Here's a mom blog from Toronoto with a nice best books of the year list

And it includes the noble banana.

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Pets now included in disaster planning

Somehow it escaped my attention that President Bush signed, in October, a new federal PETS Law -- Pets Evacuation and Transportation, a law inspired by the heart-wrenching loss of companion animals after Hurricane Katrina. This past June, at the summer ALA convention in New Orleans, I was a guest of the ASPCA for the Henry Bergh Children's Book Awards (my picture book, Magnus at the Fire, won a Bergh). As part of the ASPCA group, I learned a great deal about pet rescue in the aftermath of the hurricane, and many Gulf Coast residents expressed their gratitude to the ASPCA staff members for the help they received with their animals. It was a really moving experience, and I am really glad to see that the federal government now recognizes the importance of companion animals to disaster victims. I know I couldn't abandon my animals at home.
After the awards ceremony for the Henry Bergh Awards there was an after-hours reception at the Audubon Zoo, where we learned about the zoo staff's efforts to save the zoo animals during and after the hurricane. Our special guest at the reception was one of the elephants, which we all got to pat and examine up close and personal. That was an ALA party with a twist!

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From Chicago Tribune, on Christmas Eve

The American Story the number #5 children's book selling in Chicago area bookstores. Me likey.

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Minnesota Parent Magazine

"Your child or grandchild doesn't have to be a history buff to enjoy this wonderful array of stories celebrating America's history."

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Special treasure for older children, says Southcoast Today

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Today's news

I took a stroll through the regional bestseller lists and found The American Story on the New Atlantic Indpendent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) list for the week ending December 17.

Yesterday's mail brought a royalty report for the Japanese edition of Black-Eyed Susan, which sells really really well in Japan. (I mean, of course the Japanese edition sells well in Japan, as opposed to selling well in, say, Sweden, but you know what I mean). I find it really remarkable that a novel with an American history setting finds a market overseas, or should I say remarkable in the reverse? What I mean is that I find it hard to imagine an American publisher buying translation rights to a novel for kids with a Japanese historical setting. So few kids' books in translation are published here! The American reader is not interested in other cultures and other people's history, apparently. Or at least this is what American publishers presume: other people are interested in us, but we're not interested in them. So, hats off to the readers of Japan, who actually buy more copies of Black-Eyed Susan than American readers do!

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Finally! Pictures of Addis, and of some of the kids

I can't seem to get these captions to line up with the pictures, and I'm too tired from the trip home to keep fussing with it. These pictures are as follows: 1.Emma holding one of the babies at Haregwoin Teferra's orphanage. Haregwoin is the star of Melissa Fay Green's book, There Is No Me Without You. Our driver, Mesfin, was an expert at negotiating the insane traffic of Addis. 2. These are small shops, on a good street. 3. Embassies of other African nations. The embassies of wealthy nations are much snazzier, not surprisingly. 4. more shops -- this is the street where the Volunteer House is. 5. Kids saying grace before lunch at Wanna, the little kids' house at AAI.

When Emma's photos are available on line for viewing I'll let you all know -- she took close to 10,000 images, so it will take a while for her to edit and post. Stay tuned.









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Publicity Round-up after a week away

Children's Better Health Institute reviews The American Story; Pooh's Corner Books in Grand Rapids reviews Once Upon a Banana; Playzak.com tells why you should buy The American Story; Metroland magazine puts The American Story on holiday recommended list; here is the New York Times review of Once Upon a Banana.

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last words from Addis

We're packing up now, and getting ready for a quick bite before we head to Layla House to pick up our package. Our flight leaves at 10:45, and we'll arrive in Frankfurt in the morning. Then a flight to JFK and the long process of getting the baby through immigration before we head home. We should be in Saratoga by 8:00 Tuesday night.

We spent most of the day just hanging out at Layla. The older girls spent many hours braiding our hair. My hair, so short and straight, looked completely ridiculous. I pulled the rubber bands out as soon as we walked out the gate to come back here to the Volunteer House. The kids are so eager for conversation, and hugs, and just being acknowledged. They are tremendously well cared for here, but they want families. They want to be someone's son or daughter. The babies are placed with families as quickly as they come in, but the older kids and the sibling groups can be so difficult to place. Amazingly, folks do adopt sibling groups -- tomorrow a family is coming to pick up a sibling group of five. This is such generosity it blows my mind.

This has been a quick trip, but we'll all be back. Maybe next year for Christmas or Thanksgiving. That would be a holiday to remember.

Ciao ciao from Addis.

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almost forgot to mention

Once Upon a Banana was reviewed in the New York Times today (Sunday). That's cool.

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Free Hugs Ethiopia

Do you know about the Free Hugs Campaign? If not, go to their website first and then come back here to read this entry. I'd post a link, but at 31.2 kbps I just don't want to try anything fancy. Just Google it, watch a few clips and read the backstory, and then come back.

My friend, Ibtisam Barakat, sent me a video link of Free Hugs before I left for Africa (thank you, Ibtisam!) and I knew right away we had to do this here. Today was the day. I made a "Free Hugs" sign on the inside of a manila folder, and got one of the volunteers who is learning Amharic to write it under the English, and I drew an Ethiopian flag in the middle. We got to Layla House at around 1:00 p.m., and wandered down to the courtyard for the older kids. One of the teachers, Abiya, a really good looking young guy in sunglasses and an "Africa Youth" t-shirt was there, and we handed him the sign and started about three different video cameras running. Kids started coming up to read the sign, first in Amharic, then in English, and then -- bam! Let the hugging begin! More and more kids began appearing from all the rooms around the courtyard, and some of them started drumming and singing, and we had about 40 minutes of hugging, cheering, singing, clapping, fighting to take a turn holding the sign -- awesome. When we get back home we'll try to edit it down into a really usable three or four minute montage, hopefully with one of their songs running in the background. One love.

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Saturday evening, Addis Ababa

So many things to report, so many bits and pieces of observation:

Driving the streets and roads here one can form the impression that a major event has just let out -- a parade just ended? A football match? People are streaming in all directions on foot. What's happening? one wonders. Then -- of course, this is how they mostly get from A to B. They walk.

Among other things today, we went to another orphanage, Kidane Mehret (I think is the spelling) to take the departure reports of four children. An entirely different orphanage than Layla House -- perhaps twice as many children, and not nearly as well cared for. We did not have the courage to go into the dorms -- we took the reports outside on the church steps, tracing around the feet of the children who will soon be going to new homes, peeking at their clothing tags to get sizes, trying to ascertain did they like soccer? did they like school. Two of the children interviewed claimed Harry Potter as a favorite movie/book. Even here. Harry is beloved even here.

Other bits of news -- we get little news, we are too busy to watch what might pass for t.v. news, and our internet service is too sporadic to make reading news on-line a reasonable ambition. But we hear Somalia declared war on Ethiopia yesterday or the day before. That's not surprising at all, we could see that coming. There is no evidence of alarm here. Perhaps nobody knows the news. They are so busy trying to survive.

But here is one bit of news, one that we actually got just before we left USA -- we are escorting a baby home. We've met her, and she looks like a miniature Don King with hair sticking straight up. We now have a top secret sealed dossier for her, not to be opened until we reach the immigration officials at JFK -- and then we'll hand her over to her new family.

This morning (and forgive me for the poorly organized report) we took 15 kids on a field trip to a missionary church craft fair -- more white people in one place than I have seen since we got here. The kids we took were from Group 3, about 11 or 12 years old. They behaved themselves so well. We had given them all 15 bir (approximately $1.50) to spend, and they held our hands, and looked, and deliberated on what they wanted to spend their money on. What they really wanted to buy were sunglasses and bubblegum, not Ethiopian native crafts. But there were fresh baked things to buy, and long necklaces of seed beads. Acrylic knitted scarves in the colors of the Ethiopian flag. They didn't blow their money; some of them bought nothing, preferring to save their 15 bir for another field trip.

I finished sorting the books today, putting them into groups by age and ability, and bundled and wrapped the rest of the books for the library. We took other books to Kidane Mehret. The rest of the books we will take tomorrow to AHOPE, the orphanage for HIV orphans. It doesn't matter who gets these books -- they are needed everywhere.

We have just a little time left, and several things left to accomplish, but we've knocked the bulk of items off our to-do lists, and so far none of us has been sick, or lost anything, or any of the other travails of travel. The people of this country are unfailingly gracious.

That's all for now.

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Greetings from Addis Ababa

It's Friday, 1:50 p.m. We've just had lunch at the volunteer house after spending the morning at the orphanage.

