 
Denise & Pierre reporting for Francoise
My first trip was to the Huntsville Alabama Library's Great BIg Book Bash. The students at Lynn-Fanning Elementary school welcomed me with amazing art, a great readers theatre, a delightful poem, and a lively song, along with a delicious lunch complete with table decorations from my books. I felt very welcome!
  
The library folk put on an original puppet show about In The Tall, Tall Grass. It was great fun. They gave out awards for beetle designs. The winner was a Darth Vader Beetle made out of black jelly beans - very cool.
Parents and children worked together to create a giant cut paper mural. It was pretty amazing - the cutting edge in murals! I met lots and lots of wonderful people in Alabama. Thank you all for being so enthusiastic.  
Hello. Pierre standing in for Ms. Francoise. I traveled with Denise and David to the McConnell conference in Lexington Ky. I met George Ella Lyon. She told me that sometimes people who have not met her think she is a man because of her name. I am here to tell you she is a lovely woman. I also met Pam Muņoz Ryan. I am overcome by her. She kissed me - me - Pierre, a nobody. These women are so beautiful and talented. It was a wonderful conference. The participants were very enthusiastic and loved books. I hope to see Miss Pam again.
D and D and I flew to Wausau, Wisconsin. I flew baggage. How humiliating. They manhandled me when they inspected Denise's luggage. I could barely breathe in that suitcase. And people complain about no legroom in coach, try baggage.  The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum was our destination. It is a beautiful museum. Denise's NCCIL (National Center For Children's Illustrated Literature) original art exhibition was at the museum - 90+ pieces of original art from Denise's books and original paintings from Wendell Minor. The NCCIL shows travel around the country for several years. Denise was there to give presentations and paper making demos. Everyone had an opportunity to make paper. We picked up some great paper making workshop tips from the museum education folks.
    The exhibition looked wonderful. There was a wall painted lime green to accent the art. They'd also made a huge Buster rug for the gallery where the children would sit and listen to stories. The staff and volunteers were delightful. They made sure everything ran smoothly.
The museum has a guest house across the street for visiting artists which made the trip even more pleasant. Denise and David called dibs on the bed. I got the couch.     We were taken on a tour of a commercial paper mill. Let me tell you, I stayed away from those huge vats and rollers. I was afraid I'd end up like Flat Stanley, traveling around in an envelope. The scale of the paper operation was pretty amazing, especially when you compare it to Denise's puny set up. Denise was most impressed that people can invent machines to make paper. Her mind doesn't work that way. Mine might if I wasn't deprived of oxygen in baggage.
While in Wausau, Denise read books to families at the Marathon County Public Library. She even had everyone performing her "Dance of Spring" and acting out In the Tall, Tall Grass with body movements. Talk about someone obsessed with wanting Spring to come!
Now, let's talk about the snow in Wausau. When we flew in and I looked out the window I thought everybody in Wisconsin probably lived in igloos. I was wrong, they live in houses, just like those in Ohio.
Thank you all from Denise and David. Denise's upcoming appearances:
April 5, 2008
Ponte Vedra Beach Public Library - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
April 16, 2008
TLA, Dallas, TX - with Henry Holt and Company
May 5-7, 2008
International Reading Association Conference - Atlanta, GA - Henry Holt & Co.
May 13, 2008
National Provider Appreciation Day - Fairfax, VA
May 16, 2008
Marget S. Skiff Children's &Teen Literature Conference - Cuyahoga, OH
May17, 2008
Early Reading First: Project LEAPS - Cleveland, OH
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 Pierre
Pierre - David, I know you work with Denise on her books. I see your name on the copyright page. But I don't really know what you do. I want to discuss that, but first, what did you do before the books?
David - I've done lots of different things, from hand carved wooden signs, label and ad designs, sculpture to designing and building displays.
 P-Can you tell us a bit more about those displays?
D - I started out designing and building displays for toy companies like Craft Master who made crafts and paint-by-number paintings, Lionel Trains, and MPC who made plastic model kits of cars. But designing and building was a bit too much for me, so I started working with a company who built the displays I designed.
P - Did you ever go to Toy Fair in New York City?
D - Yes I did. After I designed and built the displays, I would crate them up and send them to New York City. Then I would fly to NYC a week before the show and unpack and setup the displays in different showrooms and then fly home.
P - What was your favorite part of display design?
D - I loved designing and building scale models of the displays. When I was a kid I used to build model cars from kits. I would build a house the same scale as the car out of balsa wood and make all the furniture for the house. Sometimes I would add extra details, like putting a light inside the TV so it looked like it was on. When I grew up and built models of displays I felt like a kid again. Below is a picture of a model and the finished display.
 
