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Happy Mother's Day!

2012-05-11T16:19:16Z

Beautiful then and now, Mom.

This is my sister Cara, my brother Nils, and me with our mom in our Minneapolis back yard. The yard was about the size of a postage stamp but there was a swingset and a picnic table from which many adventures began. In the summer, mom laid out craft supplies on the table. We must have consumed several trees in our paper mache efforts, and we read lots of books under that shady oak, from Little Bear to Anne of Green Gables.

Thanks for filling our imaginations, Mom!

Thanks, Michelle Edwards, for the idea of posting a family picture for Mother's Day. Take a look at her photo here.

Read on, Georgia! and other birthday news

2012-03-22T17:39:30Z

Today is my birthday and what better present is there for an author than to know that her books are connecting with readers? My day started with emails from Candlewick sharing great news about two of my books:

The Luck of the Buttons has been nominated for the 2012-2013 Georgia Children's Book Award. Thank you, Georgia readers! I am honored to be included on this wonderful list.

2012 is also the ten year anniversary of Dear Papa's publication and I am thrilled to learn that there are plans to release it in e-book next spring.

The very best celebration of Dear Papa's tenth birthday was a visit with a group of enthusiastic ten-year-old readers. I had the great privilege of spending an afternoon with Ms. Bishop's fourth grade last week. They read and discussed Dear Papa as a class over the course of several months and knew the story and characters inside and out. It was incredible to hear how the life of 1940s Isabelle resonated with these readers of today. There was talk of what to call a step-parent, what it's like when we find out Mama's having a baby, what it's like to miss someone. They shared the letters that made them laugh and had so many interesting questions and comments. I look forward to my next visit when we'll explore journal keeping. Thank you, fourth graders!

Books to Read and Share

2012-01-11T20:19:46Z

I love lists. Word lists, grocery lists, even to-do lists. But my favorite list of all is a to-read list. I keep one in my planner, in the list section, of course. Here is the New York Public Library's list of 2011 children's books to read and share. Find great books to add to your lists: to-read, to-give, to-read to others. And hurray, the list includes The Luck of the Buttons!

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T16:35:16Z

It was a festive New Year's Day on Monterey Bay. We spotted an elephant seal on the beach usually occupied by harbor seals. Dolphins loped alongside us as we walked by the bay, and migrating grey whales breached and spouted. Here's to adventure and discovery in 2012!

Holiday Greeting from the Sea

2011-12-22T17:05:37Z

Dear Readers,

We have all three kids home this week, a sweet gift of togetherness we celebrated with a walk on our favorite beach. There aren't many shells here, so it was fun to find that the ocean had delivered this candy cane greeting, which I'll pass along to you. After studying my Sea Shells of the World Golden Nature Guide, I've tentatively identified it as a keyhole limpet, as much fun to say as it is to spot.

Wishing you sweet surprises in the days to come, and delicious hours with family and friends. Thanks for reading along this year!

Cheers from here to there,

Anne

Buttons Everywhere

2011-12-02T17:33:11Z

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?

Fall Food Words

2011-11-07T02:23:53Z

from Friday's farmers market:

guava persimmon pomegranate

butternut kabocha cauliflower yam

and my favorite:

romanesco

Library Love

2011-10-05T16:40:12Z

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.

Goodhue

2011-09-06T23:50:04Z

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!

Fair Reads

2011-08-15T17:15:43Z

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).