I haven't yet said anything about the place, or what we've seen and done. So now is the time. But first, the walk to the orphanage.

It's about a five minute walk from where we are staying; the street is in a constant state of slow-paced frenetic activity... small, blue, beat-up Lada taxis ply the street, honking at white people and asking if they need a lift; donkeys with burdens trot by. Roosters crow. Trucks and vans piled high with towering stacks of -- of everything from building materials to giant rolls of foam, like carpet padding. This morning we saw a man in a suit carrying a log over his shoulder. Old people, children in school uniforms, women in head scarves, women in fashionable Western clothes. The street is under construction, although how long it has been in that state is hard to tell. Metal shops are next to embassies, next to groceries, next to tin huts. The sun is powerful and bright. Everything is dusty. Diesel fumes in clouds waft by. Jacaranda trees covered in purple blooms, acacia trees, evergreen trees --- these provide color. Beyond embassy gates we can see glimpses of green, watered lawns.

When we arrive at the oprhanage gate, this all changes. The place is a compound, made up of many buildings -- the upper house, where the babies and toddlers are has a sunny courtyard where laundry is always hanging to dry. In the mornings the baby caretakers bring out a big mattress, and the babies are undressed and laid in the sun, and rubbed with lotion, and tickled. Older children come and play with the babies, and the rat-catching cats blink in the bright sunshine. The toddlers are inside, in their high chairs, having breakfast.

The doctor's office is down a short flight of steps. The doctor starts giving physical exams in the morning, aided by a nurse. A bell is ringing in another part of the compound, calling the older children to class. There is a garden, and swings, and a soccer/basketball courtyard; these some of these courtyards are surrounded by the children's bedrooms. Down more steps to another level and you reach the classrooms, where brightly colored pictures on the wall are labeled in English and Amharic and the kids are learning math, and reading, and music, and crafts. There is a playground with a giant pirate ship to climb. Beyond the orphange wall at this end of the compound looms a multi-story cinder block buidling half-built and never to be finished. There is more washing going on here, and more clotheslines covered with socks, and children's jeans, and sheets and t-shirts.

Wherever we walk in the compound kids stop and say hi, or hello, or wave, or just smile. They are used to seeing volunteers here, and also used to seeing American families coming to get their kids, and so the older children and the workers will say "Mom?" "Volunteer?" to place us. They are fascinated by Emma, who is very tall, and who takes photos constantly. They smile at her and say "my picture!" and wrap their arms around each other for good poses. They are beautiful kids. Really beautiful.

Jane and I have spent a lot of time in the baby room -- there are a lot of babies, and although there are a lot of caretakers there are always babies who are not being held when they want to be held, or played with, because someone else is being fed, or changed, or played with.

Today we delivered to a little girl of perhaps six or seven a letter from her new family in the U.S., who are coming soon to get her. The accountant from the office translated the letter for her, and explained what a snowman is (there was a snowman drawn on the envelope) and showed her the photographs. The men from the gate house helped us unload library books and put them in the store room prior to cataloging. Later, when we go back, we will attend a going-away party. This is a place where there is something to break your heart every five minutes and something to repair it immediately follows.

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News from Ethiopia

To start off with, it looks as though posting photos will be pretty much impossible, so I'll have to illustrate these entries when I get home.

Quick recap of travel:

Emma, Jane and I hauled all of our luggage (9 units weighing 50 pounds each) and two carry-ons each to JFK on Tuesday afternoon, checked in at Lufthansa, and boarded our 4:30 flight to Frankfurt. Nothing of note to report about that.

Arrived in Frankfurt, wandered the terminal for a few hours waiting to board our flight to Addis. We were all getting very tired and rumpled by this time. Our first sight of Africa was our landing in Khartoum, at about sunset. The land from above looked very flat, and very brown, although here are there we could see green farm fields. Our stop in Khartoum was about an hour, for refueling. We took off in the dark for the 1 hour 10 minute flight to Addis.

At the airport in Addis we waited on line for visas, a rather disorganized process but not too bad. Then we collected all our baggage, and were grateful to find Nate Ripley, from AAI, waiting for us. There was another volunteer on our flight, whom we met at baggage claim, a college student intern who has already put in several months here on another occasion.

The orphanage van was loaded (on top) with all this stuff, and we took off for the guest house, arriving at about 10:30 p.m. local time. After some discussion, some light unpacking, we turned in. Awakened in the dark, in the morning, but the broadcast call to prayer from the nearest mosque. We had breakfast at around 7:30, started unpacking books.

By 10 we were ready to go get money and groceries. We walked up the hill, past tin shack barber shops and embassies of various countries -- mixed use zoning, I'd say. Following instructions we went to a glassware store in a mall to find Mike the Money Man, and change money. We then walked to the grocery stores, purchased food and bottled water for the week, and took a cab back. Thank goodness for Hayley, the intern, who speaks enough Amharic to handle these negotiations. After a quick lunch we walked over to the orphanage. More on that tomorrow.

For now we are back at the guest house sorting and sizing pajamas, and getting a little rest and green tea. Emma has already shot over 600 photos and she's now juggling various pieces of electronic photo equipment, electrical adapters and converters, and hoping not to either electrocute herself or blow up her laptop. Stay tuned.

Bye for now from Addis Ababa.

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Have arrived in Addis Ababa

Internet service is dial-up and very slow so I will be keeping these posts brief and unillustrated, for the most part.

I just want to say that we are here, and arrived at the orphanage guest house approximately 24 hours after meeting up at JFK. We are now sorting books, toys, etc. and will be visiting the kids later today.

More later.

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Mock Caldecott discussions

Mock Caldecott list at Minnesota public library includes Once Upon a Banana. So does this list from Rhode Island. (I think it's Rhode Island). Here's hoping it shows up on many more lists as the next few weeks unfold. But most importantly, let's hope it's on the table for discussion by the actual committee.

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Dallas Morning News favorite children's books of the year

The American Story.

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Miami Herald favorite books of the year

Includes Once Upon a Banana

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Washington Post Top Ten Nonfiction Books for Children 2006

Lists The American Story.

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Our Kids.com reviews The American Story

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Little Professor puts The American Story on its holiday gift list.

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Packing for Ethiopia

This is the beginning of the baggage for Ethiopia. Books, school and craft supplies, toys, candy, clothing... Stay tuned for more photos as the packing continues.

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Friday grab bag

MSNBC lists The American Story on its 10 Children's Tomes for the Holidays. Tomes? Ok. On Saturday (tomorrow) I'll be at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont, at 1 p.m. for a booksigning.

I found this picture of a snowman and decided to include it. Because. Well, you know. It's getting to be that time of year, right? And I like its hair.

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Grand Rapids Press reviews Once Upon a Banana

"Why are exhaust fumes leaking out from beneath the jacket flap?" the review asks. "Because it is that big."
I'm not really sure what that means, but I know it's a compliiment.

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Round-up of wordless picture books

Again with the "wordless" label. Words, people! Once Upon a Banana has words in it! Just because they aren't in type at the bottom of the page doesn't mean they aren't words!

Also this blogger has a clever way to review books in brief. Really brief. It's a review haiku of The American Story. With all credit to her I quote:

Coffee-table book
highlights key U.S. events.
Good pick for browsers.

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This blog has synopses of several stories from The American Story

I guess she likes the book.

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Media clips for December 5

"Worthy reads incorporate civics lesson," says the Albany Times Union. Books & Books of Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Bal Harbour put The American Story in their holiday gift guide. Susie Wilde's "Wilde Awards" in the News Observer of Chapel Hill lists it as a top nonfiction title for the year.

Today I have a school visit in Slingerlands, just west of Albany. Then back home to continue packing fo the Ethiopia trip. Gotta scoot.

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Buffalo News:Holiday season ushers in an avalanche of new children's titles

"Gifted author Jennifer Armstrong offers a marvelous kaleidoscope of well- and lesser-known tales from American history..."
Shucks. It warn't nuthin'.

Also, good news -- looks like I will be able to take my laptop to Ethiopia and blog from there. Having been upgraded to "humanitarian luggage allowance" means we can take 50 pounds more each, and that will be taking the form of a lot more books. Once we give every kid a book as a gift we'll have leftovers for the school library, and one of my projects will be to catalog them. My camera is fixed, too. So there will be pictures. I'm leaving a week from tomorrow (Tuesday) and will arrive late Wednesday.

More soon.

