JUST a scrapbook

The final day of the tour began in a blaze of Northern California sun with a visit to the very excited students at Miwok Valley School. 

Then a very enjoyable morning tea with the Miwok writers’ group

and out into the country

to picturesque Liberty school.

After lunch it was Old Adobe Elementary (“Can you say ‘Adobe’?” Sorry, that’s another Pee Wee’s Big Adventure joke for those of you who are still awake)

for a really fun session with the students (who I only managed to remember to photograph as they were leaving) 

and then, to possibly the most spectacular destination of the entire trip, a REAL LIVE TREEHOUSE!!!

Michelle and Bill: artists & treehouse visionaries

Then it was back to Copperfield’s books … yet another spectacular bookstore

(That staircase leads down to an entire floor of used books!)

With Grace Bogart and Patty Norman who organised all the schools, the visit to the treehouse and then dinner with their ‘Brainstormers’ book group … a group of committed readers and educators … this was really fun! 

Mmmmm … deep dish pizza … 

the perfect way to end a book tour! (Note to self: must remember to include a deep dish pizza restaurant in the next treehouse renovation.)

There’s a lot to love about San Francisco’s hotel Monaco. The decor … 

the wall paper … 

the mirror … 

the yoga mat … (how many hotels provide yoga mats!?)

the leopard skin patterned bath-robes …

the monogrammed logo on the shower curtain …

and even the strangely disturbing rabbits fooling around in the breakfast room … 

I’m sure I’ve seen that guy in a David Lynch movie … or one of my nightmares. 

After eating my breakfast as fast as possible to get away from the rabbits I met my second cousin Clare and her husband Eugene who took me on a spectacular San Francisco staircase walk. 

Then we travelled down to the Mission district to see some of the mural art in Clarion Lane. Each piece in this open air art gallery seemed to be more elaborate and spectacular than the last … 

Even the bikes were getting in on the act. 

If we’d had time I could have spent a serious amount of it in Dog Eared Books …

but there were more pressing issues to attend to … like BURRITOS!

Nobody enjoys their burritos more than Eugene … except, perhaps, for me after I’ve been climbing stairs all morning. But sadly all good things come to an end … even burritos … and after saying goodbye to to Clare and Eugene and the Hotel Monaco it was back on the book tour road. First stop was the enchanting bookshop, ‘The Reading Bug’ in San Carlos. 

As you walk in you feel like you’re entering a book … 

with Diane and Antonia

They even let me sign their tree!

Next stop was Hicklebees in San Jose.

Established in 1979 Hicklebees is part comprehensive children’s bookshop …

and part children’s book museum. 

This ‘Hall of fame’ cabinet contains many treasures,

including the actual acorn that dropped on Chicken Little’s head!

And if you can’t find your favourite author’s signature somewhere on the walls then you’re not really trying … 

Yes, that’s a sorting hat … 

some wise advice from Lemony Snicket … 

and if you look closely you’ll see Greg Heffley somewhere in the midst of it all …

Drink me … 

Hickory Dickory Dock …

a mouse in a clock … 

and the master of ceremonies herself, Valery Lewis. 

Then it was over the bridge … 

past a Dr Seuss tree …

and north to Petaluma, with a brief detour to another bookshop because you really just can’t visit too many bookshops in the one day. ‘The Book Passage’ is really three bookshops in one. 

It features an extensive range of adults books with a dedicated event space, 

a separate children’s bookshop, 

and, in the distance, a whole room full of used books (my favourite type of book!)

This morning at TLA I was part of a really fun panel called ‘Visually speaking—why Graphic Novels count’. I took this photo before the event began. If you study it carefully you can see it contains all the ingredients that a successful conference panel needs. 

Did you get them all? Yes, that’s right … microphones, water, notes, a cup containing a double-shot espresso coffee, and, most important of all, an audience. (Actually, that’s wrong … at that hour of the day the coffee is the most important thing.) The panel was moderated brilliantly by the fabulous Eva Volin. The other panellists were Matt & Jennifer Holm, Jarret Krosoczka, John Rocco and Raina Telgemeier. I must have been having a good time because I forgot to take any more photos but here is a selection  of the panellists books.

Raina Telgemeier’s evocative and beautifully drawn graphic novel about high school theatrical productions, ‘Drama’. (Note: Raina will be at the forthcoming ACYL Reading Matters conference in Melbourne.) 

Jennifer and Matthew Holm’s vibrant Babymouse series … 

Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s heroic Lunch Lady series … 

John Rocco’s forthcoming SUPER HAIR-O … 

and my and Terry’s 13-Story Treehouse. 

After the panel I headed back to Dallas/Ft Worth airport in what turned out to be a much longer and less exciting cab ride than the one that had taken me to Forth Worth a few days ago. The chairs are enormous at Dallas/Ft Worth airport … we’ve seriously got to get some for our treehouse. 

