Belated Post: The Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival

So, all the way back on April 10th (you'll see why I note the specific date),  we went to the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival  in Hattiesburg, MS. Even though Rain Dragon had flown before,  this time she was much more cognizant. I think she was a bit stunned:

Luckily, when she is stunned she is also speechless so she was a well-behaved baby for most of the flight. 

We flew into New Orleans, where our guardian angel/hostess Anna met drove us to Hattiesburg...

the most hospitable hostess you'll ever meet! She even took us on a tour of New Orleans after the festival!

after a quick stop for some fried oysters:

YUM!!!

And it was in Hattiesburg that we realized that Anna's completely and amazingly warm and hospitable nature was not just exclusive to her. Everyone who was a part of the Book Festival was incredibly thoughtful and kind. They set up a conference room all full of toys just for Rain Dragon to play in!

When I first saw the room, I asked if there were other children at the festival...but it was all just for Rain Dragon!

She absolutely LOVED it. She didn't want to leave!

And perhaps because she knew everyone was so friendly that it was at the conference, right before my keynote speech that Rain Dragon decided to take her first steps! She had been stumbling and standing for days before, but it was at the conference that she finally strung together three or four steps--walking from the stage to table and grinning the whole time. Needless to say, the conference will always be a happy memory for me.

Because it really was a great honor to speak at the Festival! For those who might not know, the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival  is not only a celebration of children's literature (they give the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer & Illustrator Award), but also a celebration of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection. There are so many children's book treasures there! From the amazing mural by Esphyr Slobodkina:

to sculptural studies by the Reys:

to a complete set of the original OZ books (which I admit I covet! I might have to start collecting these myself):

One of the funnest things about the Festival and the Collection is how they honor a different children's book creator every year with a special coin. The author/illustrator chose what image they'd like embossed for the back (the front is always their image). 

There was Beverly Cleary with Ramona:

Ernest Shepard with  Winnie the Pooh:

And, of course, there was Ezra Jack Keats, whose entire works (or at least most of it!) is housed at the de Grummond:

including the beautiful art from The Snowy Day which I adore (and I admit  kind of inspired these photos):

which was also  epitomized in the last of the many kindness the festival showed us. Yes, they gave Rain Dragon a Peter doll!

Though she does treat him rather roughly:

She loves him!

and now that she's walking she's impossible to get a still photo of, too!

Thanks so much!

Best Books for Babies! (or at least for mine)

So, things are finally starting to calm down and I'll be able to start blogging again soon! Yay! I've missed connecting with all of you.

While I get things in order, I thought I'd share this guest post I did for the "What to Expect When You are Expecting" website, ( yes, it a website for the book all expecting moms know!).  I wrote about Rain Dragon's five favorite baby books!  After all the baby book testing we've done, I thought I should share!

Recent painting

... of this sketch.

S&S TITLES NOT SHELVED AT B&N

I wrote this on my other blog but I thought I'd post it here too. It's something that I think is important to discuss:

Sorry for the silence. I've been traveling quite a bit. But back to business. I've seen some great books that I'd like to share but first I want to briefly talk about the situation with B&N and S&S. This really bothers me. B&N is asking that S&S pay more money to display its titles and it wants a higher discount for S&S books. S&S doesn't want to give in to BN's demands... so... BN has limited its stock on S&S titles in its stores. This, to me, seems like a monopoly. BN doesn't have any competitors any more (not brick and motor stores anyway) and now has decided to make these demands because it can get away with it. Why not? Borders isn't around any more to say, hey: we'll take your books for the standard deal.

I read an article that pitied BN, saying that Amazon was a big competitor so now BN needs to get its money in other ways. I have a different perspective and this is coming from experience. Trust me. BN is making TOO MANY MISTAKES and this is its own fault. Because BN is making these mistakes, publishers shouldn't be punished.

1) Amazon has a far superior search engine. Books are easy to look up. You can misspell things and still find what you're looking for. Go to BN and try to look up something when you get the title slight wrong or you misspell the author's name wrong. Ooops! Nothing comes up. This has been like this for years! BN has had PLENTY of time to hire the right people to fix this. They haven't. Mistake number one.

