Spenser’s America will be released this summer and promises to be the best book in the series. I am very excited about it and planning a big launch celebration.
Below is the whole book in a Wordle – do you know Wordle? Mom uses it to check for overuse of words when she is writing. I just like to see the pretty pictures the words make. You can tell which words are most important to the story by how big they are. Of course, Mom and Spenser are the biggest!
This is me on my Crimson Tide blanket - Roll Tide Forever!
Mom and Ben went to school in Tuscaloosa so it has always been a special place for our family. Looking at the destruction, it is hard to recognize places we know so well.
Please try to help them however you can – lots of great people and fabulous companies have stepped up. Will and Crystal are taking a load over this weekend. It will be many months before life is back to normal in T-Town.
And pray for the people of Louisiana as the waters move their way – Crystal’s family lives down there. I hope they and all of my other LA friends will be safe.
Mom and I went with Ben to visit Shady Spring Elementary School in Baltimore. What a great visit! It was a special literary night and Katie, our favorite teacher there, went all out. Her kids even built me a special doghouse. I wanted to bring it home but Mom said it wouldn’t fit on the plane. The kids brought their parents and listened to my story. They wrote great questions on bone-shaped pieces of paper for Mom to answer. Every child patted my head as they left.
My new friend and I are the same age - 11 years old!
A special doghouse makes a guy feel really good!
Mom and Ben took me into Washington the next morning to talk with some other people who are interested in feeding hungry children. It was a cold and dreary day so we didn’t play on the mall but I did get a close look at the Capitol and the White House. I love Washington. It’s a great place to visit.
If only the people in that building would listen to Mom and me!
Mom and I have been working hard on our next book, Spenser’s America. We are talking about all kinds of things that make America great and have been traveling and reading and talking to people as we collect stories. My America book will talk about natural wonders, man-made wonders, great days in American history, and some of the many things that are made or grown in our country.
One of the things that we love about America is the FREEDOMS we have to travel and learn and talk to you about this great country, the wonderful people who live in it, and the things we can do to help hungry children. What do you like most about America? Do you know the words to the Pledge of Allegiance? Mom thinks it is important that I know the words and what they mean. I think you should join me. We are all proud of this country.
That's cute little me inside my new Rolls Royce of traveling bags!
We also went to the Today Show on the Plaza with lots of Spenser books to donate to the Toy Drive and Spenser masks for everybody to wear. The big Christmas tree was up. It was cold, cold, cold but lots of fun.
While in El Paso, we were part of the Great SouthWest Book Festival sponsored by the El Paso Library. We met lots of nice people.
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When we went to El Paso for this trip, it was Baby Hannah’s first airplane ride. She even got to ride in first class with Mom and me for part of the trip.
We had such a good time visiting the funny Car Wash that serves great food and White Sands National Monument where Hannah and I played in the sand that doesn’t get hot.
We visited two schools and read to school children. They brought food for hungry children. Mom was interviewed by a local television station. I was very good and quiet while they took pictures.
Mom and Amie with me and the Top Guys at the El Paso Food Bank - Ruben and Augie
In November, the SpenserNation team visited El Paso, Texas, to launch the newest of the Spenser books, Spenser Goes to El Paso. This is the first Spenser book to be published in English and Spanish and I am so excited about that. Mom and I went to Mexico while we were there and I loved all the colors and the people and the food!
The first night the folks at the El Paso Food Bank threw a great party! We had so much fun – and the food was great. You know me – I love to eat.
During Read Across America week, Spenser and Mom visited schools in Savannah reading to children and helping them collect food for the hungry. At Marshpoint Elementary School, we were joined by a crew from Headline News. This is the piece they produced. It aired on March 31 and April 3.
