John G. Mattos Elementary

Fremont, California

I visited this California public elementary school on "Read Across America" Day, March 2nd. I flew out to San Francisco the night before, and the airline managed to misplace my illustrator's original artwork. My wonderful cousin Kim Wallingford Homes collected me from the airport for a stay at her home in Walnut Creek. She & her sweet husband Hayden told me not to worry--the art would turn up the next morning in time for my school visit. In fact, the art hadn't arrived by the time we left for the school but the miraculous and tenacious Kim was able to track down the delivery driver at an address nearby. We drove over to meet him, collected the art, calmly drove through traffic and arrived at Mattos with 5 minutes to spare. 

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We were hosted by second grade teacher Chanel O'Brien and spoke to the most charming group of children. They had studied Book 1 and were already well aware of the characters and their journey to the Wild West. It was a fabulous visit and to my complete surprise, Chanel's entire class sent me hand written thank you notes. I'll copy and paste these on the site over time--they are so sweet. I've added some photos of Hideout Kids Shoebox Art--fabulous!

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Here's a comment from Chanel, "Mike Gleason is an amazing author who wrote the Hideout Kids Series. Mr. Gleason came to our school on Read Across America Day to talk about his books. I read my students books 1-3 before he arrived and they loved getting to know the characters Sheriff Tuff Brunson and Deputy Sadie Marcus. My students enjoyed going on the adventures with Tuff and Sadie from Muleshoe to the Rocky Mountains. They also enjoyed Tuff and Sadie fighting outlaws, saving cowboys, and learning more about the pink fairy armadillo named Wild Thing. Mr. Gleason talked to my students about his upcoming books and what it was like to become an author. My students really admire him as a writer and as a person! They continuously ask when the next book is coming out and what other adventures they can go on with Tuff and Sadie. The Hideout Kids Series is definitely one of a kind and something every child would enjoy!" 

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Thanks so much, Chanel, look forward to coming back to Mattos!