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PW round-up on Christmas bookselling

This bookseller in Falmouth, Maine, reports she's hand-selling The American Story, and "sold a complete dump of them." This is book business lingo for a floor display. Random House created a lectern-top display case for The American story, with a browsing copy on the top and clean copies inside -- plus flags to give away. Publishers often create these dumps for books they hope will attract a lot of attention, but book sellers are often loath to use them -- they take up precious floor space in stores that are frequently crowded as it is. When a book seller does decide to use a dump it's usually a good indication that the store thinks the book is worth the crowding.

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This new librarian's blog lists Once Upon a Banana as one of her favorite books of 2006

Excellent taste. A blog to watch.

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer puts The American Story on its you-know-what

"Armstrong is a top-notch chronicler of history..."

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Mrs. Dalloway's in Berkeley puts The American Story on its holiday gift-giving list

This is a gardening and book store. How great is that?

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Bookpage recommends The American Story for holiday gift-giving

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Belmont Citizen-Herald recommends The American Story for gift-giving

"This treasury belongs in every home..."

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Through the Looking Glass reviews Banana

"A picture book which all ages will enjoy..."

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I promised a glimpse of the snowy fantasy

I spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon trying to photograph this. This picture is the best of the lot, showing the snow falling from the ceiling, the table covered with snow and ice, and the windows frosted.
Tonight is the candlelight house tour. At last, I get to put away the glue gun...

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Kirkus lists their 50 best children's books of 2006

And guess who wrote 4% of the books on the list? Me, thats right. Me. Both Once Upon a Banana and The American Story are on the list. And since it's alphabetical, they are #2 and #3 (right behind Tobin Anderson at #1).
"This comprehensive compendium is both a tremendous resource and a gift book for the ages," it says of The American Story. And "urban ruckus" and "visual romp" are some of the descriptions of Once Upon a Banana.

Also the Deseret (Utah) News lists Once Upon a Banana in its gift-giving list of children's titles for the season. "A banana peel causes a whole town to fall apart." Evidently we really loosed the hounds of anarchy with this book.

Q. Jennifer, how do you feel about these two books ending up on all these lists?
A. Oh, shucks, I'm just happy folks are reading them. [Subtext: Yippee!]

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"La Bloga" blog of Chicano Literature reviews The American Story

"I’m recommending it to La Bloga readers. No, it’s not Chicano history, it’s not Mexica or even by a Chicano writer; but it’s an amazingly well written book and this is our history too."

Wow! Thanks very much, La Bloga!

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San Antonio bookstores recommend Once Upon a Banana in holiday guide

"Will the madness ever end?" reads their review. Madness and insanity seem to be recurring themes in the reviews of this book. Should I be worried?

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Worcester Magazine Gift Guide...

... recommends The American Story.

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Anniston Star reviews Once Upon a Banana

Seeming to borrow heavily from the Fuse # 8 review... And where is Anniston, anyway?

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"Zaniness ensues..."

From the Times Union (Albany, New York).

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"It takes a lot of stories to compile The American Story" says the San Diego Union Tribune

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November quickly coming to a close

This teacher has some suggestions for using The American Story with students. TAS is now in the OC - Orange County Register gift guide, that is.

This is all the daily obsessive scavenging of the internet has yielded.

On the Christmas decorating front, I can tell you that I made great progress over the Thanksgiving weekend. @#$&*! I wish I had my camera so I could show you all the snow I have now floating down from the dining room ceiling. It's magical.

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Reading Rockets Holiday Gift Guide...

... recommends Once Upon a Banana.

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The American Story in Columbus Parent Magazine

Some feature called "Mom Style" which presumes that dads aren't interested in buying books for their kids. I think it might presume that. I'm just saying.

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The Banana reaches Abilene, Kansas

The Abilene Reporter News calls Once Upon a Banana "part 'Curious George', part Marx Brothers."

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Interview on Prairie Public Radio

I did this interview yesterday afternoon. The host kept calling the book "100 True Tales from American History: The American Story," and it never really seemed like the right time to set him straight. Oh well.

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The American Story in San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Gift Guide

"Goodies Between Covers" is how they style their book buying recommendations.

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News roundup

Okay, let's see, the Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser says The American Story is a "keeper." This newspaper serves the "heartland" of New York, although I'm not entirely sure what that might consist of. I live in New York and I've never heard of any part of it being called the heartland. Wherever it is, they like The American Story, too. The book has been holding pretty steadily at under 1,000 on Amazon.com. Of course the problem with tracking sales rank is that you don't know how many books that number actually represents. In addition to sales rank I'd love to see "books sold today." Of course that would just be one more thing for me to obsess over.

On the house tour decorating front, I spent much of yesterday crumbling white styrofoam and mixing it with glue to make piles of snow. Right now these piles of snow are curing in front of the gas fire in my breakfast room. They look surprisingly realistic. The basic idea is to fill the house with ice, frost and snow. And polar bears. No santas. No nutcrackers. No bows. No no no.

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The American Story in the SIBA holiday catalog

Everywhere I have been this fall, booksellers have been saying "this is going to be our big holiday book." Okay, holiday shopping officially begins this week. Booksellers, start your engines...

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Let the holiday decorating begin!

Last year, the director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation asked me if I'd like to be on the "Candlelight House Tour" that the foundation runs every early December as a fund raising event. I declined, saying "please ask next year."

Well, she did.

Why, given everything on my plate this autumn, I agreed to do this, I'm not sure. But I did. Yesterday I spent forty-five minutes or so at A.C. Moore with the masses of other people running roughshod over Thanksgiving and plunging directly into Santas and garland. I'm working on an indoor ice effect and I wanted to get something to frost over my windows. There are several commercial "frost" products in cans, and reading the labels absolutely gave me the creeps. I'm sure I've read those chemical names in descriptions of toxic industrial waste stories. My front windows go right to the floor, perfect for my dachshunds to watch the comings and goings of criminals and aggressors on the sidewalk, and I didn't want them pressing their sharp little noses into something sure to kill them.

So I decided to try stenciling with regular old Elmer's glue. It's water washable, non-toxic, peels off glass, and cheap. After a couple of hours of experimentation, I perfected my technique: wipe on a film of glue, and then pat snow glitter into it while it's wet. The stenciling isn't that effective, but just painting with the glue is. All fall I have been stockpiling acryclic icicles and snowflakes and polar bears, and as soon as Thanksgiving is behind me I will be plugging in the glue gun, unreeling invisible monofilament, and getting to serious work.

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES? you ask. My camera is in the hospital with nonretractinglensitis. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Stay tuned.

By the way, that trip to Cleveland was my LAST trip of 2006 for work. I still have the Ethiopia trip next month, but no more trade shows, conventions, conferences, etc. Ya-freakin'-hoo.

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Conference in Cleveland at the Cuyahoga Library

This trip started very badly. Very badly. Terrible weather on the East Coast on Thursday, including fatal tornadoes in North Carolina, wreaked havoc on airline travel. Flights connecting through Philadelphia were totally messed up. I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that I finally reached Cleveland around 11:15 p.m., approximately 12 hours after leaving home. I probably could have driven there in about that time.

The next day started early (6:00 a.m.) wake up and then off to the public library for a day-long symposium.

First up were author/illustrator Marla Frazee and her editor, Allyn Johnston, who is the editor-in-chief at Harcourt Children's. Over the years they have formed a close personal relationship which t serves their working relationship very well. Click on the "studio" button on Marla's site and see the photographs of her studio. Adorable! I wish I had a little cottage in the back yard. Actually I do, in a way, but it's full of gardening equipment.

Next up was Margaret Peterson Haddix, adored by middle school readers. One funny anecdote was about a friend of one of her children coming into her house and stopping dead in front of the microwave to say, "this is the microwave of a famous author!" She doesn't have a website, but her daughter is trying to lure her into creating a MySpace page. What's a teen author to do?

After lunch I spoke, and then it was Walter Wick's turn. He showed pictures of his amazing photographs. Some of the most fascinating images were the ones that showed the inner workings and mechanics of the pictures -- how he makes things appear to float in space, etc. Go to his website and check out the video of his balloon popper.



Then it was off to the airport, back through Philadelphia (no bad weather) and finally home after midnight.

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Interiew on Kids Bookshelf

Neither very long, nor anthing you haven't heard me say before.

Later today I'll write up my trip to Cleveland, but first I have to stack a half-cord of firewood. Why? Because that's just what authors do.

