Blog

Just back from the wilds of Redlands, CA where the students and staff of Mariposa Elementary School serenaded me with a welcome I’ll never forget. Before my morning assemblies, all the 3rd grade students took the stage and performed for their parents and for me (such creativity!)

Like many creative souls, Laura Presno has a dream. This 3rd grade teacher at Terry School in Selma, CA, has written a sci-fi novel for kids. Over a staff lunch in the teachers’ lounge (a welcome break for me after 3 assemblies), she posed questions about publishing

A big thank you to principal Victoria Cuevas of Jackson School in Selma, CA. She presided over not just my assemblies when I visited her school in November but over the longest running slideshow series of one of my talks to date! Click here to get an

Writer Alexa Russell got me thinking about the PRACTICAL value of an English degree in today’s online work environment. More than ever, she says, students are able to put their degrees to work remotely in order to spur social change and communicate internationally. Check out her noteworthy

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of presenting (for the 3rd or 4th year) at the Stockton Record’s Family Day in the Park, an annual public celebration in Stockton, CA. I had three 20-minute performance slots, one in the enclosed King Arthur’s Court (a tent) and one

Last week, in a tiny farm town near Dinuba, CA (Tulare Co.), I was privileged to lead a writing workshop for around twenty Migrant students. The students ranged from grades 4-8th. My goal was to get them to write with vivid, sensory details about a work or

Last week, in the wake of two back-to-back bilingual family night talks–each very well attended–I understood something that politicians must know instinctively. Namely, when addressing large audiences of widely divergent backgrounds, it’s necessary to speak in easy-to-digest terms. Not quite soundbites, but basic concepts that most everyone

Again, I’m wowed by the creativity and dedication of school librarians in south Texas. Ada Mendoza, the librarian of North San Juan Elementary School posted this mash-up of an author assembly I just presented last week at her school. Keep your speakers on to enjoy to swingin’

One day after Thanksgiving, as I resist the urge to fight the crowds of Black Friday and procure an operational DVD player, I feel THANKS for my work encouraging young people to read. Specifically, I feel THANKS for my recent tour to south Texas–an 11-school march through

Just completed day one of a 10-day tour in S. Texas, which will involve author assemblies at alll 11 elementary schools in the town of Weslaco. The S. Texas-isms started before I left California. On a drizzly, bone-chilling morning in Santa Rosa, I was talking on the