Minneapolis Target Book Festival

I'll be appearing at the Target Book Festival in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 11th.

I've never been but I expect it to be the Lollapalooza of Book Festivals!

And as an extra bonus, Lamb Chop and Hip Hop Harry will be there!

Super Mega Epic Virginia Book Tour!

7 schools, over 3000 kids, and a whole lot of fun!
I was lucky enough to spend 10 days giving presentations to elementary schools in the great state of Virginia.

Here's a video that tries to capture the experience:



Did that seem like a blur? Yeah, it did for me too! A super awesome blur!
So here's a run down of just what happened:

St. Bridget's School in Richmond
Thanks to Assistant Principal Charlene Bechely, and Principal Ray Honeycutt for setting up the visit.
And extra super special thanks to Ann Neuhaus for promoting the event, selling books, and providing a bag of Bill's BBQ for the author at 9AM!

* You know that the Principal is cool when he asks you to draw on his shirt!

South Anna Elementary School in Montpelier

I was able to lead a group of exceptional 5th grade art students in the creation of a story that we all drew out on ceiling tiles. The kids are going to paint them and they will be placed back in the schools ceiling so that everyone can see their great work!

Huge thanks to Lara Ivey and Julie Dauksys at Growing Up With Books (it's like Netflix for books!) for making this visit so special!

They really promoted the event and had the kids fill the school with 'What's at the end of the red string art work!

They even gave me a goodie bag filled with diet appropriate snacks, South Anna swag, and.......... a cell phone strap with my favorite Japanese character, Sato Chan, on it! Lara had it shipped from Japan!!

Beech Tree Elementary School in Falls Church (My old elementary school!)
Thanks to Ellen Valentine for setting up this visit.


Pennington Elementary School in Manassas

Colonial Trail Elementary School in Glen Allen

Extra special thanks to Jackie Rice and Linda Levine for making this happen!

Rivers Edge Elementary School in Glen Allen
Thank you to Susie Milwit and Principal Johnna Riley for putting together the visit!



Nuckols Farm Elementary School in Henrico
Thanks to Principal Mary Cox and Assistant Principal Lisa Merriam for hosting my visit.
And super-sized muchas gracias to Diane Schnupp and her family for making everything so easy and treating me like a Rock Star!

Thanks to everyone at the schools for their amazing southern hospitality!

Moustaches, Math, and Merriment!

Last weekend's book signing/presentation at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena was a blast!

I tried donning a moustache and reading from my new book, The Joy Of Math, but apparently kids aren't that excited by math and moustaches on Saturday mornings. Go figure!
So I read them HUGO, did some drawing, and fed them some cake. When in doubt, give them cake!

Thanks to everyone who came out.
If you didn't make it, here's a super condensed video version of what you missed:




Special thanks to Tom Warburton for being my crowd wrangler! He seemed to use the "BOO" sign quite a bit but I probably deserved it!

Bustin' a book!

Last Saturday, LL Cool J was signing his book at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena.
This Saturday, it's my turn!

I'll be reading, drawing, and generally making a fool of myself!
The fun begins at 10:30am. Bring the whole family!

Maybe I'll even bust out a rap or two!

Peace out!

Color Blind Fun!

Messing around with some black and white art for a new book.

L.A Times Festival of Books

If you're headed to the L.A.Times Festival of Books, come by and say hi!
I'll be there on Saturday between 2-3 PM signing books at the CM School Supply and Bookstore booth (#839).
It's right across from the Target Stage. So once you get bored with me, you can go see my uber-talented pal, and author of Lunch Lady, Jarrett Krosoczka. He hits the stage at 2:20PM.

So, put down your iPads and come check out some real books!
All the info is here. http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Oliver and Friends

I got to meet the amazing Oliver Jeffers today!
"Oliver who?" you ask. Oliver Jeffers! One of the most super amazing artist/authors in the world!
Plus, he has an awesome moustache! I think it has magical powers.

Seriously, check out his brilliance here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnPk8gmwPuQ

He was appearing at Mrs. Nelson's Books where he gave a wonderful presentation that included him redrawing his books as his friend read them and a paper airplane flying competition!



I carpooled out to the event with my amazing artist pals James Burks and Dan Santat. And while we were there, we got to hang out with a couple of cool new pals, Alethea Allarey, Alyson Beecher, and Candace Ryan.

I'd try to give a better description of the event but Alethea does a great job on her blog- http://www.readnowsleeplater.com/2010/04/makeover-by-oliver-jeffers.html



I was lucky enough to snag a couple of Oliver's drawings and get him to sign a few books.

Needless to say, it was an awesome and inspiring afternoon! Now, pardon me as I go try to grow a magical moustache!

Birth of a book!

My first children's book, Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String, hits the stores today!

And in celebration, I'm posting some of the first little lunchtime scribbles of Hugo. It's always fun to look back at where an idea started and see how far it's come.

Lights! Camera! Book!

My first children's book, Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String, will be in book stores on March 23rd.

Here is a silly little video that I put together to help promote it.

Many thanks to Jann Carl for the lending her voice over skills and the neighborhood kids for sharing their amazing acting abilities.

Three Kisses for Tomie

I've recently had the pleasure of becoming pals with the uber talented, rock star of the children's publishing world, Jarrett Krosoczka.

Jarrett and his wife Gina have started a really cool tribute blog to the legendary author/illustrator Tomie dePaola in honor of his 75th birthday.
It's called Three Kisses for Tomie.
They have reached out to the Children's book community to create artwork in celebration of Tomie and I was lucky enough to be included.

Check it out- http://threekissesfortomie.blogspot.com/

Thanks Jarret and Gina!