The other day, I had the privilege of sharing my book with a group of 1st grade students.  It has been three years since I taught in a 1st grade classroom.  I was very excited to accept the invitation to read to the children.

I have to smile when I think about an “I could write a children’s book” conversation from almost exactly three years ago, to now, holding the completed product in my hand with my name on the cover.  The teacher first introduced me as the author of the book which was then followed by the fact that I am also a teacher in their school with “the big kids.”  The look of surprise on their faces is priceless.

I flashed back to my childhood when I met the author of the book,  The Witch of Pungo, which is based on stories from my hometown.  I remember waiting in line with my newly purchased book and slowly moving up to the table where the author was signing the inside of the books.  I thought it was so cool.  I wondered, will the students in this room remember the time Mrs. Faciana came to read her book to the class?

It is so neat seeing kids smiling about something I wrote and enjoying stories about my dog.  I had put some telling pictures of Snickers onto my iPad and shared some photos with the kids.  They had some great questions, and of course, they wanted to know the age of my dog.  Boy, did their faces light up when I told them he will soon be seven just like them.  “He could be in our class!” shouted one of the boys.

Thank you for having me in your class, 1D.

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