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!

We took a quick jaunt down to Gonzales, TX to donate some signed Tom Swift hardcovers to the Robert Lee Brothers Jr. Memorial Library. What a nice facility jam-packed with many letters and historical documents for all to read!

Of course we had to visit the canon from the Texas Revolution “Come and take it” flag. Little known fact, the canon on the flag is darn close to actual size!

We also had to swing by Brenham TX so Virgil could visit the Blue Bell Creamery—it was a chilly place for little a Chihuahua, but he soldiered through!

Today I returned to Santos Livas Elementary, in Pharr, TX, to help honor their Emergency Response Team for not only the amazing work they do, but also because of how they helped me a few years ago and allowed me to continue visiting schools all over the country!

When I returned to the library, I was surprised by a large gathering of the school district staff including Superintendent Arredondo and Director of Library Services, Nora Galvan. But most importantly, I got to see Ms. Ramos again, the Santos Livas school nurse who saved my life. I’m so grateful that I even wrote her into one of my Tom Swift books.

I signed a few books for everyone, but I also got to meet another person Ms. Ramos helped—Mr. Gonzalez!

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome back! Thanks again to Ms. Ramos and to Mrs. Galvan for all the help during my last visit. I can’t wait to come back so I can finally finish my tour of all the Pharr schools!

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!

I enjoyed meeting many fun and exciting new people during my short promotional book tour of Florida Libraries. I donated a couple of signed Tom Swift hardcovers to the Fruitville Public Library in Sarasota, the Margaret Key Public Library in Apalachicola, as well as some to the Gulf County Public Library in Port St. Joe. Great meeting you, Mrs. Kessel, Mrs. Minnick, Mrs. Kienzel, Caroline and Carrie!

Of course, on the way home, I had to stop by the world famous Meyer The Hatter in New Orleans. I needed to resupply for my presentations and Michael Meyer set me up with some new pieces that you’re bound to see in upcoming school visits!

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!