Tag: books

When Goofy Showed Me

Barbara Gruener

“Did you really have a cow named Goofy when you were little?” I heard that young girl inquire politely as she reflected on our tale.

“Sure did!” I told her, “and she was my best non-human friend.”

She was a purebred Holstein heifer, one that was hand-picked for me to show at the County Fair. We practiced and practiced before it was decided that she’d be my choice for the Showmanship Class. Showmanship isn’t as much about the animal as it is about her leader; judges look for attributes like preparation, poise and posture, appearance, behavior and use of show-ring skills.

This is how a regular show ring looks, with animals parading around the ring and a judge observing and evaluating from the middle.

When the judge decides which animals make the cut, typically the top 10, he pulls those into the middle for a closer look. Normally, Goofy knew just what to do when I was showing her; follow me and we’ll do just fine. But that day in the ring, as I was showing Goofy off, she decided, right then and there, to show off her napping skills. Yep, that’s right; she laid right down for a nap.

Friends, don’t get me wrong; I’m a huge fan of a good nap. But not at the County Fair and for sure not when it’s show time! For a few panicked moments, I was sure we’d lost. You can’t just do that, you know, even IF your nickname is Goofy. Who was showing whom?

But then my heart and my head synced and helped me switch from panic to purpose, the reason I was in that ring. I needed my friend to get back up and keep going. So I started to talk to her while gently coaxing her into resuming the show. Win or lose, she needed to get up and I was her fearless leader, the only one who could make that happen.

I think I may have even started singing to her, though that memory is kind of foggy. What I do know is that after what seemed like an eternity but probably wasn’t really all that long, she did get back up and join the herd.

Pretty sure we’d not be called into the judge’s circle, I braced myself but kept my gaze back and forth between the judge and my calf. As he started to call the first round of finalists into the ring, I was shocked to see him motion to Goofy and me. Like, come into the circle. Unbelievable!

Then, and you may have guessed this by now, Goofy and I were moved into blue-ribbon position. We were chosen first in our Showmanship Class that day. The judge went on to say that he chose us because of how I kept my composure even when my heifer didn’t seem to want to cooperate. He liked the relationship that my best friend, Goofy, and I had. And he thought we deserved to win even though she had laid down on the job.

Goofy taught me about showing grace under fire and I’m grateful for the gumption and the grit that I developed from that wildly unpredictable heifer who showed me all about Showmanship (and life!) that day.

A Horse’s Gentle Tickle

Barbara Gruener

Nicknames can come from anywhere, but how did the word “nip” become Nippers, then Mippers, then Mipps? In the story, Mipps asks Birdie if she knows how he got his nickname.

Meet the real-life Scooter, my pride and joy, whom my sixth-grade self found malnourished and super skinny at a farm about 25 minutes down the road. I talked my Dad into letting me invest in her, a gorgeous Arabian Pinto mix, and I nurtured her back to health on my family farm in the early 1970’s. We went on to breed her twice; her foals Menty and Misty were absolutely gorgeous miracle babies. I love how our artist perfectly portrays this beautiful mare.

The cool part about realistic fiction is that a large part of it is true; this sneak peek into the real part of our story, Birdie & Mipps, and how my little brother, Mark, came by the nickname Mippers, then Mipps, comes from treasured memories that have lasted a lifetime.

I’m so very grateful for the affirming feedback that the book is receiving; check out this five-star review from passionate educator Mrs. Monty in Florida, as seen on Amazon:

Birdie & Mipps is not only a compelling story but also a fantastic resource for classrooms.

I’m so grateful that our story is resonating with educators like Barbie; it’s my hope that it’ll be a springboard for many cool conversations about the importance of names and the respectful use of nicknames and that it’ll serve as a reminder that how we treat each other matters.

Loving Feedback For Birdie & Mipps

Barbara Gruener

Today I’m grateful for the readers who took the time to share their reflections at BN.com.

Sharing a story so close to my heart can be daunting and a little nerve-wracking, so these kind words are helping still my soul.

The books are making their mark around our home state just like my Pied Piper brother did. Here, the books are proudly displayed in the Mark W. Natzke lounge at his workplace. They loved him and they miss him so much.