I hated to leave my chair. I tried to take it on board the plane to San Francisco with me as hand luggage but it wouldn’t fit in the overheads and they made me take it back. With that sorted the plane was cleared for take off and it was on to San Francisco for the final leg of the tour. 

‘When a man is tired of the luggage carousel he is tired of life’—Samuel Johnson

TLA conference, Fort Worth Convention Centre

The Texas Librarian Convention’s Hall of Exhibitors is big … but then you’d hardly expect anything else … this IS Texas. 

There are about three million stands featuring publishers, book distributors, educational programs, library furnishing companies, fund-raising schemes, jewellery, T-shirts (‘Librarians rock!’) and books on every subject you can imagine like this excellent forthcoming publication from Henry Holt …  

and Seymour Simon’s comprehensive guide to the mysteries of kitten behaviour … 

and even (at last!) a book dealing with this hot button issue … 

But the REAL reason that most people were there was to get their books signed by their favorite Macmillan Children’s Authors in the Author area … 

and when I say ‘Macmillan Authors’, I mean, of course, with all un-modesty, me. 

11.00am. Authors, start your engines! 

Fortunately the conference organisers had the foresight to install an elaborate system of crowd barriers, otherwise my signing line could have got seriously out of control and people could have been crushed to death. Phew! 

Is it possible for shoes to be TOO shiny? 

Travelled from St Louis to Dallas Ft Worth for the Texas Libarians Association conference. I had plenty of time to spare at St Louis airport and my shoes were looking pretty scuffed up so I stopped by a shoeshine stand. The shoeshiner’s name was Readon Miller and he was a jazz saxophone player. He used to play in bands but now he’s just a solo act. He was heading for an audition later that afternoon. If he plays saxophone anywhere near as well as he shines shoes I’m sure he got the job. I’ve never had shoes as shiny as that. 

I still a bit self conscious about the shininess of my shoes when I arrived at Dallas/Ft Worth airport but I soon forgot about it during the craziest taxi ride to Fort Worth. The grizzled cab driver was barrelling down the freeway at 90 mph (144 kmph!) and switching lanes at the last moment whenever he encountered anybody travelling at a normal speed.  I guess I should have said something to the driver but I didn’t want to distract him … besides, it was kind of fun. The photo below doesn’t really convey just how fast we were going but I was pretty sure it was going to be the last thing I ever saw so I took a photo to remember it by.

Against all odds we made it to Fort Worth alive, and as a bonus, in very good time! Luckily there the Fort Worth Water gardens were near the hotel—a beautiful garden with many different types of water features. There were active pools and spray pools but I headed straight for the quiet water pool … I’d had my share of excitement for the day. 

After a really enjoyable dinner with class teachers, librarians and a number of other Macmillan authors I went to bed and dreamed of shiny shoes, fast cabs and quite pools. 

Arrived very late in St Louis … but it was all worth it when I drew the curtains and saw this: 

First stop of the day was the New City School in St Louis where there is a very large frog …

and lot of little ones on the front desk. (This, apparently, is only a small sample of the receptionist’s collection.)

Old Bonhomme Elementary School

An afternoon visit to the Patrick Henry Downtown Academy where I was thrilled to be part of Left Bank Books’ ‘River City Readers Program’ in which each student received a copy of ‘The 13-Storey Treehouse’ as part of an ongoing effort to get books into the hands of students who might otherwise not have the opportunity. 

After the school visits I was lucky enough to be able to see St Louis’s famous ‘City museum’ which bills itself as an “eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion and architectural marvel.” Hmmm. Sounds just like the 13-Story Treehouse … except this is real! Visitors are encouraged to feel, touch, climb on and play on it. I didn’t have time to go inside but the outside was spectacular enough. It was designed by artist Bob Cassily (the guy who made the giant frog sitting outside New City School). You can find out more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Museum

And yes, that IS a bus hanging off the top of the building. 

And possibly even more amazing … the St Louis arch! 

The rain returned after last week’s severe flooding. 

First stop was Kipling Elementary …

then onto Walden Elementary

for one of the biggest and most fired up groups so far! 

Blah blah blah … 

blah blah blahdy-blah… 

blah blah blahdy blah etc. 

Chicago is blessed with more than its fair share of great librarians … this is Kathy Kerner from Walden. 

A late session at Willard Elementary where at least 3 (and possibly 4) students were more interested in the photographer than me or the picture of the giant gorilla. 

An after school signing at the very excellent Book Stall 

I was honoured with a visit from Lorenzo Strano from the Australian Consulate in Chicago. So good to hear somebody talking Australian again (well somebody else apart from me, that is.)

