Here's some more of what's been happening on the road.
Our first stop on the road was Hattiesburg, MS for the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival at Southern Mississippi University.
We got into town late on the 7th, and set up camp at a campground just outside of town. It was pretty nice sleeping out among all the frogs and crickets.
These pictures give a little glimpse of the happenings over the course of the Fest.
Annette with the SuperTwinz was my table mate for the first day.
One stop shop!
Ms. Janice is such a good soul. We look forward to working with her more in the future.
Time to rest up for the final day.
I'm not a selfie taker, but I felt compelled to have this Jan van Eyck moment
The images below are from the De Grummond Children's Literature Collection. We of course wanted to see all those original artworks and process pieces. We missed the tour, but luckily Ms. Amanda was so kind that she skipped her lunch to give a special tour. Enjoy!
Saw this incredible mural each day while taking the series of escalators.
Got to meet Gene Luen Yang!
Curious George process pieces.
Yes!!!!
Rosemary Wells.
These Ezra Jack Keats pieces are amazing in person! So much texture and bold design, these pics don't so them much justice.
Keats posing for his own reference.
EJK
OG Snowy Day!
Look at all those EJK originals!
We'll be on tour from April 7th to April 26th, spreading the good word or Heave Ho! Come out tomorrow, wish us luck, and pick yourself up a worm sticker and one of the new Spaceboy postcards.
Lots of interesting news going around here lately, including being named as a finalist in the INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards for Children's Book: Early Reader! Judging has already begun, and it sounds like winners will be announced over the next few months; so keep those fingers and toes crossed.
Also, the tour booking has been going quite well. I'll be on the road from April 7th to probably the 26th. I'm still plugging in some bookstore stops to round things out, but I'll be in MS, AL, GA, NC OH, NY, PA, MD, so hopefully see you at one of those stops.
In addition to all that, great reviews have been coming in pretty steadily. Big thanks to everyone that has taken the time to type in some kind words and click those stars.
Click the pages below to go to the review on Mrs. K's blog.
"Amongst giggles and gasps. With story-time shouts of "Heave-Ho!" Our Library friends put everything they had in to helping the not-so-happy little worm. With the last great bit of heroism... all of our story helpers were rolling on the ground in joy and laughter."
"They simply have to hold it, they must "yell" those words of encouragement, and they eagerly claim it as their book of choice to take home and read it again."
Big thanks to Mrs. K and her energetic crew of students. I look forward to seeing what they're up to next.
Click on the bird.
That's right, I'm giving away 15 signed copies of Heave Ho! via www.GoodReads.com. Click on the happy worms below to enter for your chance to win!
There's a great blog here in town called SouthernMamas that is all the rage for mamas. I found out about it through Scribble Art Studio, since they post events and promotions on the blog quite regularly. Since it's such a great resource, I asked about getting Heave Ho! featured on the blog, and Anne Hart got back to me and said we could indeed get the book on there, but we should first feature it in her Hart To Heart column in the Savannah Morning News. This was, of course, an incredible added bonus!
Check out the article here.
I've been digging around on the interwebs, and have found that there's a nice line up of book festivals in April, so I'm applying to all of those now. Once it all gets locked in, I'll post a schedule, but the tour will be primarily in the South, with stops in Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky. And maybe, just maybe, I'll make the jump from Kentucky up to New York for the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair. That will be the longest drive of the trip, but it looks like it's under 10 hours, so it's manageable. The KY and NY book festivals are back to back, so I'd have to get on the road right away, but I'll look for a few more things to add on after NY to break up the drive a little bit on the way back to Savannah.