Mipps’ friend Bridget from the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern WI worked with her team to place a copy in each of the family rooms at their house that bear his name. He served on that Board of Directors for 9 years and absolutely LOVED that place as he championed their cause.

It has been a bittersweet few weeks as we put this story about how Mipps got his nickname out into the world, but my heart is happy that his legacy of connection, generosity and love continues. That’s what this beautiful bird symbolizes and that’s why I’m loving the feedback that’s feeding my emotional reserve.

The softcover copy is available at Amazon now.

Zooming In To Wisconsin

Barbara Gruener

Not sure I’ll ever forget this moment, when my late brother Mark’s friend Mike tells his sister’s class that he was gifting each of them a copy of Birdie & Mipps.

Is this not just the most adorable shot of them digging in?

But my favorite has to be this budding author looking at Mipps’ memory page.

I am grateful to have been able to put Mark’s picture in the back across from the reflection questions; turn the page to find empathy enrichment activities and name extension ideas. Publishing with Road To Awesome has been an incredible experience. Holding this special delivery sent my soul soaring.

And reading with our granddaughter, Leah? A joy we’ve not known, until now

If you have your copy, we’d love your feedback over at BN online.

Happy summertime, dear reader.

Young Authors’ Day

Barbara Gruener

I had the most incredible time on Friday celebrating the 20th-annual Young Authors’ Day at Willow River Elementary in Hudson, WI; what a treat to be invited to be their special guest and get to share our story. I’m so grateful to Sarah and her beautiful school family for the warm welcome and loving kindness throughout the day.

To walk into the library and see our book among these special literary picks?

PRICELESS!

Sometimes it just doesn’t seem real, that I get to travel around helping young writers learn about the publishing process from seedling idea to hardback book. It gives me great joy to answer their questions and sign words of encouragement in my book for them. My favorite new phrase? Sometimes empathy is quiet.

So what’s next? As another school year winds down and we slide into summer, our release of Birdie & Mipps is just around the corner, set for next week, May 23rd, 2024. This Thursday, I’ll be at our Friendswood Library to talk with local young authors about publishing, then we’ll do a “Hello-my-nickname-is” activity before our fabulous librarian Christina and I read the book aloud. I get to play the older sister Birdie, while she tackles the role of a very curious Mipps.

Didn’t she do an incredible job on the invitation?

Oh, and before I head out, a huge shoutout to Julie Garnett for showcasing Mr. Quigley’s Keys on her Musical Storytime Plus. We are super grateful to be a part of her stellar storytelling family.

Do let me know if you’d like to schedule an author visit for your budding writers.

Inspiring School Visits

Barbara Gruener

Happy February; today I’m excited about and grateful for my visit to Howard Elementary in WI last week, to follow-up a virtual visit I’d had with these fourth-grade empathy heroes back on Kindness Day in November.

Mrs. VandeHei invited me back for an in-person visit when I got home, so on the Friday of this year’s Great Kindness Challenge, off I went, to meet them in person. Once there, I found a hand-colored sign Welcome Mrs. Gruener hanging on the shelves in their library; this S donned the keys to connection from Mr. Quigley’s Keys!

I introduced the three classes to my puppet Winthrop as we talked about what empathy is; how can they predict how Winthrop is feeling even though they don’t speak bird? Their answers were intuitive and inspiring.

Then, we looked at what it means to switch places with another, step into their story, and walk in their shoes for a spell. We practiced the Empathy Switch on our hands and paired it with this poem: E-M-P-A-T-H-Y; put yourself in my shoes and I think you will find; E-M-P-A-T-H-Y, you’re a superhero of the empathy KIND, adding the hand-jive movements to jazz it up.

Since I’d already read Mr. Quigley’s Keys to them, this visit lent itself to a debut of my new book, Birdie and Mipps! My sister and I acted it out; my Dad played the cameo role of the narrator.

After we read it aloud, one friend had a question that I wasn’t quite sure how to answer: Does our little brother, Mipps, know that I wrote a book about him? Sigh.

We had empaKEY necklaces for all of them, to remind them that they have the power to unlock doors with their kindness, that they surely hold the key to someone’s heart, that they are KEY to their school’s success. Before I laid my head on the pillow that night, this beautiful gift from one of my new fourth-grade friends seered itself on my heart.

