Sneak Peek

Some characters for a new middle grade mystery series I'm working on. Cool, huh?

A Work Surprise

As I was shopping on one of my favorite mom sites the other day (zulily), I came across a fun surprise. A series of books that I worked on was on the site! The Hello Genius board book set (by the one and only Michael Dahl) was for sale with a bunch of other Capstone titles. It's always so fun to see books that you helped create on a popular site for anyone to buy. Needless to say, it made my day.

Pfeffernut in the Pfair Pforest

Library Bound welcomes guest blogger, author Jill Kalz

It was about pfans and pfriends—the pfolks who already knew and loved my strange old farmer, Cap, and those who were meeting him for the very first time.

On August 29, my picture book Farmer Cap (Pfeffernut County series; Capstone) made its Minnesota State Fair debut in the Alphabet Forest, a place where letters danced and dangled between tall trees; books bloomed, ready to be picked and read aloud by families escaping the Midway mayhem and all kinds of greasy goodness on a stick; and little and big kids sported paper crowns and celebrated literacy with a hip, hip, HUZZAH!

I may have been the featured author in the Forest that day, but, really, it was Cap’s show. I was the roadie, carting a tub of 400 Farmer Cap heads-on-sticks I’d assembled (400 heads + 400 wooden sticks + 800 squares of adhesive goo), 400 colorable “Pfollow me to Pfeffernut!” stickers, and seven-dozen washable markers. And I was more than happy to stand by and watch Cap shine. He may be an odd duck, with his flip flops, shorts, and feathered alpine hat, but fairgoers welcomed him without hesitation. It wasn’t just “Minnesota nice” at work, either. The nearly 125,000 people who walked through the gates that day represented all parts of the country—and the world. One Farmer Cap head was adopted by a woman from Alaska; two more now have new homes in Japan.

Great coloring job!

Hundreds of Caps!

Dorks, wimpy kids, and nerds crowd today’s children’s literature bestseller lists, and I think that’s one reason why readers have a soft spot for Cap. He’s a grown-up version of a dork/wimpy kid/nerd! Kids who feel different, like they don’t quite fit in, can identify with Cap on some level and accept their own quirks, or, alternatively, say, “Hey, at least I’m not as goofy as THAT guy!” For other readers, I think it’s about the magic and mystery of his story. Whatever the reasons, it was fun to watch people connect.

Four Minnesota authors before me and eight more after me found old fans and new friends during the state fair run this year, thanks to Alphabet Forest creator Debra Frasier. And it’s safe to say, we all had a pfantastic time!

-Jill Kalz

Back to School!

My two school-age children headed back to class last week. Right off the bat, my second-grader was told that she is expected to read for at least twenty minutes a night. It would be her first homework assignment. But it came with a tangible reward. For every 200 minutes read, the teacher will give student a book of his or her own to keep.

Now my daughter can't wait to do her "homework" every night. Sometimes, she even tackles in on the bus. All thanks to the generosity of her teacher.

Here's a few of the books she's filled her minutes with so far—perfect for the second-grade girl in your life:

Katie's New Shoes by Fran Manushkin

Hoop Queen from the Kylie Jean series by Marci Peschke

Repunzel Lets Her Hair Down by Tony Bradman

Cheesy but True

For the past three years, Julie and I have worked in a different town than the rest of our coworkers. The two of us have our own little office filled with books and posters. (We're very lucky that we get along or this could a HUGE nightmare.) It could have been a really bad idea to have us so isolated from the rest of the group. But thanks to a great boss and incredible coworkers, the adjustment was easy and gets better all the time.

Our coworkers go out of their way to include us. In fact, one of our designers just sent us T-shirts with a nice note. It was the best mail we've ever gotten! So in these tough times, just remember that it's important to be thankful for your job, but it's also important to be thankful for your coworkers.

Thanks B-ton folks!