Michelle Houts's Blog, page 8

Mazza Thursday

On a cloudy Thursday morning, the skies opened up, and I promise you, the corn lifted its leafy arms to the heavens and said, “Thank you!”  Here’s a picture of the happiest ear of corn I’ve ever seen. 

I know you’re asking yourself, “what does this have to do with art from children’s picture books?”  Well, I could actually make quite a few connections, some more abstract than others, but here’s one that is quite concrete.  Yesterday, I had a pleasant conversation with Mary Higgins Clark’s husband.  He was sincerely concerned about the state of our crops, having noted their drought-stricken condition as he and Mary traveled from the airport in Detroit.  When I told him how desperately we needed rain, he didn’t miss a beat.  “I’ll pray for rain,” he promised.

Wow! That man must have friends in high places.  Bless you, John!

Inside the Mazza Museum, the outlook was sunny.   We had a great day in store, beginning with a keynote address by Loreen Leedy.  Loreen is the author and illustrator of more than 40 picture books, most with strong curricular ties.

Shortly after finishing art school, Loreen had the opportunity to meet Olivier Dunrea, who inspired her work and helped her make a life-changing connection in the world of children’s literature.  Seeing Symmetry is her most recently-published book and likely the first picture book devoted to the concept of line and rotational symmetry.  Loreen, who has always seen a very natural connection between mathematics and picture book creation, says writing a book is like solving for X – the unwritten book is the unknown until you’ve created it.  Whoa, Loreen.  I’ve always been quite comfortable with the notion that as long as I remained a writer, I could leave my tragic algebraic past far behind me.  So, I say – better you than me!  More power to you, Loreen!

After lunch, the persistent July sun made a repeat appearance.  And, much to the delight of all in attendance, so did illustrator David Diaz.

The Caldecott Award-winning artist (whose books have also garnered a Newbery Honor and no less than four Pura Belpre Awards) shared his latest projects and dicussed some of his favorite techniques and media. Then the multi-talented multi-tasker took audience questions while drawing and painting an image he conceived after hearing a passage from Andrea Cheng’s middle grade novel, Marika.

Always the encourager, David even took time to deliver a simple how-to lesson, instructing each of us to follow his lead and draw a face on a piece of paper.  Here’s how mine turned out:

Not bad, huh?  Looks just like David’s drawing, doesn’t it?

Okay. So, that’s not mine. What gave it away? The Home Depot door it’s painted on?

Oh, well.  So here’s what I learned today:

Leave the math-related picture books to the talented Loreen Leedy.

Leave sketches and painting to the charming David Diaz.

And send all weather-related requests to the well-connected husband of Mary Higgins Clark.

There’s one more day of Mazza magic yet to come.  See you tomorrow.

Mazza Wednesday

It’s midweek at the Mazza Museum!

So, let’s not waste a moment getting to the highlights of this event-packed day.  The morning began with a delightful keynote address given by Florence Minor.  While her previous Mazza appearances have been as her illustrator/husband’s sidekick, today Florence addressed an audience eager to learn more about her life and her work as an author.  After briefly considering farming and becoming a cat whisperer, Florence concluded that collaborating with her husband might not be a bad idea after all.  The two have created several books together, including If You Were a Penguin, which earned the Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child Award.  What a joy to hear from the woman behind the familiar smile! Thank you, Florence!

When Wendell took the stage we learned that he hasn’t exactly been goofing off since his last trip to Mazza.  No, Wendell has completed an impressive list of books, appeared all over the country, been awarded an honorary doctorate, and is preparing for an extensive exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum beginning November 13, 2012.  As always, we sat mesmerized by the images of Wendell’s art flashing before our eyes on the big screen – bison and eagles, passenger trains and space ships, Walden Pond, Galapagos Island.  Every picture transported us to another time and place.  But the most moving moments of the morning were those spent in memory of Jean Craighead George, whose recent passing leaves an immeasureable emptiness in the world of children’s literature.  Wendell’s fond tribute left few eyes dry and brought the audience to their feet in memory of, no – in honor of – Jean.  Though she’s gone, how joyful it is to know that her words live on, spoken from the lips of young children every time they pick up a Jean Craighead George book and begin to read.