What fun to make it a family affair, to get to share my story with Debra and Dad in tow. I’m so grateful for my continued partnership with this gifted teacher and her fourth-grade team!

Before I headed to WI, I led a workshop in TX; click {here] if you want to see those slides.

Now that I’m back in TX, I’m counting the days until I become a Grammy. Check back here for that exciting announcement in just a few weeks.

It’s EmpaKEY

Barbara Gruener

This morning as I packed for my final visit of 2023, a funny thought occurred to me: What if I changed the word empathy to empaKEY?

And what an incredible day it was. I got to visit with about 700 students at North Pointe Elementary, read them my book and share the quiet echo of Mr. Quigley’s Keys with them. Their librarian, Becky, was an incredible hostess; I’d never have known it was her first author visit in that position had she not told me. Look at the adorable flyer she made.

I even got to sign a couple dozen books and it’s always a gift to run into young people I’ve known since their childhood who are now rockin’ it as passionate educators!

They had vintage keys on a string for all of the kids to take with them, which were a huge hit. It’s so fun for me to see them wearing them around school and hearing them say, “I still have my key!”

I savored every second of blasting off with these Rockets; it was a bit like coming back home since I had the pleasure of being their National Schools of Character site visitor years ago. This NSOC is an incredible place to be and I could feel the fruits of their HEART work as I roamed the halls and shared my story with their superhero students.

I pray this finds you thriving as we head into the most wonderful time of the year. If you are looking for an author visit in 2024, I am scheduling those now. I’m already booked for a return visit to my home state of Wisconsin and I’m so SO eager and blessed.

Huge holiday hugs and heaps of hygge, Barbara

Making People Happy

Barbara Gruener

It’s World Kindness Week and I have been having a blast toggling between substitute teaching and author visits at some local Career Fairs. Lots of time with kids has left my bucket overflowing!

I was excited to be able to showcase the Spanish version of Keys; these students were looking at all of our replica keys and trying to find a match to the keys on our cover.

Everywhere I go, these tiny treasures continue to be the biggest hit. Yesterday, a conversation with a third-grade boy went like this: Do these keys open anything? he asked curiously. Hearts, I reply without skipping a beat. Oh yeah, he nodded knowingly, you did say it was a kindness key.

This young lady wanted to know more about the missing key. You see, she’d read our story with her school counselor and they discussed the key behind Mr. Quigley’s knee in the mural. I explained that it’s up to every reader to decide which trait was on that key, so she told me she thought either heart or respect. I affirmed her choices and told her that I think it might have been compassion or patience and she agreed that those would work, too.

One student wanted to know if I liked my job, so I said yes before turning the tables on him by asking him what he thought the best part of my job was. His answer? Making. People. Happy.

Spot on, little buddy, spot on. Oh, how I love to make people happy. But not just the temporary kind of happiness that might come from eating an ice cream cone. No, that’s lovely and all, but I want to help people feel JOY (one of our keys to connection!) deep down in their souls, to their very core. I do that by lighting up for people, by delighting in their presence, and by getting curious about who they are, what they want or need, what they dream about, what they’re going through. What their sorrows and successes are. Where they’ve been and where they’re going. Not in a fake, glossy sort of way, but wholeheartedly with them, unwrapping the present together. Good or bad, comfortable or uncomfortable. It’s my calling and it’s a gift of epic abundance. It’s the legacy I plan to leave in the people whose paths I’m blessed to cross.

So as we close in on Thanks {and} Giving 2023, my question is this: How do YOU share your joy in such a way that it makes people happy?

Tell us in the comments or drop me a line; I always loving hearing from my readers.

Family Literacy Night

Barbara Gruener

Today I woke up with a happy heart because of a Family Literacy Night I got to participate in last night. Here’s how our evening began, with a student-drawn sign reserving a parking spot outside of the Family Center, where we’d enjoy dinner with the volunteers before the inaugural event started. It totally made the Friday afternoon traffic jam we had endured to get across town worth it; SO thoughtful.

