Today I had the pleasure of returning to MY former grade school and presenting programs to the students and staff.

​What a wonderful experience to return to the place where I was first inspired by my own awesome teachers. In 5th grade, my teacher Mr. Ozee, invited students to write an essay for an Arbor Day competition. I wrote about the beauty of forests and how I treasured Joyce Kilmer's famous poem, Trees, which my father had read aloud to me many times. (It was  his favorite poem.) I couldn't believe when I actually WON the contest! From that moment on, I thought of myself as a writer. Also it was pretty cool to leave school mid-day and plant a tree at a local park in honor of Arbor Day. So you never know which event or which teacher will inspire you in your journey! Thank you, John S. Clark School!

LUCKY ME . . .
to visit and spend time with over seven hundred AWESOME students at multiple schools for the always amazing Amelia Island Book Festival.

Here's one student (at right) asking a great question about Abraham Lincoln during my visit. "How did Lincoln figure out what he wanted to do when he was growing up?"

Below I'm hanging out with my "lunch bunch" after a program at one school. Fun to discuss books and writing with a small group. Can't believe some of these 5th graders are taller than me.

I'm always encouraged to see the interest, curiosity and thoughtful questions from young readers when I spend time with them!

​Great time celebrating Literacy Week at a pizza party for these awesome young readers at a local school! Each student read FIFTEEN books in 7 days . . . that's a clip of about two books per day! FANTASTIC!!  I so enjoy hanging out with students who are eager to learn and love reading. I can't wait to see what these reading superstars will do next!

 ​Join us for a LIVE virtual event on January 24th 2023. The Rhyme Doctors (pictured here top down, Patricia Toht, me and Michelle Schaub) will be presenting...
 
HOW TO WRITE IN RHYME
 
a webinar through the Children's Book Insider. We'll explore the many avenues for writing rhyming and lyrical picture books, from fiction to nonfiction to poetry collections and anthologies. We'll dig into some recent rhyming and lyrical mentor texts to analyze what makes them sing. Packed with helpful tips and takeaway resources. You can learn more about the program here. 

DELIGHTED to be heading back to North Florida's amazing Amelia Island Book Festival again in 2023! I'll be working with students from TWO awesome schools and sharing stories about Abraham Lincoln. Each student receives a copy of my award-winning picture book, THE SUPERLATIVE A. LINCOLN. What an amazing book festival this is. Did you know that each year the festival's donors (count me and my hubs as strong supporters!) provide enough funding to donate over 10,000 books to students in Nassau County Florida? It's an amazing outreach effort. Every young reader goes home with a book - AND gets the opportunity to meet an author with the school programs. Bravo to the AIBF Team! And thanks to SCBWI-Florida for granting their first-ever Literacy Award to the AIBF with a gift of $500 this year. I was honored to nominate this festival for that award!!