25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi

Buckeye Award + mo' nice news.

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Buckeye Children's and Teen Book Award 
The vote in Ohio is important for kids, too.  Every year, school kids from all over Ohio get to nominate, then vote on their favorite books of the year.  The book with the most votes in each catagory gets a Buckeye Award.

I'm thrilled to report that this year the K-2 kids voted Elephant and Piggie's WE ARE IN A BOOK! as their fave.

There's nothing better than having your real audience enjoy your work.

The winners in older catagories are pals Brian Selznick and Rick Riordan.

Thanks Ohio students for your support!



2012ChildWinners Bannana!
In other nice news, thanks to you GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS has popped back onto the bestseller lists for both Indie Bound (#11) and the New York Times (#8)!


Thanks, you!

Speaking of you, (if you're in Colorado) you can help decide which picture book is the next Colorado One Book 4 All choice right here. Maybe it will be Knuffle Bunny? 

LET'S GO FOR A DRIVE! wins Geisel Honor!

To contact us Click HERE
I was awakened last night by a phone call with the most wonderful news, the American Library Association's Geisel Committee has awarded Elephant and Piggie's LET'S GO FOR A DRIVE! a Geisel Honor!


 ALA has been very generous regarding my books, Elephant and Piggie's in particular.  But, I must say that every time I get the call it's more exciting than the last time. The honor feels all the more special.

It's been a decade since I started my quixotic journey of trying to make funny books for children and their ilk. And it is thanks to the support and passion of librarians and teachers that I am able to continue doing so.

Every project is a new adventure, a plan that, like Elephant and Piggie's plans in this book, go awry.  It is a challenge to let these stories go their own way.  It is a joy to see them out in the real world with real readers.  It is wonderful to know that those who actually use my books think they are worth commending.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the great team at Hyperion and my agent who prod, challenge, and encourage me to do my best (by pointing out when I'm not doing my best).

Thank you, ALA.


Thank you, READERS!

(For those of you keeping score at home, this makes 10 stickers in 10 years. Or to put it another way 10 more incredible acts of recognition that I'd ever dreamed of receiving during a decade that I was sure would end with me scrambling to find a 3rd career.)

I'm off!

To contact us Click HERE


I'm off for a quick visit to NYC, LA, & SF. I hope you'll drop by one of the events if you're in the neighborhood! 


And don't forget to Tuneinto WestCoast Live on Saturday Feb. 9th (orcome by the show in San Francisco and see it live).  I'll be talking aboutthe comedy show and mo'. Pal, Dave Barry will also be doing his thing.  Itshould be fun.
(Note the San Francisco Sketchfest show, DON'T LET THE COMEDIANS DO STORYTIME! is sold out, but I'm told there may be one or two last minute stand-bys available)



Posts will return, when I do, in a week or so, but I'm sure The_Pigeon will continue tweeting while I'm away. 


Some nice news:


Thanks to you, GOLDILOCKS & THE 3 DINOSAURS will return on next week's New York Times Bestseller list at #8!  Thanks, you.

The animated film productions of KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE and EDWINA THE DINOSAUR THAT DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS EXTINCT have been named Notable by the American Library Association.  While both films are only available right now for the School and Library Market, I've been informed that they'll be released this summer in a 3rd Mo Willems Collection along with DON'T LET THE PIGEON STAY UP LATE! and some fun interviews and bonus material.

Here's a mini-review of DON'T LET THE PIGEON RUN THIS APP! in the NY Newsday, and a nice mini review of LET'S GO FOR A DRIVE! from Scripps Howard.

I'm back.

To contact us Click HERE
I'm back from a great trip, digging out (literally & email-i-ally) from the avalance of stuff that I need to attend to.

So, quickly:

Thanks to everyone who came out to MoMA, SCBWI, The Grove in LA, & Sketchfest in SF.  Every appearance was great fun and very different,

Here's an image of the DON'T LET THE COMEDIANS DO STORYTIME! class picture.  As you can see Patton was upset he didn't get to hold a book:

Front Row: Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Joe Lo Truglio, David Wain,  and Patton "Fussy" Oswalt.  Back Row: Mr. Willems,  Ken Marino, Jeneane Garofalo, Andy Richter,  Laraine Newman, and Michael Ian Black. photo by Jakub Mosur

David Wain took this shot from the stage while Ken Marino & Rachel Dratch played Elephant & Piggie, repectively.
 The Sketchfest show was great fun.  I hope to do something similar again.

If you'd like to hear the radio interview I did on West Coast Live, click here and scroll down to "West Coast Live".  My interview begins @ minute 23.  Pal Dave Barry is on in the 2nd hour. [The link will be live thru Sat. 2/16.]



If you're in the voting mood, swing on over to ReadKiddoRead, where you can vote for all kinds of favorite books, including (if you scroll down) GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS.

