Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
A brief introduction — My name is Gregory Jones and I am a classroom teacher for the Binghamton City School District and a part- time instructor for SUNY Cortland (Education department). I am the co-site coordinator of a reading program, 100 Book Challenge, for my elementary building. More information – www.100bookchallenge.com Each year we hold a celebration of reading in conjunction with our school wide field days. The day is filled with fun, food, and laughter. It’s an opportunity for the students to celebrate the joy of reading, their personal reading accomplishments, and the sense of community spirit we strive to create.
This year I wanted to enhance our reading celebration by inviting a children’s author to spend the day with us and read to our students. Our PTA has money set aside for just an occasion…delicious food too. 🙂 Many of our students requested I write to you and extend this invitation. As I was looking around on your web site, I was unable to find a school visit link or a school visit cost page. Is this something that you do? The date of our celebration is Thursday, June 12.
I have been a fan of your work since being introduced to your children’s books in a children’s lit class in college. Your frequent appearances on NPR with Scott are the best! I had to pull the car over and wipe the tears from eyes when you read, Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. Your sense of humor and love for what you do is contagious. I provided the link to the NPR site so that my students could hear the two of you read that book. My first graders memorized your entire conversation — laughter and all.
Thank you for your time and consideration given our request. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Gregory Jones
I am fortunate in that my father made a huge fortune in hula hoops in the '50's, so I do not have to do school visits to eke out a living--thus there is no links page or schedule of fees. However, I am grateful and gratified by your interest. I am proud of my distinguished readers, and their distinguished teachers.
