June Carnival of Literature

Is LIVE at Lee Wind's Blog: The June 2010 Carnival of Literature!

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Bicycle Bear, Happy 4th!

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     Along with celebrating the birth of our nation on Sunday, we celebrate my sister's birthday, and kick off the Tour de France this month. Lots of fun stuff going on!
     How do you celebrate? Might you participate in a parade... with bikes?
     All I can say is - GO USA! Allez, allez, allez!
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.

     Learn more about my fun picture book Glitter Girl and the Crazy Cheese - click the cover.


Please follow my copyright policy when you use my images! And share your creation on the Coloring Page Tuesday facebook page!

Library Advocacy Day

Library Advocacy Day is tomorrow - June 29th. Learn more at the ALA (American Library Association) website.

Library Advocacy Day from ALA Washington on Vimeo.

For one year only, Library Advocacy Day will replace National Library Legislative Day (NLLD). On June 29, 2010, library advocates from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. will meet at Upper Senate Park on the U.S. Capitol grounds. The event, which will begin at 11 a.m., will feature guest speakers, photo ops, and a chance to cheer on libraries! After the rally, participants will meet with their elected officials and their staffs.

Can't go to Washington? You can participate in the VIRTUAL LIBRARY ADVOCACY DAY too! Visit the ALTAFF (Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations) for more details. "By calling and/or e-mailing your elected officials in Washington and asking them to vote for libraries, you can make a difference."

10 Web Design Bloggers You Should Follow

Cool article from mashable: 10 Web Design Bloggers You Should Follow. Look around and get inspired!
Above design by DustinCurtis.com

USA vs. Ghana!

World Cup craziness!! The US plays Ghana at 2:00pm EST today! (Saturday) Check out some crazy and fun World Cup fan photos at Offbeat Earth: World Cup 2010. (Not all kid-friendly.)

Publishers who Tweet

Huffington Post has a poll to rank top publisher's tweeting efforts. At the very least it's a nice peek at who is participating and the voice of their participation. Go to The Best Publishers on Twitter and Facebook (Photos, Poll).

Top Downloaded eBooks

Most Downloaded eBooks - May 2010
Check out these, and other great eBooks, from Library to Go:

1) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
(Penguin USA, Inc.)

2) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
(Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

3) The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
(Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

4) The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
(Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

5) Dead Until Dark by Charline Harris
(Penguin USA, Inc.)

6) Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
(Penguin USA, Inc.)

7) The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
(Grand Central Publishing)

8) Vision in White by Nora Roberts
(Penguin USA, Inc.)

9) Alex Cross's Trail by James Patterson
(Little, Brown, and Company)

10) Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
(HarperCollins)


List complied by OverDrive. For complete lists, visit www.overdrive.com/mostdownloaded.

Woosie! I'm at 52,917 words, 248 pages on my novel and I am SO excited about it!!! :)

Show and Tell Me

Author Amy Timberlake has started a great new blog called Show and Tell Me. It's a place for children's book authors and illustrators to post: "where I work, favorite place, made it, found it, quote I love." In other words, things outside our writing/drawing lives that we find exciting. IMy Danish stools will make a showing soon. So cool!

New Office Furniture - Yellow Danish Stools

I've shown you my office before, but here's the latest addition. I found these fantastic Danish stools at Kudzu Antiques and had to have them. (Wish I knew more about them.) Sure, they were bright yellow and looked pretty obnoxious in the store. But I just knew...
Look how awesome they go with my orange bookshelf (right at picture book grabbing level) and lime green file cabinet!

And how well they go with the other color that rounds out my palette - the aqua chair where my childhood teddy sits - Winne the Pooh (yeah, I know he's purple). This is behind me when I work (and what people see when I do virtual visits).

Oh, and there's this guy... He hangs out on the wall next to my desk and makes me smile.

No-kill overkill

“I want to plead guilty, and I’m going to plead guilty 100 times over."
- Times Square bombing failure Faisal Shahzad
in Federal District Court (Reported in The New York Times)

No, that's OK. I think once is enough.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Soccer! Futbol!

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     Have you been watching the World Cup? We've been trying to catch as many games as possible at the Dulemba household.
     Need to catch up on who's playing and how they're doing? Go to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa website. And color this soccer player in your favorite team colors!
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.


     Click the iPhone to learn about my app - Lula's Brew - also available for the iPad!




Please follow my copyright policy when you use my images! And share your creation on the Coloring Page Tuesday facebook page!

Library Advocacy Day is coming!