2) Trying to compete with the likes of Apple. Apple has been around for a good long time and makes amazing products. It's unclear to me as to why BN thought it could come along and produce a product in a few years and think it could compete with that. Loss of market share there.

3) BN has no competitors and sells books yet it instead has decided to focus on toys, soap, dumb gift items, and so on. The one thing BN has that Amazon and other online retailers do not have is BOOKSELLERS. People who are there to recommend great new titles and HANDSELL. But instead of advertising that key element... instead of making sure that the good and knowledgable stick around, they treat the employees like inconsequential elements: people who are there to stock shelves and pick books up off the floor. BN could be a force to recon with if they got the right employees and advertised as such. Heck, they even HAVE some but don't care to use them properly. Example: having a trained opera singer working with the literature books even though she asked to be put with the music. Having a school teacher working with travel books. Huh? The stores aren't run right. It's sad. It could be game over faster than it has to be.

I'm siding with S&S on this one. Sorry BN.

The flip side of getting published

   





A few months ago, I got a ms. of mine back from its publisher -- NOT Little, Brown. The publisher had:

• rewritten most of the book

• added two pages of text that contradicted the main message

• completely changed the ending

• changed the title

-- and all without asking the author, me.  By the time I saw the edits, the book was in pages, with all the art in place. This wasn't a work-for-hire project; it was a contracted book.


I wrote a couple of emails to the publisher, requesting changes as politely and firmly as I could; the first was ignored. They replied to the second saying they had, in an editor's words "gone as far as we can" (which wasn't very far: they changed a few words). At that point, I let it go.

EVERY author, I think, has high hopes for every book -- but sometimes, you have to just move on. Thanks partly to the wise advice of friends,  I did. I put it out of my mind and went back to the novel I'm now rewriting.

Luckily, my agent will be the one submitting this, not me.

a little busy

You might have noticed that I haven't posted  at this blog lately.  Well, not only is my school visit schedule in full swing (I promise posts about my trips to MS and MD), I've sold the apartment(as long as nothing falls through, knock on wood)! The real estate market has definitely bounced back, it was a little crazy how quickly and how much interest there was. I'm happy the apartment has sold  but I wasn't prepared for it to go quite so fast...and now the schedule is even crazier!  I promise to return once things calm down a bit...

"That was rather a stupid thing to do, wasn't it?"

I am in Scotland, and thought that this year, the logistics -- even my heavy luggage would be easier because I would know how to do things. I had the port of Oban all planned:

-go straight from the train to the luggage lockers (they still have those here)
-walk to hotel
- fun etc.
-next morning take only and early ferry to island

I put my luggage in the locker, closed the door, paid- - and THEN noticed a sign saying that the train station didn't open until 10.45 a.m. on Sunday, two hours after my ferry's departure. I asked at the ticket window about workarounds, refunds -- none. So I decided to take everything to the hotel with me, in a taxi.

I scratched off the black strip on the  locker ticket which, I assumed, would reveal the code that  opened the locker. It didn't. So I went back to the window. The man behind it was outraged.

"If you had read the instructions which are posted in large letters....[much longer than I am putting it] you would have seen that you don't scratch off the bar as though you're holding a national lottery ticket. You open the ticket -- the code is on the blue side underneath. [Note: Nowhere on the ticket does it say this, only on the sign on the wall, towards the end of many steps].....But you just scratched it off and destroyed the code.

That was rather a  stupid thing to do, wasn't it?"

I always react badly to this kind of thing, wherever I am; but in the UK, it instantly makes me revert to being an 8 year old -- though at my boarding school, the phrase was usually more like:

"That wasn't very sensible, was it?"

I felt my face grow hot, knew I was blushing, muttered something-- and STILL he kept lecturing me! He eventually got someone to open the locker (he said he couldn't possibly do it himself as he had to sell tickets --not that anyone was waiting to buy any).

