Book Tour

Yesterday, on book tour for Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas, I visited schools in Oklahoma City. At Central Middle School, I met librarian-extraordinaire Caradith Craven. Her students created a tremendous amount of art based on Addison Cooke.

A group of eighth graders put on a play, acting out scenes from Addison Cooke. Other students sang a song on the importance of reading books.

After the sixth and seventh grade presentations, Ms. Craven showed me to her library, which was decked out with more Addison-inspired student art. In the library, I did Q&A's with sixth graders who asked a lot of smart questions.

Below is a quick snapshot of Ms. Craven. One student, Wenny, not only drew the very detailed poster with the tiger, she also performed a rip-roaring version of Solfeggietto by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach during our lunch. Another student, Ben, impressed me with his meticulously designed poster, and by wearing a tie to school like Addison Cooke.

I was pretty amazed by this Addison Cooke-themed pumpkin, as well as by the Addison Cooke-carved egg. I have no idea how they made it. I have never seen a carved egg before, though the Oklahoma students seemed pretty familiar with the concept.

After the Q&A, Ms. Craven organized a luncheon. I have never eaten on a placemat of my own face before, but from here on, I plan to make a habit of it.

At the luncheon, the icing on the cake was the Addison Cooke cake; it really took the cake.

In the afternoon, I traveled to the equally delightful Heartland Middle School for another presentation, where I met media director and world-traveler Janet Miller. With the help of Heartland's dedicated drama teacher, students put on an elaborate play of several scenes from Addison Cooke. If you look closely at the photo below, you can spot the zipline connecting Addison's apartment with his neighbor Raj's apartment. In the middle of the play, Addison successfully slides a walkie-talkie along the zipline to land in Raj's bed. This pretty much made my day.

Thank you to Central Middle School and Heartland Middle School for celebrating authors, for celebrating books, and for a truly memorable day!