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With three cats and a dog in our house, we are definitely animal lovers, and my daughter, who will turn one in just a couple of weeks, absolutely loves our animals. She also loves Tricycle Press's Busy Animal Board Books.

• Busy Kitties, by John Schindel, photography by Sean Franzen
• Busy Penguins, by John Schindel, photography by Jonathan Chester
• Busy Doggies, by John Schindel, photography by Beverly Sparks
• Busy Monkeys, by John Schindel, photography by Luiz Claudio Marigo
  

Each page in the book features a full-color photographs of an animal(s) demonstrating the action word on the page that will help your child build vocabulary. For example, in the Busy Kitties book, we see "Kitty hissing/ Kitty kissing/ Kitty running/ Kitty sunning" and more.

My daughter is fascinated by the photographs in these sturdy books and just sits there and smiles as she flips the pages. I also appreciate that they will introduce her to other animals, like monkeys and penguins, that she doesn't have the chance to see in their natural habitats.


Other books in the series that we're adding to our wish list include:

• Busy Bunnies, by John Schindel, photography by Steven Holt
• Busy Horsies, by John Schindel, photography by Casi Clark
• Busy Piggies, by John Schindel, photography by Steven Holt
  
• Busy Barnyard, by John Schindel, photography by Steven Holt
  

These would all make a great addition to your young child's library.

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Yesterday I showed you a photo of me discussing chicken hair with a group of students. (See below.)

Let me explain.

Like all writers, I often read or hear something that I file away, sometimes subconsciously....a name, a phrase, an object, etc.

One time I read an article in People Magazine (oh, yeah, like you don't read People Magazine) about some guy - I don't even remember who he was or why he was in the magazine - who described himself as having "chicken hair."

Now, how could I not file that one away, right?

Quite some time later, that phrase reappeared in Me and Rupert Goody:

[When Jennalee has come to visit Uncle Beau in the hospital after he has been struck by lightning...]

"Don't cry, Jennalee," Uncle Beau said in such a soft, sweet voice I thought I'd die.

"You gonna be all right, ain't you, Uncle Beau?" I said, inching closer to his bed.

"Course I'm gonna be all right," he said. "Hell, that lightning just recharged my batteries, is all. Liable to make me better than I was before. Might've ruined my hairdo, though. Look at this." He ducked his head toward me. "Gave me chicken hair."

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The Smoky Mountains = My Heart's Home.

I recently met my Smoky Mountain Soul Sister, Kerry Madden, online. We realized we have a lot in common, particularly our love of the beautiful Smoky Mountains. We both write books for children set there.

Her latest is Louisiana's Song, which is the second of a trilogy. I haven't read it yet because I'm currently reading the first in the trilogy, Gentle's Holler. I'm loving loving loving reading about those places I'm so familiar with. She captures the setting to a tee. Her love of the mountains comes right through the pages of that book. (And you gotta love a dog named Uncle Hazard!)




I can't wait to read the others.

(My book, Me and Rupert Goody, and my upcoming novel, Greetings from Nowhere, May 2008, are also set in the Smoky Mountains.)

I grew up at the base of those mountains and have many wonderful childhood memories about my time in them. I went to summer camp there. I've sat in the backseat of my family car as it zigzagged back and forth and around and around those mountain roads. I've hiked along those mossy, fern-lined trails. I've had picnics beside the flowing mountain creeks.

I've jumped from rock to rock in those creeks and waded in the clear, icy water.




















My parents loved those mountains, too. My mother spent the vacations of her youth there.













Even my grandparents spent many happy times there. Here they are in Gatlinburg, Tennessee (with an unknown person):













In the background of the above photo is one of those little mountain motels. Greetings from Nowhere is about one of those motels.

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One of my favorite blogs is Shrinking Violets, Marketing for Introverts. There was recently a post nominating Cynthia Rylant as the Coolest Introvert in Children's Literature.

I TOTALLY second that vote. I adore Cynthia Rylant. She's my literary crush, no doubt about it.

I consider her my ultimate, all-time, tip top, A-one inspiration of all time. Missing May spoke to me like no other book. Her voice. Her sense of place. Her heart.

So when my book, Me and Rupert Goody, was published, I sent her a copy and told her how much she had inspired me. I told her that she had continued the chain of creative spirit. (Good line, huh?)

Well, guess what?

She wrote me back! I mean wrote - as in by hand - on pretty pink note paper.






I've blurred the signature cause, well, this is the nasty ole internet and all. But trust me, she really wrote me. She said all these nice things about my book. Like, she thought my novel was "lovely." I mean, who else could use that word in a normal sentence and sound normal?

Oh, and she liked the goodness of the characters' hearts. Isn't that just so Cynthia Rylant?

And get this, here was her favorite line in the book (I'm not making this up): "I ain't eating another pinto bean as long as I live."

AND she signed the note CYNDI RYLANT.

Not Cynthia.

Oh no - not for me, her new best friend.

It's CYNDI (that's right, with a Y and an I)

And check out the little heart. I mean, come on!

So, Cyndi, if you're out there: Keep up the good work (and call me - we'll do lunch.)

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