Susan Maas (the mom of Nick, who was at that time a Sprague School student) approached me with the idea of writing a book about what happens when the children go home after the school day ends. That was the spark that inspired my book's genesis. Susan was thinking it would be a good idea if the school children learned how much work it took to clean the school after they left for the day. She envisioned a book about janitors vacuuming, mopping, and emptying trash cans. But her request ignited in me the idea to put to ink all the fun stories I had been telling children for years about elephants, alligators, birds, and ants creating havoc in the building when the children were not there.
Brod Bagert, an author in residence in April of 2006 at Sprague School, demonstrated to me what fun it could be to write children's books.
Patty Lathrop, the librarian at Half Day school, convinced me that beginning a web site for my book was not as impossible as it first seemed to me. You are now visiting it! (Thank you, Patty!)
Christy Adler, the principal at Laura B. Sprague school (where I worked for almost 20 years), actually sat down with me one evening for many hours and generously helped me create my original web site. Her kindness left me speechless. She is an incredible principal with a lot on her to-do list, but she took the time to help me launch this web site!
On my next blog entry, I will continue to honor the investment of as many people as I can remember for their contributions to the launching of my first book.