AUTHOR VISIT to WPC Preschool, Los Angeles, CA

Two weeks ago I made my annual visit to the Westwood Presbyterian Preschool in Los Angeles, California, making two presentations–one to the three-year-old classes and one to the four-year-old classes. With the three-year-olds I read A Zebra’s World and we went on a “Lion Hunt” together. I also read Wiggle and Waggle while one of the teachers wore my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets and acted out the story as I read. With both groups of children I shared my new book, Butterflies in Room 6. In a week, they will be getting their own caterpillars and raising their own butterflies, just like the children in my book. Then they will let them go.

It has become a tradition that I always end my visit with the four-year-olds by reading The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers. Each time I come to the description of the Hodag, the children join me to chant that the Hodag has the “Head of an OX, Feet of a BEAR, Back of a DINOSAUR, and the Tail of an ALLIGATOR.” As the story ends, the children are all relieved to learn that the animal catchers go back to the city without the Hodag, and that the Hodag continues to live in the forest. “It is his home, and where he belongs.”