The Bus Posts
In Which Our Tiny Home Emerges (A Glimpse Inside the Bus)

In Which Our Tiny Home Emerges (A Glimpse Inside the Bus)

The bus exterior has been amply documented. But in case you missed it, here it is, colorfully adorned with a literacy-themed mural, painted with love and persistence by Robbi and me and a bunch of our friends and a few hundred kids and community members. "But what...

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In Which We Are Finally Finished With the Mural

In Which We Are Finally Finished With the Mural

Last night around 9:30... After a marathon session of outlining clouds and applying a layer of clear coat, we finally finished the mural. Surely there will be nicks along the way and the necessary patchwork that follows, but for now we are done and moving on to the...

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In Which Robbi Does the Line Work for the Bus Mural

In Which Robbi Does the Line Work for the Bus Mural

The color is in. So it's time to add the final line. It's patient, painstaking work, but the results are so gratifying. This stage of the process is all Robbi, so my work for the moment is bringing her snacks and loudly exclaiming. Delight and calories in equal...

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Cookie of Perfection on the ALA Summer Reading List

Cookie of Perfection on the ALA Summer Reading List

Switching for a moment from bus to books... We just found out Cookie of Perfection (book 3) was included on the American Library Association Summer Reading list (alongside such creators as Kate DiCamillo, Jason Reynolds, Dav Pilkey, and Jenni Holm, among others)....

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In Which Many Hands Make Light Work

In Which Many Hands Make Light Work

Last week, the kids made a great start on the mural coloring. Yesterday, we recruited a spirited corps of semi-professional painters to continue the work. We divided and conquered, expanding the sky, filling the fields, and mixing a new shade of green to round out the...

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Black and Gray Give Way to Blue and White

Black and Gray Give Way to Blue and White

Day four of bus mural painting was short but gratifying. We set aside the black paint and picked up the white and blue. Suddenly, the sky came alive, as did the pages of the many books that dot this literary landscape. It's so fun to see the outline turn into a living...

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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: 9.30.23
In which Robbi has loved her best life and we are one child shy of liberation.
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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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Whoever you are, take your seat on the bus!

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