Francoise - Owner of school for dance, former can can dancer, social butterfly
Hello and bonjour! I am back, healthy with fine chest. No more coughing. No more tiredness. Jacques took good care of me.
Denise and Pierre have been everywhere seeing long time friends and making new friends. Denise signed many, many books as she traveled. That is good.
 Denise spotted a group of common moorhens swimming in a lagoon behind the Florida's Ponte Vedra Beach library. She says they were anything but common with their bright yellow legs and red beaks. Pierre was in the library resting in a bookcase as he heard there were alligators in the lagoons. He is not too brave.
TLA and Texas were fabulous. Lovely dinners. Mr Tim (Holt marketing) is a charming host. I think he is very cute. Many ladies do. Oh la la. There was a discussion about armadillos at one of the dinners. Denise does not believe they exist as the many times she has been to Texas she has not seen a live one. Mr Tim gifted Denise with and armadillo T-shirt that was dyed with Texas dirt. Lovely. I did not get a shirt.
On to Georgia and IRA where Denise and Pierre chatted with Mr. Bryan Collier (illustrated Rosa). Pierre and Mr. Collier look quite handsome. Very handsome fellows those two.
Denise was filmed for the PBS Reading Rockets program at IRA. These film interviews make Denise very nervous. Her hands fly about everywhere. And the bags under eyes do not look too good. Oh well, we all grow old, some of us better than others.
Scholastic Reading Club treated Denise very well. Theyinvited her to a lovely dinner with many other authors. Pierre stayed in the room as he was a bit prickly and out of sorts. The next morning Denise talked about her favorite teacher at the Scholastic book club breakfast. Pierre slept in many hours.
In Fairfax, Virginia Denise spoke at the National Provider Appreciation Day. Lots of good people there who care for children.
Then it was Cleveland and the Margaret A. Skiff Conference. So nice those people in Cleveland. Fellow author/illustrators Ms. Pat Cummings, Mr. William Low , and Mr. John Rocco were all there speaking. All these authors talk much I think. All the computer expertise the two gentlemen have make Denise's head hurt. Denise is not good with computers. Mr. William Low and Pierre have the same wonderful smile.
The next day, still Cleveland, Denise spoke at Early Reading First: project LEAPS workshop. She had a good time. All the people there danced and acted out the books. The organizers took Denise and David on a little tour of Cleveland. If you go to Cleveland you must visit the Westside Market.
Very dramatic!
Making book crafts
  
This wonderful paper art was created by the students at Meadowale School in Toledo, Ohio.
Denise's upcoming appearances:
August 9, 2008- 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm Book Signing Fundamentals - 20th Anniversary - Delaware, OH September 6, 2008 Florida Reading Association Conference - Orlando, FL September 26, 2008 Lexington Public Library - Lexington, KY October 4, 2008 Canton AEYC - Canton, OH October 9, 2008 Mahoning Valley IRA - Youngstown, OH October 14, 2008 UALR Fall Conference - Little Rock, AR November 13, 2008 South Charleston Public Library - South Charleston, WV
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 Pierre - Self published poet
P - Hello, Laurie. May I call you Laurie?
 L - Of course, Pierre. May I call you Pierre?
P -I'm crazy about your books. I particularly enjoy your style of art. Is it a collage technique?
L -Why thank you, Pierre. Some call it collage. Some call it making lots of mistakes and covering them up over and over again.
P -I notice you use all sort of different surfaces and textures, such as maps, quad pad paper, newspaper, photos. Do you scan these and then paint on the print out or do you glue the actual material down and then paint?
L -For Scrambled States, Open Wide and Arnie I actually cut things out and glued them to the paper and painted on it. But I'm working on a book now where I'm scanning textures and papers into the computer and "cutting them out" in Photoshop. By the way, if you have any loose monkey fur, that might be a nice texture to add in.
P -Now, about that great sense of humor (I love all those little extra comments) would your friends call you funny or does that just come out in your work?