Now, for a little test.  Ready?  Okay, here goes.  Who is this:

No, it’s not my Aunt Mary and Uncle John.  Though after spending the afternoon with them, I feel they could be.  It’s a little tricky because this guest isn’t one you immediately associate with children’s literature, and she is not an illustrator.  Give up?  I thought so…

It is Mary Higgins Clark who, in addition to the hundreds of novels you’ve likely read, has also collaborated with Wendell Minor on two lovely picture books. Ghost Ship transports us to Cape Cod in a modern-day tale of a long-ago boy who served a sea captain and lost a small treasure.  The Magical Christmas Horse also blends past and present when a family spends Christmas vacation at a storied New England farmstead and discovers what they once believed was lost forever.   In her keynote address and breakout session, Mary shared decades of writing experiences with such poise and humor, we all felt we’d just been reacquainted with a beloved family member.

I’ve been attending Mazza events for more than a decade. From each presentation, I always carry away a nugget of something I’ll treasure.  An image. A phrase.  A quote.  Perhaps a spark.  Today’s nuggets were too numerous to carry.  I’ll have to haul them away in the U-haul truck in my brain.  And unpack them one by one.  This could take awhile.

Goodnight.

 

Mazza Tuesday

Just in case you’ve been sleeping …  I’ve been in Findlay, Ohio this week attending the 2012 Mazza Summer Institute.  And just in case you’ve had your head in a hole in the ground, Mazza is the world’s largest collection of art from children’s literature. And the funnest place on the planet. Especially this week.

So here’s how the day started.

Oh,  hold on.  It gets better.

Told you.

Illustrator Janet Stevens returned to the Mazza Museum today, an encore to her 2005 appearance.  This time, her sister, Susan Stevens Crummel (a.k.a.Miss Prissy Pants) came along to defend her reputation as the “neat” one.  Susan and Janet’s tag-team approach to both creating books and presenting leaves readers and audiences in stitches.

Susan Stevens Crummel chit chats with the audience

 

 Janet Stevens draws an impromptu island elephant

One lucky conference attendee got to take that elephant home today. (No jealousy noted there. Why? Did you sense jealousy? Of course not. Really. Not a drop. Really.  Can we just let this go? Geez.)

After lunch illustrator Boris Kulikov wowed the crowd with his first-ever keynote speech.  Boris is a native of the former Soviet Union, living now in the United States.  Kulikov attended art school in St. Petersburg before moving to New York City where he illustrated for the New York Times among others.  He began illustrating children’s books in 2003 with Morris the Artist and has since illustrated many books including the Giants of Science series with Kathleen Krull. The hysterical highlight of the presentation? A story called Fartiste about a master of, well, gas passing.  And it’s a true story.  I’m serious.                       A. True. Story.  With charm and talent, Kulikov contributes generously to both the conference and to the world of children’s literature.

Boris Kulikov

All this and tomorrow is only Wednesday!  *Sigh*

Mazza Monday

Well, the first day of the 2012 Mazza Summer Institute has come and gone.  And what a Monday!

The first keynote speaker?  Carmen Bernier-Grand, three-time winner of the Pura Belpre Award and a tiny powerhouse of encouragement and inspiration.  As a child, Carmen was scolded by her older sister for staring at people, but Carmen couldn’t help it.  She knew that, while she could see what others see or smell what others smell, she could never think their thoughts.  She believed that perhaps she could get into another person’s head if she only stared long enough, hard enough.  Well, Carmen stared down her audience today, and then confessed that no matter how hard she tried, she could not access the stories in our minds.  They’re ours, she reminded us.  And what a shame it would be if they were never told.  So, get out your pens, Carmen says!  And share the experiences that are only yours to share.  Beautiful, Carmen!

