Through the Eyes of an Author

What do a children’s author, Hartford school librarians, and a brewing company have in common?

We all share a desire to motivate kids to read!

I promote my books with free visits to schools throughout New England. I create a win-win for the schools and myself by offering an educational and inspirational program to students at no cost, and then selling my books to interested kids. After such a visit to Hartford’s Milner Core Academy in January, Milner’s librarian, Nancy LaBonne, was so excited about my program she started e-mailing her colleagues at Hartford’s other schools. Before I knew it, I had invites to visit eight more Hartford schools! The only trouble was, I knew the Hartford students couldn’t afford to buy my books. This is often the case in many of the urban and rural schools I visit. But I think it’s important that all kids have access to inspiration—not just those who live in wealthier communities. And in fact, it’s the kids who’ve never met an author before, or who’ve never had a program like this, who draw the most inspiration and hope from it.

So I’ve accepted every Hartford invitation, knowing I won’t even cover my gas costs (I live two hours away.) With each acceptance, however, I became increasingly troubled that the Hartford school librarians have no budget for new books. I thought it was terribly unfair to excite the kids to want to read my books if they had no access to them. So I went in search of a corporate sponsor who could help put my books in these schools.

I didn’t have to search very far. My first call was to Bob and Gail McClellan, owners of Olde Burnside Brewing Company in East Hartford, and sponsors of Hartford’s Pipes in the Valley Celtic Music Festival. As both a piper and an author, I’m a regular participant at Pipes in the Valley each September, and I know how community-minded the McClellans are. They immediately said, “Yes, let’s do it!”

Olde Burnside Brewing Company has purchased a set of five of my books for each of the nine Hartford schools I’m visiting this spring. These schools are: Milner Core Academy, McDonough, Hartford Public High School Freshmen Academy, Batchelder, WISH School, Mary Hooker, Moylan, Parkville, and Burns Academy of Latino Studies.

Yesterday I visited Parkville and Batchelder Schools, and the kids were overjoyed when they learned their libraries had copies of my books. Their enthusiasm and excitement was such a priceless gift to see! Thank you Hartford school librarians and especially Olde Burnside Brewing Company for giving this tremendous gift—this love of reading—to so many Hartford kids!