L -My friends say that I'm funny but sometimes when I meet people they seem surprised that I'm not the "class clown" type. I have a dry, dorky sense of humor. As far as the asides in my books, most of them aren't in my original manuscripts. Those come when I'm doing the finished artwork - usually late at night when I'm tired, delirious and punchy!
P -You have great teeth. You must take good care of them. Did your teeth inspire Open Wide Tooth School Inside?
L -Ever since I was a young kid, I was quite meticulous about brushing. I cried the first time I got a cavity - I was 13. I was devastated.
(LK leaves room for a minute to re-gain composure then returns to finish interview)
I wrote Open Wide to remind kids how important it is to take care of their teeth. And also because the Tooth Fairy was my favorite when I was a kid (even more so than Santa Claus!).
P -Do you floss all the time? I have bad teeth. That is why you never see me open my mouth.
L - I floss quite a bit, yes. And I'm sorry to hear about your teeth, Pierre. Don't be embarrassed about it - George Washington had bad teeth, too, and he ended up doing pretty well for himself. If you're interested, I know a good dentist who specializes in monkey and porcupine teeth. I met him while working on Open Wide. I'll email you his contact info.
P -You packed a lot of info into that tooth book. You must have done lots of research.
L -Oh, yes, I did LOTS of research. I was living in NYC at the time and I would go to the New York University Medical bookstore and buy dental books. I also spoke with several dentists to make sure all my information was correct. It was tricky at first because I had so much information that I had a hard time deciding what to include and what to take out. And with all that technical information I needed to include lots of little jokes and REALLY BAD puns to make it fun for kids to read.
P - Was somebody not nice to you, is that why you wrote Do Unto Otters?
L -I wrote Do Unto Otters because, as sweet as kids are, it horrifies me to see how cruel they can be to each other. I figure that any little reminder they can get to treat others (and otters) with kindness could only be a good thing. I tried to write it for YEARS, Pierre, but everything I wrote sounded boring. Finally, when I thought of the "do unto otters" pun things started to come together.
P -I like the way you draw otters and other animals and goofy people. I have noticed there are not many monkeys in your books. Are you ok with monkeys?
L -Pierre, I LOVE monkeys!! And you will be happy to know that I'm illustrating a book now by Ralph Covert (of Ralph's World fame) called Animal Friends and it mentions all sorts of animals including MONKEYS! Oops, no, wait...chimpanzees. Sorry. But maybe I can sneak a monkey in there with the chimpanzees. I just have to add a tail, right? You know, I read somewhere that monkeys are much lower on the evolutional totem pole than chimpanzees but I just have to say that whoever wrote that has never met YOU, Pierre. I've had boyfriends over the years who aren't a fraction as evolved as you are!
P -Do you eat doughnuts? I know you don't eat meat, but what about doughnuts? You wrote that book Arnie the Doughnut, so I know you are sensitive to the plight of doughnuts. I eat doughnuts. Yum!
L -Kids think that I don't eat doughnuts any more because I wrote a book about a doughnut who doesn't want to be eaten but I eat doughnuts every chance I get (I agree...YUM!!). But just to be on the safe side, before I eat a doughnut, here's what I do...I hold it in my hand and ask it, "Do you mind if I eat you?" If it doesn't say anything, then I go ahead and eat it. I haven't had one get mad at me yet!
P -Is it true that there is going to be a sequel to The Scrambled States of America? That was a great book. It put you on the map! See, I'm funny too.
L -Good one, Pierre! Yes, it's true that I wrote a sequel. It's called The Scrambled States of America Talent Show. I never intended to write a sequel when I wrote the original but I got so many requests from people (and my editor) that I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not a very sequel-minded person and didn't want to do it unless it felt like it was a good companion to the first one. It was one of the toughest things for me to write but now that I've jumped that hurdle, I'm thinking of writing another.
P - When it comes out will you sign a copy for me? Will you sign: To Pierre, a burning hunk of love, xxxxoooo Laurie? I mean, you can sign it however you want.