Check out Carmen’s biographies about Frida Kahlo, Cesar Chavez, Diego Rivera, and coming in September, Picasso.

 After lunch,  Dan Yaccarino took the Mazza stage and entertained the audience with stories of a high-spirited childhood which led initially to a few trips to the principal’s office and eventually to art school and a successful career in illustration.  Dan is the creator of more than 50 books and numerous animated commercials and television shows, including The Backyardigans on Nickelodeon and Willa’s Wild Life on NBC.  Dan admits that if it weren’t for one three-letter word, he wouldn’t be where he is today.  That word? YES!  Never backing away from a challenge, Dan has approached new projects with an affirmative attitude.  So thank you, Dan, for saying YES to Mazza’s invitation.  We wish you many more opportunities to say YES in the future.

And finally, the day wouldn’t have been complete without a few laughs, a bit of silliness, and the antics we’ve come to expect from our Mazza hosts.  Here Mazza Director Ben Sapp briefly tries his hand at stand-up comedy.  Have you ever wondered how a hospital elevator and a trip to an amusement park are similar?

You’ll have to ask Museum Curator Jerry Mallett for the answer to that question.

Don’t go far.  Mazza Tuesday is coming with the sunrise!

Ohio’s Best-Kept Secret

Imagine a place where everyone in the room adores books the way you do.   A place where illustrations from children’s books, classic to modern, line the walls, and the chatter around you buzzes with words like “artist,” “create,” and “literature.” Are you dreaming? Probably not.  You’re likely in Findlay, Ohio.  Now you probably think I’m dreaming.

But I’m not.  Tucked between the cornfields of Northwest Ohio is The Mazza Museum, the world’s largest collection of art from children’s literature.  And, right smack dab in the middle of every July, they host the best week of any book-lover’s year:  the Mazza Summer Institute.

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It starts tomorrow.  And I’m going to be there. Come with me! I’m going to blog each evening, so you can share in the fun.  This year’s lineup is stellar (as always).  David Diaz, Bruce Degen, Dan Yaccarino, and the hilarious author/illustrator sister duo Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel – just to name a few - will share their stories and a little of their lives with us.

I’m especially thrilled for the return of two of my favorite Mazza guests, Wendell Minor, and his lovely wife, Florence.  I became of fan of Minor’s work years ago with this picture book:

So stay tuned to A Country Mile and travel a bit North with me to the Mazza Museum this week.  I can’t wait to see what’s waiting for us in Findlay, Ohio!

 

The best birthday, inDEED!

It all started on my birthday last month.

Okay, that’s not true.

It started a few years ago when my in-laws purchased some neighboring farmland with a sweet, little red brick one-room schoolhouse on it.

Actually, not then.

It started 22 1/2 years ago when I moved to the country and into a white house just down the road from a sweet, little red brick one-room schoolhouse.

Alright, it started when I was eight years old and fell in love with Little House on the Prairie.

So, now at least  we’ve got that straight.

I do know this.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a thing for old buidings.  Creaky, crooked farm houses.  Sagging, sorry old barns.  Little churches on corners flanked by long-forgotten gravestones. But, mostly, I ogled those little brick one-room schoolhouses.  And the one in my “neighborhood” (we use this term to describe a couple of square country miles) quickly became my favorite.

Over the past two decades, I’ve watched its bell-less bell tower topple. I’ve watched the wind snatch a slate  shingle here and there. And, sadly, watched as the front awning hit the dirt.  But even the harshest Ohio weather hasn’t faded the “1894″ laid clearly in the roof slate. The foundation is sturdy and rock-solid.  And the brick walls, laid three layers thick, are square and sound.

My father-in-law has always known of my fondness for the schoolhouse . He promised not to tear it down. But, beyond that, I was never quite sure what would happen to this piece of local history.  It wasn’t mine to envision its potential.  But, I did. Every chance I got.

Fast forward to March 2012.  My birthday was a busy day.  A work day followed by a three-hour drive to pick up my oldest daughter from college for spring break. It was late when I finally arrived home.  My youngest daughter met me in the garage, a large envelope in hand.

