Fargo and First Graders

My friend Steph just sent photos from the reading at Zandbroz in Fargo last April. This is the very first display we came across of Sarah, Juliet, and my books!
I also tried to scan in the small article that was printed in the Fargo Forum which my mom just brought over last week. Not because it's ever so titillating to get press, but because on THE BACK of the cut out article, there was a story about some teens who tried to rob David Copperfield and how he used sleight (sp?) of hand to show them his pockets were empty. This combines two of my favorite subjects: illusionists and foiled robberies!
In other news, if anyone ever becomes overwhelmed with the knowledge that poetry is underappreciated in our country, I highly recommend being a guest poet in a first grade class. I had the honor of visiting Farnsworth Elementary last Friday and hearing the work of the students in Mr. B's class, who are hard at work on such technical elements as rhyming "bat" and "cat." One of the most imaginative poems I was read concerned a line of coyotes (cuyd = coyote)searching for limes while grownups hid on the ceiling. I loved it! After my hour was over and I had to leave, I was given a standing ovation and bumrushed for hugs by a quarter of the class! I would be curious to visit other higher level classes now to try to pinpoint at exactly what age it happens that creativity and genuine emotion are successfully trained out of the majority of us.