Count-Down to Contest!

I love feedback!! I love hearing from my people! I love opening my email!! I LOVE reading my blog comments!!!!! Here's some lovely documentation of art projects that children created in response to my newest picture book, "Red, White and Blue." I received these images in an email this weekend from Mary at Christ Lutheran Children's Center in Bexley, OH. Prompted by my win a week ago for the INDIE Excellence Award, Mary knew how excited I would be to share the various responses created at their program with my reading audience.

These art projects were created in anticipation of Memorial Day festivities which included the sharing of my book and song in their program that serves children from the age of 2.5 thru 8 years of age. Mary tells me that the paper weavings were created by the oldest children at their center and the long white painting on the door was by their youngest. The variety of other work were created cooperatively by children in the middle and brought together to create a quilt for the center to enjoy for the national holiday.

My post tomorrow will be the official launch of my first Blog Hop & Linkie Party in celebration of the back-to-school season, in an effort to support teachers thru the observation of the tenth anniversary of 9-11. Be ready to come back and enter to win a signed copy of my picture book, complete with CD recording. I would appreciate

*****Anyone who would like to order the book before the winners are announced, I have a special PROMO Code on my website to save you 20% off the price of the book now through the entire month of September. Just enter the code: RWB911 to receive the discount. Please feel free to pass that code to anyone wishing a copy.

Ready for the Contest??

We're getting closer & closer to my big, first ever blog HOP!!! My fellow educators have now received their copy of my INDIE award-winning book and are in the midst of writing their thoughts to share with you & the wider world of blog readers. I will have the super post up here on Thurs morning, at the latest. Together we will be selecting 11 lucky 'winners' to receive a signed copy of my "Red, White and Blue" picture book. There will be all sorts of ways to enter: posting comments, tweeting notices, following my blog thru FB networked blogs -- you name it.


I also have recruited a school counselor and she is writing a blog post from her unique perspective and training. I have asked her to weigh in on how we can be helpful to our students, our children and others during this time of observation of the 10th anniversary of the historic event of September 11th. You'll want to read her insightful comments, I'm sure.

Meanwhile. Don't you just LOVE this bulletin board display? It is truly the most amazing compliment and support to walk into a school building and find an artistic response from the students to my work, to my picture book hangin in the hallway for the whole building to appreciate. This awesome display was my morning greeting for my end-of-the-year ANNUAL visit in Westerville, OH with some of my favorite K-Klasses on earth! None of us could remember exactly, but we think this was either my 6th or 7th year to make my GCAC Artist in the Schools visit to this pair of inspiring teachers and their eager ones.

Since I've had a track record of returning year after year we all know how to work well together. The students are already familiar with my books & songs before I walk in the door! So I get to be the diva, rock-star author-lady, that they've been waiting to meet all year long!!! (Click here for suggestions on setting up a successful author visit.)

What's even more incredible is that these Buckeye kids were using the marble painting method to create their fireworks display, when two states to the west in Illinois, Carie was having her kindergarten kids use marble-painting as the methodology to create their collosal community quilt. Great minds think alike!!! How small world is that??

Contest Announcement

While I'm still attempting to get the spring-time back-log for all of those end-of-the-year visits I made wrapped up and added here to my diary, I want to take the time to announce that I am going to host my first ever blog 'linkie-party' later this week. I will be giving away 11 signed copies of my newest picture book, "Red, White and Blue" to be mailed to the lucky winners, in time for use & incorporation with classroom observations for the 10th anniversary of September Eleventh. I have asked several of my blogging buddies to host 'reviews' of my Indie Award winner at their sites -- in an effort to help build awareness of my project to other educators. I am sooooooo over-the-moon excited at their willingness to help.

While my book, with its CD recording included was motivated by the events of 9-11, the song & book would be terrific to have in your classroom library for use on Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July and other such occasions of celebration and reflection. There is no 'overt' reference to 9-11, more a community song to be used for civic pride. Civics for the primary grades!

This is all scheduled to roll out first thing Thursday of this week. I'm very excited!! Hopefully I can figure out what a linkie-party is by then!!! I will count on everyone tweeting and linking, posting and entering-to-win. Be thinking of patriotic crafts that you may have documented on your blog, in your camera, to link up! Meanwhile enjoy these kinder-smiles.

***Winners for this first ever event will be held to the United States, for ease of getting the books shipped in time for use mid-September. I promise, the next hoooopla will not have this restriction. Remember, with me, its always baby-steps!

Kinder-Kut Ups

Who has more fun than I get to have? I nominate my days for consideration in the-very-best-day-of school category. These early birds are being attentive to my requests and following my directions, responding to poetic instructions given in awesome action alliteration, creating choreography to storytelling simplicity.

Happy Hand Highlights

While I'm still walking on air from the recent announcement of my first national book award, I thought this would be a great segway to go back in time again and finish some end-of-the-year spring posts from my various author/illustrator visits to schools. I love walking into an elementary school building to find awesome art projects prominently displayed on the walls. Those graphic hands were created by the mature artists in the building. I love the way these hands of my kindergartners reflect the artwork above!!

On this particular day I had been called to work with the kindergarten students. I like to see their hands at work through our time together. I focus on engaging the students with as many senses as possible..... keeping them engaged as we sing and read and sign and act and march and read and jump and sing and read and sign. This earlier post I discuss the advantages of crossing the midline at length. I love these smiles, caught in the act of strengthing the connection between the hemispheres of their brains!!

Click here for my post on suggestions to arrange an author visit.

Raise a Toast to INDIE!!

