It's been fun and rewarding taking a break from writing books to focus on writing plays and submitting them to licensing companies and play magazines. I can't wait to see them in print and produced on stage. I've enjoyed attending plays throughout my adult life, especially in London. Perhaps some of that seeped into my bones.

Class out of control? Will no regular substitute dare enter the fourth-grade classroom? It's time to press the red button under the office clock to summon Miss Subway, the Substitute of Last Resort. This sub has the right gadgets in her canvas bag to put the fourth-graders back in order.
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A mother once sent me this picture of MVP: Magellan Voyage Project that she had run through the washer. She wanted me to replace it. Hmm.

Daffodils
growing up in Gates Mills

The story of growing up in the wonderful village of Gates Mills, Ohio, attending Gates Mills Elementary School, and exploring the woods behind my house filled with fields of daffodils.(download pdf)

I recently finished a picture book called The Arctic Ark. It explores global warming and its impact on the North Pole. With the ice melting and toy-making production far behind, Santa makes a difficult decision to leave his home a build a ship where he and his helpers can live and make toy while sailing the polar ocean year-round.
As hard as it is to believe, within thirty years climate scientists predict all the polar ice will melt during the summer months.that includes the North Pole. I asked myself. What will happen to Santa?

Gone High-Tech

You may have noticed, teacher,
I am not in school today,
But the voice recorder on my desk,
Will pick up each word you say.
Switch on my laptop’s Web cam,
When you have something to show,
And if you pass out homework,
Find my fax number below.
I’ve e-mail and a cell phone,
So I won’t be hard to reach.
Since I don’t need to be in class,
I’ll do lessons at the beach.
🎼Here's the song Gone High-Tech! (video) Listen and watch

The School Day Begins

It's Monday morning at 7:01.
You’re still half asleep; your homework’s half done.
Your shower is cold; your oatmeal’s dry.
Your mother forgets to kiss you good-bye.
You’re walking to school; it’s thirty degrees.
Your fingers won’t work; your toes and ears freeze.
Your zipper is stuck; your left sneaker squeaks.
Your backpack strap snaps; your soup thermos leaks.
You slip on school steps; you trip in the hall.
The toilet floods in the bathroom stall.
The gym door is locked; library’s the same.
The principal greets you by the wrong name.
Your classroom is hot; the coat rack is packed.
Your bean sprout is dead; your clay pot is cracked.
Your pencils are dull; the sharpener jams.
Your fingers get crunched when your desktop slams.
Your math partner’s gone; your neighbor is rude.
Your teacher’s again in a crabby mood.
The morning bell rings; it's 8:01.
Come cozy up to the whiteboard,
Another school day has begun.
🎼Hear the song The School Day Begins (video) Listen and watch
Download pdf

Elevator Family paperback bundle on Amazon

Currently, I'm rewriting a book I began more than tens years ago, titled VR Services. It follows two ten-year olds who solve crimes using virtual reality. In the story, the bad guys steal AI secrets from artificial Intelligence companies in the Bay Area by implanting spy chips in employees; pet dogs and cats.
When I wrote the original draft a decade ago, my tech information was fairly up to date. Except for one thing. AI is now commonplace. In this version, the baddies are after AGI secrets. It turns out that keeping up with advances in technology is harder than solving fictional crimes.

The first draft of The Elevator Family at Home, the final book in the ten-book series is finished. The last book should be complete this spring. I've grown very fond of the Wilson family and it will be bittersweet to say good-bye for now. The twins are heading off to college and Walter and Winslow are stepping into new chapters of their own, making it a time of change for everyone.

The Snots are better than you and me. They are better than snoots and snobs.
Snots are so superior to any of us they are in a league of their own, and that’s far out of our league.

Steps Union Station Chicago

How come there are so many unanswered questions about schools?
How come school buses are yellow?
How come the school year is nine months long?
How come there are more women than men teachers?
Now come and read how come.
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All new! New news! If you see this sign in the daily it means I have some writing news, or some interesting tidbit about what happening at the writer's desk. In other words, this message is about my messages.

All New Edition!

A financial crisis! With dough running low at Noe School, Principal Ouia bans that most popular non-consonant that follows d and is prior to f. That common writing symbol was also cut from this book!
Lipogram (from Ancient Greek: λειπογράμματος, "leaving out a letter") a kind of writing in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided—usually a common vowel, and frequently "E", the most common letter.
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MVP: Magellan Voyage Project Guide Part 1: Daily Lessons (pdf)

MVP: Magellan Voyage Project Guide Part 2: Math/Science (pdf)

MVP: Magellan Voyage Project Guide Part 3: Language Arts (pdf)

🎼Hear John Paul Jellyfishlyrics
🎼Hear Jellyfish Shantylyrics
🎼Hear Maggie, My Baggielyrics
🎼John Paul Jellyfish Medleyvideo

"Round the world! There is much in that sound to inspire proud feelings; but whereto does all that circumnavigation conduct? Only through numberless perils to the very point whence we started." Ishmael in Moby-Dick
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BuyMVP: Magellan Voyage Project Amazon paperback
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The Wilsons hang Home Sweat Home in their tiny home one final time.
Whitney and Winslow are off to college, but there are plenty of neighbors for
Walter, Winona, and Cat to enjoy. Only the very best!

🎼Busking by the Thameslyricsvideo(from The Elevator Family Goes Abroad)

Poing, the Poet presents My Journal

Steps Kensington Gardens

Ten Things That Bring Good Luck At School

1. Leaving your desk from the left-hand side
2. Kissing a red fire alarm box
3. Rubbing your teacher’s foot during story reading time
4. Knocking on a drinking fountain two times with a fist
5. Leaving four sheets of paper in a loose-leaf notebook.
6. Bouncing a red ball higher than your head
7. Tossing eraser crumbs over your right shoulder
8. Seeing a crow on the playground
9. Entering your classroom backwards
10. Raising your hand three times to answer a question

Ten Things That Bring Bad Luck At School

1. Having a kindergartner stand behind you in line
2  Turning a pencil sharpener handle thirteen times
3. Taking the last chocolate milk carton at lunchtime
4. Spilling black paint
5. Ending a story with the letter X
6. Seeing your teacher's reflection in a mirror
7. Stepping on a crack in the hallway
8. Carrying a pencil in your back pocket
9. Saying the number 99 during math
10. Writing paper with a missing blue line

School Boards

Our classroom has a green chalkboard.
The next classroom has a white board.
The hall has a bulletin board.
And the playground has a backboard.
 
The art room has colored cardboard.
And the lunchroom has a chess board.
Sometimes I might go overboard.
So now I’m in detention very bored.