Monday, May 22, 2017

Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival


I designed the poster for the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival! (My kiddos drew the flowers.) This is a great, FREE comics fest for young comics creators and readers. Perhaps we'll see you in June?

I mean, holy moly, check out this lineup!http://a2caf.com/guests

Different Kinds of Intelligence

During Q&A at a school visit, a student asked me if I was smart when I was a kid.
This question took me back some because I wondered where this might be coming from for this child. I've also never been asked this particular question before.
This is how I answered. I told him that everyone has intelligence and that there are different kinds of intelligence. Some people are really smart when it comes to science, some people are really smart when it comes to athleticism, some people are really smart when it comes to understanding behaviors and relationships. When I was a kid, I had artistic intelligence, but mathematics never came easily to me.
I hope that my answer helped this student recognize the intelligence within him.

Love



This is what love looks like to an author. ‬

Monday, May 15, 2017

Questions from Readers

KID AT SCHOOL VISIT: Who controls the rights to a character after the author dies?
ME: *slowly backs out of room, maintaining eye contact*

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KID AT LIBRARY: You said you'll be making books forever, so will you be writing books when you're in your grave?
ME: Hopefully I'll have enough in-progress work to be published posthumously.
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KID: How old are you?
ME: I'm so old that when I was your age, it was the late 1900s.
KID: Then how are you still alive?

Seneca Falls Public Library


‪Thank you to this fine-looking crew who filled the Seneca Falls Public Library. A special shout to the family who drove three hours to see me. I'm honored‪!

School Lunch Hero Day 2017!

I had a GREAT time celebrating School Lunch Hero Day in Dorchester, MA, at Trotter School! I used to live just around the corner back when I started writing the Lunch Lady series. 

The students made incredible projects for their Lunch Mothers, as they are called at the school. All of the poems and letters were read aloud by the kids in both English and Spanish—it brought people to tears. 

I hope that you all enjoyed whooping it up at your school's cafeteria. Wherever you celebrated, we'll do it again on May 4, 2018!









Monday, May 01, 2017

Naptastrophe! giveaway!



My latest picture book is here! Please read Naptastophe! to any kid who doesn't like to nap. This story is based loosely on real events with my own daughter...except we aren't rabbits. Whenever my little girl refused a nap, I would proclaim, "This is a total naptastrophe!" Because then we would run errands, and things always went awry with so much overstimulation at every turn.


“Parents and children will recognize themselves and their own frustrations.” —School Library Journal


I hope that caregivers and children will enjoy reading this book and laughing together! Amazon just selected Naptastrophe! as one of their Best Books of the Month for baby- Age 2.

I'll be giving away some sets of picture books and some original artwork. Please see below to learn how you can win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway









Interviewing Jeff Kinney at Carnegie Hall!

If you'd like to watch two knuckleheads banter back and forth, talk cartoons and draw, this is your video:







Jeff Kinney outlines his speeches with cartoons to help prompt topics. This is our script from today's event. Can you tell which part was about Lunch Lady?

And here is a closer look at that painting that I made for Jeff to celebrate ten years of Wimpy Kid!