We've Got Our Eye on These Peeps

We chicks like to think that we can predict the future. For instance, we know it will snow again in the Chicagoland area this spring and we know that by the end of the April we will have eaten 25 leftover chocolate bunnies between us. We think we're downright spooky. So our readers should listen to us when we say that the following children's book authors and illustrators, who all have fewer than 4 books, will be BIG BIG BIG, and not from chocolate bunnies. No, these peeps will win BIG awards and make BIG speeches at ALA and possibly even ride a BIG float in the Macy's Day Parade.

We're talking BIG, and you heard it here first.



Antoinette Portis is Not a Stick or a Box or a Penguin. But she's a really cool author-illustrator.







Bob Shea is all that and then some. Really.












Let's not forget the fabulous Jan Thomas, who wonders about things like, "What Will Fat Cat Sit On?" The strange thing is, we've been wondering that ourselves.








These are our current picks. Let us know who you think is a real up-and-comer!

Crowing from the Rooftop...

...to congratulate two of our all-time favorite writer chicks, whom we adore as much in person as we do on the page:

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, winner of the Schneider Family Award for Reaching for Sun; and

Lisa Wheeler, winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award for Jazz Baby! (Read our interview with Lisa here.)

And let us not forget our double duty man Mo Willems, who pulled down a Caldecott Honor Award for Knuffle Bunny Too and the Geisel Award for There Is a Bird on Your Head! (Read our interview with Mo here.)

We are celebrating with a grand party here in the coop, complete with kazoos, whoopie cushions, eggsploding won tons, and a posse of Shriner guys in little cars and fezzes.

Three cheers for Tracie, Lisa, Mo, and all the 2008 ALA Award winners!

A Bounty of Bloggers at the Kidlitosphere Conference

On Saturday, a very exciting thing happened. A veritable bounty of bloggers descended upon Chicago. They came from all over just to meet and talk about kid-lit and blogging. One of the Three Silly Chicks was there.

Sadly, the other two had to stay in the coop and keep the bean dip chilled. Or warmed. Or something.

While Andrea was a bit sad to venture from the coop without Julia and Carolyn, she was mighty glad to meet so many cool and very funny folk.

And, best of all, beause they are bloggers, so many of them posted about their adventures in Chicagoland! Here are only a few of the posts about the weekend.

Thanks especially to Robin Brande for organizing this wonderful weekend! And to Esme Raji Codell for bringing together some of Chicago's authors to meet and greet folks.

It was so much fun. We wish the coop was bigger so we could have everybody over for salsa at our place. Oh boy! The feathers would fly (with fun) for sure!

These are just some of the great blogs represented at the conference. Hope you enjoy some of these great posts and pics!

Just One More Book - check out their podcast for Carolyn's DON'T NEED FRIENDS, too!

Check it out

Read Write Believe

Jimbo Jabber

Grow Wings

Got Art?

Gotta Book

MotherReader

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast - Can you find the picture of the Silly Chick with the two fabulous blogging goddesses?

Planet Esme

Pictures from Just One More Book's Mark Blevis! Thanks, Mark!

Book Buds

Jen Robinson's Book Page

Big A Little A

A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

Fuse #8 Production

Miss Rumphius Effect
Publish Post
Confessions of a Bibliovore

I know I'm missing some of you who attended and posted, but I'm all tuckered out!!! Thanks for a great event! Hope to meet you all again soon!

Perhaps we'll add a second story to the coop and have a party!!!

Marcel Marceau

1923 - 2007

We are a little sad today at the coop, having just learned that Marcel Marceau has died. Here's a link to the NY Times Obituary.

It's true that we like to poke a little fun at mimes. Actually, we like to poke a lot of fun at mimes, but we do it out of love. (And because mimes, like clowns, can be a really scary sometimes.) However, there is a warm spot in our chicky hearts for Monsieur Marceau. He was a kind man dedicated to peace, a truly amazing artist, and a member of the French Resistance!

We shall think of him next time we are riding a bicycle, being buffeted by the wind, or trying to get out of a box. Things he could do better than anyone else!

Watch a video!

A meme!

We've been tagged for a meme by Mother Reader. This actually happened last week, but we were confused.

We thought meme was the sound the Road Runner makes when he sneaks up behind Wiley Coyote causing the Coyote to fly into the air and hit the road just in time to be hit by a truck.

Mee-Mee.

That sound scares us. We are only small chicks (with glasses) and could so easily be crushed by dropping coyotes or coyote droppings.

We were relieved to learn that a meme is a survey, not a funny cartoon noise!

So, we are happy to respond to Mother Reader's very generous invitation and we will now name our favorite NON-kids lit blogs. Our apologies for taking so long!

We love these blogs:

A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette
The Lipstick Librarian (Diary of a library fashionista)
Found Magazine - a journal of odd things found here and there.
Boing Boing - A directory of wonderful things
Writers Almanac - Cause sometimes you need a poem and a little bit of calm
Go Fug Yourself - Bad fashion made snarky


We are supposed to tag others for this Mee-Mee, but we don't want to frighten anyone with our wily sound. So, consider yourself tagged if you are brave. Just leave us a note if you wish to play, and tell us 5 of your favorite non-kidslit blogs!

And speaking of Mother Reader, in today's post, she includes a poem from one of our favorite new books, REACHING FOR SUN by the gloriously talented Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.

Mee-Mee!

Note on a Blog...

Sometimes, the interwebs can be so silly. And don't even get us started about blogging software.

This week, one of our favorite bloggers is having trouble. Seems someone tried to send Cynthia Leitich-Smith a basket of fruit and some snack crackers down those tubes and now her blog is having some trouble. She has asked us to help spread the word that her blog is down for the moment. So here goes.

Bwock! Bwock!!! (That means, "Hear ye! Hear ye!")

Cynthia Leitich-Smith's blog is down, but she is guest blogging on her husband's page, at http://www.greglsblog.blogspot.com/ (which is syndicated for LJ at: http://greglsblog.livejournal.com/

And remember folks, if you send fruit or crackers into the interwebs, you have to squish them up, first!

This has been a public service announcement.

"Bwock! Bwock!!! (That means, "We now return to our regulary scheduled blog.")