Thanks to ALA for naming GOLDILOCKS and LET'S GO FOR A DRIVE! as Notable Books this year.  A reall thrill.

Hope everyone had a great Mardi Gras & thanks to all for the kind birthday wishes...

Irma Black Awards

To contact us Click HERE

Every year kids across the nation get to vote for their favorite picture book via the Bank Street School's Irma Black Awards.

I love a program that allows actual picture book readers to have their voices heard.


This year it looks like two of the four nominees are THE DUCKLING GETS A COOKIE!? and GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS.  I'm flattered to have so much of my work represented.



SLJ has the full story here.

If you want your school to participate in the voting, you can register here.

The winner will be announced in late May.

Thanks to the kids who nominated my books and Bank Street. 

Happy voting!

24 Şubat 2013 Pazar

I'm at Theresa Milstein's blog today and a big welcome to Alyson Burdette and Nightfire

To contact us Click HERE
Today is the third day of my blog tour. I'm at Theresa Milstein's blog which she calls Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts. Patrick Dilloway would be proud of such alliteration. I would appreciate a visit over there to say hi if you have the time.

Today I'm turning my blog over to a talented debut author named Alyson Burdette. I just purchased Nightfire two days ago on my Kindle and haven't gotten that far. But the prologue was good (Yes! she had the courage to write a prologue).Why You Should Be Writing.

Some people think that it takes a certain sort of person to write a book. (Insert mental image of furrowed brows, typewriters and crumpled papers.) I, personally, think anyone can, and should write a book. Sure, it’s a lot of hard work and incredibly time consuming but the payoff is worth it. It’s a great feeling to know that you’ve finished something so few people do.

I also think that every individual has something unique and interesting to say. No one else in the world has your perspective, beliefs or experiences in the world. You can take your life experiences and put them into fictional characters, a memoir, a poem, or any other form you can think of. Writing is a great way to solidify and understand who you are as a person. It can be great therapy, or even a simple distraction to get you through a difficult time. And it’s a great way to share who you are with the world.

Think you don’t have time to write a book? Think about it this way. If you write just 1,000 words a day, in less than two months, you will have a short 50,000 word book put together. In four months at that pace you will have a 120,000 word book done. That’s writing 3-4 double spaced pages a day. If you write just a little at a time, it becomes a much more manageable task.

So if you are writing, Great! Keep doing it and try not to let the frustrations of the writing world overwhelm you. If you aren’t, why not start? There’s no better time than now.

Look, I did it. If I can do it, so can you. Just peek at the blurb below- my 60,000 word paranormal romance, Nightfire, was an idea floating in my head and now it’s an E-book. Real-live people can buy and read it.

Nightfire Blurb:

When a murder shakes the small town of Peninsula, all eyes are on Olivia Townsend. She may look eighteen, but the townspeople can sense there’s something darker hiding behind her pretty eyes. Olivia knows the smart thing to do is to get out of town. Suspicious neighbors can only mean trouble for a vampire. But leaving becomes much more difficult when William, a mysterious man from her past, arrives. Finding out what brought him back is a temptation Olivia just can’t resist. William’s kindness and interest in Olivia only makes leaving harder. As she starts to fall for him, she’s forced to decide if sticking around is really worth the risk of being discovered. Of course, her mystery man has a secret of his own-and he’s not talking.

I know everyone of you is capable of creating something amazing. So do it.

Alyson Burdette currently lives in a small town in Ohio. She graduated from The University of Akron, where she majored in Anthropology. When she’s not writing, she spends her time hiking, dancing, and hunting for ghosts.

You can find her at: http://alysonburdette.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/AlysonBurdette

http://www.paranormalpursuits.net

or contact her by email:

Alyson_burdette@yahoo.com

Nightfire is available atMusapublishingAmazon
and other major E-book retailers.

Buckeye Award + mo' nice news.

To contact us Click HERE
Buckeye Children's and Teen Book Award 
The vote in Ohio is important for kids, too.  Every year, school kids from all over Ohio get to nominate, then vote on their favorite books of the year.  The book with the most votes in each catagory gets a Buckeye Award.

I'm thrilled to report that this year the K-2 kids voted Elephant and Piggie's WE ARE IN A BOOK! as their fave.

There's nothing better than having your real audience enjoy your work.

The winners in older catagories are pals Brian Selznick and Rick Riordan.

Thanks Ohio students for your support!



2012ChildWinners Bannana!
In other nice news, thanks to you GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS has popped back onto the bestseller lists for both Indie Bound (#11) and the New York Times (#8)!


Thanks, you!

Speaking of you, (if you're in Colorado) you can help decide which picture book is the next Colorado One Book 4 All choice right here. Maybe it will be Knuffle Bunny?