Marisa de Jesus
Award-Winning Author

I was simply blown away, and almost in tears – tears of joy that is, when I walked into the main entrance of Clearview Elementary School for author visit day. The incredible murals based on There’s a Coquí in My Shoe! were absolutely breathtaking! Every hallway in the school displayed a theme which teachers pulled from the storybook such as friendship, conservation, saving the rainforest, learning about the Puerto Rican culture and, of course, Carlito the Coquí and his entire coquí family!

The students and teachers worked very hard, for approximately 2-3 months, to accomplish this magnificent feat. As I walked down one hallway and looked to my left, I almost fell over. There it was, a three dimensional, 10′ x 7′ mural of the cover art of the book which covered the wall! It was totally awesome!

My sincerest thanks and appreciation to Mary Colon, Principal of Clearview Elementary School for her approval of this entire project and her kindness for the invitation to visit Clearview! Her professionalism and her desire to see the children excel in literature and every other area of their lives is to be commended. You can definitely witness her positive leadership trickle down to the teachers! To the extraordinary students at Clearview: I will never forget you and thank you for making me feel so welcome and loving the storybook so much! I love you guys! To the teachers and entire faculty: Your dedication to these students is simply outstanding. Thank you for a job well done! To Marlene “Linny” Fowler, a major philanthropist in the Lehigh Valley area: Thank you for your generous contribution to Clearview in making sure that every child received their very own a copy of There’s a Coquí in My Shoe!; and To Maurene Schultheis and her wonderful children: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your assistance in making sure everything went smoothly and for your help in taking down the murals for my safekeeping!

I hope you enjoy these Magnificent Murals as much as I do! God Bless!