“Grandpa was here.”

Okay.  He usually manages to make an appearance at least once a day.

“He left your birthday card.”

Okay. He’s good about birthdays. He’s never late with a birthday card.

“It’s really big.”

She had me there. It was  big. I entered the kitchen and gingerly opened the legal-sized manilla envelope.

“Situated in the Township of Liberty, County of Mercer, State of Ohio…”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was holding the deed to the schoolhouse and two point three five acres of land. I was speechless. Mary Lennox couldn’t have been happier when her uncle Archibald Craven granted her wish for “a bit of earth.”

I made a tearful telephone call.  Don’t you love it when you can hear a smile over the phone line?

Me too.

So, here it is. And, yes, I have my work cut out for me.  It took 118 years for it to get this way.  I hope it won’t take as long to fix it up.

 

 

The Clothesline

I hung clothes on the line this week.  To some, this may sound like a mundane chore.

But, for me, hanging clothes out on the clothesline is much more. And the reasons are as varied as the colors on the line.

First, there's that smell.  That fresh, crisp, clean smell of sheets or towels or shirts that have spent their afternoon flopping and flapping in the breeze. I don't care what odiferous names Downy comes up with for their fabric softener. They'll never duplicate that spring air smell.

Then, there's the feeling that I'm doing something good for the world.  Or, at the very least, for my electric bill. It's the green thing to do, right? Let nature do what we too often let machines and electricity do.

Then there's the aesthetically-pleasing part. Clothes just look pretty hanging outside. Well, most of them, anyway.  Sheets, towels, and, oh – baby clothes and blankets are my favorite!  Underwear should just go in the dryer, in my opinion. No one really wants to see those.

Honestly, I think that hanging out the laundry says something about the status of my sanity. Really. Here's why. I recently got my clothesline back.  We tore it out a while ago.  It was too close to an encroaching tree. It was leaning a little.  And, to be totally honest, I hadn't used it for a year or two.

Hanging clothes on the line takes time.  You have to lug the wet clothes outside (from the basement in my case). You have to pin them all up in such a way that they will stay up until you take them down.  And then, you have to take them down.  You have to be close by in case a sudden rain shower pops up.  And, on the farm, you can't hang clothes out when certain farming activities are taking place – like manure spreading (you can figure out why) and loading corn (those little pink "beeswings" will cover your clothing.)  When it's all said and done, that 12-inch toss from the washer to the dryer seems much more practical. My life was just too busy to bother with a clothesline.

But, (lucky for me) my son was in need of a home/farm improvement project for FFA.  (I love it when this happens!  My husband's "honey-do" list gets a little bit shorter!)  He found the old posts, welded a few more, painted, dug, poured cement, strung the line, and ta-dah!  I once again had a clothesline. Ohio was then blessed with a week of Summer in March. No kidding. Eighty degrees!  As I clipped the sheets to the shiny blue line, my mind returned to calmer days, when I was a stay-at-home mom, when my focus was my family, and hanging clothes was a mundane chore. And I realized how much I miss those days.

I put the picture above on my Facebook banner a week or so ago.  Immediately a Danish friend commented that she liked the photo. "Very idyllic," she said.  Idyllic? I wondered.  Who would think that drying the laundry would be idyllic? But when I look at the picture, I see it. And I know why I love my clothesline.

 

In Memory of a Bookstore

It's been two and a half years since my first book was released.

I'm thankful for many things.  To name just a few: 

                    the enthusiastic readers I've met,

                    my fellow authors (especially the first-class crowd of Ohio authors) who support and cheer one another passionately,

                    and the fact that the book is still in print! 

I'm also profoundly grateful to the hard-working men and women in the bookselling industry. 

These folks, owners and employees of neighborhood independent bookstores and employees of major chain stores who do their best to connect readers with books.

