01/05/2023
Gig and Crosslot's Pippi reading at Harborlight in Beverly, MA. You can follow Tails with Gig on Facebook. They have some pretty awesome adventures together.
I did my first reading this week in the library at Harborlight, a Montessori School, in Beverly, Massachusetts, to two separate classes of first through third graders. I loved it. The kids were great!
If you are not an Author, you might not know that authors are expected to read from their books at gatherings in bookstores, libraries, schools and other venues. In my case, because I can’t read out loud, I enlisted Gig as my assistant for the day.
Gig and I got all dressed up. For me, I just made sure that my signature red scarf was laundered and ironed. For Gig, as you know by now, it was much more of an ordeal, but somehow she managed to look the part.
On our way to the school, I selected the stories from Tails with Gig that I wanted her to read. Our first class went very well. She stuck to the script and read from my book. The kids were attentive, and they seemed to like the stories. At the end of the class, they lined up to pet me. I wagged my tail extra hard for those kids who had treats for me.
But the second class? You probably think I was the one to act up. You’re wrong—it wasn’t me. It was Gig. She decided to act out my stories! There’s the “Fishy Business” story, where I stole the opened tuna fish can off the counter, took it out to the yard and devoured the contents. In the story, Gig corners me in the yard and says “let me smell your breath.” In the class, she actually got on her hands and knees and bent right down in my face and said “Let me smell your breath,” just like the story! The kids all laughed, but I didn’t. I take this author business very seriously.
I am lining up other reading engagements now. You can reach me here or on my very own FB page, Tails with Gig, which I have just made public, and we can schedule a time. I have to read locally, though, because my driver is unreliable!
Love, Pippi