Post tour let-down. I get it every time. And now that I'm back at my desk in New York City I can admit that I miss the road. There is no rush like hearing a couple of hundred kids burp at me in unison like George Brown, Class Clown, or bark like Sparky in the Magic Bone books, or having a mom tell me that my books were the first her second grader actually showed an interest in reading. Okay, I admit the student teacher who told me she read Katie Kazoo Switcheroo books as a kid might have thrown me, but I am really psyched that teachers still love Katie and her pals.
The one takeaway I have from every tour is that I love book people. Booksellers, librarians and teachers are all links in a single heroic chain. They share an important goal--let's get kids reading! It's no easy task--what with televisions, iPads and video games beckoning at every turn. But somehow, these heroes manage to find new and creative ways to get kids to discover the magic of books. Real books--with pages and covers, and that new book smell you get when you open it for the first time. (Sure e-books are books, but I still say it's not the same.) Hopefully that love of books will open the minds of the next generation, so that they are more loving, accepting, and imaginative than the folks that came before. The book people I met on this tour gave me hope because they are helping kids realize that books matter-- and that words matter.
So now I'm at the computer, revising the second book in a brand new, upcoming series (which I wish I could tell you more about, but I'm sworn to secrecy.). Oddly, although I miss touring, I'm not sad. In fact, I'm feeling kind of motivated and excited. Because I know there are kids out there who still want to read. And that gives me a rush--not a burp in my face kind of rush--but just as good.
The one takeaway I have from every tour is that I love book people. Booksellers, librarians and teachers are all links in a single heroic chain. They share an important goal--let's get kids reading! It's no easy task--what with televisions, iPads and video games beckoning at every turn. But somehow, these heroes manage to find new and creative ways to get kids to discover the magic of books. Real books--with pages and covers, and that new book smell you get when you open it for the first time. (Sure e-books are books, but I still say it's not the same.) Hopefully that love of books will open the minds of the next generation, so that they are more loving, accepting, and imaginative than the folks that came before. The book people I met on this tour gave me hope because they are helping kids realize that books matter-- and that words matter.
So now I'm at the computer, revising the second book in a brand new, upcoming series (which I wish I could tell you more about, but I'm sworn to secrecy.). Oddly, although I miss touring, I'm not sad. In fact, I'm feeling kind of motivated and excited. Because I know there are kids out there who still want to read. And that gives me a rush--not a burp in my face kind of rush--but just as good.
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