My reading and book signing at the Tenafly library was a blast!  Big thanks to Latricia Batchelor, the children’s librarian, for bringing me in.  I just love getting the kids excited about their fruits and vegetables.  Check out my friend on the banana phone!  One child asked a great question…He asked, “Why did you write poetry about so many foods we don’t know about?”  This quesiton is brilliant!  I purposely tried to mix up the fruits and vegetables I wrote about so that some, like apples and bananas and oranges would be familiar and like “coming home” for my readers.  I could picture a child saying, I know about oranges!  Then, I tried to pick some fruits and vegetables that might be less familiar to my readers, like acorn squash and parsnips, so that kids might be inclined to try some of these new, healthy foods.  I could hear a child saying, “I never knew that was an acorn squash, I thought it was a pumpkin!”  I hope the mix works for you! You can buy the book right here.  So please, let me know what you think!

Finally the children wrote their own fantastic poem.  Here it is…

Tenafly is Perfect

We go by Tenafly

The library is great

We draw pizzas in the Tenafly Library

Boots are big

After dinner we play puzzles

The Tenafly Diner is fun

Self control is important to people

And hugs are too

Chicken pox are not good

But this poem is

Thanks again to all the folks, kids and grownups alike, who came out to hear some poetry and have some fun last night at the Tenafly Public Library.