What A Difference Your Own Book Makes: The Easton Book Festival 2025 School Tour

Last week, once again, I accompanied children’s book authors into the schools during Easton Book Festival.

This year, though, we changed things up.

One feature of past years has been the juggling of five or more authors among nine schools. We’d become accustomed to receiving feedback that teachers at School X felt School Y had gotten a better author.

So, this year, the festival board decided to book one author to visit all the elementary schools and the middle school.

Sending just one author meant hiring someone who’s a talented, experienced presenter, and who has written books for all age groups.

In addition, since our festival’s start in 2019, I’d envisioned our author tour giving copies of the authors’ books to all students. I knew this practice is a gold standard for authors-in-the-schools programming.

Of course, this costs real money, but I’d come to realize that lack of funds was not the true obstacle. Rather, gaining the trust of all stakeholders—teachers, parents, principals, district administrators, board members—was the challenge. This is because, from some educators’ perspective, author visits take too much time away from scheduled delivery of curricula.

Now, after several years of the Easton schools warming to our free author-visit programs, I felt there was a chance key decision-makers would be open to adding an admittedly complex book giveaway to our author visits.

We started in February: eight months early. Easton school board member Nekisha Robertson had also been serving on the book festival’s board. Nekisha approached Superintendent Tracy Piazza, who responded positively. After receiving this go-ahead from the superintendent, I was able to line up funds, which we transmitted to the Foundation for Easton Schools as an earmarked donation.

Now I began to search for the author.

I decided to try hire Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, who I’d met ten years before, when I was managing Bank Street Bookstore in Manhattan. I’d noticed a series of Facebook posts written by Bank Street Center for Children’s Books director Cynthia Weill, extolling Olugbemisola’s weeks-long writers workshops held at the Bank Street School for Children. I knew Olugbemisola had written middle-grade fiction, beginning readers, a chapter book, a young adult novel, science and history books, and edited an anthology. I hadn’t known Olugbemisola had a knack for teaching writing to kids.

I reached out to Olugbemisola through one of her publishers—Levine Querido—which had arranged for authors to participate in Easton Book Festival in 2023 and 2024. Olugbemisola accepted our offer. I hoped to hire her for both elementary and middle-school visits; I thought we might need her for as much as two weeks. But she decided that four days in October was the most she could offer us.

Olugbemisola’s role was restricted to grades K-5, because of her time constraints. So, I approached Jordan Sonnenblick, who I’d met in 2005 at an industry conference, to take on grades 6 through 8. Jordan had written a dozen hilarious yet moving middle-grade novels, and spent twenty years presenting in the schools, as well as working as a middle-school English teacher. Jordan accepted. He was familiar with the district: he lives nearby, in Bethlehem, and his wife Melissa is a counselor in the Easton schools.

I began to discuss scheduling with several school administrators. After a Zoom call in May, one person emerged as point-person, taking responsibility for coordinating with all the schools. Hector Bonilla had served as principal and assistant principal at several Easton schools before moving into his district-wide role. Hector proved to be an energetic and committed advocate for this program. He took responsibility for all the scheduling, and for the distribution, ultimately of 5,600 books to all students, grades K through 8.

Once Olugbemisola and Jordan had their schedules worked out by Hector Bonilla and the principals, I ordered the books we’d settled on for the giveaway. This entailed establishing new, wholesale accounts with several publishers. To my surprise, we were eligible for discounts averaging 25 percent off the regular wholesale prices because we were buying in bulk and giving the books away. Setting up the accounts and obtaining the books took weeks more than I’d planned, and the books arrived just a week before the author visits. Fortunately, Hector Bonilla took the delay in stride and most students did get their books before meeting the authors.

I accompanied Olugbemisola to the 16 half-hour assemblies she presented from Monday through Thursday. This tour was different than any I’d experienced. I thought Olugbemisola’s technique—which included lots of group participation—was exemplary. But what stood out most strikingly was the difference that possessing her books made for the children. They understood this person had personally created the book they owned. Olugbemisola took dozens of questions from each group, moving among the children with her microphone, and their questions demonstrated fascination with her background, and with her accomplishment of making their book. She assured them that they too could make a book, and concluded each assembly with a collective chant: “I have a story to share, and my story is powerful and precious.”

Later that week—on Friday—I was with Jordan Sonnenblick in the middle school for his engaging and enthusiastic presentations. I witnessed the phenomenon again: the fact that all the students owned his books transformed the character and quality of their interaction with Jordan.

I hope we’re able to line up funding to present this program again in 2026. I’m already puzzling over which authors we will recruit.