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Tobin Anderson wins National Book Award for Young People's Literature

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party is an astonishing book. And it's only volume I. Tobin has been working on this opus for years. I'm not sure when volune II is due to be published, but stay tuned. It will undoubtedly be gripping.

Congratulations, Tobin!

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Parents' Choice Foundation..

... has named The American Story a 2006 Parents' Gold Choice Winner.

That's nice, don't you think?

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Headed to Cleveland tomorrow for this conference

Among the other speakers is Walter Wick, the photographer of the I Spy books. Very much looking forward to his presentation. How does he make those amazing photos?

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Banana is like Perils of Pauline, says Chicago Tribune

I suspect we are rapidly running out of people who understand what the Perils of Pauline were, but never mind.

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Third Starred Review for Once Upon a Banana -- this time in School Library Journal

ONCE UPON A BANANA

By Jennifer Armstrong; illustrated by David Small

(Paula Wiseman/S&SBFYR; IBSN 0689842511; October 2006; fall catalog page 28)

"In this hilarious book, a monkey’s craving for a banana turns the streets of a busy city upside down. The mostly wordless tale is told through rhyming street signs and delightfully detailed watercolor paintings. On the first spread, a juggling performer, dressed in a motley jester’s costume, watches as his wild-eyed monkey runs away. The creature heads down the street and bounds into a bin filled with bananas. While the grocer rails at the monkey’s owner, the animal runs across the street clutching his prize. Next, it tosses the peel onto the sidewalk near a trash-can sign that reads, “Please Put Litter in Its Place” as a motorcycle sputters past with two tough-faced riders. After pulling over under another sign (“No Parking in This Space”), the pair dismount, and, of course, the driver slips on the peel. When this and future mishaps occur, suspense, thrills, chaos, and comedy result. Readers will soon understand that all of the background characters–small figures holding cell phones, Rollerblading, pushing baby carriages–will soon be drawn onto center stage. The book ends with an aerial map of the city block and a key identifying the locations of the signs, allowing kids to retrace the action. A glorious escapade packed with child appeal."

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Texas Trifles

Here's another happy reader of The American Story from Texas.
Message to Texas: I'm coming to Houston in January!

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Nancy blogs the National Book Awards

My friend, Nancy Werlin, is in New York now for the festivities related to the National Book Award. Her novel, The Rules of Survival, is a finalist for the NBA in young people's literature, or however they describe the category. Very exciting! Tobin Anderson is another finalist. What do you do when two friends are up for the same award?

I don't know, but I'm going to follow her blog with great interest.

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awwwwww

I don't know whom to credit for this photo. I found it with Stumble Upon. Idn't he the tweetest?
One regret about my trip to Antarctica three years ago is that I never saw baby seals. Big fat grownup seals, yes, but no widdle pups.

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Ups and Downs

So I have to confess, I was really disappointed yesterday that Once Upon a Banana did not make the NYT 10 Best Illustrated Books of the Year list. I can't imagine how it failed to score, and I'm bummed.

On the plus side, this morning I was reading the New Yorker in a waiting room, and discovered a big ad for The American Story on the book review page. It used the Tom Brokaw quote and a piece from the Wall Street Journal review. I guess we can infer the market this ad is intended to reach. Would that be grandma and grandpa? I think so. Yes, I think so.

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What a Song Can Do: Twelve Riffs on the Power of Music

Here's a review I just found of a book of mine from a few years go -- a collection of stories I compiled and edited. Three authors from my previous anthology (Shattered: Stories of Children and War) had stories in this collection -- Joseph Bruchac, Diane Curtis Regan, and Ibtisam Barakat. Keep your eyes peeled for Ibtisam's forthcoming memoir from FSG. I'm not sure what the pub date is, but I read the book in manuscript and it is a riveting account of a Palestinian childhood.

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A banana store. I'm not kidding.

And Once Upon a Banana is among the books they offer. Thank heavens! It would be mortifying to be snubbed by the banana store.

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A Good Thing

Apprently Martha Stewart Living Radio (who knew there was such a thing?) has a kids' book segment every Tuesday. Last week's election day theme was patriotism, according to the Children's Book Council website.

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Why my voice is hoarse today

Two reasons, which I shall now elucidate:

1. Yesterday I spoke at the New York State Reading Association (NYSRA) conference, held here in Saratoga Springs at our convention center. I always love it when NYSRA or NYLA (NY Library Assn.) hold their conventions here, because this is a speaking gig I can WALK to! However, the breakout room they had me in was a sectioned off piece of the exhibit hall, i.e. vast, uncarpeted echo chamber. Microphone wasn't working. You get the picture.


2. I competed in a charity Scrabble tournament last night to benefit the Literacy Volunteers in our area. There was a huge turnout of teams of eight. My regular Sunday night Scrabble worthies had urged me to lead them to victory in this competetion when the invites first went out a month or so ago. I thought my gig at the NYSRA convention was at night, so I said I couldn't play. When I realized yesterday that I could, I got on the phone to my crew: James "No Trump" Morrison (my bridge partner), Michael "Homme de Wicker" Belanger, and Rumara "Seven-Letter-Word" Jewett. The evening's festivities were held at a local restaurant/banquet spot, the kind with a koi pond you have to edge past to get to the buffet. We were matched with another half-team, the Junkyard Dogs. The idea is simple: working as a team, we try to maximize the point value of the letters and the board, and the team with the highest point count is the night's winner. Cheating was not only allowed but encouraged -- for a price. We were able to buy additional letters for the point value of the letter (i.e., A = $1, Z = $10). After a practice round we hit upon our brilliant strategy -- to buy up all the available extra S's, because of course the easiest way to recount a word is to add an S and build perpendicular to it. When other teams began trying to buy extra S's they discovered, to their horror, that none were left. Once the real match began the entire room resounded with screaming and yelling as team members shouted such things as, "VORTEX! PUT THE X ON THE TRIPLE LETTER" "DISGORGES! NO! DISGRACES! WHERE'S THE C?" "COUNT IT UP! 24x3x3!"

We came in third. Next year, trust me, we will be #1. We'll have worked out an even more cunning plan. If we have to spend all our money on the extra letters we will. As you might infer, competition is the gasoline that runs this gang's engine. No, I take that back. Not competition, winning.

p.s. after the tournament we came back to my house to play Scrabble...

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Once Upon a Banana "Borders on the insane," says Fuse #8

Thank you, Betsy! This is a really tremendous review.

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Faith restored

Farewell, Rummy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

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Dispatches from New York #2

Great. So naturally it would be while I'm out of town that my own local public radio station, the stupendous WAMC, airs something about The American Story. And I missed it. Bookshelves of Doom blogged about the book just the other day. Actually I'm not even sure what day it is today, I only know that I have to be ready to head to Connecticut at 7:15 a.m. Not a happy thought to get me up at 6. No, not a happy thought.
But San Diego Union Tribune tossed a banana our way today. That's good.
At yesterday's signing at Books of Wonder on 18th Street, fellow bloggers Cheryl Klein of Brooklyn Arden, and Betsy Bird, of Fuse #8 stopped to say hello. At the end of the event we (David and Sarah and I) decided to walk back uptown to our hotel. We passed numerous tired-looking runners wrapped in mylar space blankets the farther uptown we walked. This is a busy busy beehive, this city. Today's agenda consists of presentations in Connecticut, and then back to the city. One more event tomorrow, and then home to VOTE.

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Dispatches from New York #1

You know how it is when you're traveling, and you haven't really done all that much but you're exhausted anyway? That's me. Started the day in Chicago, did a bookstore event, went to the airport, flew to La Guardia, drove in to Manhattan, checked in, ate dinner -- you wouldn't think this could all be so tiring, but it is. The city is full -- FULL -- of people for the marathon. Latest estimates are there are 37,000 runners for tomorrow. Thankfully they are not all staying at the Parker Meridien.

By the way, even as I write, the wicker man is smoldering into nothing, or so it should be if all went according to plan. I'll check in with friends tomorrow to find out.

Nighty night.

