Against the gorgeous backdrop of Newport’s impressive Salva Regina University,  the Rhode Island Librarians Annual Conference invited Grandpa and the Truck books for their Poster Session (think Science Fair set-up but with books.) Paul, the long-haul trucker and I, the author of Grandpa and the Truck books, got to regale the crowd with what we do:  Bring the story of the big rigs to kids everywhere.  We showed them recent pix and principal Manuel Cabral’s commendation regarding our highly-successful presentation at Walter Ranger Elementary in Tiverton, RI. Our success isn’t surprising:  Our books are the collaborative effort of a RI retired teacher/now a successful writer  of Op-Ed’s that appear monthly on the pages of Providence Journal and Elite Fleet driver/Atlas Van Lines’s long-haul trucker, Paul Wesley Gates. Biggest international trucker’s association, OOIDA, and Women in Trucking (WIT) applaud our efforts, as do librarians, teachers, parents, and grandparents (some of whom were truckers who want to share their experiences on the road with grandchildren.)

Now we invite schools to book our exciting show for next year (we’ve done audiences of hundreds of kids–and kept them in rapt attention). We’re going through the state, showing how a big rig’s travels teach many things, in an exciting way. We’re every bit true to our tagline “We Teach Geography…and a Whole Lot More.” We wowed Principal Manuel Cabral of Walter Ranger School, in Tiverton, prompting him to say: 

“I was very happy with the presentation of Grandpa and the Truck at Ranger School. The students were super-attentive and involved… kept on track and involved for the entire time and for that to happen in a space of 30 minutes with kindergarten,1st and 2nd grade students is a real testament to the program…I was really impressed with the presentation.

We invite you to contact us at ckmellor@cox.net.

For further information,  go to our website at

www.grandpaandthetruck.com