Librarians, teachers, parents, kids - heck, everybody who loves libraries... learn how to take action to support the library community's outreach LIBRARY ADVOCACY DAY, today from 4 to 5:00 p.m. EDT through their ALA Washington Office Webinar.
     There will be a rally, march on Washington on June 29th as well as a Virtual Library Advocacy Day. Get involved!

Return Your eBooks Early

Some of you have asked us "Can I return my eBooks and audiobooks from Library to Go before the expiry date?" While audiobooks currently cannot be returned to Library to go early, eBooks can be returned before the item due date. Here's how to do it:


1) Open Adobe Digital Editions.


2) Select the 'Library View' icon (in the upper left corner). The Adobe Digital Editions library is displayed.

3) Under the 'Bookshelves' heading, select 'Borrowed'.



4) Click the eBook you want to return.

5) Click the 'Item Options' arrow (in the upper left corner of the selected eBook).

6) Select 'Return Borrowed Item'.



7) Click 'Return' to verify that you want to return the title.



8) The eBook is returned to the library collection.



You can find the answer to your Library to Go questions by clicking here or by asking one of the friendly staff members at the Brooks Public Library.

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Ooooo - gotta say, this looks pretty good! :)
(Thanks to Mitali Perkins for the heads up!)

Toilet Paper Wedding Dress

To rival the Duck Tape Prom Gowns, we now have Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses! The contest was hosted by cheap-chic-wedding.com and you have to go see. Some of the creations are really quite stunning.
     Although I'm not sure if wearing toilet paper on your wedding day would be a good omen or a bad one, hm.

Thanks to Barbara Vey of Beyond Her Book hosted by Publishers Weekly for the heads up...the head? I did not just say that.

Sleepy Hollow Woodworking Studio

Sleepy Hollow Woodworking Studio...I've shared Arthur Millican's work with you before. He created my wonderful birdhouse which I keep in my office. But if you go to his studio in person (Young Harris, Georgia), you can see the full-sized playhouses he creates that have just as much whimsy as the small houses. He used to work at Disney and hangs out with the Frouds (of "Faerie" fame) so the influences are strong. Anyhow - talk about stepping into a wonderland!

RT @FirstBook: Check out some of these titles–”Top 100: Teachers’ Book Picks for Children” http://ow.ly/1Vg1m #kidlit @asuen1

Hubbie Stan

Thought y'all might get a kick out of meeting my hubbie, Stan. No, not the one in the middle! He's on the right. :)
(Read more about the hubs and his motorcycle obsession here.)

Great moments in non sequiturs, Part 1

I'm hoping that you've noticed that SFTC has been on the downlow for the past few weeks.

I apologize for the lack of hilarious anecdotes and wry observations. Although, in fairness, none of you wrote in to ask if I was OK. If I were you, I'd have been worried about this sudden and unexpected online silence. "Oh no!" I might have thought to myself. "SFTC might have had his hands cut off by a combine in a tragic farming accident."

But I (overly dramatically) digress.

The real reasons for the hiatus were that I was unusually busy with my other kind of writing - the kind I get paid for - and that I promised that I wouldn't post again until I came up with a monumental blog post, a captivating story truly worthy of my triumphant return to blogging.

I have since reconsidered on that second point, in favor of "whatever the heck I could think of on Wednesday." So here it is:

My aunt is the queen of non sequiturs. Conversations often take odd left turns, making it an adventure to keep up. Emails often contain random mixtures of topics, often completely out of context. Like the one she sent last night.

It read: "Did u know Paula Abdul is Jewish? Guess where I am? xxoo "

I wrote back: "I didn't know that about Paula. I also don't know where you are, but given the setup, I'm guessing Paula Abdul's bat mitzvah."

It turned out she was just in Baltimore. But I was pretty close.

Ripple - Support the Gulf Coast

Illustration Friday participants and illustrators everywhere are rushing to Kelly Light's blog "ripple" to donate handmade cards. They're being sold for $10 each in an effort to raise money to help the animal victims of the Gulf Oil spill. (Over $2,000 already!) There are several cards currently available (click the banner to see). So create or buy, either way, you can help.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - More Family!

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     Summer is just around the corner and lots of people will soon be heading for vacations, BBQs with friends, and picnics. However you celebrate summer, there's a lot of potential family time coming up! A while back I drew you another Family, but families come in all shapes and sizes, so here is a new one - per your requests!
     And did you know that this Saturday is Juneteenth? It's African American Emancipation Day - the day to celebrate the end of slavery in the USA. A very good day to give your family a hug. (Thanks to Christine Deffendall of the Lexington County Library for the heads up!)
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.


Learn about proper parenting language and the power of choice in, Ready for Bed! , Ready for the Day!, and Ready to Play! - click the covers!

