By: Alyssa Ochss | St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published May 5, 2026
ST. CLAIR SHORES — On April 22, Ardmore Elementary School welcomed author and athlete Dion Leonard and his special little dog Gobi who traveled a long way to join his family.
Dion’s book, “Finding Gobi,” tells the tale of the little dog. He was running an ultramarathon in the Gobi Desert in China. Participants run 155 miles over the course of days. The racers all camped together for the duration of the race and that’s where Dion ran into a stray dog who later became known as Gobi.
While answering questions, Dion said they decided June 20 would be Gobi’s birthday, which is also the day he found her.
Dion took children through his journey and asked them questions about his home country, Australia. Gobi laid in a pet bed at the front of the stage, napping quietly while Dion gave his presentation. His wife, Lucja Leonard, was also in attendance. This year, Gobi will be 12.
Ardmore Elementary School Librarian Renee Cusmano said at the beginning of the school year that she received an email about Dion and Gobi. After some research, she thought it would be a great idea to invite him.
“I went to Dr. (Christopher) Hahn, our principal, and I talked to him, and he said, ‘Yeah, that’d be great,’” Cusmano said. “So I made sure that we had the funds, and I called him up and then we set it up and here we are.”
Cusmano said the kids loved the presentation.
This was the first one-on-one author who visited their school. A couple weeks before, they hosted an event called “A Pop of Indie,” organized by the school’s PTO. It consisted of a lot of local Michigan authors showing off their books and hosting story times, presentations and activities.
“It was an amazing event,” Cusmano said of “A Pop of Indie.”
Cusmano said they will definitely think of inviting more authors in the future.
The Shorewood Kiwanis Club of St. Clair Shores hosted a program at the school called “Keep Kids Reading.” They donated a book to every student in the school and added 10-15 books of all genres in the library. From there, the Kiwanis found out about Dion’s visit and proceeded to add copies of “Finding Gobi” to the library.
The “Keep Kids Reading” program was started three years ago and is different from the dictionary program they also host. Shorewood Kiwanis member Sue Crowe said she and member Carl Papas noticed students falling behind after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We became quite passionate about getting the kids back to reading, getting the levels up,” Crowe said.
She said the nice part about the program is that it involves the teachers and the librarians in the school.
“They pick out the books,” Crowe said. “We’re not just buying them books. We’re buying the books that the teachers and librarians pick out.”
Crowe said the kids pick out the books they want to read.
“It’s so exciting to see these kids get a book,” Crowe said. “They give me a hug on the way out, ‘Thank you for the book.’ I mean, they’re so grateful.”
Crowe complimented Cusmano, saying she’s an amazing librarian.
“It’s amazing how engaged these teachers are,” Crowe said.