Making Snowflakes!

Last November, I was invited to present at the North House Folk School's Winterer's Gathering in Grand Marais, MN, one of my most favorite places on earth! I led the family event, reading from both of my winter books, Winter is the Warmest Season and Snow, and as the snow fell outside on Lake Superior and the town, we made shiny, glittery paper snowflakes inside. It has been my experience that once you start cutting paper snowflakes, you cannot stop at just one.

Demonstrating the art of cutting a six-point snowflake.

Most people think cutting a snowflake from paper is just a matter of folding the paper into quarters and cutting designs from there. That is fine for a lace-like doily, but when I illustrated Snow I studied snowflakes. I learned that most snowflakes have six sides. Some have twelve, but never four or eight! I also learned that a snowflake is not a frozen raindrop-- it is an ice crystal that forms from water vapor in the air and it takes about fifteen minutes for a snowflake to form as it falls to earth. It takes about the same amount of time to cut out your first six-sided paper snowflake. 

Sometimes a little help is needed to cut snowflake designs. 

Last week I hosted a gathering of CMLS (Circus Mom's Literary Society) at my house. This group of friends is famous for good food, wine and conversations about books, but this time I added making snowflakes to the mix. Scissors and shiny square origami papers were all the ingredients needed for a fun activity. I think active hands make for lively conversations.

Conversing and cutting snowflakes

Shiny origami papers make shiny snowflakes!

Buster and snowflakes.

It is mid-December in Minnesota, and believe it or not, there is NO SNOW! At least not in the Twin Cities. We had a paltry few inches a couple of weeks ago, but nothing since then and there is no forecast for snow in the next ten days! So what do you do when there is no snow? Make snowflakes! 

Snowflakes fall in my window, even with no snow outside.

Snowflakes!

A Magical Literary Party!

When magic happens, sometimes you have to keep it a secret, because no one will believe you if you told them. But sometimes when it happens, you have to tell everyone in order to share the magic and hope that it inspires more magic! Sunday night I was invited to the house of a children's librarian. It is no ordinary house. There are quotes from books on the windows, a Narnia train that travels from the kitchen to the living room bringing your beverages and if you are lucky, a letter in a miniature mailbag!

A letter from Narnia!

The people invited to this literary dinner party consisted of book writers and readers, painters and composers, wood artists, and philanthropists, who all had two things in common: we were all children once and we all loved to read, especially children's literature! As we toured the house, there were two bathrooms, one dedicated to Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, by Bernard Waber and the other to the Frog and Toad books, by Arnold Lobel. In the lower corner of the Frog and Toad bathroom is a small mailbox and if you are lucky, (and we were that night!), there might be a package for you inside!

A package in Frog and Toad's mailbox!

Letters written by frogs and mice are lovely to read, but sometimes you might need a magnifying glass!

Reading a letter from a mouse.

The guest room in this house is where I want to come and stay awhile. It is painted purple and is dedicated to the book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson. The walls are painted with magnetic paint, so you can move pictures around and make your own decor for the night! 

Everywhere you look in this literary home are hundreds of references to children's picture books! Even the wall sockets are decorated with illustrations from picture books! 

Using a magnifying glass to examine the illustration in the wall socket!

Because one of the guests was the wonderful author/illustrator David LaRochelle, who LOVES contests, there was a literary contest played before and after the meal. With pens and questions with fill-in-the-blanks, we combed the house, racking our brains to figure out who was in the picture over the stove and what book was it from? And what book was the quote on the studio window from? There were framed illustrations on the walls to identify, runes on chairs to translate, and pictures on a clock that referred to specific times in specific books. It was hard to stop for dinner! But stop we did and conversation flowed about books of course. Books we were reading and books read when we were little. Books we were writing and books we were illustrating. It was a magical night! And who won the contest? I did, with the help of my husband! Our prize was a miniature dollar bill with miniature coins, in a miniature green envelope from Frog and Toad!