B&N Online Storytime

Barnes & Noble is now hosting a weekly Online Storytime. To kick it off, Jane O'Connor reads FANCY NANCY: BOUNJOUR BUTTERFLY. I think your kids will love this, but does it make you want to buy the book??
Thanks to Publisher's Weekly for the heads up.

Max the Writer

More brilliance from Erin Dealey (well, from her dog, Max).

Visit Erin Dealey's website to learn more about her.
Thanks to Genetta Adair for the heads up!

Cajun

We said goodbye to our sweet Cajun this morning. She was 17 years old and my best bud for a large part of my life. Before Stan came along, Cajun and I hiked all over Prentiss Cooper and Rainbow Falls together. Later, Stan and I were able to give her the experience of living in a log cabin by a creek (which she loved to swim in) - there was tons of room to run and not a fence in sight. She had so many good friends over the years and never forgot anybody (despite being a blond!). We had a wonderful and sometimes tough life together. Through it all I was so lucky to have her by my side. Towards the end, she was very old for a very long time, but she was always my inspiration. I'm going to miss my noobie.

Erin Dealey's The Writer's Rap

OMG - this is fabulous!!

Visit Erin Dealey's website to learn more about her.
Thanks to Genetta Adair for the heads up!

Manifestos, Branding, and Zing by Greg Pincus - Fantastic! http://www.thehappyaccident.net/manifestos-branding-and-zing/

The Elephant in the Room

Elizabeth Bluemle invited several illustrators to contribute to an important article on her blog "Shelf Talker" at Publisher's Weekly this week: The Elephant in the Room. She discusses the lack of racial diversity and white-washing of book covers in children's literature.
     I've always made a point of taking on multi-cultural projects and featuring various races and cultures in my work, so I was thrilled to participate.
     Why? Because children enjoy reading when they can relate to the characters they read about. Without that connection, they often don't become readers, which can set off a string of reactions reducing the possibilities and potential in a child's life. Literacy and a love for reading is vital to success for ALL children.
     And yet, currently, the publishing industry could greatly improve their efforts to reach ALL children.
     Elizabeth B. says it best in her thoughtful and well-researched article which I hope you will GO READ!!!

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books

Is in its 3rd edition! And despite what you might think, it's actually one of the best books out there on the industry. It's written by an icon in our world - Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon. And starting June 8th Harold is tweeting excerpts from the new book and giving away free copies. So follow Harold on twitter (hashtag #cigpcb) or visit his facebook announcement for details. But either way - get ye some learnin'!

RIPT Daily T-shirt Designs

RIPT (Rest in Peace T-Shirts) posts a new design on their website every day and you have 24 hours to order it. Then the design moves to the "graveyard." They got in touch with me to share today's design called "Imagination." Click on the design to go visits the RIPT website. All t-shirts are $10. And if you visit tomorrow, well. There will be a different design. Pretty cool.

Coloring Page Tuesday! - Reading Sprite

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     Y'all aren't going to believe this. I received so many requests for a male counterpart to my Reading Fairy (Poppy), so I created one... months ago right before the holiday rush... and then I promptly forgot all about him. Gads! So, finally, I bring you the Reading Sprite. Poppy's pal in all things book-ish!
     I created him with shading, but when you click, you'll get a black and white line art version to use. Have fun!
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.


     Learn about my Cinderella story picture book, The Prince's Diary, click the cover.





Look what Antje from Norway made!

Blog Book Tour - THIS TREE COUNTS

I received a copy of Alison Ashley Formento's THIS TREE COUNTS right after Earth Day, but let me tell you, I will be pushing it next Earth Day, and the next... and throughout the year. Not only is it a counting book, it has a beautiful environmental theme about the importance of trees and the impact they have on our lives.
     No secret to me. When I was a kid I talked to trees all the time and often declared them my best friends (humans came later). Ashley and I appear to have that in common...

Q.     How did you get the idea for THIS TREE COUNTS!

A.     My inspiration came from a huge old Oak tree in a local nature preserve where I walk several times a week. This particular tree is twisted, leaning across a stream and full of character and I wondered what it might say if it could speak. I wrote a simple ten line poem about ten animals in a giant tree telling its story, which sat unfinished in my computer files for nearly a year.

Q.     What was your path to publication?

A.     I saw an editor from Albert Whitman & Company speak on a panel at an SCBWI conference. After the conference, I submitted a story to her, which she rejected, but invited me to send something else, which I did. That story too, got a personal rejection and a note to send something for the very young, perhaps with a counting theme. I remembered my tree poem and worked on shaping it into a story, adding the children and teacher to hear the tree's tale, and how it encourages them to plant more trees. I ran that early version through my critique group, and then submitted it to the editor at Whitman. Four months later, I received an offer. In my case, third time was the charm. The revision process was smooth, as my editor really saw the story the same way I did, as did the illustrator, Sarah Snow. A year later, THIS TREE COUNTS! is out and I couldn't be happier with the final product.

