Introduction
Well kids,
Spring brought wonderful surprises for me this year. First of all, my eyes were absolutely hungry for color after such a long winter!
We haven't seen this much snow in my part of Michigan in almost thirty-five years. I had ice dams on every overhang of my house that did a great deal of damage! But Spring is officially here....HURRAH!!!!!!!! For me this time of year always means school visits commence. It is my time to go "on the road" and greet so many wonderful teachers, librarians and most of all... CHILDREN! How I love that!
To kick off the spring tour I was fortunate to have spent time with Aunt Monique and Traci in Las Vegas.
I was brought there by Reading Renaissance for a conference with thousands of wonderful teachers and librarians. It was so good to spend time with Monique, the little girl from my book The Butterfly. We were honored to meet the great actor James Earl Jones at this conference. Did you know that he had a terrible problem with stuttering as a child? He overcame this by learning to recite Shakespeare. To think that he is now "The Voice" of our country. I also had the privilege of visiting many wonderful schools in Las Vegas.
This spring has brought very special blessings...I would have to say the most thrilling event was to be invited to the White House by President and Mrs.. Bush to take part in their annual Easter Egg Roll and Holiday Celebrations!
I was one of eight other children’s authors to be invited to the event. I was especially pleased to see old friends such as Eric Carle and Eric Kimmel!
First we were invited to a special White House breakfast the morning of the festivities. Later in the day we were all to take our designated places on the grounds to read our Easter theme books to about 14,000 children. If you watched the news, you know that the events that were to take place outdoors were canceled because of torrential rains! Naturally we were all disappointed, but the President himself explained that it was a question of safety, because people were slipping and falling on the wet, slick lawns. It was quite a thrill to see him personally, but all of us were worried about disappointing the children. We were reassured that the White House would allow tours and inside activities to compensate. Later we (the children’s authors and our families) were asked to remain in "The Blue Room." We all wondered why.... then in walked the First Lady, Laura Bush!
She had arranged to greet us all personally and thank us for coming to the White House. To think... me, a Michigan farm girl from immigrant stock would end up at the White House, and in the presence of the President and The First Lady!
Only in our beloved America could this happen!
We all chatted with her for almost 35 or 40 minutes. What a gracious lady she is indeed; and dedicated to the hearts and minds of America’s children! She, herself, was once a children’s librarian and teacher. As you all know I believe that the teachers of our land are the greatest hero’s of our society, and meeting her reinforced this belief! Imagine a teacher and librarian...THE FIRST LADY OF OUR NATION!
What a day! We quite literally had the entire first floor of the White House to enjoy during the wonderful breakfast that morning... and then to see the President and spend such a wondrous time with The First Lady!
As Miss Eula said at the end of Chicken Sunday...
"'I can die happy now... and when I do... I want you to boil up some chicken- bones, gravy, and all- and pour it over my grave. So late at night when I'm hungry, I can reach right out and have me some.'
Then she rolled her head back and laughed from a deep, holy place inside."
I do declare when Mrs. Bush laughed (and she does very freely), that laughter came from a deep, holy place inside!
Click any picture to see a larger one.
As the spring progresses into summer, I will be visiting schools in Indiana, Tenn. Michigan and Ill. I will also be out promoting and signing for my newly released book, Betty Doll. Please check out the tour dates and places. Then it’s a mad rush home to prepare for the Homes Tour in my little town of Union City. You are all invited to come!
The site is getting bigger and bigger as more content and resources are added daily. Almost all of my books now have "mini-posters", bookmarks, a quiz, a puzzle, a postcard, and a synopsis! Some have a special section called "Lesson Plan Exchange." This feature invites anyone to share information about using that particular book in a classroom, home, or library setting. I really hope that all of you share your ideas and inspiration with others. Another new addition is the "Forum" page. This page is for sharing any information about anything! You create a topic, add your questions or statements, and let others chime in as they visit!
Keep checking back... I'm sure you will find something new every time!!!
Guestbook--Chat--Postcards --Video Gallery --Links--Color-Ins --Search--Betty Doll-- The Butterfly--Educators Exchange--Contacts--Quizzes--Puzzles!--Bookmarks!--Forum--Portrait Downloads
Click here to see a preview of my next book, Mr. Lincoln's Way!
The winners of the "Stop the Teasing Excellence Contest" are the students and faculty of
William Halley Elem. School, Fairfax Station, Va.
Click here to see just some of the amazing work that they did!
I will be visiting William Halley School in May to paint a mural and talk with the kids.
The other outstanding schools that participated are:
Bowling Green Elem. Westbury, NY
Kirk Elem. Millington , MI
Glaza Elem. Millington, MI
Emmons Lake Elem. Caledonia, MI
St. Joseph School Mendham, NJ
Littlebrook School Princeton, NJ
P.S. 159 Glen Oaks, NY
Manor Woods Elem. Howard Co. MD
Friends Community School College Park, MD
Stoney Creek Comstock Park, MI
Peter’s Colony Elem. The Colony, TX
King Elem. Layton, UT
G.R.Clark Elem. Monitor, IL
Manchester Elem. Manchester, MD
Bradford Elem.
Oak Knoll School Summit, NJ
Cleveland Elem. Cedar Rapids, IA
Immaculate Conception Traverse City, MI
These schools have all created a safe "tease free" zone within their school environments. We want to thank them all for participating in our contest. We will be posting ideas shared by these schools on the web site to help you create your own " tease free" schools.
Click here for information about the Summer Writing Contests