First Day of School (Visits)

Yesterday marked a new first for me and WHO WILL DANCE WITH ME?.

I've done readings at libraries and bookstores. A few times I've done art projects or tea parties. I've even done art festivals and bazaars. Once I sat on a panel for self-publishing.

Now I can add 'school visits' to the list.

Learning Brooke Early Learning Center in Cranston opened its door to me for back-to-back sessions with some of their students. It was a very different environment from what I've been used to up until now and I have to admit I was a bit nervous. All that changed as soon as I got started. (I'm going to apologize now for any misspelled names as I didn't write them down while I was there.)

The kids in Miss Amanda and Miss Lindsey's Pre-K class were very excited. They had lots of things they wanted to share about their favorite animals, both real and stuffed. Their favorites ranged widely from dogs to elephants and giraffes to fire-breathing dragons. At the end, as I got ready to head down the hall to the kindergarten class, one of the kids asked if he could give me a hug. It ended with me getting mobbed by fourteen 4-year olds all intent on giving me a group hug.

From there, I went to the kindergarten class of Miss Kelly. A slightly smaller and more subdued class, but by no means less imaginative. To start with, their favorite animals included saber-tooth cats (I found out later this was thanks to a Magic Treehouse Book) and a werewolf-vampire-zombie (he confirmed it was all one animal).

I spent more time with the kindergartners as we also made masks. For the first time, I had kids reshaping the paper plates to fit what they wanted to make rather than coloring on certain features or adding construction paper shapes.

These kids were also the most perceptive ones I've read to yet. They had theories about why certain features of Rhino, like his horn, wouldn't bother Grace (she was the smallest so the horn went over her head). They even had a list of questions written out to ask me concerning how to write and publish a book. Afterwards, Miss Kelly informed me they were going to try writing their own book for a contest. When they're done, she's going to e-mail me the result. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

My first school visit is now officially under my belt. I had a fantastic reception and wonderfully curious kids. I'm ready for my next one.

A Little Praise is Nice

Wanted to share the lovely message I received in my email this week. I've taken out identifying details.
I love getting notes like this.

Hi Emily,
I am a youth services librarian at the (Town) Public Library. My Library Director recently gave me a copy of your book, Who Will Dance With Me? to consider for inclusion in the juvenile collection. While our general policy requires that books be reviewed in professional library journals, your book is well written and contains such a positive message that I would like to include it in our picture book collection.
Please let me know what the cost of the book is and how payment can be made to you.

Thank you for thinking of the (Town) Public Library and I wish you well with your lovely book!

(Librarian), youth services librarian

Making Masks and Reading

On Wednesday, July 17th, I was invited to do an author signing/reading along with some Arts & Crafts at Woonsocket Harris Library. Here are the pictures from that fantastic event.

Masks! One Tiger getting fitted.

Making Masks

Bug came, too! Making an elephant mask.

Reading our story

Thanks everyone for coming and having a great time with me!

Having a Party and You're Invited!

With the rainy weather lately, I know kids are getting a bit crazy. Bring them down for some library time with me!

Next Wednesday at the Woonsocket Library, I'll be returning for another reading and signing. But, there's more! Before the signing, we'll be doing a craft project. That's right, get there early with the kids and sit back while they make animal masks. After, they can wear their masks while we read the story.

Hope to see you all there!

Event Info

Where: Woonsocket Harris Library

303 Clinton Street, Woonsocket, RI

When: Wednesday, July 17th, 2013

Time: 10 am  

Who: Children under 7. 

(Older is fine, but story is geared for younger.)

What: Arts & Crafts and Story time

Books will be available for purchase.

June is Bustin' Out All Around

For those of you who don't know, I've been busy, busy, busy. Revisions and rewrites are happening on my Picture Book Week manuscripts. One of them is close to being ready to go out into the Querying World. Hopefully it will flourish out there on it's own.

June is also a very busy month for me. Besides the usual winding down of school year activities, I also have several book events. The first is Saturday, June 15th at Booklovers' Gourmet in Webster, MA. If you're in the area, come down and have one of their fabulous snacks, buy a couple books and visit with me.

I'll also be at the Charlton Library on Wednesday, June 24th. I'd love to see see everyone's smiling face there as well. You can always see where I'll be on my Appearance Page.

And, if you want to see me, but don't want to come to a book reading, you can see me perform stories not written by me at Mutton and Mead Festival. Stop by and say hello. I'll be easy to find --- just follow the trail of mud.

In case you weren't aware, I'm also (slightly) musically inclined. You can hear me squawking away with several bands all month long. (By several I mean three. By all month long, I mean ALL MONTH LONG.)

So, that's June in a nutshell. I'm slightly relieved that Camp NaNo is next month and not this month. I can barely eke out enough time to write a blog post, never mind a whole novel.

What is everyone else doing this lovely month?

And the Winner...

Thank you to everyone who voted. For some reason, Blogger poll decided to keep resetting, but I was keeping track of votes on my own. THE NOISE GOBBLER pulled ahead, followed closely by THE LONELY MINOTAUR. Tying for third were PURPLE ORANGES and KNICK-KNACK KNUCKLE. I now have an order in which to start my editing and revisions. Thanks!

As a reward, I will now give you a quick synopsis of the winner. Enjoy and don't be afraid to let me know what you think in the comments.

Benjamin Bibbity won't go to bed. He stomps on the floor and shouts instead. When everyone else is fast asleep, from under the bed, THE NOISE GOBBLER creeps.

Mostly made up of ears, the creature eats every sound it hears. Peace and quiet is better than sheep, helping everyone to soundly sleep.

I'm excited to get to work on this and looking forward to sharing it with everyone!

New Projects in the Pipeline

This past week was PiBoWriWee --- Picture Book Writing Week. The challenge: To write a new picture book draft every day for seven days. To my own amazement, I managed to complete it.

Now, I'm facing a new challenge. With seven fresh picture book manuscripts to work on, which one do I tackle first? This is where you all come in.

I'm posting the Working Titles ONLY for each of the seven books. These titles may change in the future, but they're how I'm identifying them for now. Armed with only the titles and any information you may have picked up from me over the week, I want you to vote on my next project.

Voting will be open until the weekend, when I hope to start in on edits and revisions on the winner. The candidates are:

1. PURPLE ORANGES

2. KNICK-KNACK KNUCKLE

3. DELILAH GRAY

4. PERFECT PET

5. THE NOISE GOBBLER

6.  THE LONELY MINOTAUR

7. HIC, HIC, HICCUP

So, lovelies, what's it gonna be? You can click on your choice in the poll on the right. Thoughts and comments are always welcome as well.