Michael Anthony Steele

My two week tour of Rockwall ISD began with a bang at Hays Elementary! I met tons of young writers, signed a bunch of books, and sang a tune or three with the wonderful Hays Huskies!

Stopped long enough for a photo op with the 6th Grade Book Club!

And finished off the day in the band room with Pre-K, Kinder, and 1st!

Thanks to Mrs. Sisto, Mrs. Francisco, and the Hays PTO for having me out. Thanks to the 4th Graders for letting me tour your cool Alamo projects in the library. And a big thanks to all the Hays Huskies for being such a great audience. You were the perfect audience for my first day in Rockwall! I hope you enjoy your books AND autographed bookmarks!

And a final shout-out to Terry Wells who gave my travel guitar its sweet new flame job! This was its first trip off the ranch since the make-over!

I spent my second day in Tennessee at Donelson Elementary, home of the Bulldogs! I got to perform all four of my presentations in their huge library. It’s also worth noting that this is the first library I’ve visited that included an actual book vending machine. What?!

Thanks to Mrs. Atkins and the Donelson PTA for the tasty lunch that I got to enjoy with Caelyn, Cara, Emma, Liyana, Maya, Parker, and Rishita.

After lunch Mrs. Parker showed me the creatively-decorated 4th grade classrooms, one of which sported a cool surf shop! Can you tell which one was my favorite?

Thanks to Mrs. Parker and the Donelson PTA for having me out (and for another generous gift bag). Thanks to Mrs. Hoselton for all the help (I hope you enjoy the book, Hudson!) But the biggest thanks of all goes to all the Donelson Bulldogs! Keep reading and remember those four words!

Today I finally visited two schools in Arlington, Tennessee, that were almost three years in the making. After a couple of postponements (one of which being because of a little thing called the Pandemic), I began with Arlington Elementary! Not only did they furnish me with my own personal parking spot, but they also welcomed me with this cool backdrop for my presentations.

Excellent work by Mrs. Perdue, based on my Night at the Museum: Night of the Dragons book. Note the top dragon based on movie film while the bottom one is made from book pages. Very creative!

I performed four shows and signed tons of books between each one. Even though there were a couple of technical issues, Mr. Overby was there to save the day!

Thanks to Mrs. Gerhardt for keeping in touch with me through the years and finally having me out (along with the Arlington Elementary PTA) and for the generous gift bag! Thanks to Kellen and Collin for the 5th grade introductions—good job guys. Thanks to the coaches for the use of the gym (let me know who finally won the burping contest). And the biggest thanks to all the Arlington Elementary Tigers! I hope you enjoy reading all the books I signed for you. And remember, I’m always making more!

Here I am sporting my Arlington T-shirt back on the ranch!

I had another repeat visit in Plano, TX today. This time at Barksdale Elementary—home of the Broncos! I got to meet Mrs. Edwards again and perform in her wonderful library. But this time, I wasn’t alone! Since I enjoy writing for many different super heroes, I had a few of them to keep me company througout the day!

Thanks to Mrs. Shamburger and the Barksdale PTA for having me out. Thanks again to Mrs. Edwards for the use of the library. Thanks to Batman and both Wonderwomen for being great bodyguards as I signed books. And a big thanks to all the great Barksdale Broncos! I hope you enjoy my books!

Today I returned to Brinker Elementary in Plano, TX! I lived in Plano for several years while writing for the PBS TV show Wishbone and it’s always fun to come back and visit. And today I got to visit a whole new batch of Brinker Bears—Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade, to be precise.

The Bears had loads of great questions and did a wonderful job with all the animal sounds—even better than the last time I was there!

Thanks to Mrs. Tewolde, Mrs. Tamez, and the Brinker PTA for having me out. Thanks to Mrs. Pearson for the use of the library and the fun lunch conversation. But the biggest thanks of all goes to the Brinker Bears themselves. Remember what I said, if you think of any more questions, have your parents email me and ask away!

My very first in-person author visit in over a year had me at Blanchard Elementary in Blanchard, Oklahoma. It was great to be out again and answering many great questions from students in person for a change. I was not only greeted by a bunch of smiling faces but also some amazing art including characters from my work and the phrase everyone should remember!

Thanks to Mr. Heitt for having me out, thanks to Mrs. Clark for all the help and kind words, and a big thanks to all the amazing students at Blanchard Elementary. I hope you enjoyed my presentations as much as I enjoyed getting back out in the world and doing them for you!

Returning to Long Island (virtually anyway), I had an exciting morning when I spoke to the fine students of Fork Lane Elementary in Hicksville, NY! I’m sorry I didn’t get a screenshot during one of my three sessions, but I DID get some questions emailed to me right away from a few of the students. Very cool!

Thanks to Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Guiliano for inviting me. Thanks to Mr. Callender, Mr. Friedman, and Mr. Kerkenides for tech support. And the biggest thanks of all goes to the wonderful students at Fork Lane Elementary. Keep those questions coming, and don’t forget the four words!

Today I had my very first virtual author visit, and it couldn’t have been with a nicer group of kids. I got to share my screen with some of the students and teachers at Eagle Charter School in Salem, Oregon! And, thanks to the pandemic, the students were all visiting virtually as well. I was at home, they were at home … we all sat at home in comfortable clothes and learned about special effects, novelizations, and just how many animals an author can stuff into one home!

Thanks for letting me share your screen, and I hoped you enjoyed my special Career Day presentation. Keep those questions coming, and remember to get your parents’ permission and email me any more to: ant@masteele.com.

Thanks to Mrs. Herring and Dr. Ballance for inviting me, and thanks to all the Eagle Charter students (and some parents) who participated in my very first virtual visit. You all made it a lot of fun!

Today I crossed just north of the border into Oklahoma to spend the day with all the 3rd and 4th graders at Altus Elementary!

I met a bunch of young writers and future screenwriters—true superheroes in the school!

And I know where they get their inspiration . . . it was a treat to visit their superhero-themed library. Very cool!

Thanks to Mrs. Salafia for inviting me. Thanks to Mrs. Bishop for all the help. And the biggest thanks of all goes to all the great kids at Altus Elementary. Keep reading, keep writing, and don’t forget about Batman . . .

Today I had the honor of headlining Shadow Ridge Middle School‘s career day! I was one of many speakers who came in to tell the Shadow Ridge Panthers all about the different careers out there.

I met hundreds of energized students who had all kinds of inciteful questions. I hope the other speakers had as much fun as I did!

Thanks to Avery and Devon for the directions. Thanks to Precious for the fun One Piece talk. Thanks to Charles for not only asking a great question during my visit, but also being the first student brave enough to send me an email!

Thanks to Mrs. Hall for inviting me. Thanks to Mr. Gibson, Mr. Thakur, and Mrs. Sawyer for all the help.

And the biggest thanks of all goes to all the Shadow Ridge Panthers! I hope you were inspired by one of the speakers today. And if you were, remember the four words, “I Can Do That!”