Party gifts and contest forms from the magical Literary Party!

I have not had so much fun at a party in a very long time. Truly a magical evening. I hope this post inspires you to have your own literary party and share the magic of bringing books to life!

Time Travel

I have become a time traveller. It began with the Wild West, walking the dusty streets of Dodge with Wyatt Earp and galloping to the next boomtown in search of gold, then with the beginning of NaNoWriMo, I found myself in 18th Century Venice, floating the canals and listening to the music of Vivaldi, and now suddenly I am thrust into early 20th Century watching rehearsals of The Rite of Spring in Paris!

The Wild West and Circus Juventas!

A view of Venice by the artist, Guardi

Dancers from The Rite of Spring, 1913

How is this time travel possible, you might ask? Imagination helps, but research is the key. Immersing myself in library books, internet sites, art books, Westerns, movies set in Venice, fiction and non-fiction, I am swimming from one century to the next. Why am I time traveling? All fall I have been writing the script for the next Circus Juventas summer show. The theme this year is the "Wild West". Finding characters, hearing conversations with a cowboy twang, envisioning the locale, and determining a plot are possible only through lots of research- books on the West and movies, lots of Westerns!

I was sick with the flu for nearly three weeks in October and when November 1st rolled around I decided to amuse myself in bed by trying NaNoWriMo for the first time. A story set in 18th Century Venice had been knocking around in my head for over a year, so I took this opportunity of being housebound and joined the thousands of people who take the pledge to write 1600 words a day for the month of November and begin my first novel! Books and music filled my days as I asked questions of my characters, made up conversations, and began to determine a plot. I managed to write 105 pages by the end of the month. I didn't win the NaNoWriMo medal, but I have begun a story I love and that is what counts! However I have to put it away because I have a new deadline for a new picture book set in Paris in the early part of the 20th Century. Now I find myself rehearsing with the Ballets Russes and listening to Stravinsky's outrageous orchestrations through books, CDs, and documentaries, then making sketches for the illustrations inspired by all that I see and hear. I think I will stay in Paris for awhile now, though the Wild West will undoubtedly lasso me back from time to time.

Baking and Books

My daughter Ruby was just home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday. She has her own vegan baking blog so she spent much of her time in the kitchen baking, then taking photos on the back porch to catch "just-the-right-light"; tough to do on these gray pre-snow days in Minnesota. On Black Friday she went shopping at Trader Joe's for baking supplies to use in her small college kitchen. Trader Joe's was not offering any midnight deals, in fact the  person at the cash register was quite happy to be enjoying a relatively slow pace compared to the Thanksgiving rush just the day before. Canola oil, cashews for vegan cheese, and almonds were on the shopping list. I threw in a box of "Candy Cane Green Tea" to help her through finals to the holidays. 

When we got home Ruby scoured the attic, basement, and closets for small plates, cups, saucers, pieces of cloth, doilies and anything that might serve as background and props for photographing her baked goods. Where did she get this amazing ability to bake delicious things to eat?  I have my theories... but I think it all comes down to books...

Ruby photographing pumpkin pancakes, watch for the recipe on her blog! Delicious!

Both Ruby and my son, Cooper grew up with books. Everything books! I think it all began with cookbooks. Our favorite was Pretend Soup by Mollie Katsen. "Bagel faces" and "Bright Pink Fruit Dip" were two of our favorite recipes. We also loved trying recipes we found in stories, such as: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman, or our favorite spring read: Thunder Cake, by Patricia Polacco. (Tomatoes in chocolate cake are really good, but strange.) And though I don't remember a real recipe in the book, we always had to eat pancakes after reading this.

The season of baking is fast upon us. We just dropped Ruby off at the airport, but she will soon return home for winter break and more baking. We are all looking forward to her vegan versions inspired by this childhood favorite!

Portrait of the Baker as a Young Girl. 

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!