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On Sunday afternoon, March 29th, I was the guest author at Firefly Book Store at 230 W. Main Street in Kutztown from 2-3pm.   After sharing The Easter Bunny Brothers, the children worked on their very own stick puppets of Bobby and Benjamin Bunny.    A big thank you goes to Rebecca  and Matthew, owners of Firefly,  for their great advertising and assistance with this event.   If you haven’t purchased a copy of the Bunny Brothers, head to Firefly Books!

Saturday, March 28th was a busy day for me.   From 10-11 am I was the guest author at Max Cremas’ Expresso and Coffee Bar which is located on the Pricetown Road in Alsace Township.   I belong to ‘Locals at the Max’ which is a group of local self-published authors who support one another in our efforts to promote our books.    The audience was positive, encouraging and supportive as I shared my writing journey and also read The Easter Bunny Brothers.   I feel very fortunate to be a part of this group of talented authors.   Copies of my book are available for sale at Max Crema’s.

Then immediately afterward, I went to the PA German Cultural Heritage Center at 22 Luckenbill Road in Kutztown for their Easter on the Farm.   For those of you who have never attended one of their events, you are really missing a walk down memory lane.   Besides the historical PA German farmhouse, barn, spring house, one-room school house and grounds,  the place is a buzz with free activities for kids- a petting zoo, train rides, pony rides, wagon rides, two egg hunts, crafts for children,  demonstrations, craft vendors, and food.

Inside the one-room school, I had a table selling my two books. I also read The Easter Bunny Brothers to a packed school house at 2:00. I loved when the kids laughed when Bobby announces his new invention- The Egg Mobile. There was also a jar of jelly beans for a Guess How Many Jelly Beans Contest. The winner was Haley Kohler from Shoemakersville who guessed 330 only 5 away from the actual count of 335. Congratulations Haley!

Friday, March 27, 2015

Yesterday, I read The Easter Bunny Brothers to the two first grade classes at Holy Guardian Angel School in Laureldale.   The first grade students were very attentive and laughed throughout the story especially when Bobby announces his new invention, The Egg Mobile.   Many thanks to teacher assistant, Mrs. Meares for arranging my visit and organizing the book sales.

This morning, I visited the preschool and kindergarten classes at the Yoccum Institute.   All of the teachers and students were very welcoming.   It was fun to see the children delight in the antics of brothers Bobby and Benjamin Bunny.   Many were able to predict that both Bobby and Benjamin would be the Easter Bunny.   Seeing their smiles at the end of the story when both brothers are sound asleep on the green chair in their burrow made my day!   To me, seeing the children enjoy and identify with the characters of the story is what writing is all about!    A big thank you goes out to  Elsa Mierzejewski, Preschool Director for arranging my visits and coordinating the book sales.

Later this afternoon, I again had the pleasure of reading to all four first grades at Willow Creek Elementary School in the Fleetwood Area School District.   Mrs. Nicole Lambert, head first grade teacher, made the arrangements.  What fun it was to hear the students share their favorite part.  Many liked  Bobby’s invention-The Egg Mobile, many liked Bobby’s crossed paws and ears for good luck, and others liked the Bunny Brothers sound asleep on the big green chair on Easter morning.  I reminded the students that all of them were authors and to need to use their imaginations to create their very own stories.

This morning I had the opportunity to read The Easter Bunny Brothers to the morning classes at St. Paul’s U.C.C. in Fleetwood. It was fun to share my story and see the reactions of the students. They were a terrific audience and knew that Bobby should not have tripped his brother. Several students were able to predict that Bobby would find a way for both bunnies to be the Easter Bunny. Bobby’s invention, the Egg Mobile, was a big hit, bringing smiles to many faces. I made the mistake of asking with one class if they had any questions. They had questions all right, none of which had anything to do with the story or my visit. I had to laugh. I had forgotten how preschoolers react to questions!

