Children at the Warwick Public Library welcomed a special visitor of the canine kind Wednesday morning.

Schmitty, a Yorkshire terrier weighing four pounds, captivated them. Schmitty The Weather Dog and her two human friends, Elly McGuire and Ron Trotta taught the children about the weather, science, and the importance of reading all through ways of reading a book and singing along.

Schmitty is a celebrity. Schmitty, McGuire, and Trotta have toured the country visiting more than 200 elementary schools educating the children on the science of weather.

The Schmitty The Weather Dog Show is a STEM enrichment program and has gotten incredible reviews from students, teachers and principals alike. Schmitty and her companions achieved a celebrity status when she appeared on The Ellen Show and on ACCESS Hollywood. She has even been on stage with Oprah Winfrey in New York City’s Central Park. Schmitty has also landed on the cover of Hamptons Pet magazine.    

Schmitty The Weather Dog was the last of the Warwick Public Library’s Rhode Island performances for the summer. Since Schmitty was last performance, Ellen O’Brien, coordinator of children’s literature, estimated about 100 children attended the event. O'Brien believes that Schmitty The Weather Dog was a great way to end the summer performances and that children had learned a lot from Schmitty, Elly McGuire, and Ron Trotta.

“Not only is the dog adorable, but they’ll learn about the weather, too,” she said.       

The event began with a reading of the book, Schmitty The Weather Dog: Daydream, by NYC children’s author Elly McGuire. McGuire, who is originally from Warwick, wrote the book in order to have children learn about the weather while making reading as fun as possible. The children at the Warwick Public Library were attentive as she read how the fictional counterpart of the real life Schmitty dreamed of becoming a weather dog and with hard work and determination, ultimately became a weather dog on a news network along with her meteorologist owner.

The second part of the act was more interactive with the children and featured meteorologist Trotta, who was weather producer for Good Morning America and ABC World News. The kids were excited and jumped up and down as Trotta brought out Schmitty The Weather Dog. Trotta then gave Schmitty to McGuire as he started his portion of the show. The meteorologist taught weather terminology. He described a weather phenomenon, such as a tornado, and then asked the audience what they thought he was talking about. Several hands went straight up into the air and Trotta picked several kids to join him in front of the audience. Those who guessed the right weather term got a pin with Schmitty’s face on it. The children learned about the different forms of precipitation; rain, hail, sleet, and so on. Everyone also had a chance to raise his or her hand and join in. The performance wrapped up with a sing along about weather and Schmitty The Weather Dog with McGuire singing and Trotta playing the keyboard.

“I learned that there is cold rain sometimes.” said Jack Kanaczet, a student of Cedar Hill School, at the book signing after the show. He also admits that Schmitty The Weather Dog was “very cute”.

Jack’s mother, Alli Kanaczet, loved the Schmitty The Weather Dog Show, too. She said, “I love that it incorporated a children’s book and held the children's attention. I think he [Jack] learned a lot of weather terminology.”

Both Jack and his mother are residents of Warwick and come to the library often.

Warwick Public Library was the second to last stop of the Schmitty The Weather Dog Rhode Island Summer Library Tour, which toured fifteen of sixteen selected libraries in the state. But this summer tour and the visit to the Warwick Public Library means so much more to McGuire. A Warwick native recalls going to the Warwick Public Library and delivering the Warwick Beacon when she was younger. McGuire now lives in New York City and tours the country using her dog, Schmitty, to teach the youth about weather. She originally scheduled the Schmitty The Weather Dog Rhode Island Summer Library Tour to be closer to her ailing mother. Sadly, McGuire’s mother, Eileen McGuire McLellan died in December. From there on, McGuire decided to dedicate each performance on Schmitty The Weather Dog Rhode Island Summer Library Tour to her beloved mother. When talking to the audience McGuire commented how the Warwick Public Library performance was so special because she was at home.