One of the feel goodest stories of the back to school season is the kick-off of the Busload of Books tour. Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr, husband/wife, author/illustrator creators of middle grade and picture books, will spend the 2022-2023 school year traveling the country in a school bus/tiny home—visiting Title I schools in all 50 states (plus DC), doing presentations on creativity and collaboration, and giving away 25,000 hardcover books to students and teachers from underserved communities. It is such a great program and I am a proud supporter. I would have paid just to see what would happen when two parents tried to live on a school bus with their kids for a full school year. NextDraft will be following along all year. You can learn more here. Trust me, this is the most lovable family on the planet. Even Jasper! And yes, there’s still time to donate.

+ “My uncle is a dentist. He tells me that’s much better for a boy than to play baseball for money. So I told him O.K. But most of all I want to play baseball. If I am any good and if dentistry interferes with baseball, I’ll give up dentistry…” Most Little League World Series Players Dream of the Big Leagues. He Dreamed of Dentistry. And he succeeded! That calls for a song.

+ The large blue butterfly has enjoyed its best summer for 150 years in Britain thanks to targeted restoration work.

+ The New Yorker: The Obsessive Pleasures of Mechanical-Keyboard Tinkerers.

+ ‘Drone Boy’ becomes hero in Ukraine after taking out a line of Russian tanks.

+ Teenager becomes youngest person to fly solo around world. (This morning, one of my teenagers woke up and got ready for school by himself.)

+ NYT: The Seeds Strike Back. Chia seeds were hot has hell a few years ago and the craze is back. And guess what? It’s not just hype. (If Metamucil is a firecracker, Chia seeds are a nuclear bomb.)

+ Loyola Chicago basketball’s Sister Jean turns 103; Chicago train stop named for Catholic nun.