A Busy Saturday: Part 1: Storytime at Books Inc, Berkeley

Saturday morning I headed to Books Inc in Berkeley for Storytime. I brought live snails from my garden, a real (not live) Stink Bug encased in plexiglass, The Amazing Snail of Seymour Snail, and Cinder Rabbit. Oh, I brought a CD of the Bunny Hop, too. Everything was set up and ready to go.
All I needed was the audience of children. At first there were no children. It was a beautiful sunny day. The children must have been outdoors playing. But these cool cushions were ready for storytime...
It's a beautiful store there on 4th Street in Berkeley. Above is the fun Storytime carpet. The cushions are even more fun and exciting with children wobbling and falling off of them! Children arrived shortly after I took this pic and one little guy was particularly talented at wobbling, belly floating, and falling stunts. Then it got busy with stories, snails, stink bugs, questions, and a whole lot of Bunny Hopping. So busy in fact, I forgot to pull out the bunny ears for the kids to wear during the Bunny Hop. Oh well. Luckily for me, Books Inc folks, Sarah and Ben gave the ears a try.

Thanks Sarah and Ben!

Forecast: More authors and Storytimes at Books Inc, Berkeley. And more exciting wobbling on those fun cushions, too!

Hop on over to Books Inc Berkeley and check out the kid's section. Tell Sarah and Ben that Lynn says "Hi!"

Same Busy Saturday: Part 2--Moss Art? Will It Work?

After my Books Inc Storytime in Berkeley, I returned to San Francisco and an afternoon of blue skies and sunshine. After so much rain these past couple of months I wanted to be outdoors and I wanted to experiment with some moss painting.

What do you think, Imaginary Readers? Is this going to work?
First I found some moss growing all over the yard. The moss seems to love the recent rains.

I had already scanned some children's snail art and transferred it to a piece of wood. Then I had dremeled out a little groove for the moss paint goo. I soaked the wood in water and my friend, Charlesie, soaked a few terra cotta pots, too.

Then I smushed up some moss and yogurt to make gooey moss paint. I like to think that Seymour Snail would approve of this.So we painted the wood and the clay pots.

The idea is that over time and with frequent spritzes of water from a spray bottle the moss will begin to grow...
I'll report back soon with some more pics in progress. Will the moss grow?

Forecast: A growing love of moss art?

What do you think, Imaginary Readers?
Will it work?
Do you have any unique recipes for garden arty paint?
Seymour wants to know.

Same Busy Saturday Part 3: The Amazing Jandy Nelson & The Sky is Everywhere

Saturday evening, I went to Jandy Nelson's book launch party at Books Inc Opera Plaza in San Francisco. What fun. There was a whole crew of alums from Vermont College's MFA program in writing for children & young adults (and a whole lot of other fans) to celebrate Jandy's debut YA novel, The Sky is Everywhere. Have you read this book? It's amazing. You must read it!

The Sky is Everywhere & VCFA is Everywhere, too!

Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA alumni and current students from the left (back), Lynn Hazen, Sharry Wright, Marsha Morrow, Jandy Nelson, Ann Jacobus, Page Koehlert, and Annmarie O'Brien. Frances Lee Hall in the front. More MFA alum arrived later but it was too crowded with Jandy's fans to gather for another photo op!

Above, Jess from Books Inc (in the back) helped keep things running smoothly. Here's Jandy again, the gorgeous book cover, and Page in pink!

Below is Alisha Niehaus, Jandy's editor at Dial/Penguin, and Jandy of course.
(Below) Jandy Nelson and Annmarie O'Brien, another VCFA MFA grad. Annmarie is teaching a class in Writing the YA Novel at UC Berkeley Extension. Starts soon, so register now all you budding YA novelists!

Jandy, Lynn, and Julia Whelan, the narrator of the audio version of The Sky is Everywhere. I hear the audio book is brilliant, too.

Forecast: Everyone is going to love The Sky is Everywhere.

What do you think, Imaginary Readers? Have you read this book yet? Are you going to?

SHIFTY Book Giveaway Contest at the Ultimate YA Reading Group.

SHIFTY book giveaway at the Ultimate YA Reading Group. It's easy to enter here: http://bit.ly/ShiftyUltimateYA

All you have to do is leave a comment on Facebook's Ultimate YA Reading Group's link above responding to the following question(s):
- Tell us something about the first car you ever drove.
- If you are not yet driving, what kind of car would you LIKE to drive?

Deadline: March 6 – March 27, 2010
Five (5!!) winners will be chosen at random.
(you might need to join Ultimate YA Reading Group to leave a comment and enter the contest, but it is easy, just click "join this group" on their Facebook page.)

Take a look at the comments and descriptions of first cars and driving experiences. Some interesting posts that are fun to read. I think my character, Soli, in Shifty, would like reading these snippets of first driving experiences.

http://bit.ly/ShiftyUltimateYA

Post your comment, too, for a chance to win a copy of Shifty.

Forecast: 5 Winners and some great first car stories!