Michael Anthony Steele

 
Today I got to visit the fun kids at Southside Elementary in Mabank, TX!
 

 
I performed two shows for the 1st through 4th graders, answered some great questions, and even signed some books between shows. And… I don’t know if my eardrums will recover from that last dragon roar. Wow!
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Welch for inviting me. Thanks to Mrs. Kirby for prepping all the kids before my visit. Thanks to Mr. Wilson for help setting up. And a big thanks to all the great kids at Southside Elementary!
 

 
I hope you enjoyed my visit and remember those four words!
 

 

 
My Decatur ISD tour came to a delightful conclusion this morning with a quick stop at Young Elementary, on “Fly Friday” no less!
 

 
These lucky students began their Friday with the pledge of allegiance and … a guy in a funny hat! I presented to the entire school at once and the gym walls trembled with their dragon roars!
 

 
Thanks to Mr. Saunders for help setting up. Thanks again to Mrs. Highlander for inviting me AND the fun lunches AND taking pictures AND the thoughtful gift bag. Thanks to all the great students and teachers I met this week. And a dragon-sized thanks to each and every student at Young Elementary. You were a wonderful grand finale to my time in Decatur!
 

 

 

 
Today I spent the day with the fun students of Rann Elementary! Everyone had such great energy and I was blown away by your cheers!
 

 
After a couple of the shows, I even signed books for a few of the students!
 

 
En inglés y español!
 

 

 
Thanks again to Mrs. Highlander for having me out and another fun lunch. Thanks to Mrs. Slimp and Mrs. McNiel for all the help. And thanks to the Rann students themselves! It was a pleasure to hang out, talk about scripts, metaphors, and make weird giraffe noises with everyone!
 

 
Back in Texas, Decatur, Texas to be precise, to visit three great schools in Decatur ISD, beginning with Carson Elementary!
 

 
I enjoyed all three sessions with the star students and answered tons of great questions. I even signed one of my favorite books in Carson’s library: I’m a Great Big Monster Truck! I had to attend a couple of monster truck rallies to research that one. How fun is that?
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Highlander for having me out. Thanks to Mrs. Zamora for tracking down my book. And the biggest thanks of all goes to the Carson students themselves. You were a fun beginning to my Decatur drop-in and don’t forget those four words!
 

 

 

 
Today I visited with two great schools in Fairfield, NE! I gave two performances for the Sandy Creek Elementary 2nd through 5th graders and then signed a bunch of books for each of their classrooms. This was a special day for me since all of the students prepped for my visit by watching Wishbone episodes, a couple of the Night at the Museum movies, AND read my novelizations. Very cool!
 

 
I had a working lunch with several Sandy Creek writers where we had a writing workshop and discussed their future short stories.
 

 
I can’t wait to read your work: Ben, Cedric, Eboney, Emily, Jacob, Jonas, Kaeden, Kari, Keaton, Olivia, Rachel, Tripp, and Zoie!
 

 
After lunch, the 2nd- 5th graders were bussed in from Lawrence-Nelson Elementary. Since they had just finished watching the NATM movie, they could really see how a movie script and novelization can be different from the film itself!
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Radabaugh for inviting me. Thanks to Mrs. Schmoldt for the use of the gym. And thanks to all the great Sandy Creek and Lawrence-Nelson students. I hope you enjoy the books I signed. But don’t stop there! Keep reading and keep writing!
 

 

 

 
Today’s author visit was another return visit over at Elgin Elementary—home of the Wildcats! Last year I got to hang out with the upper grades, but today I got to meet the younger kiddos. Now, I’ve met ALL the Elgin Wildcats!
 

 
I had lunch with Mrs. Noonan’s class, winners of a special drawing. They came up with some wonderful questions and told me all about themselves. Great to meet you: Adam, Addison, Ashton, Bella, Brayden, Collin, Diamoni, Elise, Garren, Jaymie, Josiah, Kalee, Makenzi, Melani, Mia, Noah, Nobel, Paloma, Sadie, Valorie, and Victor!
 

 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Rawson for inviting me back. Thanks to Mrs. Delrosal for helping during lunch. And thanks to the other half of the Wildcats! Now the entire school should remember those four words…I Can Do That!
 

 

 



 
After a WHOLE day off, I traveled to Austin, TX for a return visit to Decker Elementary—home of the Dolphins! I visited Decker once before back in 2009 and was welcomed back with a huge banner on the library window. Crafted by the Dolphins themselves, the banners featured many characters from my books. Great work, everyone!
 

 
I performed my presentations in the library and signed bunches of library books for the Dolphins to check out later. I hope you enjoy them!
 

 
And a silly one…
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Mitchell for inviting me and for lunch. And a big thanks to all the Decker Dolphins for welcoming me back to your school with all the hard work on the banners and your best behavior during my shows. It was great to be back!
 

 

 

 
My final school visit for Klein ISD was at Frank Elementary—home of the Frank Flyers! And guess what, it was another crazy-cool hat kind of a day with the theme: Grab a hat and read with the Cat. So there were tons of cool Cat-in-the-hat hats and more!
 

 
Some crazier than others!
 

 
Just staying at Frank today, I performed three shows for all the Flyers and signed bunches of books in the library!
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Erkman for having me out and for lunch. Thanks to Ms. Irma for help setting up. And a big thanks to all the Frank Flyers for not only being a great grand finale to my tour through Klein ISD but also Read Across America Week. Now fly into the library and check out a good book!
 

 

 

 
Today Read Across America Week continued with Haude Elementary—home of the Jaguars! I performed two shows in their cool library and answered a ton of great questions. The Jaguars were so prepared, they had tons of great questions waiting for me on a white board!
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Jaffray for having me out and for the tasty lunch. And the biggest thanks goes to all the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Haude Jaguars! Thanks for the fun morning and the great questions. And don’t forget to email me if you think of any others!
 

 
After lunch (thanks again, Mrs. J), I was off to Kohrville Elementary—home of the Coyotes! I was pleasantly surprised to see most of the Coyotes wearing fun hats in honor of Dr. Seuss’s The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins—my kind of crowd! I was further surprised to be presented with a brand new hat from Mrs. Holt and her daughter Allie! It’s Coyote purple, too! Very generous!
 

 
I had to put it on right away and break it in for the 2nd through 5th graders. Another cool hat for my collection!
 

 
After each show, I signed a ton of books for the library and many of the Coyotes themselves. And I received yet another surprise—a bunch of wonderful letters from Ms. Cook and Ms. Ruffin’s 3rd graders. I can’t wait to read them!
 

 
Thanks to Mrs. Holt for having me out and for the generous gift (my first purple hat!). Thanks to Mrs. Alvarado and Miss Quinn for taking pictures. And the biggest thanks of all to the Kohrville Coyotes themselves. If I didn’t sign a book for you, be sure to check out the one from your library. I hope you enjoy them!