Announcements Posts
New Year’s Eve and Gratitude

New Year’s Eve and Gratitude

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...

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Announcing the Telethon

Announcing the Telethon

We are pleased to announce the Busload of Books Tour Double Your Dollars 12-Hour Telethon Extravaganza! Join us the Saturday after Thanksgiving from 9am - 9pm ET for an action-packed lineup of hijinks, capers, pageantry, cooking lessons, and extremely special guests....

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The Grant That Started It All

The Grant That Started It All

Here’s the story of the act of generosity that made the Busload of Books tour possible. One afternoon a few years ago, my phone rang out of the blue. It was our friend DJ calling with an offer that would change our lives. He and his wife Devika wanted to give us a...

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Robbi’s Take on the “Why” Behind the Bus Tour

Robbi’s Take on the “Why” Behind the Bus Tour

When Matthew and I started out making books together, it was pretty much entirely selfishly motivated. We had an itch to scratch, and we really enjoyed putting his words and my pictures together. It was fun, really, and who doesn't like to have fun? And so we...

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How We Got the Idea for the Tour

How We Got the Idea for the Tour

People have been asking how we got the idea for the Busload of Books tour. Here’s some background. When The Real McCoys came out a few years ago, Robbi and I started getting invited to do author visits at elementary schools. It was the best! We’d do assemblies and...

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Busload of Books Tour Promo Video

Busload of Books Tour Promo Video

As you might have already heard, we have a big adventure ahead. So big, that we created this video to tell you all about it and to give you an easy way to share it with friends, your colleagues, your cousin, your other cousin, your hairdresser, your third-grade...

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Tour Announcement Recap

Tour Announcement Recap

IN CASE YOU MISSED LAST NIGHT’S ANNOUNCEMENT, HERE’S THE RECAP: Our family will be spending the 2022-2023 school year traveling the country in a tiny home school bus, visiting Title I elementary schools in all 50 states, doing assemblies on creativity and...

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Announcing the Busload of Books Tour!

Announcing the Busload of Books Tour!

We (and the kids) are going to spend the 2022-2023 school year on the ultimate road trip— living in a tiny home school bus, visiting Title I elementary schools in all 50 states, doing presentations on creativity and collaboration, and handing out 25,000 free books to...

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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:

The Daily Minute: 9.29.23
In which the bus is heading to Cox Diesel Repair and Fabrication for a tuneup.

#busloadofbooks
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According to Goji, it’s Bring Your Dog to Work Day. He’s trying so hard, but his stories are dull, with tedious descriptions of sniffing and snorting, endless dull stretches of napping, and inevitably concluding with the protagonist consuming large bowls of tasteless brown nuggets with reckless disregard for common politeness or personal well-being. Also, he’s terrible at typing. ...

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The Daily Minute: 9.18.23
In which Robbi is sized up by her secret admirer.
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The Daily Minute: 9.27.23
In which we go to great lengths to sate our friend Jill’s demands for thrilling content.
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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!