A Great Find...

I love bookstores. Especially small ones... independent ones... ones that are more likely to be called "Bookshops" than Bookstores. Last weekend I was in Grand Marais, MN~ my favorite small town on the edge of Lake Superior. Whenever I visit Grand Marais I have to visit Drury Lane Books. A small white historic house on the edge of the lake filled with books! What could be better? What I love about small independent bookstores is that each one has a unique voice when it comes to the books that fill the shelves inside. Drury Lane has shelves of books to choose from that I would never come across in a large bookstore chain.  When I walk through the door I feel my excitement rise with the anticipation of finding the perfect book.  I take off my winter coat and make myself comfortable, knowing I can easily spend several hours or more perusing the fiction section alone, then make my way to the travel and nature shelves at the back and finally over to the history, politics, and current issues sections. Sometimes I sit on the small painted chair in the children's book section. Sometimes I sit in the rocking chair at the back of the store where I can talk to whoever is working at the store, maybe Lee, maybe Bruce, sometimes even the owner, author, Joan Drury. They all know books, so very soon I have gathered before me a pile of books to consider. This is when I make my way to my favorite spot: the window seat in the front room. There I can look out at the Bay occasionally while I curl up and look through each book, hoping to find the one that feels "just right."

Last weekend I made a great find! It is a small perfectly shaped book and every page I have read so far stirs my imagination. Set in 16th Century Venice the story takes place in an island monastery where Fra Mauro works on a map of the world in his small enclosed cell. His map grows and changes based on the stories brought to him by explorers, pilgrims, and merchants returning from their world travels. It is one of those books that I could read in one sitting, but I deliberately go slow in order to savor every page.

Never able to choose just one, I also bought this book. It is gorgeously illustrated by my friend Betsy Bowen, a marvelous artist of books, paintings, and much more, who lives in Grand Marais. Should you find your way to the North Shore of Lake Superior, I recommend visiting Betsy's studio and of course, Drury Lane books.

Smiley Library Family Day!

On October 1st, I was the featured author/illustrator at the Smiley Library Family Day in Redlands, CA. The sun was shining and so were all the families, books, and activities! Opened to the public in 1898, the A.K. Smiley Library is truly one of the most beautiful libraries I have visited. Along with a bountiful collection of books and research materials and a welcoming children's book room, the library features stained glass windows, a private garden, and the Lincoln Memorial Shrine with a remarkable civil war museum. Even Abe Lincoln himself was greeting folks!

Entrance to the Smiley Public Library

It was a day of celebrating reading. As the featured Author/Illustrator, I presented a slide show, starting with a musical slide show of THE PRINCESS AND HER PANTHER, with the author, Wendy Orr, reading the story. Then I told the story of how I write and illustrate books, showing lots of pictures of course, because I love stories with pictures! At the end of my presentation everyone folded an origami frog with a very big mouth that just might whisper a poem or story into the folder's ear.

Abe and me outside the Lincoln Memorial

Craft tables were set up all over the back lawn with activities inspired by some of my picture books. Children made Princess and Panther masks after reading THE PRINCESS AND HER PANTHER. Nests and tide pools were created at the CASTLES, CAVES AND HONEYCOMBS table.

Making animal homes inspired by Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs

And snowflakes flew with glitter and glue despite the heat of the sun. Books inspired everyone's imagination that day. Books are amazing like that! When you read a book called SNOW on a hot, sunny day in California, your skin may get goosebumps and you may find yourself wishing you had a cup of hot chocolate and a pair of mittens to wear!

Snowflakes in California!

I am back in the golden glow of October in Minnesota, but what a warm and welcoming Family Day in California!

Origami on a Stick!

Folding origami on a stick with fair-goers

Summer in Minnesota does not feel like summer without a visit to the Minnesota State Fair. This year I was one of the twelve featured authors at the Alphabet Forest at the Fair. I was given  a beautiful large blue ribbon to wear, (my first!) and a table with seats all around it that were rarely empty! If you have never been to the Minnesota State Fair, then you have no idea what it is like to walk all day through rain and sun among thousands of other people eating Pronto Pups, cheese curds, and french fries, but just imagine it, and once you have imagined it, then look for a lovely little wooded corner strung with alphabet letters and activity tables and you will want to sit and rest there awhile. There is even a library to sit and read for as long as you like!

