Friday, November 28, 2008

Chillin' with Santa

This Saturday at 11 AM, I'll be at the Cup and Top Cafe in Florence, Ma (It's my local coffee haunt) to read, draw and sign. The walls will also be adorned with Punk Farm prints and the original paintings of the Punk Farm groupies from PunkFarmSpace.com. What's that you say? You need more incentive? Well the jolly fat man himself, Santa Claus, will be the star of his own parade in Florence Center at 10 AM. 

I will be adding this to the list of things I never thought I would do in my life. I once opened for Barney. Now I'll be closing for Santa.

Holly, Jolly!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Funny kid story

Librarian Terri of Lexington, SC recently wrote in with this funny kid story. She happily agreed to let me post the story here. Enjoy!


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A second grader just came to the library with her class and immediately asked for a book about Tchaikovsky. I located our biography and tried to hand it to her, but received a blank stare in return. I asked "Didn't you want a book about Tchaikovsky?" And she replied, "I wanted Punk Farm". (What???) I found "Punk Farm" for her and told her I was confused about what "Punk Farm" and Tchaikovsky had in common and she replied, you know, that author who came for Family Reading Night, Jarrett Tchaikovsky."

Monday, November 24, 2008

Another group photo

The group photo of all the local authors and illustrators (who also turned up for the opening) is now available on the R. Michelson Gallery website.

Check it out here. And see if you recognize any names or faces!

Group photo from gallery opening

Ah ha! I have found the group photo! The R. Michelson Gallery hired photographer Seth Kaye to document the event and he has posted some pictures over at his blog. Here is a picture of all of the artists who were both in the show and present at the opening reception.

Front row: Ruth Sanderson, Dianne deGroat, Kathy Brown, Jane Dyer, Mordicai Gerstein, Barry Moser, Rebecca Guay.
Back row: Tony DiTerlizzi, Rich Michelson, Scott Fischer, Me, Mo Willems.

And the picture with ALL of the local authors and illustrators is about 3 times that size! What a neighborhood!!!


Check out all of Seth's pictures over at his blog.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Japanese edition of Punk Farm

Copies of the Japanese edition have finally come in. And they look so cool!

Oddly enough, they include the English character of "J" for my middle initial, but use Japanese characters for the rest of my name. And to be honest - I don't know what anything says in the book. I think that's pretty neat. I would love to know what the literal translation is. Perhaps someday I will meet someone who speaks Japanese and at that moment, I will have the book on me at the time!

Enjoy this little peak at the book.





Friday, November 21, 2008

the R. Michelson show

If you missed the opening of the R. Michelson's annual children's illustrations show last Sunday, you missed quite the party. A majority of the artists in the show were present and even more artists and authors stopped by. And there were a ton - as evidenced by the amount of people who posed for the group photo. As soon as I spot a copy of that photo floating around on the Internet, I'll be sure to post it here.

Here are a few of my photos from the festivities. And if you are going to be near Northampton, do stop by the gallery to see the work in person!



Richard Michelson addresses the crowd.


Norton Juster receives an award for his
dedication to the Reader to Reader program.



Scott Fischer's coordination skills rival his drawing skills
(and his drawing skills are mad good, yo.)



Also, our good neighebors from the Great White North were in town. Mark and Andrea (and their lovely daughters) of the Just One More Book podcast were in town to take it all in and record hours upon hours of audio for their show. That will be up at some point on their site, but in the meantime, check out their Flickr page here.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

This American Life in concert

Every week he brings you a theme. Then he brings you a variety of stories based on that theme. This week. Ira Glass comes to Northampton, MA.

And we got to sit in the 2nd row.

It was awesome.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Holy SCBWI Moly


Looks like I'll be opening the SCBWI 2009 Winter Conference in NYC. If you are attending, I promise not to disappoint.

I may even have a few surprises.

Check out the lineup here!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Dinner Theater or Dinner Theatre (it was a classy event)

I've seen many cool things on my school visits, but I've never had a dinner theater. On a recent trip to Virginia, the 1st graders at Ashby Lee Elementary put together an amazing spectacle of drama, humor and rock. There were sets, props and costumes. Local dignitaries were invited to dine on Baghead, Punk Farm and Slug themed foods, while mini productions based on my books unfolded from every corner of the room. I had a tear in my eye, it was very moving - and hilarious. Some of those kids have bright futures in Hollywood.

They even made me wear a crown and a sash. I can't say I've ever worn a sash before. Here I am practicing my wave.

upcoming local events

Hey there blog readers, I have a few local events coming up that you might be interested in.

On Saturday (Nov 15) I'll be at Barnes & Noble in Holyoke, MA @ 11AM in support of WGBY (Western New England's PBS). Check out their Book Fair website.

On Sunday (Nov 16) I'll be at the opening reception of the R. Michelson's annual illustration show. There will be a slew of illustrator pals showing and an even greater slew of author and illustrator pals in attendance. That goes down @ 4PM.

Next Thursday (Nov 20) I'll be giving a slideshow on the creation of Punk Farm at the Vevins Memorial Library in Methuen, MA @ 5:30.

Next Saturday (Nov 22) I'll be reading & signing at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA @ 11 AM. This is a GREAT indie shop and it will be my first event with them. I'm very excited!

In two Saturdays from now (Nov 29) I'll be reading & signing at my local coffee haunt - the Cup and Top Cafe. Great coffee, great play space for kids and they always have great art on the walls! And in Dec/Jan, they'll have some of my work on the walls.

See you around!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

big decision ahead for new president

The election is over! Now, I'm not one to get political on this here blog - but if you watched last night's historical and inspirational speech by President-elect Obama, you heard him make a promise. It was a promise to his daughters, Malia and Sasha, that they could now get a puppy. I'm going to stick to my ideals of not voicing my political opinions in this arena, but Ralph has no such qualms.


Ralph Macchio is officially throwing his support behind the pug breed for first pet.





Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Happy Election Day

Happy Election Day!

I voted. If you're older than 18, I hope you did, too!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Ralph Macchio - Halloween week BONUS!

Day 6: MULLET!!!!
Sure, Halloween was yesterday, but there
really never is a bad time to rock the mullet.
Today, Ralph will be enjoying his Halloween treats
and playing some Guitar Hero. PARTY ON!