I received the below email from a mom who's twin boys love my book, Bus Route to Boston. I was thrilled to receive this letter. I was happy to hear that these children found joy in my book and a bit of adventure too:
"I wanted to share our adventures of Saturday with you. Your book, Bus Route to Boston, has been one of their favorites since my children started to pay attention to books with more than one word per page. We were downtown in Boston and planning to go home when the boys said, "We want to ride a bus, like in the bus book." We had a few hours to spare so parked the car and decided that the boys would get a kick out of experiencing part of the Bus Route to Boston. So, we hopped on a bus and then transferred to a train to Haymarket, where the girls in the book go with their mom to buy vegetables. The boys were thrilled to see all the piles of fruits and veggies and reached out to touch and then pretended to be Vinnie and get mad at me when I reached to touch the tomatoes. "No mommy, don't squeeze the tomatoes!"After Haymarket we walked over to the North End and stopped to have pizza. Then we went to Mike's Pastry to get some cannolis...like the girls in the book. On our way back while on the bus the boys insisted on giving the bus driver a cannoli, like the girls give Bill a cannoli. While the bus driver didn't want the cannoli she was tickled by the offer. Then, when we got off the bus, Alexander shouted out and waved to the driver "Bye, Cannoli Girl!" It was his interpretation of the bus driver calling the girls in the book 'Cannoli Girls'. When the bus pulled away the driver honked at the boys - they were thrilled! If Bailey's and Filene's still existed, we would have included them on our trip. Whether it is one of the boys pinching the other's cheek and saying 'Belle' or the fact that they noticed the detail of my having string on the cannoli box which the mom requests left untied, the story has woven its way into our regular conversations and family activities.
Helen and twin sons, Eliot and Alexander