Finally I got into the taxi, flustered - and told the driver all about it. He was friends with someone on my island destination, instantly took my side, apologized for his countryman, and said various soothing things. I said my country men were often rude, too, and apologized for them. Americans are rude, often; I just don't expect the British to be -- and usually, they aren't. I guess it's good for me to realize that they aren't perfect: I (like many who love English and Scottish novels?) do tend to idealize things here. So often, being here IS like living in a favorite novel; though come to think of it, they always include characters like Lady Catherine and Mrs.Ferrars and Mr.Elton.

Success

Yesterday I was feeling down, having just received the news that one of my books (one that I love) is going out of print. It is somewhat inevitable these days; if you publish long enough it will happen to you at some point.

But no matter how much you expect it or how many times you've been through it, it never ceases to feel like a punch in the stomach. Then I came across this chart by Demetri Martin:



And it made me feel a bit better. You never know what great things lay around the corner or how they will lead to the next place you go. Onward we march.

(Some inspiring stories here, via A CUP OF JO)

Happy Earth Day!

Are you looking for a simple way to celebrate Earth Day with your kids? There are a number of activities for the wee ones on the web site for my book What Can You Do with an Old Red Shoe?. Download free coloring sheets or activity pages, a curriculum guide for your classroom, or check out the resources section.

Wishing you a happy, crafty Earth Day!

In spite of everything

   




In trying to come to terms with what happened in Boston, I find myself remembering Ann Frank:

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”

 To me, this says more about her (and her youth!) than about how things really are  -- perhaps that's why it's so moving.

But it's one of the most powerful statements of what IS good in us -- and how important hope is, in real life and in books for the young  -- that I've ever read.

 

 (This image is from tricycle.com) 

a real life Ling and Ting!

I meant to post this here last week but I forgot and only posted it on my personal blog. I've been having a hard time remembering what I have done --because I have so much to do! I admit, it's been a bit stressful, I haven't found a good way to juggle work and baby, packing, unpacking, prepping for sales... and I have to do my taxes. bleh.

But, I had my  booksigning at Porter Square Books bookstore. It was the last time I could call it a booksigning at my local bookstore as after this I will be two hours away! So, it was another reason to feel a bit melancholy. However, such an amazing, wonderful crowd showed up that any feelings of sadness quickly disappeared.

I was so thrilled to see such a full house:

And to meet such all my lovely readers! This reader was the winner of the Storyworks Contest based on my story:

And then, these two were waiting patiently the whole time...

to get their Ling and Ting books signed!  Can you tell why?

Yes, they were a real life Ling and Ting! Aren't they sweet?

The whole event completely cheered me up! It was so great that I think I will have to come back in the future-- it's worth the two hour drive! So maybe I lied about this being my last signing at Porter Square Books...Thanks so much for coming, all! 

Contest winner

   




Thanks to everyone who entered and voted in the contest! The challenge was to write a story in 50 words.

The winner, chosen by reader vote:

_____________________________________________________________

We first met at a charity gala, our bruises hidden under designer gowns and cosmetics.

Our husbands died soon after. So untimely. So wealthy.

She loves Caribbean islands with Adonis arm candy. I prefer a Rolls-Royce and freedom.

Yearly, we visit their graves with our undying gratitude, and plastic flowers.

Marnie

__________________________________________________________________

 But Marnie! You entered so anonymously that we don't know how to get in touch with you.

Where do we reach you? And would you like a signed book or chocolate? Please let us know by emailing:

bluerosegirls@gmail.com

Again, thanks to everyone who entered and commented: it was interesting to read everything, and very surprising to me that the readers agreed so much!

Winchester Authorfest

Come join me tomorrow, April 9th, for the Winchester Authorfest!

I'll be signing books along with a long list of wonderful authors and illustrators: Kathleen Duble, Karen Day, Jackie Dembar Green, Amy MacDonald, David Biedrzycki, David Elliott, Matt Tavares, Marty Kelley, Susan Lubner, Susan Goodman, Jerry Pallotta, Ralph Masiello, Brian Lies, Scott Magoon, and Nancy Poydar.

