Westchester Reading Council Appearance a Hugh Success

For those of you who know me, it will come as to no surprise I arrived thirty minutes early for the Westchester Reading Council's end of the year annual dinner. Clara Kaplan, President of the Westchester Reading Council greeted me upon my arrival and we had the opportunity to chat for a bit and to get to know each other. And prior to member arrivals I setup my book display which included my media kit, book marks, postcards, and book trailer in the center of the display.

After a warm introduction by Clara Kaplan and Marcy Schickler, Treasurer of the Westchester Reading Council, I discussed my road to becoming a published children's book author and how important it is to teach our children about the Underground Railroad. Tying bullying into the theme. Bullying you may say? Consider this, the owners of slaves beat them into submission to suit their needs. Isn't the school bully on some level cruel like a slave owner? Seeking out an individual to tease and taunt and sometimes hit to make themselves feel superior? It's essential to instill in our children appreciation and tolerance of others and that it will not be tolerated on any level to be mean to others.

I also shared with the members that a teacher's guide covering Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science and Art activities is in the development stages at no additional cost to someone that purchases The Golden Pathway; and I would email or snail mail a copy to those that are interested. Every member in attendance expressed great interest in the teacher's guide and they all signed my guest book so that I can do so when available.

The Westchester Reading Council members are a delightful and welcoming group and the ease of conversation continued to flow with a Q&A session and then an open discussion on keeping our children interested in reading from the onset. Ideas and tips were exchanged. The hour prior to dinner flew and I completely forgot about showing The Golden Pathway book trailer and was elated to handout FREE cd's of the book trailer at the end of the evening.

To cap off the enveing, several teachers expressed interest in scheduling school visits for next fall and for Black History Month next February. Interest was piqued and the purchasing of books in hard cover, soft cover, and e-Book format flew off the tables. Yippee!

A heartfelt thank you to Marcy Schickler for arranging such a special evening!

Wishing you all a safe and happy summer!

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
http://guardianangelpublishing.com/pathway.htm

Children's author, Donna McDine ~ guest speaker at Westchester Reading Council

Networking has proven to be instrumental in developing connections. On October 16, 2010 I attended the 15th Annaul Rockland Literacy Extravaganza at St. Thomas Aquinas College as a participant. In doing so, I had the honor of meeting teachers from across the Hudson Valley and Bergen County regions. Marcy Schickler was one of these teacher's and she recently contacted me to speak at the Westchester Reading Council's end of the year meeting on Tuesday, June 14th in Scarsdale, NY.

I have the honor of "presenting my road to publication" and to exchange ideas with attendees on how to keep reading as an instrumental part of our children's lives, especially during the summer months.

I am looking foward to sharing with you all the details next week.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
http://guardianangelpublishing.com/pathway.htm