My sketch blog
Travels with Emily & Occasional Book News

I've decided to make life easy and upload
future Emily and Mom sketches to my blog here.
So this blog won't be updated anymore,
now that the real one is up and running.
Check it out!  :)

Here's the first page of my camp sketchbook.
I went camping with the fourth graders
and had a fantastic time.

I'll upload the whole sketchbook (about
150 pages) in the coming days, here.

It's up! See it here.

March 21 2007
School Visit --
Wexford Elementary

At Wexford I spoke to two groups,
grades 3-6. At the end of the
first presentation the kids were
asked how many of them wanted
to be a hardworking author or
illustrator of books when they grow
up, and almost every hand shot up.
That was pretty heartwarming.
When the next group was asked,
not so many raised their hands.
Only about 3 did.
That's more realistic. :)  But also
I stressed revisions and hard work
a bit more with the older group.
I hope I remembered to say that
it's hard work but I LOVE it.

(The pee joke is something my son
said when he was about 6)

Kirkus reviewed my book.
They said only good things.
Maybe you heard me, in Lansing,
whooping and hollering and dancing.
Emily is happy too.
She knows we'll celebrate. ;)
Kirkus is a group who reviews books, and
librarians and teachers pay attention
to them because they know Kirkus has
smart opinions on things. If Kirkus thinks
a book is good, then more people will buy
that book. So that's why I am happy.

This is me at Forest View
Elementary talking about
the Ellie book and trying
to think of something
funny to say.

The visit went very well.
Those kids ask very smart
questions! I had a blast.

Ellie McDoodle has an updated cover design:

Emily's troop attended a Make-It and
Take-It badge workshop where they
learned how to make these cool masks.

I joined the girls in making a doll out
of paint stirrers and fabric. Mine looks
like Ellie McDoodle. As soon as I figure out
what to do with the clothes, I'll upload a
picture of it. It didn't turn out very well.  :-x

Em is learning Japanese counting,
how to punch without breaking your thumb,
how to kick, and self-discipline, and she's
only been to four classes so far.

I think it's pretty cool.
I can't imagine how she remembers all
that stuff. All I can remember is that
in Japanese, number one sounds
like "itchy." Usually I say that two
is "scratchy" but I think it's funnier
than Emily does...

PS -- I have a new scanner!
Now I can upload art again.  :)

My scanner's broken and I can't
upload new sketches for a while.
So here are some sketches from
last spring when I accompanied
the third grade on their trip to
Fenner Nature Center to learn
Annie's Big Nature Lesson.

above: learning how to examine pond
creatures with microscopes

below: a tree swallow swoops & dives

Below: We learn how to find our way in
the woods with a thing that looks a lot
like a little phone or a tv remote.
Ahh, the wonders of technology in the
middle of nature. Hansel and Gretel
would have loved one of these!

Above: A milk snake

below: Mrs. G shows us differences in
bark and 5 deer sneak by in the
background

We learn how to distinguish between
red and white oak trees and leaves.

Below: It's raining. We're all in
ponchos. The lesson goes on,
rain or shine.
Here, we're measuring the
size of an oak tree.

....

...................................................

...................................................

One girl takes my advice and
puts her canvas bag on her head
for a hat. It's so cold out!!

above: Emily and Lincoln give the
box turtle a ride on a log

----------------------------

below: making seed art

We learn we are all connected
in the Great Circle of Life. Hmmm...
that reminds me of a song.  :)

Emily's older sister, Katie, is a
drama queen.
She's very good at expressing
emotions, both on stage and off.

Emily and I went to see Katie as
the worried doctor and mother of
a new victim in her school's
performance of Dracula.

That's Katie next to her friend who
is playing a crazy guy.

This is Emily and me.
I'm huffing and puffing because,
well, lets just say I don't bike
as much as I should...
But in summertime we bike a lot.
This bicycle is built for two people.
When he was really small, I carried
my grandson on my back and that
made this a bike built for three.
And then I was *really* huffing and
puffing and out of breath.

Emily and I visited Llama Fest
at Michigan State University
At right: Emily learns how to
weave a scarf on a loom, taught
by  Melissa, one of the vendors.
Emily wove about 8 inches.
Below: Emily cuddles her new toy
llama, and visits some of the
real live llamas too.

We became experts on
the difference between
alpacas and llamas:

Llamas - bigger with coarser
fleece and banana-shaped ears.

Alpacas - smaller with softer
fleece and straighter ears.

Emily's class started to line up and
pose for the cameras, but cameras
take instant pictures, and my
drawings take longer. They wanted
to sit at their desks and enjoy their
treats instead of standing in rows,
letting me draw them. Imagine that!
Treats instead of posing! So this
picture is unfinished. That's Em in
the front, a fairy tale princess.
The two taller people in the back are
her teachers, a firefighter and a hair
stylist (just for the day). The little
person at the right is an apparently
unhappy scary guy. (Just for 1 day)