Things I Love Thursday

I love this video of students at Pomperaug Elementary School in Southbury, CT. 

They discuss what they learned from their Skype session with me. Also included are some snippets of the Skype (starting at minute mark 2:51).

Special thanks to Ms. Martellino for sending me this. 

Two Things on Tuesday

Thing One

 Thing Two

 

Two Things on Tuesday

Thing One

A great letter from a school librarian:

Dear Mrs. O'Connor:

Is there anything better than a classroom of second graders begging for The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester? Yes - two classrooms! 

[Thank you Mrs. Vonk, for taking the time to write that.)

Thing Two

I loved the fantastic secret of Owen Jester. My favorite character is Travis. Because he has a temper and I have a temper. I live in Georgia.

 

Arkansas Part 6

My last day in Bentonville.

Me with Centerton Gamble librarian, Renee Wall

Centerton Gamble with a book cake!

The cake

Centerton Gamble Elementary

Elm Tree Elementary

Arkansas Part 5

One of the highlights of my trip to Bentonville was seeing the play of The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester performed by the Bentonville High School drama students.

Thank you to Fine Arts Chair, Justin Scheuer, for this great honor.

Owen with Tooley

Owen and Earlene

Viola and Owen in the submarine

Viola lecturing Stumpy, Travis and Owen

Travis and Stumpy with Tooley in his cage

Me with the cast and crew. They rocked it.

Arkansas Part 4

Day 3 in Bentonville (continued)

Central Park Elementary

Central Park Elementary

 Central Park Elementary made frog traps!! 

Check 'em out.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary

Arkansas Part 3

Day 2 in Bentonville 

Cooper Elementary School

Sugar Creek Elementary

Mary May Jones Elementary School

Day 3 in Bentonville

A nice welcome from Willowbrook Elementary

They made an amazing submarine!

Willowbrook Elementary

They gave me a T-shirt and an elephant (their mascot)!

Arkansas Part 2

My first school day in Bentonville in pictures:

Speaking to grades 2-4 at Apple Glen Elementary School

Speaking to K-1 students at Apple Glen

Thanks for the greeting, Baker!

Speaking to Baker students

Cool submarine, Baker!!

Speaking to homeschoolers at the public library

Bentonville Public Library (Thank you, Sue!)

I am a frog.

Arkansas Part 1

I had the most amazing visit to schools in Bentonville, Arkansas.

They chose The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester for their One District One Book program.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll show you my visit in pictures.

My Bentonville BFF, Wendy Hannah, was my go-to gal. She drove me around, planned, worked, scheduled, etc, etc. etc. I owe a major THANK YOU to Wendy for making my time there amazing.

The lovely town square of Bentonville

The first Walmart!

In front of the awesome 21c Hotel

I walked the beautiful trail to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

The architecture is beautiful

Such a lovely museum

One District One Book Event

Talk about a community coming together for an event!

To wrap up the city-wide One District One Book program for The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester, the beautiful Crystal Bridges Museum hosted a party for students and their families. 

The day was filled with art and science related activities and games inspired by my book.

Photos courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Photography by Marc F. Henning