Thank you to everyone who participated in the Page Through The Parks event that Liz Garton Scanlon, Barb Rosenstock, and I ran this month. Congratulations to all the winners of our books and especially to Mandi, the winner of our teacher/librarian giveaway. We love kids, books, the great outdoors, and our National Parks, so this was truly a fun thing for us. And also huge thanks to Nerdy Book Club, Jennifer Reinhardt of Picture Book Builders, and Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy. Here’s to our beautiful parks, and to getting kids outside and reading!!

But now on to something really important. Nature isn’t always kind.

Many, many schools and libraries in Louisiana lost all their books in the recent flooding. As a book person, this breaks my heart, because rebuilding those libraries will take years of dedicated work and tons of money. And without that dedication some kids who need books the most will not have access to them.

The amazing Kate Messner has put together a blog post that she is keeping current with information if you want to help. You can donate money or books, but please be aware of age restrictions and other needs. Don’t send books that a school can’t use, like YA novels to an elementary. And don’t send used books, especially paperbacks. 

But let’s all try to help. I’m sending copies of CHARMED CHILDREN and other books this week, to schools that can use them.

Cheers, and here’s to Kate!