Button Down is here!
Short chapters, simple yet meticulous language, a wholesome feel and the universal story of a boy with a dream combine to give this one widespread appeal. -Kirkus
Details and a sample chapter here
Indie Next Selection
It'll stick in your brain long after you've read it, this one, and you'll be glad that it's in there. -SLJ blog
Hear a sample here.
Winner of the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award
A boy, his dog, a raft, a river, the falls...
Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novel
Can writing a letter mend a heart, unite a family, help a girl grow up?
Friday, December 2, 2011 at 9:33AM Look what arrived in my mailbox recently. Thanks, Katie! Yes, there is another Button family with their own series of adventures. They go to a zoo, a farm, a soap box derby, and beyond. The early readers by Edith S. McCall were published in 1954. Hmm...descendents of the Goodhue Buttons?
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 6:23PM
from Friday's farmers market:
guava persimmon pomegranate
butternut kabocha cauliflower yam
and my favorite:
romanesco
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 9:40AM I love visiting libraries when I travel. I was in San Francisco recently and got a tour of the main library from marvelous book illustrator Katherine Tillotson.
The library is in the heart of the civic center, surrounded by City Hall, Civic Center Plaza and the UN building. It is a bright, beautiful space humming with activity. A class of school children browsed books in the children's room which currently features an exhibit by artist Jane R Willson called The Shocking Truth of Cinderella. People read quietly in the corner study rooms which are themed, such as the Wallace Stegner room dedicated to the environment. We tried unsuccessfully to take pictures of the building's spirals for Joyce Sidman, who has a new book of poetry called Swirl by Swirl.
Perhaps my favorite feature is the "wallpaper" used on several of the floors. I've tried to capture it in photos here (click for a larger view), but it is worth seeing in person. The walls are covered in cards from the old card catalog and people have written and drawn on their favorites. Thanks, Katherine, for a fantastic afternoon! I can't wait to visit again.
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 4:50PM Goodhue is one of my favorite place names. The word itself sparks my imagination, and I grew up listening to family stories set in towns and on farms in Goodhue County, Minnesota.
I realized today that Goodhue County has figured into each of my novels so far. In Dear Papa, Isabelle goes to live with her aunt and uncle in Zumbrota. Little Klein has a fictional setting that was inspired by the area in and around Red Wing, as well as by my great grandfather's stories of being a boy in Red Wing.
And The Luck of the Buttons is set in fictional Goodhue, Iowa. I named the town Goodhue because the family photo that led me to writing the story is taken on a farm in Goodhue County. Look closely at the cover of the book and you'll see a tiny reproduction of this image on the family album Tugs is holding.
While there is an actual town of Goodhue in Minnesota, I brought this fictional Goodhue to Iowa because of my experiences living there when I was beginning to write the story. My inspiration for the main character came from an Iowa cemetery, and I was drawn in by the people and landscapes of Iowa artists Grant Wood and Marvin Cone. Goodhue. I could live in a place called Goodhue.
I get the great pleasure of returning to Goodhue County this weekend for the Celebration of Minnesota Children's Authors and Illustrators at the Anderson Center in Red Wing. Come celebrate books and art on Saturday September 10 from 12-5. Let beautiful Goodhue County inspire you, too!
Monday, August 15, 2011 at 10:15AM Fair season is upon us, and while I'm sad to be missing my annual excursion to the Minnesota State Fair, I'm making up for it (sort of) by perusing my favorite Minnesota State Fair references in A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier and by rereading Charlotte's Web. Do you remember Uncle the big pig in the stall next to Wilbur's? And Templeton's feasting?
Another fair treat this year is Katherine Hannigan's new middle grade novel True (...Sort Of). We are introduced to Delly Pattison's penchant for inadvertantly drawing trouble in a delightful scene in the Poultry Pavilion of the county fair. A perfect read for a summer afternoon.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if two characters from different books met. I think Tugs and Delly would have quite a time together. That meeting may not take place but I am fortunate to be appearing with Katherine Hannigan this week. If you can, join us at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Barnes and Noble this Thursday, August 18, at 6pm to hear more about Tugs and Delly and the rest of the gang from The Luck of the Buttons and True (...Sort Of). (Please note, the date listed in Sunday's CR Gazette was incorrect.)
In the meantime, check out this video of Katherine Hannigan talking about her process and the characters of True (...Sort Of).
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