Reading in the park turned into reading in the gym

June 25, 2024 — It’s been HOT HOT HOT (at the time of this writing, now we’re getting a little reprieve, at least in Michigan). The Reading in the Park event for Brick Elementary School students was moved into the gym at the Lincoln Middle School due to the heat. The temperatures were still in the 90s (or felt like it due to humidity) when the event began at 6 p.m. So that was a good call. 

I left my house early to arrive early, or at least, on time. We have some major construction (who doesn’t?) blocking the main intersection by our home. But, actually, I was going the other direction. The problem was that I didn’t read the email carefully enough (can you relate?) And I’m not familiar enough with what I now realize is the extremely large campus of Lincoln Consolidated Schools. I’ve passed the LCS sign/building on my way to Brick and thought, breezily, I’ll know where I’m going tonight. First, I parked at the high school, which is closest to Willis Road. I knew the event had been moved into the gym, but I did NOT know there are TWO gyms, an east AND a west. Which gym is it in? a mom asked me when I asked if she knew where the gym is. Uh-oh, I thought. When I didn’t know, her son said it was probably in the East Gym. When I started to walk in the direction she was pointing, she said that I might want to drive over, that it was quite a hike. Again, uh-oh. 

I knew it wasn’t a good sign when I saw students playing basketball in the East Gym. I walked over to the West Gym, following signs through the loooong locker-lined hallways. High school memories! More sports were happening there. So, back to my car. So much for being early. 

I took a close look at my email about the event. Okay, why hadn’t I done this in the first place? The reading event was taking place at the middle school! I got back in my car and meandered through the parking lot, which didn’t cut through so I headed back out to Willis and ended up at the elementary school. Have I mentioned that I’m directionally challenged? 

Back again, past the high school and followed the signs to the middle school. So much for being on time. Sigh. I’ve been trying to leave at least 10 minutes earlier for appointments than I normally would to prevent lateness. Mostly, it’s been working. 

Enough of that story. I saw many cars, a good sign. I walked in to the gym and — relief! There were people sitting in the bleachers, a firefighter reading and tables set up around the perimeter of the gymnasium. A couple of the people at the tables nearest me asked, “Are you the author?” That will never cease to surprise and delight me. 

I set up my table with my new bright blue tablecloth, new little white boards and multi-colored markers, my books and such. And purposely NOT the little fox (if you’re a regular reader or happened to read the post about Career Day, you’ll know why!) 

At home, I’d put one of the little (very soft and cute) stuffed fox prizes in a pink polka dotted gift bag with a note congratulating the student I selected from her drawings on Literacy Night. I gave it to Michelle Cox, the event coordinator and teacher, who will pass it along to Bella. In her note, I told her I’d love to see how elegant a swan is, which was one of her ideas that she didn’t have time to draw that night. So, stay tuned, as I hope to receive it in the near future. And, Michelle said she would take a picture of Bella with her fox prize. 

You may recall that I’d tried to hold a contest based on the activity in the back of my book. I received all of ZERO entries (alas). It’s understandably difficult to get people’s attention and time. So, I decided to award one of the Brick students who completed the activity on Literacy Night. Activities can be emailed to me at any time through this website’s contact page. There are more prizes. 

I’d guess there were some 50 adults and children in attendance, seated in the bleachers along one wall with many of the children seated on the floor. The readers had a microphone and a chair. Michelle kindly introduced me. She called me a very cool person :D and that I’d published my first children’s book. 

I read my book, figuring out the best way to hold the microphone and my book so that I could read from it and show the pictures to the audience. Surprisingly, I don’t know it by heart yet. Maybe I do but I don’t want to take a chance in that setting. I’ll test it out at home first. 

There was a cluster of little girls sitting on the floor. They were especially engaged with my questions and I heard several laughs and giggles. All the readers received rounds of applause and that was really nice. Brick kids are really sweet kids.

I went back over to my table and had a flurry of children and some of their parents stop by. At the end of my reading, I mentioned that there is an activity in the back of the book that we could do at the table. The children liked drawing on the white boards. This was great to see. Paige, one of the children I met at Literacy Night, wrote and was drawing “how clever is a fox?” Because I was caught up greeting and talking with people as they approached the table, most of the kids erased what they’d drawn before I could snap photos, unfortunately. I captured one boy’s Pokemon drawing. Wow, Pokemon has been around since my boys were young, so nearly 30 years (maybe longer, I don’t know). 

As of now, my next book event isn’t until early August. It’s called Buy Michigan Now from 4 - 8 p.m., downtown Northville. Another event I’ll be adding for this fall will be a pop-up at Brewed Awakenings, Saline, the cafe that carries my book. I think that will be especially fun, it’s such a nice spot just around the corner. They feature local artists and authors and their baked goods are made in house and are outta’ this world! My favorites are the chocolate peanut butter bars. If you’re in one of these towns, I’d love to see you there. 

Image: My new book swag including a postcard, bookmark and business card. Designed by Jenny Kalejs.