The Lady Hermes

I know that summer vacation is here, or nearly here, but I suspect many teachers are planning their fall curriculum.  So here are a couple of useful gifts.

If you click on the section of my web site called TEACHERS you’ll be taken to a pair of curriculum guides for BIG GEORGE and WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE?  I’m very pleased with these guides.  They’re professional, useful, and even fun. (I particularly like the Revolutionary War uniform coloring pages for BIG GEORGE).  You can download and print as many copies as you need from the page.  I think you’ll find that they’ll help you to make good use of these two books I’m very proud of.

Speaking of proud:  When I returned from China I found a letter to me from the International Reading Association that BIG GEORGE was selected for the 2010 Teachers Choice booklist.  It's a short list and they're distributing a bookmark.  You can find more information on www.reading.org under "Resources" then "Booklists."  The list will also appear in the November issue of THE READING TEACHER.

This is a short, short, blog, because I am departing for China today.  So I’ll fly over the North Pole and find out for myself what the other side of our beautiful planet is like.  In the meantime, do something green and good for the planet, and I’ll try and do the same.

Green is for spring, but it’s also come to stand for pride in being Irish-American.  I imagine that is because of the shamrock, that humble little bright green plant that Patrick, a Roman Christian, chose to teach the Irish about The Holy Trinity, which he so strongly believed in.

In writing my new picture book , St. Patrick's Day, I had to tread carefully, because if I had singled out Patrick’s mission as bringing Christianity to the farthest western part of Europe—the land of Ireland, it might have appeared to stretch that fragile line of separation between church and state we uphold.  If so, it might have been considered inappropriate in a great many public schools in the United States. 

My family started visiting Captiva Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida when Lizzy (seen in the photo below) was about three years old. Our hosts have been three of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet, the Jensen brothers, John, Dave and Jimmy, (John is absent from the picture for everyone needs a day off – right?) They run the Jensen's Twin Palm Cottages and Marina, which is where you can enjoy the Florida as it used to be and still should be.

When we first went to Sanibel and Captiva seeing an alligator was a rare event. In fact, they were an endangered species. This made me sad, not because they are cute and cuddly, but maybe because I was born and raised in the Deep South, swamp water may run in my veins.  Who knows? But I started researching the plight of alligators, and noticed that over the years, they seemed far more plentiful in our part of Florida. The conservation measures that had been enforced over the years had worked. 

People say, “He’s my right hand man,” meaning someone I couldn’t do without. I didn’t realize how true this was until I had basal joint reconstruction on my right thumb in November. The surgery went beautifully, the surgeon was delighted, but I had no idea how disabling it would be to have a cast from fingertips to elbow.

I never realized how right-handed I was until I tried drawing with my left hand. I also found out that if Geronimo could sign his name with an X, I could, too.

So that’s why you haven’t heard from me for a while. I’ve made progress however. I now go to hand therapy twice a week and have graduated from a hard cast to a custom splint. So I expect to be back in the saddle by March.