A Country Mile

Mazza Friday

It happens every year.  We get to Friday morning of the Mazza Summer Institute and we wonder “How? How can this day even hope to live up to the previous four?”  This past week, we’ve heard from children’s book illustrators and authors whose work could be described with words such as: adorable, interesting, bold, subtle, delightful, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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! […]

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