 I've met folks who are willing to put aside their work to keep me company for a couple of hours when almost no one shows up for a signing,

 folks who decorate their stores with farm scenes,

 and make my daughter feel like the best book-signing assistant ever.

But in the past two and a half years, some of my favorite bookstores, bookstores who hosted me,  have gone out of business.  Like this one…

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 Oh, my heart broke when Stately Raven in Findlay, Ohio closed its doors last year.  This place was breathtaking.

And, this one…

 

The Canalside Bookshop (it was located along the Miami-Erie Canal) where two cats, Agatha and Maya, took turns crawling over the signing table. 

Even the charming little Cottage Bookstore at our local university branch campus, who handled all of my school visits with speed and professionalism….

 

 … has been purchased by a national chain and has less power to choose what lines their shelves. 

I'm still so thrilled for some of my favorites that are hanging in there.  Like…. 

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…  the charming Beehive Books in downtown Delaware, Ohio.  

And New Bremen Coffee and Books…

 

… in New Bremen, Ohio.

And I couldn't end without mentioning the absolutely adorable …

 

 Blue Marble Children's Bookstore in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati.

So, what about your favorite bookstore?  Is it small or large?  Independent or a national chain?  Is it thriving or barely surviving?

And, what's at the root of this rash of bookstore closings?  Is it a result of the ECONOMIC times?  Or the ELECTRONIC times?

I'd love to hear what's on your mind!

I Found My Agent at the Mall

 

I'm really not much of a mall shopper.  I tend to gravitate toward small shops and neighborhood stores.  But there's something so wonderful, so magical about the mall – any mall – at Christmastime, I could spend hours there.  From Santa's house to a Winter Wonderland to the massive ornaments and decorations, I don't need to spend a dime.  I'm happy just gawking at the glitz!

Recently, I was at the mall with my oldest daughter on her 19th birthday.  I'd arranged to make a very important telephone call in the middle of the day.  It was one of those calls every author waits for:  an agent wanted to speak with me about my submission!  So, the first order of business after arriving at the mall was to scope out a quiet spot to make this potentially life-changing phone call.  But finding a quiet place in the midst of this…

…wasn't going to be easy.  There were people everywhere. There were children everywhere. There were elves everywhere!  And, most of all, music everywhere.  Now, I adore Christmas music.  But how could I risk not hearing that all-imporant phrase, "I love your manuscript!" just because Jingle Bells was playing too loud!

Finally, my daughter had a brilliant idea.

Have you seen the ladies room at Von Maur?  Like a lot of upscale department stores, Von Maur's restrooms look more like a Hilton lobby than a restroom.  Nicely appointed with comfortable furniture, soft lighting, and best of all – delicate, classical piano music piped in from above, it was the perfect place for me to settle in, take a few deep breaths and get my thoughts together before my shaking fingers made THE call.

So, that's how I found my agent at the mall. 

Oh, you want details?  Okay…

I'm thrilled beyond belief to say that I'm represented by the fantastic Karen Grencik with Red Fox Literary!  She's smart, sweet, and she believes in the middle grade manuscript I sent her.  What more could an author ask?  I feel like Santa came early this year!

I told you.  The mall is a magical place at Christmastime!

In Search of… A Gnome Home

 

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It's a big stretch, I know.  From cattle to gnomes.  But my current work-in-progress has me reading and studying all about our wee friends in pointy hats.  I'm developing a particular fondnes  for woodland gnomes.

  So, on a recent hiking trip in the Hocking Hills, my daughters, my neices and I were on the lookout for…

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…. no, silly, not gnomes.  They are much too fast to be seen unless they want us to see them. And besides, they sleep all day and work and play at night.  

No, we were on the lookout for gnome homes.  Now, those are easy to spot if you know what you're looking for.

 

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This would make an excellent entrance to a gnome home.  Look at all those great ferns and the inviting spaces below the logs!

 

We found this quite intriguing.  Do you suppose the gnomes left this ramp to their front door so their animal friends could come on in?

What do you think would make a good home for a gnome?