Come to get a signed book or just say hello!

3:00-5:00 pm
Winchester Town Hall
71 Mt Vernon St, Winchester, MA

VOTE on the 50-word stories

   




Please vote for your favorite  50-word story in the comments by April 7.

You can vote anonymously and comment or not, as you wish -- but do please vote via the Comment box by April 7.

We'll email the winner, ask if she wants chocolate or a book (some people said when they entered, some did not), and announce the winner on April 8.

Thanks!

___________________________________________________________________

1.

“Leave the iPad behind!”  

 

My island-bred kids are sullen.  The speedboat will deprive them of cyber-fun:  

 

“Been to Staffa before… Too cold…. Get seasick….. ”

Slumped, reluctant shoulders are slowly, inadvertently uplifted into sea-spray, wind and sunlight as the boat jolts through glistening waves, then planes – exultant - towards open sea.

Anonymous 

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2. Oodles of Poodles in Paris, France (50 words)

It’s a Paris tour, bon jour!
Boy pups with all their clutter,
Set long lashes aflutter.
Bow-wow! Kiss mail set a-sail. . .
Stray waiters with noodles
and quay painters with doodles
slow chance romance.
Enfin! In the tail-tale airmail sails.
Our poodles wave “Toodles!”
with one last glance at Paris, France.

Heather Harris-Brady
_________________________________________________________
 

3.  STORY IN 50 WORDS

"Worry never goes away," Mama said to Sophie. Sophie didn't understand. "Unless you're grateful," Mama added. So Sophie made a list. Birds. Blueberries. Wind. Whirligigs. Before Sophie could finish, Mama had made a grateful list of her own starting with the name of her girl. Sophie.

posse
________________________________________________________________

4.

 

Two black cats, boxing at midnight. Two against one frantically squeaking mouse. The mouse is battered from playful paws. The cats aren’t hungry; the mouse darts under the kitchen island. The best cat toys are the ones that move. The cats forfeit when the mouse surrenders; exhaustion wins the mouse’s life. 

 

Katana Leig

______________________________________________________________________ 

5.
The man sharpened his blade, the time had come.

He walked alone. Fall leaves fell behind him creating shadows that played with his mind. Before another could rest upon the ground to decay, he stabbed the metal chest. Oil seeped into the earth from the life-like machine keeping him prisoner.

Naomi Canale

__________________________________________________________________

6. STORY IN 50 WORDS

Friends
by Dea Irby

Two teen-aged girls giggled in the van's back seat; their moms chatted in the front. Giggles flooded the dressing rooms in every store as they tried on many different outfits. Four stores, no clothes. Giggles continued on the ride home. It was a successful shopping day.

Dea Irby
_______________________________________________________________

7. Priceless by D. M. King

An evil darkness eclipsed the desert, so Caleb Grady stuffed the golden relic in between his vest and his heart. If all the stories were true, he’d be rich. Six more steps through the blazing sand, and he’d be home free. Lightning cracked. The statue survived. A dream died.

ryter222 dking
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8. Distraction

When Grandma flung back the fishing line, she never suspected the surprising catch of the day. Likewise, Hopper, her grandson who sculpted a fortified sand castle nearby, never imagined his own impending adventure. Backward out of the sky dropped the lure that pierced Hopper’s lip, Grandma’s greatest catch ever.

Krisan Murphy
_______________________________________________________________

9.

Feeling her soul slip its mortal tether, Sybil gazed past breaking waves. What if she just swam until exhaustion set her free? No. Back at the beach cottage, she gave her grandsons one last hug, lay on her bed and whispered, “See Ya;” her soul rising with the words.

Sarah Maury Swan
___________________________________________________________

10.

We first met at a charity gala, our bruises hidden under designer gowns and cosmetics.

Our husbands died soon after. So untimely. So wealthy.

She loves Caribbean islands with Adonis arm candy. I prefer a Rolls-Royce and freedom.

Yearly, we visit their graves with our undying gratitude, and plastic flowers.

Marnie

___________________________________________________________________