It makes me so grateful for the people in the world still taking time to value books for children. Ultimately they are the people responsible for making sure good literature keeps getting published. So to win an award created by bloggers really is an honor! Thanks so much!

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.

This is a link to the blog of Marcellus Hall, illustrator of The Cow Loves Cookies. He posted a comparison of the beginning art samples for the book to the end pieces. The transformation from  concept to final art is amazing, and I think it’s interesting to those of you wondering about the illustration process.

Booklist seems to appreciate the efforts of the talented Mr. Hall . The Booklist review said, “The big, clear watercolor pictures with thick ink lines leave lots of white space, and the simple rhyming lines, with descriptive words and messy action, will encourage preschoolers to join in.” 

Well deserved praise. Bravo!

They said some very lovely things about my writing as well.

The Cow Loves Cookies can be preordered on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.

Great news! Sleepyhead was chosen to be a Spoonful of Stories book.  This is exciting because it means that my book is getting right where every children’s author dreams their books will end up–the hands of kids.

Spoonful of Stories is a literacy project that is a joint effort of Cheerios and First Book (children’s literacy charity). This time the news gets even better though– every book will have the story printed in both English and Spanish!

If you’d like to learn more about this great project or just discuss literature in general, the awesome Mom It Forward blog is hosting a Twitter chat tomorrow and I’m a panel member! Hope to see ya there. Here’s some info.

What: Cheerios is sponsoring this week’s #gno Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)

When: Tuesday, October 13, 9-11 p.m. EST

Where: Check back to access our custom Tweetgrid link this Monday. (Use hashtags #gno and #cheerios.)

Topic: Children’s literature

Who: @banteringblonde @cheeriosbrand @childhood @derek_author @keeperofthecheerios @LeighannMMM @oohamanda, @robinglasser @karmawilson

Party Favors: Click here to check out this week’s giveaway sponsored by Cheerios.

RSVP: Please leave your Twitter ID in the comments to follow and be followed (on Twitter, of course!) by other #gno gals. The best format is as follows: http://twitter.com/jylmomIF.

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.

Here is a sneak peak of my illustration debut! The pictures in this new touch and feel book for babies and toddlers were all taken by me. Trust me, baby animals are divas! Super models have nothing on them.

This book is coming out in Janurary. I had so much fun working on this!

Karma

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.

I just adore this new series (illustrated by the talented Jane Chapman) and I hope you all will love Little Pip as much as I do!

Hip, hip hooray for adorable, baby penguins! And pssst…she just might have her own special spot on the world wide web!

K….

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.

In other news I got some fantastic sketches in the mail for my upcoming poetry book  What’s the Weather Inside (a collection of over 100 poems for kids ages 9-11).  The illustrator is hilarious comic artist Barry Blitt and it’s going to be a great book, and very different for me.

Do you know who my favorite poet is?  Shel Silverstein! Most people think of him as some “fart, booger” kids’ poet, but he had some very serious and even philosophical poems.  So many of his poems were, well, real.  The Little Boy and the Old Man brings tears to my eyes.

In my poetry book I cover various just plain silly topics like not eating yellow snow and Miss Muffet squishing spiders.  But I do try to cover some philosophical ground and even insert some humor that requires thought.  Let’s face it–kids (or most of them anyway) aren’t born with a sense of humor.  We are responsible for helping them learn what’s really funny and what’s actually just really…dumb.  I still remember when my son’s idea of a good joke was repeating the word poop until I broke down and yelled.  Ha ha…very funny.  For a child what’s funny is mostly what’s forbidden . Actually for a lot of adults this pattern holds–it’s just that forbidden topics for adults (sex, drugs, and race/culture) are a little more edgy than what’s forbidden to children (poop, farts, and underwear). 

But the truly great comedians, at least in my mind, are the ones that shoot the arrow past the simply forbidden and aim straight for my heart. I like to laugh at myself–my flaws, my weaknesses, my ineptitude,  my fears, my pettiness–you know, the things that make me human.  When a comedian unveils those dirty little secrets in him/herself it allows me to laugh at my own flaws. It’s almost like I’m laughing in relief. “Phew, I’m not the only mental case!”

Shel does that for kids (and adults–I for one don’t think his best work is limited to children).  I hope to do that too.  I also have a few poems that I hope will point out to kids the other parts of their character that make them human–curiosity, joy, love, etc…

My son (thankfully) has grown past his love of screaming, “Poop!” and is even pretty funny at times. He loves Shel’s work.  I like to think that Shel’s poems simultaneously celebrated that undeveloped humor and helped him grow beyond it.

K

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.

Click here to view a Video clip:

The production is top-notch, and the art is all straight from the orginal books.  The animation is very limited.  These are true “story time” videos.

I cannot begin to tell you what a nervous wreck I was when I recorded the Bear Snores On video!  I had to drive to Spokane and go to a professional recording studio.  The whole session was phone-patched to the Weston Woods’ offices in New York.  I literally quaked in my books, and we had to do a few takes before I calmed down enough to read without a quiver in my voice. It was all very terrifying–and great fun.  There’s nothing like standing in a recording studio with those big ear phones on to feel like a “pop star”.  I wanted to burst out in a rock song.

My kids and husband got to watch the proceedings–and it turned out to be a grand adventure and a learning experience.

These videos are a great resource for the classroom.  Kids actually get to hear me read them my story.

Funny thing, I had braces on for the recording of Bear Snores On…if you listen you can hear a slight lisp. Still, Audiofile gave my effort a nod in their review: “The author/ narrator allows young listeners to appreciate the rhyme and beat of the story, to soak in the humor, and to admire the illustrations. She is gruff yet tender…. She gives sparkle to supporting creatures

Click here to order the Bear Snores On video

Click here to order the Bear Wants More video

Note: these link to the DVD version.  If you want audio or VHS you need to specify when you order.

–K

©2012 Good Karma. All Rights Reserved.