School Visits
Mom says that school visits are one of the absolute best perks of being an author.
Talking, reading, and playing with bunches of kids is one of her favorite things to do, and being an author gives her a reason (excuse) to do it.
For 35 years, she didn’t need an excuse because she was a teacher.

Teacher-Mom
I guess you can take the teacher out of the school, but you can’t take the school out of the teacher.
Mom has been to three author visits in the past month. At one of them, she helped kids understand how to accept and include differently-abled friends.

Author-Mom
At another one, she taught about how an idea becomes a story and how that story becomes a book. And the third visit was just a quick stop to see the kids she taught and pick up a thank you note and gift that they made for her.

Perfect fit on Mom’s inspiration board…

…and not a bad spot for a nap, either.
That quick stop included a cute little doggie in her flag dress who was invited along by the teacher, instead of being left behind watching out the window as the car pulled away.
It was ME! I was invited to school!!
I have dreamed about this for-like-EVER! I was petted and fussed over and had a captive audience to watch me do tricks and feed me treats. I tasted pretty much every single kid, and they were delicious! They tasted like crayons. And gum. And lunchroom pizza. And playground dirt. Everyone said I was well-behaved and cute as a buttermilk biscuit. Well, they didn’t exactly say that, but I knew it was true.

Being cute…
Mom even took a minute to talk to the kids about how to meet a new dog and how to avoid dog bites and keep from scaring or startling dogs.
And a little about the job that therapy dogs do.
Did I mention how everyone loved me and said I was cute? Yeah… That.