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 Married couple Matthew and Robbi, go by their first
names as visit schools. During the 2022-2023 school year, the couple
and their children are travelling to all 50 States to visit Title
One Schools. At these high-need schools, they are doing assemblies
on creativity and storytelling and will give away 25,000 free books.
As they travel throughout the states, Matthew and Robbi, their four
kids and one dog are living in a school bus. They converted the bus
into a tiny home for their tour. The couches can be pulled out into
beds and the children climb up a ladder inside to get to a pop up
tent on top. There is a little kitchen area and a table for the kids
to sit at to do their schoolwork. One thing the bus does not have is
a bathroom.
The bus is very colorful. With a little help, Robbi painted the bus
in 28 days. There is a map of the states on one side and each state
gets painted when they visit a school there.
At each school, they are doing a book giveaway with each student
getting a book that is part of a series. The organization First Book
Marketplace helps them get books to schools.
Matthew and Robbi are doing a study on the effects of reading as
they travel the country. They are conducting this landmark research
project with Washington College.
Before the family began their busload of books tour through all the
states, they chose schools based on essays sent by teachers. Matthew
and Robbi celebrate public school teachers and the hard work they
do, which is part of the reason they are doing the tour.
Teachers were asked to briefly share what hosting Matthew and Robbi
at their school and their gift of books would mean to them and their
students.
Northwest School was the only school the family visited in Illinois.
Fourth grade teacher Tammy Dietrich, with assistance from her
students, last year wrote the essay that helped Matthew and Robbi
choose Northwest School.
On Tuesday morning there were two separate assemblies for the
Northwest students. The first was for kindergarten and first grade
classes. The second was for the students in second through fifth
grade.
Younger students received the book everywhere, wonder.
Older students received the book Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of
Doom, which is book one of a five book series by the couple. They
are working now on writing book six.
During the first part of the assemblies, Matthew and Robbi talked
about how they got started writing books.
When they begin, the duo self-published their work. Matthew authored
the book and Robbi illustrated it. They would put the books together
on their table, stapling them, and gluing on the cover.
Putting together a book is something Matthew told students they
could do too, because making a book is really simple. It is nothing
more than a piece of paper that you fold in half. If you want it to
be longer, you can staple it together. Robbi said you can write
books about anything you want.
Matthew always enjoyed writing and wrote his first book My Friend
Jason when he was twelve. Robbi has been drawing since she was a
child. They have now collaborated on about 80 books on a variety of
topics.
One of their self-published books is about a snake who is afraid of
snakes.
The book Sunrise Summer is about the duo’s summer in Alaska as
commercial fishermen. Their book Babies Ruin Everything is based on
their family.
As Matthew writes the books, Robbi creates illustrations to go with
the story. They like telling stories where words and pictures work
together. The illustrations help provide the descriptions.
Sometimes, when Matthew has no idea what will come out when he sits
down to write, he tries to get the creative part of his brain to
overtake the skeptical part. A tip Matthew had was “don’t think,
just write” and to not “worry if it is bad.”
With the book Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Doom, Matthew said he
started by writing a paragraph that ended by talking about a fortune
cookie. From there, he began to develop the story.
While writing, Matthew imagines he is in a bulldozer, which is a
metaphor for his process. He gave examples of metaphors he uses in
writing. For example, he may describe “long blond hair” as “flaming
golden river” or a “ratty old mess.”
When Matthew gets going on a book, he asks himself a question about
what is next. As he writes the first draft, Matthew continues asking
and answering questions.
For example, Matthew said in Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Doom,
Ben’s fortune cookie says, “live each day as if it were your last.”
Matthew said the message inspired Ben to do everything on his bucket
list.
The first thing Ben did was eat a cake in the refrigerator.
Unfortunately, the cake was one Ben’s dad had put a note on telling
others not to eat it. As Ben goes through his list, there are
various other problems he encounters.
Soon a character named Janet pops in to help Ben solve problems.
When Matthew sent the first draft in on that book, his publisher
told him he needed to add some details and answer some questions.
The tip Matthew then gave was, “You don’t have to get it right the
first time. Don’t worry when teachers tell you you need to fix
writing.”
Once Matthew is done writing, Robbi must figure out what the
characters look like as she makes sketches. She must decide whether
the character is tall or short for example. Robbi made Ben pointy
headed.
For each page, Robbi then did a layout. She sent the publisher her
pictures to get critique on them. Robbi was told the cat in the
story about Ben looked like a potato and needed to be fixed.
Once Matthew and Robbi have made their corrections and a book is
ready for publication, it goes to the printer.
Matthew and Robbi gave students tips on writing. For instance, they
said, when you write, you bring your experiences to it. If each
student was asked to write a story about a fox, each one would come
up with a different story.
