New Year’s Eve and Gratitude
by Matthew
December 31, 2021

As 2021 comes to an end, we want to say thanks to each and every once of you (800+ people, and counting) who’ve contributed to the Busload of Books Tour.

Thanks to you, we’ll be bringing our books and assemblies to 25,000 students and teachers in every US state (and DC)—promoting reading, creativity, collaboration, and storytelling in communities where books are scarce and author/illustrator visits are practically nonexistent.

We don’t hit the road until September, but the planning is well under way. We’ve selected and scheduled the schools we’ll visit. We’ve run a pilot of the associated research project. We’ve ordered half the books we’ll be giving away. And the bus is steadily becoming an extremely tiny home.

There’s still lots of planning and packing and dreaming ahead, but for today, we just want thank you all truly— for your generosity, enthusiasm, and belief in us.

We can’t wait to bring you with us on the adventures of 2022. Happy new year, All!

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The Busload of Books Tour is a year-long project to promote literacy and raise awareness of the challenges facing our nation’s public schools.

Author/illustrator duo Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr (that’s us) and our four kids will spend the 2022-2023 school year traveling the country in a school bus/tiny home, visiting Title I schools in all 50 states (plus DC), and giving away 25,000 hardcover books to students and teachers from underserved communities.

As we travel, we will be blogging, vlogging and posting frequently to social media. All of our content will be appropriate for bringing families and students along on our ultimate road trip.

The latest on Instagram:

Here’s what’s next. A mere 2,134 miles remain between Squamish and Anchorage. In any other year, this would be the adventure and not an addendum.

We have pasta and firewood, a pound of salami and two cases of Coke. Our water and gas tanks are full.

Robbi did this drive as a kid, crammed in the back of a pickup with her sister and brother. Back then the roads weren’t paved and she spent the whole trip eating dust. Our drive will be luxurious in comparison.

So long for now—or not, depending on the whims of the rural Canadian Internet.

Anchorage or bust.

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The Daily Minute: 6.4.23
In which Robbi’s back-up Coca Cola has a rather nice view.

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Whoever you are, take your seat on the bus!

Our adventure is your adventure. Our country is your country, too. Follow along with us!