Lucky me, I will be speaking with a panel and participating in a roundtable event at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Boston next month!

I met with award-winning authors, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Margaret Peot, Patricia Newman and Traci Sorell as well as educator Dr. Sophie Ladd to discuss our roundtable, entitled "WOWED by Nonfiction! Exploring Nonfiction Writing with Orbis Pictus Award-Winning Authors". If you are going to NCTE, come to our presentation on Friday, Nov 22, 9:30-10:45 Room 258 B in the Boston Convention Center

Later in the week, I met with my panel and we all shared our slides. This is going to be a great presentation--I learned so much from my fellow authors! This panel is called "Falling for Nonfiction: How Nature Can Nurture Heart in Young Writers" and I will be joined by Adriana Hernández Bergstrom, Randi Sonenshine, Michelle Schaub and Cedar Pruitt. Many of these women are experienced teachers, so we will provide actionable suggestions for your students.
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This panel will be on Thursday, Nov 21 11:30-12:45 room 160 C Boston Convention Center

I had such fun with the Culver City Friends of the Library! It was a great community event swarming with families purchasing low-cost gently used children's books, and I signed copies of all my books. Of course I also brought my big chunk of lava to share. I met local politicians, teachers, librarians, parents, grandparents, and of course...kids! What could be better?

In CAVES we feature the Waitomo Caves "Glowworm Grotto" in New Zealand. Check out this fantastic and fascinating video for kids and adults who want a deeper dive into the science of these amazing creatures.

I had the BEST time visiting schools in North Dallas. The librarians were so organized and I felt so warmly welcomed. The kids were super fun. It was my first time road-testing my new school visit program for CAVES and I'm happy to report that students from TK-5th grade loved it. I'm so inspired by these kids--I've already started developing a new project based on their feedback and ideas!

I'll be going back to Texas a number of times in the next few months to support CAVES being nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award. Fill out my request form if you'd like me to come to you school!