Countdown to school

It's Back-to-school time.
Some schools around here start next week.
The 9-year-old's school begins the week after.

I didn't get around to doing back-to-school shopping before she left for California, but now that she's back, she's anxious to get on with it. Before she left, she chose a backpack from LL Bean. I should have ordered it that minute, because when I actually did try to order it, it was out of stock. So, instead of a blue backpack, she now has a purple and blue one. It arrived while she was gone and was she excited to see it last night after I picked her up from the airport!

I hear that Office Depo has a huge back-to-school sale going on. (or beginning on Sunday, I forget which) And some other stores are, too. We'll hit the sales later this weekend.

Have YOU bought all your back-to- school items?
Have your kids chosen the outfit they'll wear on the first day of school?
-wendieO

School visits to remember

Since it's almost time for the kids to go back to school, I was reminded of some of the school visits I've made over the years. (In fact, I've mentioned a couple on my blog.)

I love visiting schools.
Every spring I visit the local schools wearing my librarian hat and representing the public library to tell the students (and teachers) about this year's Summer Reading Program. I also bring along a selection of neat books that I think the kids would enjoy reading for fun. I fully believe that summer reading should be FUN!

Do I ever talk about my own books at these school visits? Hardly ever. Wellllll, if I have a new book out I might show it to one of the classes if I think they'd enjoy it. But these are library visits, not me-me-me-the-author.

And then there are school visits that I make with my author hat on.
I love doing these, too. (I've come to the conclusion that I'm a ham. I'm basically shy, but when I do have something to talk about, I'm a ham.)
It so much fun to arrive at a school and find it is all decked out with student's interpretations of my books. One school a few years ago had adopted the slogan -- Fly High with Books -- and had plastered the school with it. They had no idea that that's what I put into every copy of TO FLY, THE STORY OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS when I sign them. Wow! Great minds with but a single thought. I was blown away.

And then there are the disasters.
Most memorable was year I took 3 to 4 hours driving through a blinding white-out snowstorm to travel to a school near Washington, DC -- a trip that should have taken an hour and a half at the most. When I realized that traffic on I-95 was stopped dead because no one could see, I began calling the school -- and nobody answered. For an hour, as traffic crept along, nobody answered. When they finally realized someone was trying to call them, I got the distinct impression that they didn't believe me. After all, the snowstorm had left their area, only leaving a dusting of snow.

From then on, whenever a school near DC asks me to come, I make sure I get the school secretary's phone number and I state over and over again that I really, really will try to get there on time, but you know how the traffic on the DC beltway often is a traffic jam....

Anywho, all this is leading up to Marc Tyler Nobleman recent blog entries where he has posted about his 10 most memorable school visit moments. Only a few are disasters. The rest are typical of some of the wonderful interactions we all get with students and teachers when we are the 'author' visiting their school.
-wendieO

Back to School Books Wanted

I know, I know.
It's closer to the 100 days of school books time than it is to back-to-school books time.
How-ever.

Every year we children's librarians revise some of the booklist handouts that we lay around our libraries to help adults find great books for children.

This year, I've signed myself up to revise our library's Back to School booklist and I was just wondering if there were some newish (or old favorites) out there that I might not be aware of. If you have a favorite book you use every year to get kids ready for school, or a great new one you've just discovered, please let me know (in the comments section of the blog) and I'll try to get it/ them onto this booklist.

I might even post the final list, if anyone is interested in seeing it.

Oh, and if you haven't heard already, Betsy Bird over on Fuse # 8 is making a list of the All-Time-Best Picture books. She'd like you to send her your list of what you think are the top 10 picture books ever published -- since they began publishing picture books in America. She's going to moosh them together into a massive "Top 100 Picture Books of All Time."

Okay, that's two projects for you. Back to School books to me -- anywhere in the comments section is fine. And your Top Ten Picture Books of All Time to Betsy. Thanks.
-wendie old