I have been busy visiting schools over the last couple of months and have greatly enjoyed speaking to the students I’ve met.

Even though the schools varied from one another in size, tone, composition, and geographical location, there has been a striking similarity in their enthusiasm for books and stories. The students were keen readers and writers, and eager creators of their own work. And there were many amazing librarians who had done a sensational job of directing students to excellent reading material.

It has been heartening to see the high-spirited literacy in action.

I love question time with the children because I never know what they will ask.

At a recent school, one young student asked me how old I was when I started writing books. I told him. Then a second student asked how many years I had been a writer. I gave that answer too. Then someone burst out: “I know how old you are!” and announced my age.

“You don’t look that old,” another student said. I smiled and said thank you. And we quickly moved on to the next question. 🙂

A virtual bouquet of flowers, and warm and sincere thanks to all the wonderful schools and teacher-librarians who invited me to visit this spring.

It’s been a privilege to meet you all!

I just spent a lovely morning at Crofton House School and wanted to say a sincere thank you to the teachers and students!

It was wonderful to meet you all and to hear about the alphabet books that the Grade 6 students are creating. It was fun to talk about my own experience writing an alphabet book — and to say that they aren’t as easy to write as they look. (Some of the students are also finding this out.) 🙂

I wish you the best of luck with your books and hope to see some of them when they are done.

Wow! What an amazing trip it’s been. Thank you so much to all the teachers, librarians, students and staff of the schools I’ve visited this week: Parkview, Hillcrest, Salmon Arm Middle School, Highland Park, and Silver Creek. You were all wonderful!

Today, I visit Bastion and Sorrento Schools. I can hardly wait to meet you.

A HUGE bouquet of thanks to everyone who has made me feel so welcome! I’m not going to want to go home. 🙂

I am busy organizing my presentation materials and beginning to pack for my trip to Salmon Arm, Armstrong, Sorrento and Sicamous next week. I will be visiting schools there and look forward to meeting all the students and staff.

It is a double pleasure for me to travel to the area because this is the school district where I was a teacher some years (decades!) ago. I have many happy memories of teaching at Armstrong Elementary School. In fact, it was teaching those classes of primary children that led to my becoming a writer — something I’ve never forgotten.

A big thank you to my friend and colleague, Chris McMahen, who invited me to the schools and organized my trip. Chris is a teacher-librarian in the district and he is also a popular and award-winning author. His most recent (and wonderfully written) book, Box of Shocks, just won the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award. Hooray for Chris!

And now, it’s back to packing… See you soon, District 83.

Thank you to the students and staff of Kent Elementary School for making me feel so welcome yesterday. It was wonderful to meet you all! From the attentive audiences, to the potluck lunch, student research projects on the wall, and the sign on the front of the school, it couldn’t have been a nicer time!

Thank you especially to teacher-librarian, Karen Dumas, for inviting me. Thank you to the PAC for making it possible, and to principal, Chris Wejr, and his wonderful staff and students. It was an amazing day!

A big thank you to Patricia Bartha, teacher-librarian, and the students at Sir William Osler School in Vancouver. It was lovely to spend the afternoon with you yesterday! You were a fabulous audience, full of great questions and comments. 🙂

When I looked out the windows of the school library, I could see several ornamental cherry trees in full bloom.

Here on the west coast, it is the season for beautiful blossoms and for spring school visits.

What a wonderful combination!

I’m back from the ALA conference in Seattle and it was spectacular! Thank you to my publisher, Tundra Books, for inviting me to attend and sign my new book in their booth.

It was wonderful to meet the librarians who stopped by for a chat. Many were from various corners of the USA, some were from Canada, and one (at least) was from the UK. It was good to meet so many great folks who love books! Apparently, 12,000 librarians were registered. Wow!

One librarian told me she was a proud bibliophile and was surprised that I knew the word. I told her I also adored books and had a houseful myself.

Maybe you were at the conference, too. If so, I hope you had a fabulous time and picked up many new books to read.

A big bouquet of thanks to Pam Rose, teacher-librarian, and the primary students and teachers at Harry Hooge School for a lovely day. It was great to meet you all and chat about books. You were a wonderful audience!

I wish you a happy June and a relaxing summer.

I’m looking forward to meeting the students and staff at two Saltspring Island schools this week. Hello to Fulford Elementary and Salt Spring Elementary! (It’s interesting that the island’s name can be spelled as either a compound word or as two words. Apparently, both are correct.)

See you soon!