elementary in December, I’ll be happy to sign them. You’ll get them in time for Christmas!
Thanks to Brandye Roland for inviting me and for all the help and thanks to all the Ney Knights for another great school visit!
On the second day of my fall Houston area tour, I drove up to Mason Elementary in Manvel, TX. The staff was welcoming and quite helpful as they gave me directions when my GPS took me to the wrong address. Everyone was welcoming and I even got to snack on some goodies from their November staff birthday bash. I was especially pleased to see some of Mrs. Mejias’ wonderful hats. Turns out, she’s an avid hat collector, too!
Thanks to Jennifer Kerr for inviting me and to Coach Allison for help setting up and the use of her gym. And a super-big thanks to all the great students at Mason Elementary. Keep reading and keep working on those giraffe sounds. Don’t forget what I showed you!
As soon as Comic Con was over, I drove into the night so I could make it to my first stop in my week-long Houston area tour. Good thing I made it or I would’ve missed a very cool school—Griffith Elementary in Clute, TX! I was greeted with their school sign welcoming me and all the kids were excited to see me. I performed, signed tons of books, and even got to watch all of 3rd grade rehearse their Thanksgiving program. They have until Thursday to practice but I think they’re going to do great! They were already very far along when I saw them!
Thanks to Liz Fambrough for inviting me, thanks to Coach Castillo for all the help setting up, and a big thanks to all the smart students at Griffith Elementary. I’d also like to thank Ms. Gaspard for the use of her music room (where I spoke to the PRE-pre-K kids) and to wish her a sincere “break a leg” for the performance Thursday night. They’re going to be great!