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Dispatches from Chicago, #4

Here we are at Lincolnwood Elementary in -- hang on, let me refer to my printed itinerary -- Evanston, Illinois. I found a monkey in the library before our presentation and decided to hang onto it during the entire time I was on stage. You start to get a little punchy after several days in a row of doing the same thing. I don't know, it just felt better to hang onto a monkey while I was talking at this school, # 2 of the day, # I-don't-know-what of the week. We crawled our way up the west coast of Lake Michigan today, and ate lunch at a perfectly horrible Chinese restaurant in the town of Gurnee. The sort of meal that afterward you think to yourself "Why did I eat that? I knew the moment I saw it it would be horrible. But I ate it anyway." A shaming sort of experience. David and Sarah and I ate food we didn't want, and only our media escort, Art, was smart enough to stick with tea. Sarah was a little green around the gills by the time we got to our third school of the day. She's like a benign spirit at the back of the room during our presentations -- holding up her ancient tiny teddy bear, Richard, for a model for David to draw during his drawing demonstrations when he needs her, or receding modestly into obscurity -- never mind that she is the author of some of his most beloved books. Tomorrow we have an event at a Borders in La Grange and then off we go to the airport.
Best of all -- we don't have to be out the door at the crack of dawn to visit elementary schools. Praise the lord and pass the salt.

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Dispatches from Chicago, #3

Up late, overslept, I'm running behind before I run out the door for another day in schools and bookstores. David and I have honed our presentation to a pretty professional show, and with an antsy group of kids just getting seated in a gym or 'multi purpose' room, he starts drawing on a big easel and suddenly they fall into a trance. Kids are digging this book.

Gotta go!

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Dispatches from Chicago, #2

Spent the day in Milwaukee. In the afternoon we stopped at the elegant old Pfister Hotel for a drink in the rooftop bar and saw Daniel Handler wheeling his suitcase onto the elevator. For those blog readers not in the know, he is that lugubrious genius who writes under the name Lemony Snickett. I knew we'd be stomping the same grounds on this tour, but I didn't expect actually to run into him...

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Dispatches from Chicago, #1

Flew to Chicago yesterday afternoon and arrived at the Four Seasons, to find this waiting for me in my room. It's a box made of chocolate, with chocolates inside, and chocolate dipped strawberries on a chocolate drizzled plate. The funny thing is that I'm here to promote Once Upon a Banana for Simon & Schuster. This is The American Story, published by Random House. This suggests that it wasn't S & S who prepared this flattering treat on my behalf. When the phone rang it was David Small, saying that he and his wife, Sarah Stewart, had also arrived, and how about dinner? And he also had a chocolate box in his room, not decorated to look like Once Upon a Banana, but to look like Imogene's Antlers. From this, novice detectives that we are, we deduced that some guest services guru here at the hotel made it a mission to find out who we are and what to do about it. A really sweet and thoughtful gift that took a little left turn somewhere. David and Sarah and I had dinner, talked strategy for our presentations, etc.
This is the view of Lake Michigan from my room. Nice huh? I tried to take a picture of the sunrise but the batteries in my camera conked out and I wasn't able to get new ones until I went down to breakfast. A media escort will be picking us up soon to take us to Milwaukee, and we'll be back here late tonight.

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San Diego Union Trib on Once Upon a Banana

Neither a long nor particularly interesting review, but publicity is publicity.

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The glamor of it all

Last week I drove to the warehouse of a book distributor in Poughkeepsie, New York, to sign about 200 copies of The American Story. Here you see some of the stacks of books awaiting my John Hancock.
Thanks to my friends at Bookstream, most of them were presold, meaning their book store accounts had already ordered them, mainly for holiday sales.
By the way, my favorite pen for signing color printed books -- most authors/illustrators will agree, by the way -- is the Sharpie. This year saw the debut of the click Sharpie, a retractable. In other words, you don't lose the cap. That pen just glides over glossy paper like a penguin on ice. I got through all 200+ books in about 35 minutes.
I've used up two click Sharpies so far signing The American Story. (The red one and the navy blue one. Patriotic, get it?)

Hmm... I wonder if there's a product endorsement in it for me?

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Bananas on Tour

So David Small and I take the midwest by storm this week for Once Upon a Banana, and then take the banana to the Big Apple. Judging from the store event calendars we will be following in the footsteps of Lemony Snickett (The End) and Geraldine McCaughrean (Peter Pan in Scarlet) most of the way. Talk about tough acts to follow! But, I have every confidence in the sublimity of the banana.
Here's where you can meet us...
November 1, 7:00 Harry Schwartz Books, Brookfield, Wisconsin
November 2, 7:00 Anderson's, Downers Grove, Illinois
November 4, 11:00 Borders, La Grange, Illinois
November 5 1:00 Books of Wonder, New York City (Note: this is Marathon day. Beware crowds, traffic, etc.)
November 6 6:00 Sweet & Vicious, New York City (Wait! That's a bar! Yes, it's the children's lit bloggers gathering.)
November 7 10:00 Barnes & Noble, Carle Place, New York

See all the space in between those bookstore appearances? That time is largely taken up with presentations at schools. My role in our joint presentations will be confined to "I wrote a manuscript with about twenty-seven words and David did the rest," and then let him draw. This is the best part of doing an event with an illustrator. He gets to wow the crowd and I get to bask in reflected glory. Sweet!

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Why I won't see the burning of the Samhain Wicker Man

My friend Michael has built a 30 foot tall wicker man for a ritual bonfire on Samhain next Saturday night, at a secret location outside Saratoga. (The "mh" is pronounced as a "w" -- don't ask me why they don't use a "w." These are Celts, people. Celts. Enough said. ) We've just had a few inches of rain and the ground is all mud, so Mike has held off bringing in the crane to hoist the man upright. In the good old days of pre-Anglo-Saxon Britain this wicker fellow would be built large enough to hold hostages -- preferably Roman hostages -- as bonfire sacrifices. Evidently we haven't been succesful at rounding up hostages, so attendees of the bonfire are encouraged to bring other ritual offerings, specifically, symbols of our attachments. (How 21st Century, to turn a Druidic rite into therapy.)


Happily (or unhappily, as the case may be) I am saved the soul-searching required for this particular event, as I will be out of town. I will actually be in no town at all, en route from Chicago to New York City on a book tour. I will be in the in-between.

I will, however, be requesting a window seat, keeping watch for the sparkle and glint of bonfire on the horizon from 25,000 feet. Burn, wicker man, burn.

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Detroit Free Press says...

...The American Story is like "walking through a museum of American history."

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Politics: utterly local, i.e. personal

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Article/Interview Once Upon a Banana in PW

This Publishers Weekly editor interviewed me, David, and editor Paula Wiseman for this piece.

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Theodore Taylor has passed away

This was one of my very favorite books as a kid. On the one occasion where I had a chance to meet Mr. Taylor, I was too shy and awed to introduce myself. That's what happens when you enter a field with your heroes standing before you. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Thank you for this book.

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Art from Once Upon A Banana at Society of Illustrators

Paintings by David Small from our crazy banana book can be seen starting tonight at The Original Art show at the Society of Illustrators gallery.


The Society of Illustrators is located at 128 East 63rd Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues)
New York, NY 10021-7303

I'm having some trouble uploading these images or there would be one here, believe me.

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Recess! Radio review of The American Story

"And through Armstrong's sure, clear prose, all of these tales have a fresh, mythic energy to them, even when they are about the familiar figures and events that have and continue to shape our cultural consciousness."

This radio program on children's culture comes out of Florida, so I'd say they liked the Florida stories in the book...

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Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch

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Trip to Philadelphia and environs

I like the word environs.

On Thursday evening I arrived in Doylestown, at Booktenders Secret Garden, a children's only bookstore. David Wiesner, Deborah Heiligman, and I presented our respective new books to a nice crowd, and autographed into the evening. Friday a.m. I was whisked off to an elementary school in Doylestown, where I met Roger Roth for the first time. We did a joint presentation where he not only showed slides of the artwork of The American Story but drew pictures. The students had made paper quilts of their own favorite stories from the book, and presented them to us as gifts. Autograph, autograph, autograph. We then went with our media escort, Joan, to Haverford to Children's Bookworld, to sign more books, and then to a private school in the area where we did another presentation. More books to sign! Then Joan took me to Moorestown, New Jersey, to the warehouse of Koen-Levy book distributors, where I signed about 100 books. Then to Philadelphia, where I crashed for the night. Next day, Roger and I did our presentation at the Chester County Book & Music Company where C-Span did not tape us because they weren't able to get a qualified camera crew. Huh? Oh well. But we had a great turnout, and signed another ton of books.

Here's Roger drawing Ben Franklin.

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Cybils children's book awards now accepting nominations

This is a new award (I mean new, new as of this week) created by the children's literature blogging community. You don't have to be a blogger to nominate a book. You can nominate books in several categories, i.e. NONFICTION. That would be a useful one to nominate, oh, I don't know, maybe THE AMERICAN STORY for. And then there is the PICTURE BOOK category. Gosh, let me think, who has a great picture book coming out next week? Oh yeah, me. ONCE UPON A BANANA would be very pleased to be nominated.
People, don't make me ask my mom to do this! But I will. If I have to.