First stop in Chicago is Oliver Julian Kendall Elementary who put the board out and everything! 

A nice, natural unposed photograph of the 3rd graders. (We had a good time!) 

Then it was onto White Eagle Elementary where Rachel from Friends is now working as the librarian. 

Okay, okay, it’s not Rachel from Friends … it’s super-librarian Dawn Vieira who had her students well fired up before I even started (and there were so many of them!)

The Big Fat Cow that Goes Kapow is a great favourite of the Grade 2s here. One of the students showed me his big fat cow project. I awarded it five stars and told him to take the rest of the week off. 

An evening signing at Anderson’s Bookshop, the best bookshop in Naperville.  

I met some great people and Anderson’s were kind enough to give me this book which is one of the best collections of funny (and not so funny) humour EVER … but then how could you expect anything less from the ever-excellent McSweeneys? 

Travelled from San Antonio TX to Chicago IL. A disappointingly smooth and uneventful trip, but a good chance to post some of my favorite signs, T-shirt slogans, shop windows and ice-cream wrappers that I’ve seen on the trip so far. 

Spot the odd book out in this easter-themed bookshop window display in Mountain View CA. (Give up? It’s ‘The Death of Bunny Munro’. I’m assuming that this is a brilliant joke on the part of the bookseller and not an unfortunate mistake that may have led to some poor child having a not-so-happy Easter.)

Apparently fish, shrimp and tuna are not made of meat. Who knew?  

Say what you like about Lewis Cleaners but you’ve got to admire their efforts to promote a calm and level-headed response to the possibility of insects and spiders hiding in our homes and offices. 

There are many reasons why you should visit the Field museum at Chicago but the fact that they were 2011’s winnner of AMERICA’S BEST RESTROOM is definitely the most important.

Speaking of awards, the T-shirt below gets my vote as the most cheerfully deranged souvenir T-shirt in a field filled with many thousands of worthy contenders in the souvenir supermarkets of Orlando FL. 

But the award for most cheerfully pointless souvenir has to go to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium for their ‘Tentacle Mustache’. 

And this gets my vote as the most intriguing shop window in New York …  well, of the ones I saw, anyway. (Yes, they are baby dolls piled up there.)

And I love how at the top of the Empire State Building there’s a shrine to King Kong as if he really IS the eighth wonder of the world. Despite the threat he poses, however, the security guards seemed quite relaxed. 

Hey, I bet nobody else has ever thought of doing this … 

This is the wrapper of an IT’S IT : ‘The original ice-cream treat: San Francisco’s tradition since 1928.’

And here’s a funny thing you can do to it if you have a black pen and an immature mind. 

Okay, okay, not that funny, I know, but what do you expect? They were asking for it and I’m very immature for my age. 

After a run and long breakast headed off to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center for a panel on the motivating effects of humorous books on emerging readers and a book signing at the International Reading association conference. 

Talking humour with the very talented picture book artist/writer Laurie Keller, over achieving journalist/children’s author/TV news anchor/musician Devin Scillian and moderator/inspirational fourth grade teacher Colby Sharp. This photo appears to catch me thinking, Laurie drinking and Devin picking. (Just joking, of course. Devin was only scratching and I wasn’t thinking …  just staring dumbly into space.) Note: It was a bit dark to begin with because they were having problems with the stage lighting. 

Laurie, Devin and some guy from Australia

The exhibitors’ floor at IRA. There was one or two books down there … 

and you could even get them signed by the authors! 

Many people commented on my nice accent which is weird because I didn’t even know I had one. 

Laurie Keller and Arnie the donut. (Arnie on the right, Laurie on the left.)

In the evening I went to a very enjoyable dinner with a number of other Macmillan group authors and conference guests and then went back to the hotel to wrestle with the alternately brilliant and utterly perplexing ‘Seymour an introduction’: the final book in my J.D. Salinger retrospective and the final book he ever wrote. 

Denver international airport is big. Not only does it process 53 million travellers a year, employs 33,000 people and have it’s own subway system but it has double lane moving walkways! Yes, that’s right! Two going up and two coming back! 

I’m not sure the Men’s restaurant is the best place to seek shelter from tornadoes … in fact, I would have thought that’s where many of them begin. 

Boarding for San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is steeped in history. I’m staying at the Gunter Hotel where, in 1936, blues legend Robert Johnson (you know, the guy who according to folklore waited at the crossroads in the dark of a moonless night and got his guitar fine-tuned by Satan in exchange for his soul)  recorded some of his most famous songs. 

and across the road is the quite majestic looking Majestic Theatre … 

and just four blocks up is … THE ALAMO!!!

