Michael Anthony Steele

I spent all day with the Bobcats at O’Dell Elementary in Celina, TX! I performed four shows and signed a bunch of books at my swanky signing station!

Several Bobcats brought books with them to the shows, and thanks to the O’Dell PTA, everyone received one of my special autographed bookmarks!

I met a bunch of young writers and a huge amount of future screenwriters, especially among the 4th and 5th graders!

Thanks to Mrs. Lundeen and the O’Dell PTA for having me out. Thanks to Mrs. Johnson for help setting up. Thanks to Coach Cross for her help and the use of the gym. And a big thanks to all the O’Dell Bobcats! It was great spending the day with you!

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Highlander School in Dallas, TX! I was welcomed by signs both outside and in!

The students and I took over the music room all day for three fun shows! All Highlander grades were great audience members with wonderful questions and even better giraffe noises!

Thanks to Mrs. Ortiz and the Highlander Parent Association for inviting me out. And thanks again for the generous thank-you gift! Thanks to Mrs. Rodriquez for the use of the music room. And the biggest thanks of all goes to the Highlander School students themselves! I hope you always remember our fun day and never forget the four words!

Beginning my second week at Rockwall ISD, I returned to yet another school—Hartman Elementary—home of the Eagles!

I missed seeing Mrs. Hughes again (by just a month), but Mrs. Miller did a great job, including welcoming me with this cool sign and caricature.

The Hartman Eagles were loaded with Special Effects questions—the most in Rockwall so far!

Thanks to Mrs. Reidling and the Hartman PTA for having me out. Thanks to Mrs. Miller for doing such a great job on her first year as a librarian and first author visit ever. And a big thanks to all the Hartman Eagles themselves. I hope you enjoyed my visit!

UPDATE: After I returned home to the ranch, it wasn’t long before I received a package stuffed full of wonderful thank-you letters and drawings from a large flock of Hartman Eagles! Thanks for writing: Abby, Abigail, Addison, Addy, Aiden, Aisha, Alexander, Anabella, Annaliese, Bella, Blake, Brooke, Claire, Connor, Ella, Elliot, Emma, Emmake, Eve, Everest, Evie, Ezra, Finley, Harper, Henly, Hollie, Isabella, Izaias, Jace, James, Kassie, Lincoln, London, Madelyn, Makenna, Malcolm, Mallory, Mariam, Melanie, Michelle, Monte, Phoebe, Riley, Savai, Sebastian, Sophia, Stella, Tommy, and Weslynn!

And some art by Anabella, Ella, and James, just to name a few!

I ended my first week at Rockwall ISD at Nebbie Williams Elementary, home of the Yellow Jackets! I was met first thing in the morning by the official Yellow Jacket herself (AKA Natalie), along with library helpers: Asher, Avery, and Lacy.

I got another surprise when I found out the library still had one of my signed books from my last visit, along with a photo of former librarian, Mrs. Dyer!

I performed three action-packed shows, signing tons of books after each one, and even got to sign Mrs. Mann’s author apron. She has quite a collection!

As I discussed movie scripts, it was great fun to discover how many future screenwriters were in attendance!

Thanks to Mrs. Milam (who did a wonderful job—congratulations on your first author visit) and the Williams PTA for having me out! And a big thanks to all the Nebbie Yellowjackets for being such a great audience all around. I hope you enjoy your books, especially the new ones I signed for your library!

Today was a busy day with four back-to-back shows for Rockwell ISD’s Jones Elementary!

The Jones Jaguars were all terrific audience members with tons of great questions!

Even though we were jammed into the library for some of those shows, everyone seemed to have a good time—especially me!

Jam-packed day, jammed into the library, and jammin’ on the guitar!

Thanks to Mrs. Collins and the Jones PTA for having me out. Thanks to Belle for the sweet fan letter. And a big thanks to all the Jones Jaguars themselves! You really know how to make a visiting author feel like a rockstar!

Today I returned to Reinhardt Elementary in Rockwall, TX! They built a new school since I was here last, with a big, bright library!

I performed three shows and was lucky enough to have lunch with the 5th grade book club. I had a fun chat over pizza with: Ayden, Bailey, Bryce, Emily, Finley, Jillian, Karleigh, Kiley, Lucy May, Max, Ollie, Oludara, Shelby, and Zoe!

The Reinhardt Rockets made for great audience members all around! My ears are still ringing from 3rd and 4th grades’ animal noises!

Thanks to Mrs. Figert for inviting me out—it was great seeing you again!—and for recommending me for the entire Rockwall ISD tour! And thanks to all the Rockets for being wonderful listeners and even better readers!

My second day in Rockwall found me at Garcia Elementary–home of the Gators!

I enjoyed four fun shows, spending the day in the library–one of my favorite places in any school!

Everyone had wonderful questions, and I was thrilled with how many future screenwriters were in the 4th and 5th grade crowd.

Thanks to Mrs. Applegate and the Garcia PTO for having me out. Thanks to Mrs. Williams for all the help. Thanks to Wyatt for the lovely Barney drawing. Thanks to Mr. Garrett for being such a huge Wishbone fan. And thanks to all the great Gators themselves. I hope you enjoy your books and bookmarks!

And one last shout-out to Paige, Mrs. Applegate’s mini-me I met the day before. Great meeting you!

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!