graduation and motherhood

The days are long and the years are short. Last night was the last orchestra concert. Saturday night graduation. My to-d0 list is long. At the top will be to remember to enjoy the present.

Thanks for dropping by. This summer I hope to post more regularly. And with some luck, my Etsy store will be open for those who have asked for cards and posters from my books and knitting life. Soon.

Happy Spring

Here's the thing about blogs, they are often started with the loftiest of intentions. Take mine, for example. I had planned to post every Friday. No matter what. I was positive I would post more often than that. But books have a way of taking over the nooks and crannies of your life. My last post was in January. And now it's May.

There's just a bit of last minute work for me on the knitting book due out next Spring. The Hanukkah Trike will be out this Fall. I'm back at my desk now with a head full of stories and a summer packed with ideas. Stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting.

With some help from Photoshop and an very old photo, looking back to an early birthday, this week I celebrated a momentous one!

August 18 2009

It's Tuesday. Mostly sunny here in Iowa. The kind of late summer day that makes one feel empowered enough to think this might be the day to meet all sorts of goals that would seem down right foolish on a gray, rainy day. A goal like maybe updating one's website.

I did try. I did make one change. But this blog has become my escape route, my backdoor. Visit me here, I wrote on what became the only entry I made on www.michelledwards.com/ I had wanted to write something about my book Alef-Bet, now back in print after many years. The above illustration is from the book. Ah well, you did see it here. And it's on Amazon. And wherever fine books are sold, as my husband is so fond of telling those kind enough to inquire.

Knitters, check out this week's Lion Brand Newsletter for my latest story, Back to School.

Other news to report has to do with owls. The one who showed up in the woodpecker's tree the other night. A glorious specimen. Huge. Commanding. And I think maybe a sign of something grand to come. When I was rewriting Jackson Friends, hoping that Harcourt would finally offer me a contract, I spotted an eagle on my walk. Now an owl. I know what I hope it means. Stay tuned.

Enjoy the last days of summer.

Friday

Here's what I had planned to post. Long, witty stories that told of what I have done in my absence from this blog. Wonderfully crafted, they would only hint at the majestic evening walks I have taken in the Iowa countryside. Without bragging, referring to the shawl almost done, lace almost perfect. The tiny purse entered in Home Ec Workshop's purse contest. (Iowa City folks, don't forget to vote!) The magnificent trip to Camp Ramah and the company of other children's book writers, new friends, I think. And my homegrown group, the Tall Grass writers. But here it is late Friday afternoon. The buzzer just rang. Time to need the challah for tonight's meal. So a humble offering to any followers of this blog. An image, rough and tumble. Posted.

The five authors – Michelle Edwards, Carol Gorman, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Claudia McGehee, and Anne Ylvisaker - are the members of the Tall Grass Writing Group, an ensemble dedicated to promoting children’s literature by appearing together across Iowa to share the joy of reading. All five live in eastern Iowa.

Jacqueline Briggs Martin’s Snowflake Bentley (Houghton Mifflin, 1998) won the 1999 Caldecott Medal; it’s an illustrated biography W. A. Bentley, a scientist who photographed individual crystals of snow. She has written 15 picture books; her most recent book is Chicken Joy on Redbean Road (Houghton Mifflin, 2007).

Carol Gorman is the author of over forty books for young and younger people, including Games (HarperCollins, 2007) and, most recently, Stumptown Kid (Peachtree Publishers, 2007), a story about baseball, prejudice, and honesty, co-written with Ron J. Findley. Many of Gorman’s books are popular with middle school readers.

Anne Ylvisaker’s most recent book, Little Klein (Candlewick, 2009), won high critical praise. Her earlier novel, Dear Papa (Candlewick, 2007), made Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth; she has also written numerous non-fiction books for youth about science and the natural world.

Claudia McGehee’s Woodland Counting Book (2006) and Tallgrass Prairie Alphabet (2004), both published by the University of Iowa Press, feature illustrations inspired by our local natural environment. A forthcoming book will focus on birds.

Michelle Edwards wrote and illustrated Chicken Man (New South Books, 2009), which won the National Jewish Book Award. She is also the author of the Jackson Friends series, starting with Pa Lia’s First Day (Harcourt, 2005) and most recently adding Stinky Stern Forever (2007).

Refreshments will be provided and additional copies of several of each author’s books will be available. This is the Haunted Bookshop’s third author event since reopening at 203 North Linn Street earlier this year.

Jane Clark Brown

I just found out that Jane Clark Brown , illustrator of the Marvin books, passed away in January. I met Jane at a Camp Hochelaga reunion. She was a tireless worker for Camp, and even at the reunion, I watched her pull a weed here and there. At Hochelaga, in the the new library, in the new Lodge, that she had worked hard to get built, we sat and talked about children's books, editors and illustrations. I was so looking forward to having another time like that with her at 90th reunion this summer.

Jane Clark Brown, Hochelaga Girl, you will be missed.