Today I share a personal blog all about my trip in March to Hawaii, my first out-of-state school visits, my book, and roosters! Lots and lots of roosters!

Today is National Rooster day. Yay! Until I wrote a book about chickens, I didn’t know such a thing existed. SO today I thought I would ask for something from you, my dear readers. If you have read my book, would you consider leaving it a review on Amazon?

I have 4 very lovely reviews, but that’s it. It was a battle to get the book onto Amazon (and listed correctly), but it’s there now. If you’re looking for an easier way to order it, it’s on Amazon, but all I’m asking for is a review. Please! Reviews are worth sales and books getting noticed. My book with a very small press is in a giant picture book pond. Any help you can give it to swim would be greatly appreciated!

And what shall I give you in return? I will share about my latest trip to Hawaii with a ton of fun pictures. Brace yourselves!

I have been to Hawaii numerous times over the years (little known fact: it’s a frequent vacation spot for Alaskans), but this was a special trip that was over a year in the works. I went on Spring Break for me, because that’s the only time in my school calendar that Hawaii was still in school! You see, I went to visit kiddos in Hawaiian schools and talk about my book.

Oh my Lord! It was so much fun! I never anticipated talking about my book to a room of nearly 200 2nd and 3rd graders. (Or all their questions about moose poop afterwards.) I had a lovely time teaching a writing workshop to a much smaller group of 4th graders after school. One of them asked me to sign her arm, and another asked me to write a book about the kids there. I was the highlight of a literacy night where 7 different school librarians pooled their resources to make an amazing event. I had another visit later in the week at a Hawaiian immersion school. Two small groups in the school library, but so sweet and such a different dynamic.

I thrive on connecting with kiddos (that’s partly why I’m an elementary school teacher), but this was a completely different level of connection. They loved my book in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. They gasped as they recognized Hawaii. “I have chickens in my backyard!” “We have chickens here at the school!”

Another surprise? “Authors never come here” one librarian said on my first visit and my jaw hit the ground. That simply cannot be true! Who doesn’t want to come to Hawaii? Perhaps because of the cost? I paid my own travel costs (who are we kidding? It was a vacation for me and I wasn’t making someone else pay for that!) and I had low prices for my first time doing this. I made killer presentations (that’s the teacher in me), but I wanted the experience with kiddos in Hawaii and I was willing to do it on the cheap.

So I want to put a bug in your ear kidlit friends. If you’re planning a trip to Hawaii and you’re up for a school visit, they would LOVE to have you!

But it wasn’t just the kids that were excited to meet me, it was the adults too. Maybe they were lower income schools and they don’t usually get to do events like this. I don’t know, but I got to see some beautiful collaboration between school librarians that was a first (and a new state award was created for younger books). I hope it continues for many years to come.

And then there were the adventures my husband and on crammed into the seams of that one little week. We searched high and low for my book AND for roosters! I saw the roosters at my second school, but they were harder to find on Oahu. We jumped islands to Kauai and found them all! As I’ve said numerous times, the chickens on Kauai are everywhere! I found them the instant we left the airport!

And we found the pull-out from our honeymoon that inspired my book to begin with.

The roosters (and hens with their chicks) were all over it: in the parking lot, hiding in bushes, walking the path, etc. We took a ton of pictures.

So, for National Rooster day, I share pics of legitimate Hawaiian roosters! AND my growing collection of stuffed roosters.

I hope you will consider leaving my book a review on Amazon in return. 🙂