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Beach Balls on Vacation!

This summer, at the end of every story time, I asked kids to take their IPTV beach balls with them on vacation.

Reading Road Trip 2010

Of course, being the super heroes they are, kids took their beach balls EVERYWHERE!

Reading Road Trip 2010

Beach balls ended up visiting the St. Louis Arch…

Reading Road Trip 2010

The Grotto of the Redemption…

Reading Road Trip 2010

Uzbekistan…

Reading Road Trip 2010

Castle Rock, Colorado…

Reading Road Trip 2010

Playa Secreto at Isla Mujeres…

Reading Road Trip 2010

And even Old Faithful! Remember, it’s not too late to send me YOUR pictures.
Reading Road Trip 2010

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: Baking a cake can be just as dangerous as traveling through time and space. Make sure to follow all the basic safety precautions when doing either. And never do both at the same time!

A Summer of Fun!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2010 Reading Road Trip!

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Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: If your volcano detector starts beeping then I would throw on your lava pants as soon as possible!

63 of 63!

Yesterday there were beavers, today we were on the lookout for otters!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

The morning was a perfect ending to my trip with an outside story time at the Woden Public Library.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Beach balls were flying everywhere!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

We even tried a few beach ball experiments.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

And now, to kick back and enjoy some summer for myself.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: If you ever decide to start a skunk collection, the first thing you should purchase is a case of air fresheners!

Ring the Beaver Bell!

What a wonderful treasure I found today in the little town of Le Grand!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Their library is actually a giant log cabin! That’s why there are no beavers allowed.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

In the event of a beaver attack, the town is called to defend the library by ringing the beaver bell.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Tomorrow is the last day of the Reading Road Trip! I haven’t had a chance to play any board games all summer. This weekend I will be sure to get caught up.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: To host a successful garage sale it is usually best to price all of your items under a million dollars!

Momma Frog and the Froglings!

The Coralville Public Library set a record for themselves this morning! Their crowds were bigger than at any other time that I’ve visited.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

There was even one cool momma frog in the audience who seemed to have fun.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

She brought all her baby froglings!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

With five froglings, a stroller with two seats isn’t nearly enough!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

All it took was a quick pony ride to get to the Newton Public Library.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Luckily, I do love outside story time in the warm summer weather.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

The sun’s awesome powers are no match for superheroes!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

The heat didn’t even seem to be affecting the pirates! They were having too much fun!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: If you wake up one morning and the squirrels are hiding balogna sandwiches instead of nuts, you should probably get a lock for your refrigerator!

Don’t Push the Buttons!

This morning, as I was waiting for story time to start at the Marshalltown Public Library, I noticed an amazing wall of buttons.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

One button released all of the spiders and hedgehogs.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Another button released a great white shark.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Had I done my homework using their homework machine I would have known better than to push any buttons.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

My curiosity got the best of me. I decided to try pushing one final button and was tranported to the Urbandale Public Library. Any time I get blasted through time and space I try to observe one very important rule: Don’t scream!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

The library was celebrating the 10th anniversary of their new building.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

To celebrate, there were snacks and story times! What a great combination.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

On the way out, an amazing haircut caught my eye. I’m wondering if I can make this work with my hair?

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: A pickle launcher should never be fired at an owl, an old granny, or someone with a bigger, more powerful, pickle launcher!

Jabberwartz, the Great Green Frog!

I thought I might take a walk around the pond this morning and say hello to all the creatures.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Luckily, I was there to save a diver and a surfer from a hungry pond-shark.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

After my walk, it was off to the Johnston Public Library for adventure on the high seas!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Why is it everyone covers their eyes when I drive the pirate ship?

Reading Road Trip 2010!

I navigated the pirate ship to my next destination: The Ericson Public Library in Boone! We made such a commotion people were looking in from the outside to make sure we were all safe.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Of course we were safe! Jabberwartz, the Great Green Frog, and her babies protected us!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

My day ended with a submarine ride and some deep sea fishing!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

We caught some whoppers! Even the dolphins were impressed.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: If your favorite cereal’s mascot wears a hazmat suit, I would suggest looking into getting a new favorite cereal!

First Contact!

There was a large gathering of people at the Cedar Falls Public Library this morning, but I don’t think they were there to see me.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Rumor had it an alien craft was scheduled to be passing by the city.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Using some makeshift radars we tried to flag down the spaceship.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

I think we made FIRST CONTACT with a new species of alien!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Two years ago when I first visited the Vinton Public Library the town was surrounded with water. It would have made a good place to go fishing.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

There was so much water that it would have even made a good whale refuge.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Back then, the safest place from all the rain was on the top of a sturdy barn.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

No water today thankfully. Just lots of story time fun!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: If you still have Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge and it’s July, throw them out right away.

What Goes Around…

I always try to do at least one good deed every single day. This morning at a packed Waterloo Public Library I had plenty of opportunities!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

I saved some kids from the mighty kraken.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

I saved some librarians from a giant hovering jellyfish.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

I even helped a lost sea turtle make his way out to sea.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Later, because of all my good deeds, a camera crew from Wartburg College caught up with me at the Denver Public Library.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Denver had heard what I had done and made a colorful plaque in my honor.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

All the kids wanted to get their picture taken with “Good Deed Danno.”

Reading Road Trip 2010!

All my good deeds must have paid off! As I was helping read off names for the summer reading program I drew my own name!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

My prize? An all expense paid trip to this wall that looks just like oceanfront property!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: Don’t ever take a tuba into the shower unless it has a really high fever and you are trying to quickly cool it down.

Blinded with Science!

Story time started today on the top floor of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library in Dubuque.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

I thought there was going to be an argument between two of the kid pirates but they quickly settled their differences.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

The city has been remodeling their library over the past few years and they have lots of cool new toys. I loved checking out one of my favorite books with their automatic checker-outer device.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Good thing I brought my library card!

Reading Road Trip 2010!

This afternoon at the Dyersville Public Library I tried out a few science experiments.

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Experiment #1: How many people can we fit into one room?

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Experiment #2: How high up can we stack the kids?

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Experiment #3: Do the three bears actually eat porridge?

Reading Road Trip 2010!

Dan’s Wise Advice of the Day: If you enter into a cactus-eating contest please remember the threat of heartburn will be the least of your worries.