Cheers!

p.s. Today's theme song is "Sailing to Philadelphia" by Mark Knofler. See you all at Chester County Books & Music Company with the C-SPAN crew.

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Win a copy of The American Story

My new website includes two monthly contests, with two chances to win an autographed copy of The American Story for your classroom or home library.
C'mon, what are you waiting for? Give it a shot!

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Nice review in Jellymom.com of The American Story

*** The American Story - 100 True Tales From American History by Jennifer Armstrong. Illustrated by Roger Roth.
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (August 22, 2006)
ISBN: 0375812563
Review by Lisa Barker
Jennifer Armstrong has knitted together a patchwork of American tales that are sure to delight the young (grades 4 - 7) and the old. As she states in her introduction, this is not a comprehensive or traditional timeline. It's a book of stories that will give children a more vivid, more alive perspective of history. And it does. My children will devour this book out of sheer pleasure and learn quite a lot about the events and personalities that shaped our country. This is definitely a history book that can inspire your children to crave and seek more.
Not only are the stories short and written in a newsy, informative and engaging style, but the illustrations bring the stories to life. Armstrong covers the years from 1565 to 2000 with some interesting obscure stories you might never hear inthe classroom (but you might hear from your grandparents) mixed in with the very well known and that's what makes the book so unique, interesting and enjoyable. This is a great adition to the family library and a treasure to hand down from generation to generation.

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Googlefight

This site searches your keywords and sees which one gets the most hits. I had Godzilla fight my dogs, and my dogs won. Why this cracks me up I don't know, and of course it has nothing to do with my books, but it's a great time waster...

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How to peel a banana

With the publication date of Once Upon a Banana approaching, I'm going to start tossing some silly fruit things your way. This article in Slate Magazine cracked me up. If you like to take bananas with you when you travel, and are plagued by banana damage, try this product, or this one (although it is rather obscene.) Here is a blog devoted to banana art and here is what is purported to be the most photographed object in Australia. Sadly, according to the site, a frequent comment by return visitors is "it's not as big as I remember."

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100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2006, selected by New York Public Library

Includes The American Story. Thank you NYPL.

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Anyone can write a children's book

I swiped this from Fuse #8. It's hysterical.

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CSPAN correction -- Chester County Book & Music Co.

Oopsie. I gave you all the wrong place. On October 21, at 12:30, Roger Roth and I will be at CHESTER COUNTY BOOK & MUSIC CO. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and this is where the Book-TV crew will be taping us.

Sorry!

Please come see us there and be on t.v. with us.

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Diggin' that Motown sound...

Actually, it wasn't Detroit proper, it was Dearborn. Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) fall trade show was this weekend. I flew out on Saturday, and presigned 225 copies or so of The American Story for the "Children's Book and Author" breakfast. The breakfast itself was Sunday a.m., and the other speakers were Nikki Grimes, Jon Muth, and Paul Zelinsky. I delivered my American Story speech, which I've been giving all fall. Nikki Grimes read many of her poems. And both Muth and Zelinsky drew/painted for us. Two Caldecott medalists making pictures before your very eyes is a huge compensation for having to give a speech at breakfast.
Then, speaking of Caledecott medalists, David Small and I signed Once Upon a Banana for a very very long line of booksellers. "How do you write a wordless book?" they asked. "Well," said I, "It's not wordless." David suggested I put the manuscript here on the blog so people can see what it actually looks like. I think I may well do so, but not just yet. Essentially the manuscript is text with art direction. I said, "David, you don't want authors to start sending in lots of instructions with their manuscripts." He sort of rolled his eyes at that -- imagine if picture book authors all began telling painters how to paint! Normally, authors have no input on art, but in this case, the story actually takes place in the illustration, not in the text, so I had to write a very skeletal outline of the action for the text to mean anything at all.
FOR EXAMPLE...
Please Put Litter in its Place (Man drops banana peel, misses the garbage can)
No Parking in this Space (Another man gets out of his car, slips on the banana peel)
And so on. Very rudimentary, a simple precis of the action. It takes a visual thinker such as David Small to figure out how to make it work. Which he did, brilliantly. He made the original culprit a monkey, and the entire visual sequence snowballs from here....

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Listen to me on The Book Report -- right here, right now, just click

A good long interview with two dedicated booksellers from Louisiana. The beginning of the program is an interview with Karen Cushman, talking about her latest book, The Loud Silence of Francine Green; my interview starts about half-way through the file. I did this interview on Wednesday of this week, one day after surgery on my arm. All things considered, I think I sound pretty cheerful.

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Signing at Children's Book World, October 21 to be taped for CSPAN - Do you want to be on the telly?

If you live near Haverford, PA, come to Children's Book World on October 21 to meet me and Roger Roth. We haven't figured out yet what we're going to be saying or doing for a presentation, but whatever it is, it will end up on CSPAN. This is quite a nice thing, since CSPAN/Book TV rarely covers children's books these days. Please come and be part of the audience. I don't know exactly what time we'll be at the store (or when the segment will air) but the store can give you info on the first and hopefully I'll be able to get information on the latter. Roger Roth, illustrator of this fine picture and all the pictures in The American Story, lives in Pennsylvania, and this will be our first joint appearace.

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Website finally up and running

After many weeks of work, my new site is up and running. It has been redesigned to feature me as the go-to writer for history for children. Perhaps a bold assertion, but why not?

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Bedtime Stories for Ethiopia

Sit back. This will be a long post.

Once upon a time, not very long ago, my dear friends Emma and Marc adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia. They are loving and kind and smart and they have money and great resources, both personal and material. It has always astonished me that their little girl started life under circumstances that weighed heavily against her. Ethiopia continues to be a country where infant and child mortality rates are among the highest in the world. With ongoing warfare and the AIDS plague decimating the country's resources and population, a child born in Ethiopia has pulled the short stick in life's lottery. For this little girl, that all changed when Emma and Marc became her parents, and from being one of the unluckiest children, she became one of the luckiest. Today she is healthy and beautiful and the world is at her feet.

This summer, Emma began to talk about returning to Addis Ababa to do a photo shoot at the orphanage (Emma's a top-drawer portrait photographer). Why not come with? she asked me and two other friends. We began to talk about what such a trip might entail, and then began to consider what we could take as gifts for the children of Layla House. In no time, we conceived of Bedtime Stories, an effort to take books and pajamas and toiletries to these kids. Most of these kids will be adopted into American families, and the orphanage includes English lessons in its school program. So children's books in English, along with warm pjs (at high elevation, Addis gets quite cool in the winter) are at the top of the wish list.

Last Saturday I was doing an educator appreciation event at our local B&N. While signing stock copies of The American Story afterwards, I asked the community relations manager if the store has a policy for donating books. When I explained the project, she said she could run a book drive -- that it would be the simplest thing to do and I could get as many books as I wanted. "100?" I asked, thinking about bulk and weight for our luggage.

"Done," she replied.

I came home and wrote a long email to her outlining the project in more detail, and then an amazing thing happened. She called the next day to tell me that while she was briefing members of the staff about the project, a customer overheard her and offered to buy the books, up to $500.

(You can say what you like about greedy, materialist American culture, but we're still the most generous people in the world.)

I then had the great pleasure of going to the store to select the books -- board books, counting and color books, visual dictionaries, graded readers, flash cards, picture book biographies, books about the seasons, American holidays, books about the states, books about your first day of school - and silly books, fairy tales, animal stories, books with pictures of brown children and pink children, books about puppies and soccer and trucks. I have never had an experience like it -- knowing that these books would be, for many of the children at Layla House, their first glimpse of America, the place that with a turn of Fortune's wheel, will become their home. Families in the United States are waiting to adopt these kids, but as quickly as the children at Layla House are matched with a waiting family, another infant, or toddler, or sibling group, arrives at the orphanage -- left parentless by poverty, disease, or civil disorder.

I know that we don't help the country by swooping in and taking their children. But we help the children. Perhaps when they are grown they will return to the place of their birth and do something more, something to help end war and famine and plague. Until they are ready to do that, they need good books, good food. They need good.

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The American Story on Parentworld.com

"For the middle school crowd, here’s a perfect intro to American history from the year 1565 to 2000. True stories include those of Benjamin Franklin and his kite, Sam Wilson (aka Uncle Sam), Iwo Jima, Watergate and even the mad case of Pac-Man fever that swept the nation in the early ‘80s. Delightfully vivid illustrations accompany each story making this book a real treasure."

