PHUN IN PHILLY!

Did you miss me?  I've been off having delightful adventures in Philadelphia.

Here are some phun Philly photos . . .

Our nephew's prom coincided with my sister's birthday.  Happy to be there for both occasions!

Ellen and Kyle

 Kyle's date, Marissa, was lovely . . .

I also had the great pleasure of visiting with my 10th grade English teacher, Myra Durlofsky.  We've kept in touch for over 30 years.  I so loved her that I made her a character in one of my novels.  Here she is . . .

Myra Durlofsky

Our family summer party took place during our visit.  Lots of laughing and swimming and baby cuddling and, of course, eating . . .

I had so much fun visiting with family and friends.  There were graduations.  There were celebrations.  There were wild Wii championships.  It was fantastic.

Then I had the great pleasure of spending a few days with my niece in the city.

Here she is on the steps of her new apartment . . .

Nicole

She cooked great meals and was an excellent tour guide.  The first evening, we watched the sun set over the Schuylkill River, then saw the public art displays behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Donna and Nicole

 We hiked all over the city . . .

City Hall and the Love Statue

And visited LOTS of bookstores.

Bookstore cat getting cozy on a display of new books

One of my favorite parts was spending time in the library on Vine Street.  (Not the first library in the country, which was created by Benjamin Franklin, but the first library system in the country.)

Inside the Free Library of Philadelphia

Of course, we had to visit the children's department.

Along the walls were framed posters for Children's Book Week.  Here's one of my favorites . . .

This one is from 1964

I was marveling at the collection when I recognized one of the librarians.

"Did you use to work at the Northeast Regional Library?" I asked.

"Yes," she said.

She's been in the system for 37 years (19 of which were at my childhood library, that I loved so much).

Donna and Irene R. Wright, Head, Children's Department

I told her how much that library and the people who worked there meant to me.  I told her that I became an author of children's books for Random House.

When I handed her a card, she said, "We have your books!"

And indeed they did . . .

Not all the places I saw were filled with joy.  When we drove past the Mutter Museum, one of the settings in my new book, I saw something that made me gasp -- the rubble of the building at 22nd and Market Street that collapsed recently, killing six people.

There were flowers and memorials placed along the side

Despite the sadness of this, it was good to spend time in my home city.  And wonderful to spend time with family and friends.

Adventures in Aventura!

My last event of the season was a doozy!

It's not every day one gets to hang out with FLY GUY and call it "work."

Lisa Blair, president of the Miami-Dade Family Learning Partnership worked with Aventura Mall to create a SIX-hour event called The Book Shop.

We arrived the night before and were greeted by this in our hotel room . . .

A lovely gift basket, filled with all the essentials, including Sharpies, bottles of water and Mint Milano cookies.

When we went out to dinner, we found these signs all over the mall . . .

Riley Roam, Me and Janeen Mason near a sign, advertising the big event

And what an event it was!  There were books galore and authors -- Cheryl Holder, Lisa McCourt, Janeen Mason, Riley Roam, me and Lucia Gonzalez!

Lisa McCourt and Riley Roam

Janeen Mason and her assistant, Lin

And there were some real characters there, too . . .

Hi, Madeline!

And what's a book event without a giant dragon . . .

reading a giant book?!

The fun never stopped with the dynamic duo of PAGE TURNER ADVENTURES.  They emceed the entire event and provided stellar entertainment for over six hours!

They also performed THE GREAT PIZZA CONTEST . . .

One unsuspecting audience member wore a very interesting wig!

And the OLIVIA BEAN TRIVIA CONTEST . . .

I got to be scorekeeper and only cheated a little.  It was for the children!

 The best part was the endless stream of families, celebrating reading adventures together!

Thank you Lisa Blair, Miami-Dade Family Learning Partnership, Aventura Mall and MANY hard-working employees and volunteers for creating such a fun event and for allowing me to help celebrate a love for literature!  Thanks a million to my handsome hubby, who helped out in many ways throughout the event.

Happy summer reading, everyone!

Even you, Fly Guy . . .

THANK YOU, TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS!

As summer approaches, I want to say a big THANK YOU for . . .

1.  Many memorable school visits . . .

2.  Fun Skype visits/Google Hangout, World Read Aloud Day . . .

Some of you have hosted me at conferences and festivals.  Some have made very generous donations to children's literacy organizations.  And one of you sent me an umbrella that came in very handy.  (You know who you are!)

Each of you has dedicated your time and energy to enriching the lives of children.  

What you do matters in ways you can't imagine.  You change lives.  You make this world a better place by being an advocate for the children you interact with every day.

You deserve a lovely, restorative summer!

If you've always wanted to write, check out Kate Messner's FREE summer on-line writing workshops for teachers.  Authors provide guest posts all summer and answer questions.  The writing workshop will be hosted on Kate's blog.  You can join the FB group here.

