I will be appearing, on Sunday, at the Kids Expo sponsored by my good friends at The Moms and Dads Guide!  My shows are at 12:00 and 4:00!  My wife and I will be there – and I will have my friends with me including Edgar and Uncle Charlie.  Should be a fun day – make sure you click on the links to find out all the details!

 

I was so surprised and honored to be part of the Neary School’s book week celebration that invites an Author, an Illustrator and a Storyteller (ME!) to share their talents with the kids there!  The 4th and 5th graders were wonderful audiences – they got to hear one of my favorite stories to tell “Timmy” and I was even able to spend my lunch with a select group of children from each grade who asked me a few questions about my stories and where I came up with the ideas and such.  Thank you for the wonderful time Neary School!

So, I spent the day watching my new baby yawn and wiggle through the ultra sound – and thank you to everyone who has sent an email, or who have called, or to everyone who has left a comment on the site – but I also promised to keep everyone updated – so the latest is… IT’S A GIRL!  Our daughter will be named Alexandra Olivia Lee Racette, and we’ve already had to correct pretty much everyone – it’s not Alexandria – it’s Alexandra – she’s 12 ounces right now, and from what I’m told that’s pretty darn big already!  I can’t wait for our chubby little girl to be introduced to the world!

I will be appearing, at the end of March, at the Kids Expo sponsored by my good friends at The Moms and Dads Guide!  It’s shaping up to be a wonderful fun filled day with performances through out the entire show!  I will be there at 12:00 and 4:00 telling my tales! – so come early and stay late!  Catch all the great performers that day!  Hope to see everyone there!

No Author I can think of has captured the imagination of young readers quite like Chris Van Allsburg.  His stories are multi-layered, fantastic voyages that not only amaze but also leave an ever-lasting impression and a life time fan of everyone who opens one of his books.  I was first introduced to him in the 5th grade when my teacher Mrs. Weiler read us The Widows Broom.  If you’ve never heard of that book – get to your library as soon as you can and check that book out!  I use the Mysteries of Harris Burdick in my Children’s Workshop because - not only am I a fan – but also, it captures children’s minds with just a quick glimpse.  The last workshop I did, in Whitman, the children created a story about a pumpkin that came from a pumpkin patch that smelled of sweaty socks.  I love the portfolio edition of this book – it allows people to handle each page or, in the case of a classroom, it allows each student to take a page in different areas of the room to create their own fantastic voyage – inspired by Allsburg himself!  

I was lucky enough to visit Hanson this past Saturday where a nice group of families came to see me and my puppets Wolf and Moose and Alligator.  I had a great time – and from how the laughter never stopped I’m going to go ahead and say that the kids had a great time too!  I had so much fun – and even learned that the librarian’s son is a writer for Marvel Comics – which makes a comic geek like me drool!

 

I am excited to announce that this summer my wife and I will be welcoming our first child!  No worries, if you have scheduled for the summer I will keep in touch – the little sprout should be here on August 2nd – but you never really know, do you? :)  My wife and I are extremley happy and the image above is the ultrasound from 13 weeks.  You can make out the head and the arm – and we saw and heard the heartbeat!  We should know the sex of the little one by early next month.  I keep you posted!

I love books that give you all sorts of interesting tid-bits. This is a great book that gives you all sorts great facts about cats and dogs. Like, for instance, did you know that when a cat wags it’s tail that means it’s upset and to leave that kitty alone?  Steve Jenkins is one of the greatest author/illustrators out there.  Another of his books made it into my Book of the Month, a great picture book called “Looking Down”.  I discovered that book on a trip to the library, a nice afternoon where I went to the library to chill and look through books and just all around relax.  The library is such a great place to relax and quietly sift through books.  If you haven’t tried an afternoon at the library – you should – it’s a great resource for any community.  Everyone should take advantage of their local library – it’s one of the nicest places on earth!

I had a grand old time telling a few tales at the Bright Horizons in Norwell on Saturday. I was fortunate enough to share that morning with Frosty – since he came out to have breakfast with the smiling kids – and then they came to hear my stories. I started with Bill Harley’s classic song “Sitting Down to Eat” and as you can tell I give it a flair all my own. I love action pics like this. See the duck up there? Almost hitting the ceiling? Then there is the pig and the elephant and the seal. Man that song is so much fun! Well, I’m off to answer more phone calls. I am booking up for the summer already – which is a little sad since it’s snowing outside. Winter hans’t even thawed and I’m already thinking about the summer time…

I was in Billerica yesterday – but I can’t believe I forgot my camera!  There was such a great turn out – and they were a wonderful group!  So instead I have a little story for you today from the Eastham Elementary School…

Before my show started I was enjoying the Kindergarten Music class.  As they sang “America the Beautiful” I heard these lyrics being sang:

“O’Beautiful for spaceship skies…”

It was pretty cute – and yes, the Music Teacher did tell them it was spacious skies – but I kind of liked it the other way…