P - Now, Let's talk about how you work with Denise. What is It you actually do? Do you write the stories or draw some of the pictures? I'm a bit confused.
D - I work as Denise's business manager, webmaster, and marketing person. I serve as a sounding board for her ideas. I give her suggestions and encouragement. Denise designs her books as well as writing and illustrating - that means I scan the art, position it in a layout and add the type, which I do on a computer. If she wants a type face to be modified, like making the ascender taller so it reads better, or making the type curve all over the page, I do that. I book most of her speaking engagements and make her travel arrangements. I also update Denise's website, work on the crafts and activities for the site, and make pins to promote her books. And, I always make sure she has iced tea.
P - Denise says you're her best friend.
D - She has been my best friend for almost 38 years.
 P - Did you know Pam Muņoz Ryan kissed me?
D - She shared her quesadillas with me.
P - Miss Pam made sure I got enough to eat. She said she likes me best.
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 Jacques
It has been a long and a fickle winter - rain and hail one day, inches of snow the next. There has not been a lot of sun here in Ohio. I think most of us 'round here could do with a bit more sunshine. I am ready to some spend time out of doors working in the garden, basking in the sun. I am thinking Spring. Thinking about rain on the rooftop, flowers in the garden, caterpillars becoming butterflies.
Rustle up a few items and make a rain stick. They make the most wonderful sound when you slowly turn the stick upside down.
You will need:
· An empty Pringle chip can with top
· About 80 (small pkg.) 1-1/2 inch wire nails
· 1/3 to 1/2 cup of dried split peas, beans, lentils or rice. I used split peas.
· Marker or ball-point pen to draw lines on can
1. Draw 3 spiral lines around the can approx. 1-1/2" apart. You can follow edge of paper that wraps can (see picture) for first spiral line.
2. About every 1/2 " along spiral lines punch a nail through the can.
3. Fill can with dried peas or beans. Experiment- see what makes the best rain sound.
4. Place cap back on can. Tape or glue cap in place.
If you want, you can wrap can with duct tape which will help keep nails in place.
Gather together some squares of brightly colored paper and cut out some paper flowers.
Start with a square sheet of paper. Fold following pictures. Cut designs using pictures as reference. I am always delighted when I unfold the petals and see if I have cut a rose, a peony, a marigold, or maybe a lily. Pinch together and twist center of flower to make flower shape. Tack flowers up around the room. They will send a message to Spring that we are ready and waiting for her arrival.
  
Pipe cleaners have always been a favorite with me. You can twist them into all sorts of shapes. I've even used them in the garden to attach plants to stakes. These days they call them chenille stems. Wrap a pipe cleaner around a pencil to make a fuzzy caterpillar. Slip the pipe cleaner off the pencil, glue on some google eyes and you have a caterpillar to go with your paper flowers. Make stripes by twisting pipe cleaners of different colors together before you wrap them around the pencil.
Read In The Tall, Tall Grass.
Look for color changes in the backgrounds. The book starts at noon and continues through the day until the moon rises. Look for the caterpillar on every page. Who do you think lives in the house on the title page and the last page?
What do you think the caterpillar will look like when he becomes a butterfly?
 This is a Black Glove Bird made for me by my friend, Dale. He found a pair of old black gloves that someone lost and turned them into a new species of bird. My friend Dale is a very clever guy. The bird's call is a finger snapping/clapping sound.
Nurture, Jacques |
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It is the beginning of spring and we have ten inches of snow in Ohio. No bees. No butterflies. 
Ollie
