This Is It

Today I'm delighted because this is it, 

the day that my book gets delivered to my door.

Well over a thousand of them. 2500 copies actually.

I can't wait to see it in real life.

What's Under Your Cape? SUPERHEROES of the Character Kind
is a character-education reference book, 
sort of a best of the blog infused with new content, of course.
It includes stories and strategies designed to help you help your
SUPERHEROES soar.

My family and I be working to market these books.
Here are the envelopes for my first batch 
to make their way into the world in this evening's mail.

Do you see yours?
We've started Facebook and Pinterest pages 

to help pique interest in my new release,
so please visit those and help spread the word.
We've set the launch for June 10th from 5-8 pm
at Dunn Bros. Coffee, so if you're in the area, please come by; our first twenty customers will receive a free drink coupon.
My friend Rebecca is helping us plan the event, for which I'm so grateful. I'm also thankful to my editor, Kris Yankee, and my publisher, Marian Nelson, for all of their encouragement and support.

Don't forget that you can sign up for your chance 
to win a copy over at Really Good Stuff's blog {here}.

Of course I plan to continue blogging, though I'm not certain

I can keep up the pace of every day ... we'll see.

There'll be workshops with book signings between now and Halloween in 

St. Louis, Milwaukee, San Diego, Santa Barbara, 

San Antonio, McKinney, Mansfield, Denver, and Washington, D.C.

so if you're nearby, please let me know so we can meet.
Thank you for sharing in our excitement!

Here now, an excerpt from Chapter 5.

R is for Respect

It’s golden; treat others the way you want to be treated, the essence of the value of respect. You’ve got to give it to get it. It’s circular that way; get it? What the rule doesn’t do is work backward, in retribution: You treated me badly so I’m going to treat you badly now. We must teach our superheroes what respect looks like so they can imitate it.

And before our littlest learners understand respect, we must pair tangible behaviors with our abstract words. We need to show them how respect looks, sounds, and feels through modeling, seizing teachable moments, pointing out respect when we see it, and giving students many, many opportunities to practice their courtesy, manners, and kindness. Think about how we learned to say “please.” When we’re learning about the power of language and we have a request, adults in our lives will ask, “What’s the magic word?” It’s an if-then situation. If you say “please,” then you typically get what you want. Over time, a pause replaces the question. And before long, no pause required. We move from knowing it to loving it to doing it.

When it moves from cognitive to affective and we feel it, then it starts to become real. But respect won’t happen in isolation; it happens when we witness and experience it in action. When we weave it as a habit into our daily routines and are able to show it authentically in real-life situations, then it’s a part of who we are and how we behave.