The perfect place to rest and read a book at the Fair!

I spent the day celebrating my book, FOLD ME A POEM, by teaching origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. We folded snakes, frogs, penguins, dogs, birds, and roosters~ and since we were folding at the Minnesota State Fair where everything is on a stick, the final addition was a stick:"Origami on a Stick"! The stick element made for some fun puppet shows.

Can you guess what this fair-goer's favorite color is?

The Alphabet Forest was an idea conceived by this author. There are alphabet crowns, word-finding games, fair letter necklaces, and a photo booth with fair letters from this book. What a wonderful addition to the attractions at the Minnesota State Fair! What an honor to be the Author of the Day! And what does an author do after spending the day in the Alphabet Forest? Why wander the rest of the fair of course! I saw the giant pumpkin, the butterheads, the bees, seed art, and bonsai exhibit at the Horticulture building, ate a delicious five bean fajita at Juanita's Fajitas, listened to "Boiled in Lead" at the International Bazaar stage, and people-watched as night fell and the lights of the fair began to glow.

Alphabet Forest and its wonderful log cabin!

Origami Frogs Speak in Poems

Basket full of origami frogs!

What to do during the rainy month of April? National Poetry Month? If you have a pile of square sheets of colored paper try folding poems!

Last week I received a photo of a basket full of frogs. Origami frogs! It came from Ms. Wolf and her class of second graders at Valentine Hills Elementary in Arden Hills, MN. Along with the photo were poems written by Ms. Wolf's students.

 In her email, Ms. Wolf wrote: "Although I had read Fold Me a Poem in the fall, I reread the story and then we made frogs and wrote poems about them... I had the frogs "whisper" secret wishes to the kids, which they then wrote on pieces of paper and rolled up into the frogs mouths - something I saw you do at the IRA conference a few years ago." 

When the author, Kristine O'Connell George wrote the poems for our book, Fold Me a Poem, she was inspired by observing a young boy folding paper animals all on his own. The sound of the paper folding, the different shapes the animal took as it was gradually folded into life, and finally the personality it took on with the help of the boy's imagination, all became the voices of her poems in the book. When I illustrated the poems, I had to teach myself to fold origami by checking out every origami book at my local library. And I will tell you, when you fold paper animals, the paper does indeed whisper to you if you listen! If you are interested in folding paper frogs or a dog, a rooster, bird, or snake, go here. And if you are interested in learning a little more how to write a poem to go with your paper animal, go here. Or you can read the poems below from Ms. Wolf's Second Graders. Enjoy!

Origami Frogs!

(Poems by 2^nd graders in Ms. Wolf’s Class )

Frog

You

made

me,

Thank

You!

By Leo

* * * * *

If my

frog could

talk it

would say,

“hi my friends.”

By Rotho

* * * * *

Origami Frog

I was

just a

piece of

paper and

now look

what I am!

WOW!

Thank you

for making me.  A

piece of

paper into

a frog!

By Anna

* * * * *

Frog

I’m a

paper frog

with my

paper frog

family.

By Hannah L.

* * * * *

A Piece of Paper

I’m a piece

of paper.

I do not

do much.

All I do

is sit

around.

Now

I’m a frog!

I’m

FREE!

By Katie

* * * * *

Fast Frog

YAY!

I’m a

real frog!

I’m jumpin’ ‘round!

Look!

AT!

ME!

By Michael

Luck of the Buttons and National Library Workers Day!

Today is the "Release" day for The Luck of the Buttons, a new middle grade novel by my friend, Anne Ylvisaker. I have had the honor of being privy to its process since its inception. It was born on a sunny day in May several years ago when I was invited to join The Tall Grass Writers on their annual picnic to the oldest cemetery in Iowa where original prairie still grows beneath spreading oaks. After a delicious lunch complete with champagne, we wandered between lichen covered headstones, reading the epitaphs still visible despite a hundred years of rain, snow, and sun. Anne spotted the name "Tugs Britton" on a headstone and loved the name so much she took a photo of it. (Anne is a great photographer and a camera plays a big role in her new novel!) You can read more about how "Tugs Britton" became "Tugs Button" here.

