Bellman for President!

Well...Bellman may not be quite ready for the presidency, but he is making his way around political circles! Any of you that have already read his books know that Bellman is very proud to be from South Carolina and very proud to be an American. He lives in a great state and a wonderful country, and he wants everyone to know about it. Bellman and his co-authors recently mailed two of his books to our state senators. Here is what they had to say about the books:

"Thank you for sending me your books Bellman Visits South Carolina and Meet Bellman the Traveling Bear. I appreciate the thoughtful gesture and look forward to reading them. Many thanks for thinking of me and God bless." - Senator Lindsey Graham

"Thank you for sending me your wonderful books about Bellman Bear. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, and I look forward to sharing the stories with my own grandchildren. I always enjoy hearing from folks back home, and I applaud your passion for teaching geography and civics to the next generation. I hope children in South Carolina and across the country will benefit from many other books about Bellman Bear's adventures! Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance to you in the future. It is an honor to serve you and the state of South Carolina in the United States Senate. Thank you again for your kind gift." -Senator Jim DeMint

Buffalo Baptist Church

Bellman's grandfather, the one that he is named for...Ryan Bellman Eklund is the pastor of Buffalo Baptist Church in South Carolina (view earlier post here). We cannot begin to tell you how much this precious church has supported and loved our family. And they keep giving and keep loving! They have been large supporters of the Bellman Bear Series. Here is a picture of some of the children from the church with Nana and Papa and their new books.

More New Friends

As many of you already know, Bellman and Mom love making new friends. I don't think Mom has ever met a stranger. They enjoyed meeting Thurl Bailey, inspirational speaker and former NBA player, who also spoke at the SC/NC AGC Conference. They also enjoyed seeing Carson again (the great guy with Thurl and Bellman in the first picture!) Carson and his family were among Bellman's first friends. Bellman and Mom even visited his class this past Spring.

Brantley

Thank you to All My Friends

Hi! This is Bellman. I just wanted to write and thank all my friends for their love and support! I love making friends! I've made a lot of new friends lately....Copies of my books are now with families in the United States, Kenya, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, and Italy! Wow! I wonder where my books will end up next?!

Flat Stanley from California

Bellman really enjoyed meeting Flat Stanley today. He arrived at a friend's home, and he came all the way from California! Flat Stanley is a project that teachers often use to engage their children in learning about the world. Flat Stanley can be mailed all over and then returned to the class with an account of his adventures. Bellman and Flat Stanley became instant friends because they have so much in common...

they are both cute and a lot of fun;

they both love to travel and want to teach children about geography and social studies;

and they both encourage children to read and to write!

Bellman has loved making so many new friends!

Sharing with Friends

It was fun to share our books with friends recently. Everything in life is better when shared! We are looking forward to our official "debut" at the SC Book Festival at the end of February. If you are in Columbia, please come out and see us. Admission is free, and we are Booth #224.

Brantley