Thank you Mrs. Peg Brown and the teachers at St. Paul’s School for arranging my visit.   What a joy it was to see the students engaged and enjoying the antics of Bobby and Benjamin Bunny!  This is what makes writing and creating so special!

Local’s To the Max
I belong to “Locals to the Max” which is a group of locally published authors who support one another by gathering on the last Saturday of each month at Max Crema’s Expresso & Coffee Bar. This Saturday morning, January 31st from 10-11 local poet Troy Allen will talk about his book “Such is Life.” Come to Max Crema’s at 3130 Pricetown Road, Fleetwood and enjoy a cup of great coffee or tea and meet local poet, Troy Allen. What a great way to spend a cold winter’s morning!

Yesterday I read to the four fourth grades at Weisenberg Elementary School in the Northwestern Lehigh School District in two separate sessions.   A big thank you goes to Mrs. Brooke Storms, fourth grade teacher,  who made all the arrangements for my visit.   After each session, one student’s name got pulled from a basket.  That lucky student received an autographed copy of my book, Pearl of Richmond School.

One of the most interesting questions of the day was ” Why did the one-room school teachers make the students write with their right hands?” To our present way of thinking, it does seem hard to understand.  Can you imagine those left handed pupils who were forced to use their right hands?

On Friday, May 2, 2014,  I visited with the fourth grade classes at Muhlenberg Elementary Center in Laureldale in the Muhlenberg School District, Berks County.  The students were  very attentive.  Each 4th grade class were given two signed copies of Pearl of Richmond School for their classroom libraries,  purchased by the school district.  Since Pearl’s experiences in a one-room school was very different than schools today, hands shot up.    Here are some of their questions and the answers I shared:

Where did the students go after 8th grade?   The one-room schools were for students in grades 1 through 8.   One teacher taught all 8th grades, by giving lessons for each grade in math, reading, spelling, grammar, and handwriting  in the morning, and having whole group lessons in geography and history in the afternoons.    At the end of 8th grade, the students took an examination.   Those who did well could go on the nearest high school, with their rural school paying tuition to the nearest high school.   Most students went to work on their family’s farm, with the household chores, or found work locally.   When the students who went to high school graduated, some went to college if their families could afford it.  Usually boys were sent to college, since the mind set in farming communities in the early 1900’s  was that girls would marry and become homemakers.

How did kids take showers?   Out houses were common on farms in the early 1900’s.    Indoor plumbing was not common.   Baths were taken in big metal tubs that were filled with water that was heated over the stoves.    Bath night was typically Saturday night, cleaning up for church on Sunday,  with family members taking turns taking baths, usually from the oldest to the youngest using the same water.  The phrase “throw the baby out with the bath water” comes from these days when the bath water was thrown out after the last person, usually the youngest,  bathed.

Did they have microwaves?  No, no microwaves.   The farmers’ food was cooked on the coal or wood stoves in the farm kitchens.  Students packed their lunches in metal lunch kettles.  Each student would bring a stacking metal cup  from home and used that, filling it with water from the blue striped crock in the back of the school house.

Today I read parts of Pearl of Richmond School to the five fourth grade classes at Willow Creek Elementary School in the Fleetwood School District.   They were a very attentive audience.   When it was time for questions, their hands shot up.  Here are some of their questions:

Where did the students go for kindergarten?

Did they have to take the PSSA’s?

How far did the students have to walk to get to the one-room school?

If there weren’t any water spigots, how did they wash their hands?

Where did they put on the Christmas play in the one-room school?

What would happen if a kid ran away?

And my very favorite question of the day was “When will you be famous?”   I just laughed.   Out of the mouths of children!

On Saturday, April 12th  I attended Easter on the Farm at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University.   I read parts of my book in the Freyberger one-room school.   The children who sat in those connected wooden desks got to see quill pens, the ink wells in the desks, antique metal lunch kettles, the blue striped water crock, and the pot belly stove in the center of the room.  It is wonderful that some of these schoolhouses have been moved to places like the Heritage Center where children can learn and value our local history.   A beautiful, warm sunny day filled with living history at its best!