Made In Michigan

I'd like to interupt your 'March Is Reading Month' to give a shout-out to these fabulous new picture books by Michigan Authors. Way to go, Girls!

POTTY ANIMALS By Hope Vestergaard Pictures by Valeria Petrone

DINO-BASEBALL By Lisa Wheeler Pictures by Barry Gott

OVER AT THE CASTLE By Boni Ashburn Pictures by Kelly Murphy




THE BARE-FOOTED, BAD-TEMPERED BABY BRIGADE

By Deborah Diesen Pictures by Tracy Dockray

BIG CHICKENS GO TO TOWN By Leslie Helakoski Pictures by Henry Cole


MOMMY IS A SOFT, WARM KISS
By Rhonda Gowler Greene Pictures by Maggie Smith

THE MUD FAIRY By Amy Young

Peanut Gallery

School visit season has begun! One of my favorite things about visiting schools is seeing all of the wonderful art on the walls. And I reeeeally love when my books are the inspiration for the art. Here are a few masterpieces from the super talented, awesome readers at Yacks Elementary in Harrison Township. Thanks, kids!

Which one of you wise guys took January?

I swear it was just here a minute ago! I think I must have gotten sucked into some kind of cosmic loophole because I blinked and now it’s February 5th. I should probably check outside my window to make sure I’m not on some freaky island with Sawyer, Jack, Kate, and Hurley.

I apologize for my absence. I'd like to say it won't happen again, but that's kind of like saying the Duggars are done having children. On the bright side, with only 16 followers, I could actually pick up the phone and call each and every one of you to fill you in on my exciting January. It went something like this:

Day 1: rise, coffee, revise, sleep.
Day 2: rise, coffee, revise, sleep.
Day 3: rise, coffee, shower, revise, sleep.
Repeat for the next 28 days.

I wish I could report this glamorous schedule has come to an end, and I have emerged from hibernation with finished manuscripts and lucrative contracts in hand, but I can’t. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow the other day, which, according to my editors and my agent, means six more weeks of revising.

I have to run. The Black Smoke Monster is knocking on my front door.

2010

Looking ahead...

with joy...


and gratitude.

Illustrations from THE SANDWICH SWAP

By Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah & Kelly DiPucchio

Pictures by Tricia Tusa

Disney-Hyperion, April 2010

It's written on the rainbow

This holly jolly holiday season I gift you a lesser-known Burl Ives song from the 1940's. It's not a Christmas tune but it offers so many kinds of happy.
Enjoy!

Looky, looky!

A sneak peek...

ALFRED ZECTOR, BOOK COLLECTOR illustrated by Macky Pamintuan, HarperCollins, May 2010.

Why did the talking pinata cross the road with a boy carrying a baseball bat?

I have been collecting funny, vintage children's books for many years. And by funny, I don't mean ha-ha funny. I mean - Oh, my god, what were they thinking?! funny. Today I picked up these gems at a used book sale. Do you think that talking pinata should be a little bit worried that Todd is carrying a baseball bat while he thoughtfully explains the true meaning of sacrifice? What are the chances that road leads to a birthday party?
There is no way this picture book was not written with the help of hallucinogens. On page 2 it says..."The Creator of the World stopped by to see how things were going. She liked to wear disguises and had come as a porcupine, which caused a lot of trouble." But perhaps more troubling is the fact that the ants in the story speak in numbers and symbols. I'm not sure if they're swearing or if they're just from the colony of ants formally known as Prince.

The next little nugget I unearthed from the children's table at the book sale was a cute book called MISERY. Shall we play a game? It's called, WHICH ONE OF THESE PAGES DOESN'T BELONG?

Um...I don't know about you but I'm thinking the next page should read:

Misery is when you find out there's no such thing as Santa Claus BECAUSE YOU'RE READING THIS BOOK!

Wanna play again?

WHICH ONE OF THESE PAGES DOESN'T BELONG?

What the heck..? Is this some kind of sneaky anti-smoking campaign slipped into the pages of a kid's book!? Just how many young children were smoking cigarettes in the 1960's?

The book concludes with this touching page:

Aww...maybe we should ask the talking pinata to tell us just what real misery is...