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The American Story in Tacoma News Tribune

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Starred Review in Publishers Weekly for Once Upon a Banana

"Armstrong (Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat) and Small (So You Want to be President) join forces for this sublimely silly wordless story, which brings to mind a silent short by Laurel and Hardy (who make a cameo appearance). The action gets underway even before the title page, when a street juggler's pet monkey runs off and steals a deli's outdoor stall. Blithely ignoring the sign reading "Please put litter in its place," the monkey tosses the banana peel on the sidewalk, thus triggering a book-long, slapstick-rich chase that covers an entire city center and ensnares a cavalcade of characters, including a passel of dogs, an airborne baby and a banana-packed dump truck. The running joke is that none of the street signs meant to impose order on urban life ("4 way stop," "Keep off the grass!" "Look both ways") has any effect on damping the mounting chaos, and in the twist ending, the juggler winds up a hero. Small's loose yet precise ink lines and watercolor wash seem ideal for these crowded streets where anarchy abounds. He clearly relishes choreographing the huge, motley cast and effortlessly connects the geography of one spread to another; the pages overflow with enough pratfalls and comic asides to reward many readings. Even the closing endpapers play a role, tracing the chain of events."

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Review of Once Upon a Banana

This is a subscriber newsletter, so you can't actually link to the review on the site, but here's a copy:

* Once Upon A Banana, by Jennifer Armstrong, Illustrated by David Small
Reading level: Ages 4-8 , PERFECT For Pre-K
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books; 1st ed edition (October 24, 2006)
ISBN: 0689842511
Review by Lisa Barker, http://www.jellymom.com
Silly and fun. Readers follow the chaos created when one monkey tosses a banana peel on the ground intsead of placing it in the trash. All throughout the city a chain reaction of events ensues as one by one people slip on the banana peel. A fun running gag with a favorite fruit and animal that appeals especially to pre-schoolers.

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Inventory temporarily looooooooooww, or Bad News/ Good News

Bad news is, it might be hard to get your hands on a copy of The American Story right now. My editor informs me that the Random House warehouse has no copies left, and is awaiting shipment of printing #2 in about two weeks.

Good news is, it only took a month to sell out the first printing!

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Frost warning

Today I will be hustling to get the houseplants, which spend the summer outside, back inside. There are a lot of them, so it usually takes several hours to clean the pots and the plants and debug them.
It's times like these when I wish I had the powers of Samantha Stevens to wiggle my nose and have it all done. I can hear the accompanying squiggle of music when I close my eyes. But when I open them, the work is still to be done.

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At the farmers' market today...

I saw a chef in white chef coat buying food. A real chef with a meat thermometer sticking out of the little pocket on his arm. Think about it. A chef from a local restaurant, buying food from local farmers. What a concept. And then I saw him walk back to his retaurant. It's almost un-American

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A whole website devoted to the notorious Lizzie Borden case

Who knew? My take on the story focuses on the fact that as a "nice" woman from a "good" family, (read white and upper middle class) Lizzie Borden was considered incapable of a brutal double murder. Nice women from good families just don't hack people to death with a hatchet and then calmly send the maid out to fetch the police. The hunt was immediately on for someone more in line with the public perception of brutal murderer -- black, of course, although Irish or that old stand-by, "foreign" would do in a pinch, vagrant, maybe mentally deranged. Any suspect would be better than Miss Elizabeth Borden! The entire fabric of society might crumble to dust if we believed such things might be possible!
Has society changed since 1892? We are still very quick to point the finger away from "nice" women of "good" families, even when they still have blood on their hands...

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Photo by Brady nominee for Beehive Award

Formerly the Utah Children's Book Award. Photo by Brady was nominated in the information book category. I have no idea when the winners of these awards are announced. My typical obsessive trolling of the internet turns up information like this from time to time. Of course you never hear about it directly -- or almost never. I periodically find out that this that or the other book of mine was a nominee for some state's book award last year or the year before or whatever.
I guess the point being, if I'd won I think I would have heard about it by now.

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Review of The American Story at The Edge of the Forest

"The American Story is one of those books you hope will end up in every classroom, in every library, and in every home. It's just that good and that relevant."
That's how the review begins and it gets even more enthusiastic from there. Isn't that nice? Thank you, Edge of the Forest!

This particular blog is a children's literature monthly, and an excellent resource. And clearly, they have very intelligent and perceptive reviewers...

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back from South Dakota at last

I do feel as though I've been away for a month. The biggest problem I faced, while away, was food. I don't eat meat, and it looks very much as though that's all anybody eats in South Dakota. Even salads have meat on them! You have to request no meat on your salad! On Saturday I took a walk around town in the middle of the day, and spotted a Chinese restaurant some distance away. Oh! Wow! With swift-beating heart I crossed the street (not a problem - there is no traffic in downtown Sioux Falls) and made my way to the Ming Wah Chinese -- uh oh -- Chinese American Cafe. Chop Suey. Chicken-fried steak. Hamburgers. Sweet and sour pork. You get the idea. And actually, to my astonishment, (to my horror, really) no tofu.
Before I had left for South Dakota I went to the health food store and stocked up on protein bars, and a good thing I did, too. You cannot eat enough eggs in one day to compensate for an otherwise steady diet of iceberg lettuce or pasta with a mysterious "Alfredo Sauce."
People seem to think that being an author and going on tour is all limousines and lines of fans waiting for an autograph. You know what? It ain't always like that.

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Still in South Dakota, at the Festival of Books

My experience of South Dakota so far has been something like a forced march, but that's okay. I left Pierre on Thursday with another author, Ann Bausum, who was also sent to Pierre to visit schools in advance of the book festival. Our drive along the Missouri River was amazingly beautiful -- green bluffs climbing up from the river and rippling away into the distance. The topography was formed, if I remember this right, by the Sea of Agassiz during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The Wisconsin Ice Sheet stopped short of here to the east (my Ice Age notes are far away from me right now so I'm winging this) but the meltwater created a giant inland sea for many thousands of years, and when it drained catastrophically (when ice dams finally gave way) it carved the western plains like a rake in a Zen gravel garden.
Anyway, we got to Sioux Falls in a driving rain, registered for the book festival and I went to a cocktail party at the home of one of the festival's sponsors. There I met and had a long and interesting conversation with Los Angeles author Hillary Carlip, author of Queen of the Oddballs. Hillary is a friend of Francesca Lia Block, and they've worked together. If you know Block's work you can infer something about Hillary. Check out her website. Friday I had an elementary school to visit, a public event with lots of the authors at a Barnes & Noble, then another school to visit, then autographing, then a presentation to members of the Sioux Falls Reading Council... and then I collapsed.
Today I have a presentation at the public library, and another autographing session, and then my work is done.

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Greetings from Pierre, SD

I arrived in Pierre, South Dakota, last night after a long journey from Albany, New York. Today, I awoke on the banks of the Missouri River (in a B&B on the banks of the river, not shivering on the mud) with a chill in the air. This is Lewis & Clark country. So a chill in the air and a thrill of excitement. This is historic territory.
I visited a school here in Pierre, and then two other schools north of here. South Dakota is split culturally by the Misosuri; there is West River, a drier, ranchier, more conservative South Dakota, and East River, a wetter, farmier, slightly less conservative part of the state. Where I was today sort of straddled both cultures, with great fields of tough sunflowers turning their faces to follow the sun, and immense wheat silos, and cattle.

So I was talking about The American Story in the schools today, and I said, "You know, I even have a story about South Dakota in this book. About the French explorers from Canada, the Verendryes, who in 1743 claimed this territory for the King of France." Yes yes, they knew all about the Verendryes. And America learned about about the claim for the territory along the Missouri because of the engraved lead plate found here in Pierre in the early 20th Century. Here in PIERRE! So at the end of the day I got to visit to the very spot where the Verendrye plate was discovered. The tablet itself is in the state historical society, and tomorrow (Thursday) before I leave for Sioux Falls I may have a chance to see it.

I can't remember where I first learned about the Verendrye plate, but I can tell you that when I did find it I was thrilled -- so many stories in this book had to do double duty, so when I found a story about French explorers of early European travel on this continent, and it was about a mid-western state that might not otherwise get a story, I was very pleased. It's a French story. It's a South Dakota story. It's two stories in one! And I hasten to say that South Dakota might not otherwise have gotten a story not because of any lack of interest or regard on my part for this great state, but because even now, in 2006, the entire state population is less than 1 million. In the great panoply of American history, it's kind of hard for South Dakota to compete with New York, Massachusetts, California and Texas. Sorry South Dakota, but thank you for welcoming me to the book festival.

