New Works in Progress

Today I started another artist-in-residency program, this time working with four highly gifted young authors and illustrators in the Shenendahowa School District in upstate New York.

We had fun brainstorming animals from A to Z, from ape all the way to x-ray fish, wildebeest, yak, and zebra. (They are very smart kidlets!)

We selected interesting "living" items to parallel our lives to for our living history books.

We started to develop our personal timelines too. Each child was traced onto a large sheet of paper, and then starting with his or her birth date at the toes, each author is adding important events in his or her life from the feet to the current-day head.

Ben will be paralleling his life with famous hurricanes over the same time period.








Drew turned his attention to the rhino and its life cycle, both being born around the same time.







Rohan is focusing on volcanic eruptions over his lifetime.









And, Janine will skate her way through the life of a cacao tree. (We were both born in Hershey, Pennsylvania! How sweet is that?)






Stay tuned to see where our timelines and stories take us next week!

A Warm Welcome!

Dear Acorns,

Thank you for the warm and wonderful welcome you offered me as I visited your elementary schools at Central Dauphin School District near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The students at Phillips Elementary welcomed me with posters lining the hallways ...


and the students at Linglestown had a display awaiting me in the library.

Your warmth and generosity made my heart sing. I enjoyed my visit with you. Thank you. Remember to eat lots of chocolate and grow to be mighty oaks!

Chocolate blessings,

Carol Smalley (and Junie B =^..^= and Amber Brown =^..^=)

100 Days!

In only 100 days, we'll be putting our toes in the sand and our untanned bodies in the water. The lakes here in the Adirondacks will open for the summer season on the Saturday before Memorial Day. (The photo here is from last winter. We are lagging behind in snowfall for this winter.)

Let the countdown begin!

Now, to go clear the sidewalks of snow ...

Farewell at Five Rivers

The Big Sisters group met for one final time today to celebrate our creative spirits, share our living history stories, and bid farewell to the critters at the nature center.

We had a wonderful time. I will miss these young writers.

They outdid themselves with their final book projects. They discovered their similarities to the domestic cat,







mountain lion,



river otter,







and whitetail deer.





Journey well, Young Writers. I'm saving a spot on my bookshelf for signed copies of your first published books.

NYC Department of Education Recommends Hudson Book

The New York City Department of Education, Office of Curriculum, Standards and Academic Engagement, has listed my book -- What's So Great about Henry Hudson -- in its On the Half Moon with Henry Hudson: A Resource Guide for the Quadricentennial.

This is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in learning more about Henry Hudson, the exploration of the Hudson River, New York State Native Americans, the Half Moon, and more.

For the past year, I have been busy traveling around the state to meet with fourth graders who are learning about Henry Hudson and his historical voyage. In our work sessions, we have been creating salt-dough maps of the Hudson River Valley.

Creative Progress

The girls in the Big Sisters program at Five Rivers have made great progress on their living history books.





We also had a surprise visitor! (One of the girls was writing about the eating habits of a porcupine, so one magically appeared!)

Next week, at our final session, each girl will share her story with the group. We'll also be celebrating our creativity. The girls were in charge of planning the party. No detail was overlooked! We will have music, pizza, wings, brownies, cookies, ice cream, and soda. (I'm bringing some veggies and dip to balance out the buffet!)

Hamster Care

As part of the Johnstown Public Library's Storybook Sundae celebration to be held on Sunday, March 21, I have donated a basket called Hamster Care. The "basket" is actually a hamster cage, filled with four zhu zhu hamsters, four sleeping bags, a critter carrier, and a copy of my book, How to Convince Your Parents You Can Take Care of a Hamster.

As one of over 50 anticipated baskets, Hamster Care will be raffled off as a fundraiser for the library.

Please contact the library if you are interested in attending Storybook Sundae or purchasing raffle tickets for any of the baskets. (518) 762-8317.