Prairie Bud Award

Just received word that Even Monsters Need Haircuts has won the Prairie Bud, the 2012-2013 South Dakota Children’s Book Award. Thanks, South Dakota!

(More info here.)

Over the last two weeks I’ve had some terrific visits to Coxsackie Elementary, Penn Yan Elementary, Ginther Elementary and Rensselaer Park. Each one was special in its own way, and I wish I had time to give a full report. My thanks to everyone at those schools who worked so hard to make the visits a success. Here are just two highlights:

At Penn Yan Elementary they built a giant Backbeard puzzle, then added pieces to it every day, gradually revealing the secret of who was coming to visit.

And at Rensselaer Park Elementary students each created bookmarks. All the bookmarks were then assembled into a giant bookmark collage. (Click the picture below to get the full effect.)

At each school I discovered incredible projects and amazing artwork. What a welcome!

Monday I visited Lake Avenue Elementary in Saratoga, NY. It was a great visit, and one of the highlights for me was the fact that they still had their old card catalog. Even better, a bunch of my older books were still in it!

Finding my card in the drawer is an experience I haven’t had in a long time…

This Friday I visited Miller Hill Sand Lake Elementary in Averill Park, NY and enjoyed managed to choke down one of the most disgusting lunches I’ve ever eaten. The fifth grade had a contest to design food that aliens might enjoy, and some of them went so far as to actually cook their creations.

There were black egg-like things, dripping eyeballs, green brain matter, and stuff no one could quite identify. I sampled (nearly) everything, and forty-eight hours later my stomach hasn’t sprouted any strange, alien creatures. I take that as a good sign.

Thanks to everyone at MHSL for the fun vista and the delicious disgusting lunch. I hope we can do it again sometime!

I’m thrilled to announce that The Lion’s Share has been nominated for this year’s Patricia Gallagher Picture Book Award given by the Oregon Reading Association. The award is named for Patricia Gallagher, a retired Western Oregon professor of children’s literature who is a former president of ORA.

Thanks, Oregon!