Namaste! That is an East Indian greeting meaning "The light within me bows to the light within you." It also is the name of an amazing school I visited today in Chicago for my book tour - the Namaste Charter School. How amazing is it? For starters, they grow their own wheatgrass!

Pictured above is the school's cafeteria which features gourmet healthy food including a vegetarian omelet and yes, wheatgrass which they blend with this yummy lemon juice!

What is Namaste Charter School? It's a public charter school started five years ago to provide children with a holistic approach to education. According to their website, http://www.namastecharterschool.org/ -  "The philosophy at Namaste is to help students achieve optimal academic performance by nourishing and stimulating the mind and the body of each child. Because research shows students who are healthy and active perform better in the classroom, Namaste integrates physical fitness and nutrition as core components of its rigorous academic curriculum to provide a learning environment that is often difficult to attain, especially in inner city schools. By breaking down the barriers to good health and improving opportunities for high academic achievement, Namaste can help each and every student know and reach his or her true potential."

It's a wonderful school that promotes healthy bodies and healthy minds. Which basically means they have the BEST. CAFETERIA. FOOD. EVER!!!! I thought breakfast was great, and then for lunch? A choice between curry chicken and vegetarian lasagna. The chef for the cafeteria runs a gourmet healthy cafe. These guys could beat Iron Chef any day!

My good friend Marilyn is a teacher at Namaste. She arranged for my school visit today. Here's Marilyn at her desk before class started, along with an announcement about SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS on her blackboard!

I spoke with several classes - from first to fifth grade - and talked about my children's non fiction picture book, SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY (Lee & Low '05) and showed the students how a picture book is made (from manuscript to edited remarks to the sketches and "dummy" picture book to the final product). I also showed a DVD documentary about Sammy Lee. For the older grades, I also talked about GOOD ENOUGH (HarperCollins '08) and played some of the pieces from the book on my violin.

The students were very sweet and adorable and asked really smart questions. As with my Kennedy and Cass Jr High visits yesterday, I was really impressed with all these schools. Hooray for the awesome teachers and principals and super cool students!

Afterwards, because I was in Chicago, I had to try some real authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. Marilyn and I and two more friends (journalist Althea and photojournalist/photographer Paul) ate at this famous pizza place in Lincoln Park called LOU MALNATI'S.  We ordered the sausage deep dish... and wow! Let's just say I won't have to eat this weekend! I ate enough deep dish to feed an army! My friends and I had a great time catching up over dinner. (NOTE: Speaking of dinner and writer friends, I also had dinner the night before in cute downtown Naperville with my friend, picture book author Carolyn Crimi. Check out her new book from Candlewick, WHERE'S MY MUMMY?)

Well, I'm exhausted from my Chicago adventure (and from the trauma of getting lost on my way back to Naperville because of all the construction and the confusing toll roads). I'll post a final live blog later this weekend about the conference! Until then, I'm gonna gaze at this pizza picture some more... mmmm... deep dish... And thanks again to Anderson's Bookshop and all the cool faculty and students at Kennedy, Cass, and Namaste!