The Alamo is, of course, famous not only for being the site of the famous  battle on March 6th 1836 between a 200 strong Texan volunteer army (including Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett) against  General Antoniono Lopez de Santa Anna’s vastly superior Mexican army, but, more importantly, it’s where Pee Wee Herman went to look for his lost bike in the 1987 movie Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.  After being told by a fortune teller that his bike is in the basement at the Alamo, Pee Wee goes on an epic journey to San Antonio where he endures a seemingly endless guided tour of the Alamo only to discover that he’s been sent on a wild goose chase and that there is, in fact, no basement. 

San Antonio’s also has a ‘River walk’ area which is very pretty …

but not as pretty as the San Antonio gift shop windows. (And no, I didn’t even dare to enter one … not because I’m scared of skeletons but because my suitcase is already dangerously overloaded.) 

Not dead … just resting. 

The sun came out today making West Denver even more beautiful than it was yesterday. 

Sometimes it’s hard to get a serious caffeine fix when you’re on the road but not at the Marriot Denver West hotel — they have their own Starbucks. 

On the road to Evergreen. 

Arriving at our first stop of the day: The Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen. 

Rocky Mountain Academy is a charter school with an emphasis on creativity and self expression and it showed in these very switched on and ready to laugh students. We had a great time together. They especially appreciated the nonsense humour of ‘Killer Koalas from Outer Space’. One of the students had written a story called ‘The Frog that Swallowed New York.’ I wish I’d thought of that. 

On the road to King - Murphy Elementary. So beautiful. 

Spent a fun 45 minutes with the Grade 2’s. Look how straight I’m sitting. My grade 2 teacher would be so proud of me. 

Not quite sure how the trees manage to hold so much snow without falling over. 

The sun stayed out all day but it was cold … -7C. 

A late afternoon session at Artonomy’s ‘Arts and Author’ program run by well known children’s artist Maggie Smiley. 

Robot riot! 

Designing incredible treehouses with the Artonomy students. 

JJ included sloths and ponies. 

And hedgehog levels were quite popular. 

Then it was back to Hearthfire Books for a marshmallow and lemonade party. 

A nice welcome on the blackboard. 

And a not-so-enthusiastic welcome from the Hearthfire bookshop cat. Apparently its not happy about the catnary episode in The 13-Story Treehouse. 

Barbara with a pack of super-sized extra large jet-puffed Jumbo mallows. They were bigger and better than anything that Terry and I could have dreamed up … and they were REAL! 

Marshmallows and lemonade: the official treehouse food. 

The kids and parents turned out in force. I think word must have got around about the super-sized extra large jet-puffed Jumbo mallows.

Thanks to everyone in Evergreen for making this such an enjoyable visit. My only complaint is that I was too busy signing books to get one of the super-sized extra large jet-puffed Jumbo mallows. Never mind … there’s always next time. 

Kappy and Barbara from Heathfire. Kappy is holding a vegetable vaporiser. They thought of EVERYTHING!

There was quite a lot of snow in Denver today …

…and when I say quite a lot of snow … 

I mean quite a LOT of snow. 

First stop was Marshdale Elementary School in Evergreen. 

The photo is a little blurry but you can see that the kids at Marshdale knew how to have fun. I read them the Exploding Butterfly story and they cheered all the way through and didn’t stop cheering until the very last explosion. 

Next stop was West Jeff Elementary in Conifer. 

A warm welcome on a freezing cold day. “Welcome Author, Andy Griffiths! yeah! woo-hoo!’

West Jefferson Elementary school is home of the Bobcats. 

Have you “High-fived” your watchDOG today? No? Me neither. 

The West Jefferson students were pretty silly too. Must be the altitude. 

Went to a mexican restaurant called Margaritas for lunch. I met a girl called Hunter who recognised my Australian accent because her cheerleading squad were beaten by an Australian cheerleading team at a meeting in Las Vegas on the weekend. She is home schooled because her dedication to cheer leading keeps her out late most nights. Hunter is also a keen reader and her mother bought her a copy of 13-Storey Treehouse and we had our photo taken. 

Outside it was snowing even harder than before lunch. I attempted to take this picture but the snow got in my eyes and I couldn’t keep them open.

The trees were working really hard to hold all that snow up … 

…but not as hard as those little green guys were working to try to SLOW! everybody down. 

A very loud and enthusiastic group of students Wilmot Elementary School, Evergreen. 

Icicles hanging from the roof of Evergreen Library where I did an after school session for a small group which was great but I was upstaged by a malfunctioning powerpoint that was doing this weird pixillation thing … but I think the kids were enjoying that more than when it’s working properly. 

Afterwards caught up with my friend and passionate 3rd grade Marshdale teacher Charlie McCarthy.  

Went back to his warm house in the mountains and listened to a lot of cool music while I signed four boxes of books. Look at my footprints outside his house. Snow is fun!