A wondrous morning at Bedlam Farm, 50 fifth graders from the Brayton Elementary School in North Adams, Mass., descended on Bedlam Farm to meet the animals, love the dogs and pony, talk about Simon (they read the book) and have lunch with Maria and I out on the law by the pasture. We loved every second of it, and so did the animals. I hope the kids did too, they seemed very happy,

Even though North Adams is in the Berkshires, it’s an old mill town without the mills and many of these kids have never seen a pony, a donkey, or a working dog. It was great to meet them, they were bright, curious, funny and crazy about animals, as most kids are.

They wanted to hear all about Simon, they were mesmerized  by his story, they identified with him in so many ways. This is why we are up where, why we have the farm and love it. We love to host kids and show them the donkeys. Red was in heaven, so was Fate. Chloe the pony turned out to be a crowd whore, she loved being fed, touched and fussed over.