Happy St. Patrick's Day!

32 years ago - wow, I'm old - I went to visit my boyfriend in Ireland and he took me to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone.  We climbed up to the top of the beautiful old castle, full of history and magic.

When we got to the spot where you kiss the stone, we found a gruff man who appeared to have come straight from a long night at the pub.  He said that, to reach the stone, I needed to lay on my back and hang upside down over the edge.  He assured me, he wouldn't let me drop.  Keep in mind, he said this with a cigarette hanging out his mouth, smoke billowing into his eyes, and wreaking of stale beer.


 Well, being a typical 20-year-old, I said, "Ok, thanks!"  and I did it!  I don't have a picture of ME doing it but I found this online - it'll give you an idea of what Im talking about.

Britain's Smallest Library - Thinking Inside the Box

Villagers in the Somerset Village of Westbury-sub-Mendip have found a "novel" way to cope with the shortage of libraries in their area by turning an old red phone box into a book exchange.  The villagers set up the book box after their mobile library services were canceled.

I bet this is where Redbox DVD rentals stole got their idea.  I would love to go there to check it out - any excuse to go to England!  If only someone would bankroll it . . .

Read more about it.

What's The Difference? by Suzanne Slade

My friend, Suzanne Slade's latest book, What's The Difference?, is now available for sale!  Suzanne has written more than 60 books!!  I can't even imagine that!   

What's The Difference? (the sequel to What's New at the Zoo?) uses clever rhyming verse to show the difference caring people can make in helping endangered animals - all while practicing subtraction skills. 

You can check it out here. 

 

Links are provided for informational use.  Please don't forget your local independent bookstores!

3rd Annual Cheerios Winners Announced

Yahoo - the 3rd Annual Cheerios New Author winners were finally announced!  And the winner is . . .

Laurie Isop for her story "How Do You Hug a Porcupine?"

And the runners up are . . .

Billie Fowler for her story "Samuel T. Slingshot"

Jessica Young for her story "Juliet the Jellyfish"

Read all about it here!

In a Cheerios Box Near You - Finally!!

Well, I finally got the green light to make this announcement:

The Cheerios boxes with my book inside are in a grocery store near you NOW!! 

As of today, spottings have been reported at Walmart, Jewel, Cub Foods, Safeway and Wegmans, but they should be in most grocery stores by the end of the month.  The picture on the left was taken by my son at his Walmart by ISU.  It's a very surreal thing seeing my book on the front of the box and even more surreal seeing my picture on the back - yikes!!

The book is written in English and Spanish - I actually like the Spanish title better - 1 Zoo Loco!  Next time you're shopping, check out the cereal isle :-)