The birds are flying south

 

In mid-summer when I see the first geese starting their V-formation, I feel like raising some giant net in the sky and telling them to slow down—let summer last longer. But we have no control over the length of the seasons. I enjoy seeing the leaves bud and open each spring on this small Minnesota farm, and now they’ve nearly all fallen. It’s time to go south, like many geese and birds already have.

This trip will include a new experience for me. I widened my route last fall to visit friends near Springfield, MO. They took me to see Laura Ingalls Wilder’s last home and museum in Mansfield, MO. There I learned about the Laura Ingalls Wilder Children’s Literature Festival held two days early each November for around a thousand school children ages Kindergarten through grade 6. Ten children’s book authors from across the US are invited to take part, and this year I am one of them. We’ll give short talks and offer our books. I hadn’t heard of that event before.  d opened a door I didn’t know existed.

I’ll be sad to leave Minnesota friends and family, but not sorry to say goodbye to winter. And I’ll look forward to returning when many winged creatures fly north again, and I will follow.

Here are the books I’ll be offering. Contact me for signed copies you want mailed. Find my other books listed under the Books Tab on my delorestopliff.com website. Stay tuned for my adventures with all those young readers.