Back to School

I spent some time back in school this week. It was parent/teacher conferences. Being a new author I discovered that conferences means book fairs. It's an opportunity for the school to raise some much needed funds through book sales. I was invited to be the local celebrity hawking my new book.

It's hard being surrounded with all that is spectacular in the world of children's books. You want to cover your head and run out screaming, " I'm not worthy!" The above art is taken from Max Spaniel in "Funny Lunch", written and illustrated by David Catrow. I recently caught a glimpse of his first Max Spaniel book titled "Dinosaur Hunt". It was in a young girls arms in the bookmobile in my mom's neighborhood in Colorado. My mom and I laughed at just the first few pages. I wrote down the titled wanting to investigate further. Fast forward two weeks later to the book fair.

Ellie was an adorable 8 year old. Her freckled nose and bright green eyes melted me. Her mom was volunteering at the fair and her and I became friends between my visitors. I asked her to show me a great book. Next thing I knew Ellie and I were giggling as she read me "Funny Lunch". On my way home I was reflecting on my day and I wanted to hug both Ellie and David Catrow.

Having finished my first book, I know how much time and effort David put into those drawings. Tweaking and reworking each one until you couldn't resist smiling at every one of Max's expressions and movements. I am sure he hoped that his dog, recreated in Max, would be a success. I can assure David that Thursday afternoon as Ellie and I shared his story in a little Alaska school our laughter rang out SUCCESS.