When you are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of this book you will find yourself hankering for a slice of pecan pie and a trip or two to your local library. "Miss Lucy", the librarian in The Luck of the Buttons, plays a pivotal role and since today is National Library Workers Day, what does an author of a newly launched novel do on this day? She bakes chocolate brownies and heads down to her local library with a copy of her new book to donate and a plate of brownies to say "Thank you!" I join Anne today in saying thank you to all Library Workers and I join Anne today in celebrating the birth of Luck of the Buttons!

Grimm

Set model for Cinderella's Castle

I spent the morning yesterday painting the upper panels of Cinderella's Palace. For the past seven years I have been one of the designer/ painters of the theatrical sets for Circus Juventas' Summer Shows. Each year has a different theme, and this year is titled "Grimm" and weaves five stories by the Grimm brothers in and out of the spectacular circus acts. Since I also work with the artistic director, Betty Butler, writing the script I am very familiar with the set and prop needs to make certain the storyline is clear. This year our story begins with Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in their cottage researching and writing their fairytales late into the night. Books lying everywhere, oil lamps burning, candles melting and large feathered quills scattered about will create the setting of a wonderful opening scene! Beyond their cottage lies the village and marketplace as well as the elegant palace on the hill. Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Cap, and Rapunzel are the five stories interwoven throughout the show and the familiar characters from each of these tales live their everyday lives in the village, palace, or nearby woods. We have written lots of surprises into the script and added comedy and humor to offset the intrinsic darkness of the original Grimm stories.

Jacob and Wilhelm's cottage is nearly done and the palace is beginning to sparkle. By day I paint picture books using a very small brush in the quiet of my studio, by nights and weekends, I paint sets letting arms fly with large brushes while all around me kids, ages 2 to 21 are flying through the air or tumbling over mats. The script and the sets are just guidelines and atmosphere~ it is the wildly talented performers and their choreographers and directors who bring the show to life. I can"t wait!

For photos and stories of set production of past Circus Juventas shows visit my website.

Library of the Early Mind

I recently attended a screening of a new documentary on literature for children called: Library of the Early Mind. It was shown for free at my local library in downtown Minneapolis and after the film there was a panel discussion which included the director of the film, Edward J. Delaney, a school media specialist, Julie Reimer, (also the author of the blog, Extended Self Life, see my list of favorite blogs below!), and three authors, Catherine Thimmesh, David LaRochelle, and John Coy. The panelists were excellent and added to the experience of the film, which interviews twenty creators of children's books. There is humor, clarity, and intensity in the stories of each of the artist/authors being interviewed. The film begins with the voice of Chris Van Allsburg telling the story of how the idea for the book, The Polar Express came about. After drawing the headlight of a train in the woods with steam glowing in the night he asked himself: "If I were a child and a train could take me anywhere, where would I want to go?" And from there the story evolved. Later in the film, the author Natalie Babbitt says "The best children's stories are wisdom dipped in pictures." I loved this!

One point that the panelists discussed was how picture books become the "wallpaper" of our lives, meaning, how our favorite books we read when we were little, stay with us the rest of our lives. John Coy made the point that it wasn't just "wallpaper", but that the books he remembers from when he was little actually changed his life-- they did not stay in the background. And since today is my birthday, I thought I would list the books that are not only wallpaper decorating my life, but also changed the way I thought, the choices I have made, and who I am now and at different ages and stages of my life. After reading my list, if you are so inclined, please leave your list of favorite books from your childhood, the one's that still remind you who you are. During the panel talk, the director of the film, Edward Delaney, said the one book he remembers that made a difference in his life was: The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. I have never read this book, but I went to the library yesterday and checked it out in order to add it to my library of the aging mind!

My List of "Wallpaper" Books, favorites from when I was little:

• Millions of Cats


• The Cat in the Hat Comes Back


• The Ugly Duckling


• The Little Engine That Could


• Little Bear


• The Phantom Tollbooth


• The Secret Garden