Wimpy (so named because of an unfortunate incident in which he was picked on by bantam chickens one tenth his size) is my gorgeous, mild-mannered Black Orpington rooster. His gentle nature might not do much good in the barnyard, but it makes him the perfect bird for public appearances.
Today, in honour of National School Library Day, Prospect Lake Elementary School invited me to give a couple of farming-themed talks relating to my most recent book, Down to earth: How Kids Help Feed the World.
I may have had a few things to say, but the star of the show was definitely Wimpy, who happily snacked away on his grain for the entire presentation and never crowed once (though he did, occasionally, mutter something to himself).
Many thanks to the staff, students, and parents at Prospect Lake School for inviting me to come and speak and a huge shout out to the wonderful teacher-librarian, Pat Miller who did such a fabulous job of organizing today’s activities, which included an amazing session of ‘Drop Everything and Read’ during which students, parents, teachers, and administrators all stopped what they were doing and grabbed a book to read and share. What better way to celebrate School Library Day?