Thank you so much Krysten! I had a wonderful time visiting Lobbestael!

I had so much fun reading my book, The Fanciest Flower, to four different classes of preschoolers at the Early Childhood preschool in Portage, Michigan! They loved the silliness of the story and were quick to giggle about everything from the fork on the cover to the spaghetti on the last page. As I read, we talked about the different kinds of flowers mentioned throughout the book. Many of them were familiar, like roses, lilies, and tulips. Others were brand new to some, like lilacs, poppies,...

My second stop in Portage, Michigan, was West Middle School. The 6th graders I talked to were just as much fun as their peers at North Middle School. I gave them the same presentation, starting with different ways an artist can make money (advertising, licensing work for products, collaborating with content creators, etc.) before moving on to the main topic: writing and illustrating children's books. After reading them my book and telling them a little bit about the process, they had some...