When 2nd Graders Make You Cry!

There is nothing more humbling than knowing your book made a difference in the life of a child.

A few days ago I had the privilege of zooming into the STEM lab of Amy Parks, a dedicated and wonderful STEM teacher at Forts Ferry Elementary School in New York. The second grade classes in her school were getting ready to start their habitats unit and wanted to kick it off with a reading of my informational fiction picture book, EMERSYN BLAKE AND THE SPOTTED SALAMANDER.

After sharing a few slides about my love of teaching and writing, we played an animal guessing game, and then I read the book to them. During my author visits I always point out how Emersyn Blake carries her Wonderings Notebook wherever she goes so she can sketch and jot thoughts about the things she notices in nature.

Today I received the kindest email from Amy letting me know what happened AFTER the visit! ​

"One child went home on Tuesday and started her own wondering journal all about the cardinals she was watching in her backyard."

Amy has a copy of my other two books as well: EMERSYN BLAKE AND THE STALKED JELLYFISH and BEASTIES OF THE TREE HOLLOWS. One teacher, Sheri O'Connor, asked to borrow them and read them to her class. Look at the amazing books they created based on those readings!

When I first started writing the Emersyn Blake series, yes, I wanted to entertain and inform children, but I really wanted to provide picture books that elementary teachers could integrate seamlessly into their science lessons. One of the last sentences of Amy's email will stay with me forever: "The teacher said it has been her most enjoyable week of the year."

If you or anyone you know would be interested in an author visit to learn about EMERSYN BLAKE or the BEASTIES OF THE TREE HOLLOWS, please leave me a comment or click on my Connect button! Wow, what a week!