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I knew it! I knew this would happen!

"In a tour de force of visual sequencing captioned only by a set of rhyming street and shop signs, Small sets up a hilarious chain of events along a busy city street. The action starts on the front endpapers as a street performer's monkey snatches a banana from a fruit stand and tosses the peel onto the sidewalk. This sets off an escalating ruckus the moves around the block (and is actually mapped out on the rear endpapers), involving pedestrians, a painter atop a ladder, cars and trucks, dogs (lots of dogs), much flying through the air and a hurtling carriage with a delighted baby on board (for part of the way, anyway)..." begins the starred review of Once Upon a Banana in next month's Kirkus. THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK in the entire review! I knew this would happen! The book is so spare of text that I knew people would think of this as a David Small book, and overlook me entirely. Sure, sure, another great David Small book, people will say, but what did Jennifer Armstrong have to do with it?
Mind you, the "tour de force" bit is richly deserved. David's visual interpretation of this manuscript is truly inspired.

But ... ahem... I'm over here!

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Reviews of both new books, on Kids Bookshelf.com

This page demonstrates the advantage of being at the top of the alphabet...

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The first time I ever went to South Dakota...

... was years ago. Probably fifteen years ago at least. It was fall, and the prairie was pale gold. I was amazed at how the land spread and dipped in sudden folds. Somehow I had imagined that it was literally as smooth and uninterrupted as the ocean. As a Yankee I found the unlimited horizon to be both exciting and alarming. My psychological environment includes more hills and trees, interrupted views. More boundaries. More people. Out there, I had a sense of myself the way a child draws herself standing on the earth -- a tiny stick figure jutting up from a sphere. In other words, something that blemishes an otherwise perfect globe. You know, the whole dwarfed-by-nature thing. In the thickly-built environment of the east, it is easy to enter the fallacy that things are the other way, that the earth is dwarfed by humans.
It's good to be reminded of it. I imagine that some people are frightened by it. Others exalted. This was largely the inspiration for my sodbusters novel of the Dakota Territory, Black-Eyed Susan. Of all my novels, this was the one that -- for whatever reason -- was the easiest to write. I knew with perfect clarity what it was I wanted to say, and how I was going to say it. I know I could not have written had I not actually experienced the prairie for myself. I am really pleased that, this week, I will be going back there for the South Dakota Festival of Books. I can't wait.

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Back from Providence

Betcha didn't even realize I was gone. I went to the New England Booksellers' Association (NEBA) trade show, where I spoke at the "children's dinner." I was very happy to be able to thank the independent booksellers of New England for getting The American Story on their bestseller list last week. Before the dinner I did a power-signing: I sat down and autographed 200 copies of the book, which were then put on every seat at the banquet. Thanks to Elizabeth Bluemle, co-owner of The Flying Pig children's bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont, to Carol Chittenden, owner of Eight Cousins Bookstore on Cape Cod, Lisa Dugan of Koen Book distributors. and Laurie Hogan, of Random House, for their assistance during the power-signing. I know I'm leaving people out, so thank you all.

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First through Ellis Island, Annie Moore traced through family

You'll need a New York Times user account to read this article, but it ties in to my story, "Welcome to America," in The American Story. Annie Moore, a teenager from Ireland, was the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island. For years, an Annie Moore in Texas was believed to be this same Annie, but a genealogist has cracked the case and found that Annie remained in New York City for the rest of her life.

Fortunately, this does not alter my story at all, since I didn't include any information about what Annie did once she left Ellis Island. Writing history can be a confounding process -- events don't always sit still in the past. They are subject to new discoveries. While this book was in production two stories I thought were "finished" had to be revised. First, the Red Sox finally won the World Series, so I had to go back into the galleys and correct my story about "The Curse of the Bambino;" second, the identity of the Watergate informant, Deep Throat, was revealed, and I had to change my story about that episode of our history. Scholars will continue to unearth new information about the past, and no doubt some of my stories will be made incorrect by these revelations.
That's a good reason to go buy the book and read it now, before historical research reveals anything at odds with it!

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From across the northern border...

Thank you to the newpaper in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a nice mention of The American Story.
Nova Scotia, once known as Acadia, reverted to English control from the French in the mid-18th Century. The French Acadians, exiled by an influx of English immigrants, headed for more sympathetic settlements, including French Louisiana, where they established the Cajun culture.
I actually tried to find a good story about the Cajun diaspora for The American Story -- possibly about Longfellow's poem Evangeline. For some reason that I cannot now remember, I decided not to tell that story. In the interests of including more early French history of the United States, I ended up with a story about the settlement of Mobile Bay, (which predates the Cajun exile) but that one was cut to make room for something else.
Anyway, no Cajun story. Je suis desole', mes amis Acadiens!

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from the Buffalo News

"A gifted writer offers a marvelous kaleidoscope of stories from American history, bringing to vivid life both well-known and lesser-known stories from 1565 to 2000, and exploring the links between events many years apart."
Quite a long and very nice review. Thank you very much, Buffalo News.

Buffalo was settled as far back as 1780, and probably named after Buffalo Creek, the name used by the local Senecas. With the opening of the Erie Canal, Buffalo became the gateway to the Great Lakes and the interior of the continent, with steamers carrying cargo and passengers to and from Chicago on a trip that took up to twenty days.





The transcontinental railraods somewhat diminished the importance of the canal -- and of Buffalo --to shipping, but nearby Niagara Falls became a tourist mecca when 19th Century travelers developed a fascination with the picturesque.

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Close to Home and Far Away

My friend John McPherson put me in a cartoon this summer. I hasten to assure you that I have absolutely no psychic powers. He is a very whimsical man.



Today I got tangled up in traffic leaving the funeral of a New York State Trooper who was killed in action while on a manhunt for an escaped con. Rumor was that thousands of people were coming to Saratoga for the funeral. Naturally I forgot all about it when I went out to do errands. From where I first hit the traffic heading out to the Saratoga National Cemetery, I could have walked home in less time than it took me to get there by car. So I had ample time to consider the day, the uniforms, the bright sunny weather. Five years ago today the weather was the same here as it is today-- bright, clear, warm. In other words, a brilliant September day. Since that day I have been to far far away places -- Budapest, London, the South Pole, Auckland, and many others. Travel has changed, how I feel about home has changed. Nothing is the same and everything is the same. Wherever you go, people are still people, trying to accomplish their daily goals and sometimes pay heed to larger ones. Babies are born, loved ones die. Is it naive of me to think we all want the same things, really? All I wish for everyone is peace, perspective, patience and compassion.

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First appearance on a bestseller list...

Bookreporter.com reports that NAIBA (New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association) saw the the debut of The American Story on its bestseller list for the week ending last Sunday (September 3). Me likey. Thank you, history lovers of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland!

Today I also found this story in Myrtle Beach Online.

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A visit to a very strange place

So here I am, giving my spiel at a panel on history at the book sellers' trade show in Orlando. Booksellers from Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, etc. all reported the book selling very well in their stores, and I made an impassioned plea in my ten minute talk to restore patriotism as a virtue common to all political parties. "I am a vegetarian, atheist, pro-chioce, anti-war, organic-gardening blue state liberal, and I am a patriot," I declared. Later, as I autographed books, they all gave me -- in one way or another -- the thumbs-up.

The very strange place I allude to in the title of this post is the Gaylord Palms Resort, in Orlando, where this trade show is being held. It's part of the same convention/resort group that owns Opryland, and if you've ever been there, you get the idea. Massive theme-park-like covered atrium with waterfalls and rivers and regional sections -- St. Augustine, Key West, South Beach, etc. The artificial river flowing through the place is stocked with giant catfish and tiny alligators of like size. It reminded me of the rubber animals my childhood best friend used to collect on visits to the dentist -- all the same size, so the lion was the same size as the rabbit which was the same size as the elephant. The river even had a section shrouded in artificial swamp fog. All very peculiar. Very very peculiar.

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New Banned Books Week Poster using art from The American Story

from the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression.


This is from the title page of The American Story, illustration by Roger Roth. Isn't this the coolest? I love it that this is the logo for Banned Books Week! I am insanely proud to be associated with this event! This is a poster you can download. Follow the link! FREADOM!

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