Q.     What was your reaction when you saw the beautiful artwork by Sarah Snow?

A.     Speechless! Sarah was kind enough to send me an early jpeg illustration of the children in the story and wrote that she hoped I liked how she was portraying the kids. When I opened that email, I danced and bounced around my house all day. The kids, the animals—every part of my story has come alive through her illustrations. Most of all, the tree Sarah illustrated is full of life just as I imagined when I first wrote that ten line poem. I had the pleasure to finally meet her in person at a BEA event and I have to give our editor at Albert Whitman kudos for matching us together. Whenever I share THIS TREE COUNTS! at a school, library or bookstore, I always talk about the cover of the book first and how we know how the boy feels about the tree just by looking at Sarah’s illustration. Not only is he hugging the tree, he’s listening to it. Sarah’s illustrations mesh with my words exactly as I’d hoped they would.

Q.     Do you talk to trees? Why are they important to you?

A.     Let me answer that second question first. Trees are important for so many reasons, many of which are in my book. Beyond the obvious reasons such as how trees help clean our air or provide the world with food and shelter, I think trees are important because they are ever-changing and truly beautiful. Finding beauty in the world means a lot these days, and trees are nature’s sculptures that anyone can enjoy.
     As for the second question—sure, I chat with and about trees everyday, especially now. I hug them, too, and do my best to listen. If we didn’t have trees, well…it’s too sad to even fathom that scenario. That’s why we have to continue to plant trees. There are a lot of fabulous organizations doing just that and I’ve chosen to donate a portion of my proceeds to American Forests,

which is our nation’s oldest non-profit conservancy group. American Forests has a global re-leafing initiative with goals to plant trees in those areas most in need, particularly those places affected by natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes. Trees do count, but the people who appreciate and plant them count, too. If you’re having a bad day, hug a tree, you’ll feel better. If you want to feel great, then plant a tree. It’s the best feeling in the world.

I couldn't agree more!!! :) e

The Book Bike

Another bookmobile! This one is a bike-book-mobile! How's this for a brilliant set-up? This one is a custom set-up by Gabriel Levinson. Publishers donate books and Gabriel gives them away at free public events. How's that for promoting literacy? Visit Shareable.net to read more about it and see more photos.
Again, thanks to Reading Is Fundamental for the heads up!

Argentine Book Tank

How's a tank for a bookmobile? A bit in your face? Artist Raul Lemesoff turned a 1979 Ford Falcon into a 'Weapon of Mass Instruction.' Visit Book Patrol to read more about it and see more photos!
Thanks to Reading Is Fundamental for the heads up!

Virtual Visit at Cataract Elementary

Y'all know I do Virtual Visits, right? Just did a fun visit yesterday with Cataract Elementary in Nigara Falls, NY. Ms. White has 22 awesome 1st graders and they asked some great questions.
     Our visit was an experiment using Skype and the classroom's Smart Board. (These things are SO changing our classrooms!) Ms. White and I hooked up on her laptop, she broadcast her screen to the smart board, and the camera on her laptop showed me the classroom and the fantastic bulletin board they decorated as a welcome!
     Supposedly there were some administrators in the room observing and they have whole-heartedly approved moving forward with more Virtual Visits. It's a great way for the kids to 'meet' an author and/or illustrator and we creators don't have to travel which makes this type of visit less expensive and more flexible. Gotta luv it! (Although I miss the hugs.)
     And there are lots of us creators who do Virtual Visits. Go to Skype an Author Network for a listing. And email me at elizabeth at dulemba dot com if you'd like to know about pricing or set up a date.

Bing Celebrates Teachers

This is cool. Leave a comment about a wonderful teacher you had and Bing will mark it on a map and make a $5 donation to the teacher/student non-profit group of your choice. Talk about Teacher Appreciation! Click the map to go read comments and leave one of your own! (But be prepared to lose a few hours!)

How to Write a One Sentence Pitch by Nathan Bransford. GREAT! http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/05/how-to-write-one-sentence-pitch.html

Creative minds 'mimic schizophrenia'

I always suspected creativity was linked to mental illness - not from personal experience mind you. Nope. I don't resemble this article AT ALL. Hm.
Creative minds 'mimic schizophrenia'from BBC News.
Thanks to Karin Slaughter for the link.