Andrea Beck in Newfoundland

Newfoundland! I was so ready to visit the province famous for its quirky names and hospitality. I could hardly wait to share my love of stories, and my characters Elliot Moose and Pierre le Poof, with kids across that province.

Once the week began, I felt like a baton in a relay race -- a very lucky baton. Librarians passed me from one to the other as we zigzagged from Corner Brook all the way to St John’s. It would have been a gruelling week, except that it was so much fun – and the people who shuttled me around were so warm and welcoming.

Each day, the enthusiasm in the schools was palpable. Children sat up, row upon row, sooo excited to meet an author. Several touching experiences remain with me, including the tough guy grade 8 boy who shone in a role play we did. He helped me out to the van afterward, his buddies in tow, my new BFFs. At Catalina Elementary, near Bonavista, it seemed the whole town had invested in the visit. The school was plastered in Elliot and Pierre art, a huge Elliot cake in celebration of the day was on display in the library. The kids wore moose and poodle headbands. At the end, they presented me with a pink pompomed scarf, like one worn by Miss Murphy, one of my characters. An eighty-five-year-old lady had knitted it for her grandson to bring in to school. I wonder if anyone noticed the tears in my eyes. Last, they showed me a note a little boy had left on his kitchen table – his mom had brought it to his teacher. It had a drawing of Elliot Moose and Pierre, and in big printing read, “Mom, I’m gone to school! Andrea Beck is there. YAY!”

I lost count of the number I times I overheard the words, “I’m going to be an author when I grow up.” My turn to say, “Yay!”