That is just a suggestion.
L - I like it...only I'll add, "To Pierre, a burning hunk of cheeky, monkey love". And then all the X's and O's of course. Let me know what you think.
P - You and Denise went to the same art school - Kendall College Of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is way older than you. You didn't know her then did you?
L - Pierre, Denise isn't WAY older than me but she did graduate before I did. I wish I HAD known her in art school. She's one of the most creative people on the planet and I know she'd have been a lot of fun to hang out with. I don't know if Kendall knows just how famous Denise is!
P - Did you know Pam Muņoz Ryan kissed me?
L - Yes, I think I saw that on the cover of a magazine. You are one lucky monkey, Pierre!
P - You can kiss me too if you like.
L - I would be honored. Wow, to think that Pam Muņoz Ryan and I will have kissed the SAME monkey - who'd have thought. Thank you, Pierre!
P - Visit lauriekeller.com. Music plays and stuff moves all over the page and changes - way cool, Laurie.
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 Ollie - Mixed breed pup
Hey, Ollie here.
It is hot here in Ohio and the shady front porch is covered with five napping cats - Sparky, Mr. Darcy, Samson, Percival, and Genevieve. Isabel, the sixth cat, does not play well with others, so she must live inside. All the kitties were abandoned and they found us or we found them. All have been neutered or spayed. Denise is a firm believer in planned pethood.
 Mr. Darcy and Sparky were part of the family of cats that inspired the book Mama Cat Has Three Kittens. Samson was the model for Boris in that book. I haven't been in in a book yet. I told Denise I had a great title for a book about me - The Patchwork Pup. She just smiled and scratched my head. I don't think it is going to happen.
Sparky and Mr Darcy
Samson and Genevieve
 Samson is the friendliest one of the bunch. He loves everybody. He drools when people pet him.
Sparky is not friendly with strangers. He likes to sit on the skylights and stare down at everyone.
Darcy spends his spare time in the middle of the yard chasing his tail.
Percival likes to hide in the gardens and jump out at everyone. He also likes to sleep on the roof of Denise's studio with his big puffy tail hanging over the edge.
Genevieve thinks she's the queen. She requires a china bowl for her food and will not eat next to the "nasty boys". If they come too close she bops them.
Isabel is, well, a bit unpredictable. Now that she is on anti-anxiety medicine twice a day she is a much happier cat. She used to growl and hiss at chair legs.
 
Percy and Isabel
Cats are okay. They don't bother me. They are better than the dog, Georgie. He thinks I am a toy to be tossed around. The cats like David best. He is a cat magnet.
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Summer Reading - Poetry and more
All The Small Poems And Fourteen More by Valerie Worth. Ms. Worth can make a safety pin interesting. Her use of imagery is inspiring.
I am a fan of James Stevenson's "Corn" poetry books: Sweet Corn, and Candy Corn are two titles from the series. Notice the size and style of typefaces along with the great poems.
If you are interested in concrete poems, sometimes called shape poems, A Poke InThe I , a poetry collection by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Chris Raschka, is great fun. Raschka's use of line and brushstroke is amazing. I'm a big fan of the art in this book.
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech is a must read.
To make the trips to the farmers' market more interesting take a look at Play WithYour Food.
The above titles have been out for quite a while and should be available at your library.
 Now, off to the lake!
Pulp in the wild
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Hmmm.... is there anything else I need to tell you? Oh, yes, I will not have a new book next year as I decided to go on sabbatical for a year. I also am cutting back on travel. I love being new places and meeting new people, but I can't stand the actual travel. It wears me out. I will not be out about for a bit, instead I will be busy at home working on books and art. 
Jacques - Former truck farmer, chef, and builder of recycled bottle homes.
I have been very busy planting and weeding since I last wrote. 
Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars are very partial to Queen Anne's lace, also called wild carrot.
The wrens are busy raising their young in the birdhouse gourds from last summer's garden. 
