And the Winners Are…

admin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:23:40 +0000

I did the drawing today to win a copy of my new book, Birdy’s Smile Book (published today). I was originally going to give away 5 free copies but after getting 180 responses I decided to UP the giveaway to 10 copies.

I wasn’t sure how to go about doing the drawing but I decided to print out the names of everyone who entered and cut them into strips and put them into a lovely box:

Then with then with freshly-cleansed, 99.9% bacteria-free hands (and my eyes CLOSED) I proceeded to select 10 random names out of the box (my hands were shaking!):

And VOILA, I had 10 winners: TRACY, SAM, LIZ AND JOEY, PEGGY, KELLY, MARIKA, LAUREN, STERLING, LAUREN (another one), AND JANET! They have all been notified and I’ll be sending them signed copies of the book.

I wish I could have given a book to everyone who responded but check back from time to time as I’ll be doing occasional giveaways! Thanks to all of you who entered and thank you for your very nice emails!

Win My New Book!

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 02:52:33 +0000

My new book, Birdy’s Smile Book, will be published on September 28th and to celebrate I’m going to give away 5 free copies! If you’d like to enter the drawing, send me an email with your name and email address (make sure 72 times that you typed it in correctly or I won’t be able to write back to you if you win!). I’ll do the drawing on September 28th and notify the winners. Stay tuned!

Diary of a Clever Kid

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:53:55 +0000

Hayden, is a 7 year-old artist from Maryland who has his own blog with a wide variety of postings, one of which was his beautifully illustrated re-creation of my book, The Scrambled States of America. He is INDEED a CLEVER KID — and very talented, too!

EXCELLENT JOB,HAYDEN!!

Bloggin’ About Birdy

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:35:58 +0000

My publisher, Henry Holt asked me to be part of their blog, Year of the Book. They asked me to discuss my writing process in general and my upcoming book, Birdy’s Smile Book. So at the beginning of each month for the next 4 months (2 posts already made) I’m going to make my entries. If you’d like to take a look, here are posts I did for February and March:

BLOG POST 1
BLOG POST 2

Teacher Day in Petoskey, MI

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:20:45 +0000

I recently spoke at a bookstore in Petoskey, MI, where I was asked to speak to a group of teachers about my books and how to use them in the classroom. We had some technical difficulties and I was unable to show them my Powerpoint presentation so I’m posting many ideas here so they (and anyone who’s interested!) can see it after all. Most of the ideas have come from some very creative teachers across the country. Each book title is listed below so just click on it to see specific ideas for that book. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

I also have more ideas on my website under “SCHOOL STUFF” and other entries on this “NEWS” page (scroll down and on the right side, look under “categories” to find activities for each book).

The Scrambled States of America

Open Wide Tooth School Inside

Arnie the Doughnut

Grandpa Gazillion’s Number Yard

Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners

The Scrambled States of America Talent Show

Arnie the…Pumpkin?

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:59:52 +0000

This is SO CUTE! I just got an email from two fans of Arnie’s, Maloki and Lorelei, who made an Arnie the Doughnut PUMPKIN!!! Oh, and I was told by some very reliable sources that it was Lorelei’s idea to make the Arnie the Doughnut pumpkin but Maloki picked out all the supplies that they used! Great job, you guys — I love it!!! See more pics and how they did it here:

Me and My Animal Friends

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:21:19 +0000

My latest book is called Me and My Animal Friends (September 2009), by Ralph Covert of Ralph’s World. I was so excited when my editor, Christy Ottaviano, asked me if I’d be interested in illustrating it because I’ve been a HUGE fan of Ralph’s music for years (read more here).

Watch Ralph singing Me and My Animal Friends! I especially love watching all the kids dancing. It reminds me of the Christmas play rehearsal scene in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special — there’s even a set of twins, too!

Springtime at York Elementary!

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:12:04 +0000

I visited York Elementary in Retsof, NY last May and WOW, what an INCREDIBLE day it was! Julie Crowell is the new librarian there and this was the first author visit she organized. Not only did she do an excellent job of preparing the kids about my books but she went above and beyond, with the help of the art teacher, Brandy Lundfelt, by having them do some projects based on my books. (read more here)

Little Miss Vanika

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:47:50 +0000

Last spring I was in Rochester, NY doing school visits. I met so many great kids there but wanted to share some photos of a young girl I met named Vanika who said she was a big fan of my books. She was so sweet and gave me an entire book of jokes she made up especially for me and drawings to go with them. It meant so much to me that she would take the time to do that. Keep up the good work, Vanika, and thank you again!

Annett O’Hara — Art Teacher Extraordinairre-a!

admin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:14:33 +0000

It’s always so much fun to visit a school and see students’ art
projects based on my books! I was especially blown away when
I visited McCarter Elementary School in Topeka, KS and saw what
the art teacher, Annett O’Hara, had done with her students.
Read more…