Monday, June 21, 2010

Super Mega Epic Virginia Book Tour!


7 schools, over 3000 kids, and a whole lot of fun!
I was lucky enough to spend 10 days giving presentations to elementary schools in the great state of Virginia.

Here's a video that tries to capture the experience:



Did that seem like a blur? Yeah, it did for me too! A super awesome blur!
So here's a run down of just what happened:


St. Bridget's School in Richmond
Thanks to Assistant Principal Charlene Bechely, and Principal Ray Honeycutt for setting up the visit.
And extra super special thanks to
Ann Neuhaus for promoting the event, selling books, and providing a bag of Bill's BBQ for the author at 9AM!




* You know that the Principal is cool when he asks you to draw on his shirt!


I was able to lead a group of exceptional 5th grade art students in the creation of a story that we all drew out on ceiling tiles. The kids are going to paint them and they will be placed back in the schools ceiling so that everyone can see their great work!

Huge thanks to Lara Ivey and Julie Dauksys at Growing Up With Books (it's like Netflix for books!) for making this visit so special!















They really promoted the event and had the kids fill the school with 'What's at the end of the red string art work!











They even gave me a goodie bag filled with diet appropriate snacks, South Anna swag, and.......... a cell phone strap with my favorite Japanese character, Sato Chan, on it! Lara had it shipped from Japan!!



Beech Tree Elementary School in Falls Church (My old elementary school!)
Thanks to Ellen Valentine for setting up this visit.


Pennington Elementary School in Manassas




Colonial Trail Elementary School in Glen Allen

Extra special thanks to Jackie Rice and Linda Levine for making this happen!

















Rivers Edge Elementary School in Glen Allen
Thank you to Susie Milwit and Principal Johnna Riley for putting together the visit!



Nuckols Farm Elementary School in Henrico
Thanks to Principal Mary Cox and Assistant Principal Lisa Merriam for hosting my visit.
And super-sized muchas gracias to Diane Schnupp and her family for making everything so easy and treating me like a Rock Star!



Thanks to everyone at the schools for their amazing southern hospitality!