The sun sets on my first full day of, "I have a shiny gold sticker." This is the view from my yoga buddy, Mickie's back porch. She was kind enough to invite us over to uncork the bubbles and had the forsight to order a glorious sunset for the toast and celebration of my big news. It's great to share a true 'Debbie-story' with all its rumbles, bumps, twists and turns with new friends..... because it's almost too good to be true. And as with every good story this one has a great big happy ending. Just another night in paradise.

INDIE Award Reflections

Today is the first day of my life that I woke as the winner of a national book award. To say the air smelled crisper and the breeze blew sweeter may have been due to a shift in the barometer, but as I took myself out for my morning walk -- I swear the familiar sights of home had ratchet up to a new level on the joy-o-meter scale and seemingly over night.


Walking to the top of the big hill felt invigorating, rather than exhausting. Observing the nonexistent horizon line between water's edge and sky's fall was utterly fascinating this morning. Though I've remarked on this phenomena previously -- today was sheer marvel, utter poetry to the eye. Affirmation is an elixir apparently. Fixin' all that ails ya. Sumptin' like snake oil. Workin' out all the wrinkles with a shiny gold sticker. Validation is worth its weight in gold!


I walked and pondered, laughing to myself in a manner that could cast me as the village 'character.' You know. The one discussed by the long-term locals at the gas pump with a raised eye brow. Didn't matter. Had someone installed springs in my ol' faithful tennies? Coming to the local swimming hole I spied the slim swath of sand. Bing! My shimmery award is similar to a sand structure: fleeting at best, but fun in the moment. This morning I skipped about basking in the ephemeral after glow. I thought next of how it was possible that my project was selected.


There at the sand we had once shared, it seemed most likely that my dear now-a-genuine-angel-in-heaven friend, Saint, probably shepherded my book to the right judge at just the right moment. You do the math. This is my third book. I have entered every one of my books in every possible 'program' I could find for recognition. This is the first time to garner the win. This is the first season of my book being eligible & Pat being heavenward. (Read old post of Saint's joining the angels here.) Add it up. I just gotta think she had something to do with it. And I hummed the camp song, "If you get to heaven, before I do, just drill a hole and pull me through." Remembering when we'd entertain ourselves during her final phone calls with camp sing-a-longs, I thought about gratitude and loss. About promises made to one another. I thought about her impact on me. I thought about intentionality. I thought about celebration in the midst of it all. Thanks Pat. I give you all the credit in the world. When I was at an absolute loss as to how to proceed -- I would remember my promises, and I would tip-toe forward. I would tip-toe in gratitude for the opportunity to be willing to work.

Once I'd found that trusty sand-writin' stick I had plenty of thankin' to do. I thought of all my sisters-of-swell. The chosen few in our Breast Cancer community for whom lymph nodes have abandoned their functionality. I thought back to last summer and my absolute hissy fitS over being unable to use, to lift, to glide my heavy steam iron, the one I'd purchased specifically to press the fabric of my quilts -- steam & brute force were supposed to demand the pieces cooperate. No more. My arm wasn't up to the task. It was one of my swell sisters that suggested softly that I may need to adapt and use a lighter iron. I wailed for a while. I had a melt down or two. I kicked my feet and had a temper tantrum. I stalled. I wailed some more. All the while they listened. They cajoled and consoled and passed the cyber-brownies and eventually said, 'Enough! get on with it.' And I used a different iron. And I made progress. And I finished the book. And I thank you for those swell brownies!

The danger of receiving an award is immediately you realize how many debts you owe. Compiling the thank you list is never enough. It's never inclusive enough. It's never broad enough. It's never specific enough. So I'll thank everyone at BCO (Breast Cancer dot Org), members current and members who have had their membership expire far too soon. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. You are my mentors. You are my torch bearers. You are my cheer-leaders and co-conspirators.

My picture book, like most of it's traditional ilk, has 32 pages. That's 16 quilts to make. I had gotten off to a flying start after the release of my first book and had 4 quilts done in a heart beat. I loved bar graphs in elementary school: that's twenty-five percent done! Yippee, I'm off to the races.

That's when I received my first diagnosis of (early) Breast Cancer and the wheels came off my tricycle for a while. Eventually I got moving forward again and as time unfolded I got another EIGHT quilts finished!!!! Whoooohooooo. Three fourths of the way done!!!!! The finish line in sight. Well past the half-way hurdle. THUD. Diagnosis #2. THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD. In the end it took over five years to get all 16 quilts accomplished. FIVE years for goodness sake. I'm sure there's a moral to that story somewhere. Baby steps over time yada yada yada. Progress adds up, if ya keep movin.' Yesterday came the affirmation, the validation and the resounding victory -- that all of those efforts and stalls and screeching halts didn't matter. In the end it had added up to a finished project. And now? Now it has a shiny gold sticker.

It could have been Konakat joining Saint and Heidi-Ho in heaven that noodled & elbowed my book to the top of the pile. (To begin that list is just too much to ponder. I will let those 3 names represent the 40,000 women who will perish this year.) They were all such lovers of books. I know we've lost so much talent, so much laughter, so much joy. Thinking of them making their heavenly ruckus and sprinkling glimmers of shiny things into the lives of ones who would notice their antics, makes me sigh and smile.

Thanks to absolutely everyone at BCO for the listening ears, the swift kicks in the pants, the camaraderie, the encouragement and the support, the caring, kindness and understanding, the ever present safety net and sistah-hood. I accept these shiny gold stickers on your behalf and in your honor. It takes a village indeed. Today's gratitude goes to my cyber-family and to all who have had their lives come derailed with adversity. Here's to perseverance!!! Here's to baby steps & a lighter iron!! And pass the brownies of course!!!!

Click here for the definitive site for Lymphedema information.

Click here to see lots of old posts I remembered to tag: BCO Buddies.

Click here to enter to win a signed book: Contest.