Something the duo told the children is that you can make books about
any age. It is never too early to write.
Another tip is that two heads are better than one.
The duo then had the students collaborate with ideas for a story.
As they called on students for ideas, one student said the name of
the main character should be Lila.
To develop the story, Matthew asked them to give details of what
Lila looked and acted like. As the students came up with ideas to
provide the details for the story, Robbi “drew” pictures on the
overhead computer screen.
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Advice Matthew gave the students
as they came up with ideas is to ask what may be stopping the
character from getting everything. Then it is important to help
the character figure out how to overcome the obstacle.
Together, the students helped create a story about Lila the
great who fought Bob the Tofu Goddess and the Tomato Dragon.
Question and Answer Session
Students had questions about whether Matthew and Robbi get
nervous speaking to schools and why they chose to be an author
and illustrator.
Matthew said they used to get nervous but collaborating helps.
They love working with kids. Matthew chose to be an author and
Robbi chose to be an illustrator because they discovered it is
what they like to do.
One child asked the duo what other job they would like to do if
they were not an author and illustrator.
Matthew would love to be a burrito tester. Robbi would love to
be a musician.
Another question was whether ink runs out when they are printing
their books.
When the duo was self-publishing, Matthew said their printer
would run out of ink.
Small Group Session
During the lunch hour, 10 students from first through fifth grade
had a chance to visit and eat with Matthew and Robbi. Teachers
nominated these students. Since there are 12 classes, the students’
names were drawn out of a hat.
As these they visited with Matthew and Robbi, the students told them
they found the book funny.
One asked how many schools the family has visited so far.
On this tour, Matthew said they have visited 18 schools already.
Over the years, they have visited hundreds of schools.
These students were then given a sheet of paper and asked to write
down their favorite meals, what makes them happiest, and what they
would change to make the world better for everyone.
The duo autographed the books for these students as they went around
and talked to each one about what they wrote on their papers.
How Matthew and Robbi Chose Northwest to visit
One student in the small group session asked why they chose to visit
Northwest School.
Robbi said they liked the essay Ms. Dietrich and [last year’s]
fourth grade students wrote. Plus, the school seemed awesome.
In Dietrich’s essay, she began by saying, “Having Matthew and Robbi
visit Northwest Elementary School in Lincoln, Illinois would be so
much fun! My own son has devoured two of the Cookie Chronicles books
and can’t wait for the third book to be released.”
One thing Dietrich loves is “the repeated similes” in the books. She
said, “I am also intrigued with how the illustrations become part of
the story. They aren’t just pictures to go along with the story.”
When Dietrich received the FirstBook.org email about the tour, she
said “I started to talk more about your books to my students. There
is now a waiting list at our school library for the Cookie of Doom
and The Real McCoys.”
What Dietrich said the kids like is “the entertaining books combine
pictures and texts in a way that motivates students to want to
finish the books.” She said many times, students have trouble
finishing books that are not a “good fit.” The students also tend to
“return books that are too hard or have caused them to lose
interest.” With Matthew and Robbi’s books, Dietrich has found they
“appeal to a wide range of ages and get finished.”
In addition, Dietrich said, “Hearing about the process of creating a
book could encourage our students to read, write and draw more on
their own.” She said students would probably be fascinated by
learning how Matthew and Robbi “collaborate to make the writing and
illustrations complement each other.”
Over the 28 years Dietrich has been teaching, she said, “there isn’t
an interest in purchasing books through book orders as there once
was. Families can’t afford the luxury. A visit by a Busload of Books
Tour would give us an opportunity to put a real book in our
students’ hands to keep.”
Dietrich’s essay then talked about the town’s history, with Lincoln
being the first town to be named after Abraham Lincoln. She said
when Lincoln was told the town would be named for him, he said, he
‘never knew anything named Lincoln that ever amounted to much.’” As
everyone knows, Lincoln “amounted” to the presidency a few years
later.
In closing, Dietrich said, “At Northwest school we hope that your
books and talk will inspire our students to be voracious readers
just like Lincoln. We want them to know they can amount to
anything!”
Students see the family off
In the afternoon, all the students went outside to show their
appreciation for the family’s visit and wave goodbye as they
prepared to head to the next stop on their tour.
Matthew and Robbi’s four children had gone around to classrooms
during the day talking to the classes and showing them how to do
origami.
As the family travels, they post daily stories and videos on a blog.
To read their blog and find out more about their tour, visit
busloadofbooks.com/join/us.
You can also follow them on Instagram @robbi.and.matthew or on
Twitter at #busloadofbooks.
[Angela Reiners]
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