I’m just recently back from Dallas where I did three different school visits
and a big literacy event at the zoo.

The whole darn thing was delightful, partly because I was staying with my funny, fascinating and open-hearted cousins… partly because I didn’t have to pack any lunches, take anyone to school, or run a single load of laundry… and partly because reading to that many kids in the span of a few short days is some sort of joy elixir.

The event at the zoo was sponsored by Educational First Steps — a really inspiring organization devoted to high-quality early childhood education for the kids who need it most. A few thousand kids giggled over penguins, fed giraffes, watched puppet shows and went home with books of their own. I did five different readings on a little patio tucked into the "African Savannah" — pitting me against trumpeting elephants and a really randy zebra. This means, of course, that the kids may have no recollection of me being there at all, but I remember them…

The school visits were all slightly less dramatic in terms of setting, but just as sweet. At all three schools we ran out of time before the kids ran out of questions — kind of a thrilling problem to have. One of the funnier moments? During my presentation, I put up a slide of All the World illustrator Marla Frazee. "You and your illustrator growed the same hair!" called out one perceptive kindergartner, almost like our curls were a marketing ploy.

And now here’s a really dear blog post about my visit by one of the school librarians.
Check out the AMAZING banner the kids made me!

Now I’m back home, packing lunches, running loads of laundry and counting my lucky stars that I get to do the kind of work I get to do. (Thank you Barb and Dan, EFS, Hockaday, Lamplighter and Parish Episcopal!)