After a yummy dinner, I set up my author table, then headed into the Sanctuary, where I got a a few minutes with the students and their families for a pep talk, Listen Up: Character Speaks!. It focused on using our five senses to listen to, connect with, show empathy for, and love people. ALL people. I found a brave first-grade friend to join me in front and offered her a gift bag, asking her before opening it to describe how it looks, what it sounds like, how the flowers on the bag might smell, how the package feels. Then I asked if she wanted to open it or leave it wrapped, and how she’d feel if it were empty. After she answered my questions to pique the curiosity of the crowd, she opened the bag to find a key, which she told us would be useful for opening doors.

I reminded her that we all hold the key to kindness, and that her empathy and compassion will always unlock doors. She helped me teach the Empathy Switch before she sat back down with her dad.

We then talked about how every day is a gift and that each day we can choose to open it or leave it wrapped up. And how every choice we makes gives us another opportunity to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually so that we’re our healthiest selves to serve others, head, heart, and hands.

After a first-grade class recited three adorable poems for Poetry Month, two more authors spoke and my friend Margaret, who organized the entire event, shared with participants how they can get a library card to keep sharpening their reading skills even over the summertime months, it was time to return to and reconnect in the Commons.

We were accompanied there by our 8th-grade Ambassadors for snacks and an expo-type setting with tables that the families could swing by, learn more, and maybe even get a memento, like these antique keys. I loved sitting next to Ianna and learning all about about her as I answered participants’ questions about being an author and encouraged the kids to keep on writing.

My favorite moment was probably with Ella, whose smile was like sunshine for my soul. I asked her how it was that we connected in that big crowd and she said it was because she loved and agreed with what I was saying about kindness and keys and that even though she didn’t totally understand everything I was saying, she thought that it was really special and nice. She came by my table three times, each time with a smile bigger than before, the last time for a huge hug.

I even got to sign a Spanish version of our book for a student from Mexico, the cherry to top off this sweet event. If a Family Night like this is in your plans for the next school year, please keep me in mind; I’d love to be a part of it.

A Page In My Book

Barbara Gruener

Today I’m grateful for this beautiful personalized notecard, which came in this week’s mail from a new friend, Linda in Louisiana. It’s fun how we met; I donated to a Donors Choose Project, then the project director reached out to let me know that as a thank you, she sent a copy of Mr. Quigley’s Keys to her friend Linda in New Orleans, for her Little Free Library. Isn’t that a fun way to express gratitude?

So I offered to send a signed bookplate and a week later I had that handwritten note from Linda in the mail. Life is made up of all of these little connections which make a BIG difference.

I’ve recently done a few family night presentations and my heart has been touched by the kids and their heARTwork. Their happy creations put a song in my soul, for sure.

More joy came knocking when this Principal and friend in WI chose our book for her World Read-Aloud Day pick with this group of first-grade readers. My heart warmed right up with gratitude and pride when she posted this picture on Twitter that day.

Last Sunday, I got to talk about empathy, compassion and kindness for the families as a local church. One of the coolest things was when I was giving out antique KEYpsakes to our participants. I said to one young boy, “Here’s a key for you and one for your mom.” He was beaming and without missing a beat, she said, “Oh, I’m not his mom; I’m his bus driver!” More goodness to nourish my soul; how lovely is that, for her to sit by one of her young passengers and share a donut during our class.

In this interactive session, REAL stands for Reflection, Empathy, Appreciation and Love. Do let me know if you have a needs for a growth session like this with your school family.

My final booster shot of inspiration and love came when a local Media Specialist reached out with this note:

I am messaging you because I wanted to see if I could buy a copy of your book for the student that you visited with at my school. He came by the library today and I had your book out on display and it was so cute because he said “you know I need to buy one of these because I’m in that book.” He said I don’t know how but I’m in the book. And I remembered that you asked the kids if they saw themselves in that picture on the back and I just thought it was the cutest thing so I wanted to get him a signed copy for him to keep.

She came to my house and picked up a signed copy; I wrote that he’ll always have a page in my books.

You will have to imagine his incredible smile, but I’m happy to share part of the picture she sent, with him holding his book and key necklace so tenderly while pointing to himself and the child that he sees as himself.

This week was challenging on so many levels, but what a gift, to know that our book is making its trek into the hearts and hands of precious young readers everywhere.

Happy February, dear reader.