USA Trip part 2

OK, after Ithaca and Syracuse, I did have some time off. The highlight of my trip was seeing Xu Bing's extraordinary work in Mass MoCa, Phoenix. Words can't describe...

Staying in North Adams, I found just the best piece of furniture ever in the hall by our room - a pulpit! Of course I had to have a little rant...

Then it was off on the road trip.






The leaves were just about to turn...

We had our eyes peeled for Moose:

But the only thing that came close were some taps in a restroom at Flume Gorge!

Having been excited to see such tiny gherkins in Syracuse,

          ...it was a total thrill to find miniature tomatoes in my salad in North Conway.

OK, so I took some time over lunch - I was on my holidays!

The leaves really were stunning:

          and I saw a tree that looked like an elephant - or a Gruffalo -

            and a hat made out of pheasant feathers

And more leaves...

          ...and I had time to read my book...

Then it was on to Boston - and work!  (please note, all the words in green are live links).

First up was a trip to the John F Kennedy Elementary School in Cambridge, organised by Ellen from local independent bookshop extraordinaire, Porter Square Books.

The kindergardeners were REALLY good at listening:

We talked about how a book is made - looking closely at Ros's fabulous thumbnails:

We had a long discussion about Lola's name and alliteration and all the different languages the story comes in...

...and discovered that even when the languages are different, the pictures are exactly the same.

Of course we had to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - Lola's favourite.

Then it was time to sign some books...

              which also gave us time for more involved discussions about the books:

What a wonderful morning! Then it was time for a brief visit to the Porter Square Bookshop and a little more signing before heading to the Charlesbridge offices to meet the most amazing publishing team - probably in the world. Also had a chance to chat with Jackie Miller from Reach Out And Read - click here to read about their work, or like them on facebook.

On Friday I had a day off and managed to get to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - no photos allowed so you'll just have to check it out if you're ever in Boston. Then on Saturday it was back to work with a visit to the Peabody Public Library. We met some wonderful children and a great young man called Larry who was working on his own picture book - best of luck to him.
It was an extremely serious morning's work:

Then it was the long plane ride home to the UK - but to the fabulous news that Lola has been given the CLEL Silver Bells Award - one of 25 books selected from books published over the last 25 years!

"The Silver Bells are 25 picture books from
the last 25 years, that the CLEL Bell Awards Selection Committee consider to be excellent representations of the Bell Awards.

The Silver Bell lists are a one-time recognition
of high-quality titles. The Silver Bells serve as a recommended list for libraries and families alike seeking strong titles for young children from birth to age 5, suitable for library storytimes, for childcare and preschool settings, and for exploration at home."