Sharing the wealth...

One of the best things about discovering a great book is sharing it with others.  When our first niece was born, the Coffee Queen and I decided we were going to be the aunt and uncle who give books.  This year for Christmas the nieces received Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Because of Winn-Dixie.

The other day my sister sent me this photo (only partly staged):

Enjoying their books

Our older niece has been reading longer books like this for a while, but this was the first book of this length the younger one had tackled.  It's a joy to be able to share these stories with them, and there are so many, many more wonderful ones to introduce them to.

PiBoIdMo!

I've done NaNoWriMo before, but this year, as I've started to write picture books, I'm participating in PiBoIdMo - Picture Book Idea Month.  The concept is simple: come up with an idea for a picture book every day for 30 days.  It's hosted by author Tara Lazar over at her blog.  So far it's day 2 and I've come up with 4 ideas, so here it goes for the rest of the month!

"Flora and Ulysses" by Kate DiCamillo

A couple of weeks ago the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul held an event to celebrate the release of Kate DiCamillo's new book, Flora and Ulysses.  The Tale of Despereaux is one of my favorite books and, as you probably already know, I'm writing a book about a superhero rabbit, so how could I not love a superhero squirrel?  (And I swear, I had no idea she was writing about a superhero animal when I started my book.)

The event was a lot of fun, and as an aspiring writer it was encouraging to hear that even a writer as successful as Kate still finds writing hard.  MPR recorded the event for broadcast and you can find the full audio here.  Afterwards Kate signed books and was gracious enough to pose for photos as well.  I felt sorry for the parents further back in line though, as I have a feeling it took awhile to get everyone through.  I had my copies of both Flora and Ulysses and Despereaux signed and, yes, had a photo taken.  There aren't many people I'm excited to meet in person, but Kate DiCamillo is one of them.  I mentioned Jane's workshop and she asked what I was writing.  Really, I didn't steal the idea!

It's Kate DiCamillo!  She writes great books!

I had to pace myself so as not to tear through Flora and Ulysses in one sitting.  It was wonderful, my favorite of hers since Despereaux.  I especially loved Ulysses.  The joy that fills him after his near-death experience is just delightful. 

In Jane's workshops we often talk about finding the one moment that sums up the emotional line of the story.  In Flora and Ulysses the moment that jumped out at me was when Flora tells Ulysses, when he experiences a moment of indecision, "Remember who you are."  My week at my day job after the book release event was a long and hard one.  Times like that are always harder for me because I'd rather be writing, I feel I should be writing.  But that line gave me something to hold on to.  A good story is like that.  So remember who you are, dear readers, remember.

Saturday morning with the Little Scoot

But before we get to scooters, a little about today's adventure. This morning the Little Scoot and I had some father/son time at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul. They were having a publication party for Three Triceratops Tuff, a new picture book by local author Stephen Shaskan. It's the story of the three Billy Goats Gruff, only with dinosaurs. How can you not love that?

Outside the Red Balloon Bookshop

Red Balloon is a delightful children's bookshop on Grand Avenue and they had a great turnout for this event. And the Little Scoot had a blast. Shaskan played the guitar and sang several songs with the kids both before and after reading his book. Little Scoot hopped right up in front and danced and sang his little heart out! (He was sad when it was time to sit back down for the reading.) We bought a copy of the book, of course, and had it autographed (Little Scoot's birthday is coming up, perfect). Then we had to enjoy a piece of cake courtesy of the wonderful staff at Red Balloon. They wanted to know if it was our first time there, which it was. We will definitely be back.

Shaskan singing for the kids (Little Scoot is in the blue stripes)

After the reading I promised the Little Scoot a special treat: strawberry ice cream at the Grand Ole Creamery. The perfect ending to a perfect morning with my favorite little man.

Who likes ice cream?  We do!