Spring has Sprung- MAPLE Giveaway!

We are only 13 hours out of winter and... I already feel a lighter spring in my step!   So, I decided to celebrate.  Remember, how I accidentally pre-ordered MAPLE twice?

Well, I am giving away my duplicate copy of this charming book by Lori Nichols!   Just leave a comment to enter.

For a second entry, comment on my Facebook post.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When Maple is tiny, her parents plant a maple tree in her honor.  She and her tree grow up together, and even though a tree doesn't always make an ideal playmate, it doesn't mind when Maple is in the mood to be loud--- which is often.  Then Maple becomes a big sister, and finds that babies have their loud days, too. Fortunately, Maple and her beloved tree know just what the baby needs.

Winner will be chosen, Sunday, March 23rd at 8:00 PM EST.

The 2013 Picture Book Oscars

And the awards go to...


BEST MALE CHARACTER

Nilson in NO FITS, NILSON!

BEST FEMALE CHARACTER

Ol' Mama in OL' MAMA SQUIRREL

BEST MALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

The great white shark in CARNIVORES

BEST FEMALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

The third pig in THE THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE SOMEWHAT BAD WOLF

BEST CHARACTER IN A NON-SPEAKING ROLE

Bernice in SOPHIE'S SQUASH

BEST FULL CAST ENSEMBLE

Zack, Gracie, Manfred, Mookie, Mojo, the store manager, and all the other monsters in THE MONSTORE

BEST FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Narrator of PICTURE DAY PERFECTION

BEST COSTUMES

TEA PARTY RULES





BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

RIBBIT!

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK

And finally....

BEST PICTURE BOOK

OLLIE AND CLAIRE

2013 Ninja Highlights

A lot of exciting things happened in 2013.   Here are our favorites:

Pig One's

Washington Redskin, Chris Cooley, reading to a class of third graders.

Pig Two's

Starring in this cool Chinese trailer!

Pig Three's

Being featured in the Scholastic Book Club Flyer

The Wolf's

Almost getting to eat these delicious hams.

What About Moose?

When my daughter Jordan was little, she was incredibly bossy with her younger brother.  One day when they were two and three, Josh was putting supplies away in the art cabinet. Jordan looked over his shoulder and said, "Not like that, Joshy!"

Josh turned to me and said sadly, "I never do anything right."    

Poor little guy!

Later on, Jordan was watching a Franklin episode on TV and it happened to be about bossiness.  

I watched... extremely interested to see how it would play out    Franklin was being bossy, so his friends all decided not to play with him anymore.  Naturally, he "learned his lesson" and apologized and promised not to be bossy anymore. It was so didactic.

I said to my writing partner Becky, "Let's write a story about bossiness that is not preachy."

And WHAT ABOUT MOOSE? was born. 

Moose is building a tree house with a bunch of friends.   He is so busy ordering everyone around that he doesn't realize that he is getting boxed inside. 

I am thrilled to announce that this story was recently acquired by the lovely Emma Ledbetter at Atheneum (Simon & Schuster).  

And in case, you already knew that, here is some new news-  it will be illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi!  

We are super excited to see Keika bring this story to life!

Why I Don't Blog Anymore

When I started to blog in late 2008, I was madly in love with it.  One might even say "obsessed."  (Especially if "one' happened to be a neglected member of my family)

I got 169 posts up in my first full calendar year, and must have read and commented on literally tens of thousands of others.  In 2010, I was down to 84 posts, and in 2012, I set a goal of 24 and sadly, couldn't even manage that. 

I used to get so many benefits from blogging.  A sense of community.  A feeling of connectedness and support. A way to procrastinate doing laundry.  

What happened?  I asked myself.

Did I have burn out?  Had I run out of things to say? Was it because my kids were older and were not giving me as much funny material?

How could I have stopped blogging?

And that's when I realized.... I haven't stopped. 

It is just now called-- Facebook.  Posts are shorter (and referred to as "status updates").  But the essence is the same. (just ask the neglected husband and kids)

And so, my days of posting here are pretty much behind me. However, since I can't update my web site myself, I will use this blog as the dynamic portion of my site. It'll kind of be my "News and Events" section.

And speaking of news... I have a LOT of it! 

So stay tuned.

The 2012 Picture Book Oscars

And the awards go to...


BEST MALE CHARACTER

Big Mean Mike in BIG MEAN MIKE





BEST FEMALE CHARACTER

Goldilocks in GOLDILOCKS AND JUST ONE BEAR

 



BEST MALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

The dinosaur from Norway in GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS

 


BEST FEMALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

Gran in ME WANT PET





BEST CHARACTER IN A NON-SPEAKING ROLE

The carrots in CREEPY CARROTS!
 




BEST FULL CAST ENSEMBLE

Davy, Petey, Mike, Stu, Mickey, Carl, Pip, Ralph, Tate, Lenny, Gil, Ned, & Bob in ANOTHER BROTHER

 


BEST FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Dog in DOG IN CHARGE





BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

THIS MOOSE BELONGS TO ME




And finally....

BEST PICTURE BOOK

BOY + BOT

Happy 2013!

Wow, I haven't blogged since the summer!

Here are the last four months
in a nutshell:

SEPTEMBER

Book Launch

OCTOBER

Hurricane Sandy

NOVEMBER

Atlantis

DECEMBER

Holidays

And there you have it.

See you in May.

 (just kidding :)