Or maybe you're looking for great summer reads.  Sign up for Jen Robinson's Book Page newletter, crammed with inspiring book recommendations, news and interesting links.

Or travel to exotic locations (or at least dream about them) by signing up for Travel Zoo's Weekly Top 20 Travel Deals.

Whatever you do this summer, have a wonderful time filled with the things you love best.  You deserve it!

THANK YOU!!!

Celebrating Young Authors!

This is the third year in a row I've had the GREAT pleasure of keynoting at the YOUNG AUTHOR CELEBRATION for students in 1st through 8th grades from St. Lucie County.

Here are some of the families streaming into the event as the doors open . . .

I love this event because the parents and grandparents are so proud of their children.  And they should be.  These students created beautiful, heartfelt/funny/scary books that were deemed tops at their schools.  It's an honor to be invited to this event.

Thanks to co-chairs, Erin Coppoletta and Lori Foley, for the hard work that goes into putting on such a terrific event for hundreds of attendees. 

Erin, me and Lori, before the event begins

And thanks to Debbie Remington for inviting me.

Debbie Remington and me, Young Author Celebration 2012

My favorite part, of course, was having a few moments with each of the students as they came up to have books signed, chat and have photos taken.  Some students asked me to sign THEIR winning books, which felt like such an honor. 

I was delighted to see Crystal and her parents at the event.  This is Crystal's third year in a row winning the honor of attending the Young Author's Celebration!

Here she is a few years ago, when she was my escort during a school visit . . .

Crystal, at Manatee Academy

She's grown much taller since then!

And a huge shout of THANKS to our youngest son, who helped me during the entire event.  He and I loved spending time with these sweet kids.  We celebrated when we were done by going out to lunch and this fancypants restaurant.

If there are any YOUNG AUTHORS reading this, please stop by this blog post to get resources for young writers, including places to send your work, excellent guidebooks, contests and more.

I'll Take Fun Skype Visits for $400 . . .

Lots of FUNtastic Skype visits this week.

Yesterday, a school book club from New York created a Jeopardy! board, which they used to ask me questions.  (Olivia Bean would have been proud!)

Aren't these kids precious?  (Half a dozen book club members forgot to show up.  But they're all getting signed bookmarks!)

And this sweet crew from Massachusetts, who had excellent questions for me . . .

My first Google Hangout was with 50 middle schoolers at a public library in Indiana.  What fun!

A student sits in front of the camera to ask a question.

And finally . . . the biggest, zaniest Skype visit I ever did was with Deb Tyo's amazing students from Ohio.

Here's a small portion of the students.

Some of the students created a video invitation for me to Skype with their class during World Read Aloud Day.

But nature had other ideas.  School was cancelled that day because of snow.  I suggested everyone fly down to Florida, but some people were too busy playing in the snow . . .

Photo courtesy of Deb Tyo

We made up for the missed Skype visit today.  These kids were so enthusiastic and well-prepared!  When they asked about my new book and I held up my finished manuscript for DEATH BY TOILET PAPER, the toilet paper went flying . . .

It was so much fun visiting teachers, librarians and superstar students in four states this week without ever changing out of my slippers. 

SOMETHING SPECIAL HAPPENED AT MY LAST SCHOOL VISIT . . .

My last school visit of the year became more special because of a very generous donation from KIDS IN NEED -- BOOKS IN DEED, co-founded by Julianna Baggott and David Scott.

Media Specialist, Ms. Ivery-Lester and a "Thank You" sign for KIDS IN NEED-BOOKS IN DEED.

Before my visit, every student in 3rd - 5th grade received a copy of one of my books.  Every student.

That meant the students had time to read the books and create projects, like these . . .

That meant when my presentations were over, I didn't have students eagerly asking where they could get copies of my books, only to be told there were no copies available in the school library, which happens sometimes. 

Thanks to KIDS IN NEED -- BOOKS IN DEED, after my presentations, this is what happened . . .

The dynamic principal, Dr. McKeever, interacted with students while they waited in line to have their own books signed.

I loved interacting with each student who came up for a signature.  Some shared favorite parts from the books, others asked questions they'd prepared ahead of time and some handed me books from friends who couldn't be there.  

It was delightful to see these boys and girls so excited about books!

How could I not LOVE my job?

I promised something special to the last student at the end of the last line.  He'd waited so patiently to meet me.

While in Texas, a student handed me a bracelet she'd made with the word "BOOKS" on it.  I wore that bracelet to every school visit.  It seemed all the kids -- boys and girls -- were wearing cool, funky hand-made bracelets.

S. left with that bracelet on his wrist, because I knew it would matter to him.

Donna and S.

Thank you, KIDS IN NEED -- BOOKS IN DEED!  You've made the kind of difference that can't be measured -- the kind that matters most.  Thank you wonderful young readers and dedicated staff that made this very memorable school visit possible.

Mostly, thank you for reminding me why I do what I do.  And that it matters.