news and notes

Story Hour at Blackwood & Brouwer Booksellers!

Rondi and Jean always plan the perfect story hours complete with a themed snack. This time around it was Pizza Cookies to accompany the reading of PIZZA FOR THE QUEEN. They were awesome. Here's the recipe for you to create your own. It comes from Three Rivers Cookbook IV by Annie Waterfall.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 inch pizza pan to within 1/2" of the edge. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter adn brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Mix well. Add the oats., coconut, chocolate chips and pecans. Stir until well blended. Spread cookie dough onto the prepared pizza pan. It may help to wet your hands a bit when doing this. Sprinkle the M&M's evenly over the top. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cut into wedges and cool.

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Hawaii. It was great to dive into the Pacific waters again. It was long overdue. I spent a good portion of this trip snorkeling. I got to see many green sea turtles. The Hawaiians call the turtle Honu. You can read more about sea turtles and their conservation on page 40 of OCEANS.

The fish were brilliant! Blues, yellows, and reds sparkled in the sunlit turquoise waters. It was a real treat to see a beautiful Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star. You may have read about this sea star on page 33 of OCEANS, but don't fear too much. The sea star has not caused such alarm in Hawaii yet. It will be interesting to follow this species in the Hawaiian waters.

When I wrote RAINFORESTS I had never seen a mongoose in wild Hawaii. But this time my luck changed and I spied quite a few darting in and out of the rocks at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park on the Big Island. I hope they are not causing too much trouble.

The trip afforded me time to revisit and explore many of the ecosystems I have written about. It also gave me a chance to recharge and be inspired for my current projects.

I spent three days with the creative second graders at Tesago Elementary "creating story". They investigated where ideas originate, talked plot, character, and setting, and then worked in their own critique groups, just like I do, to make their stories the best they could be.

I was so impressed with them. Great work, Tesago!

I've been selected to speak at the 5th World Congress for Environmental Education.I'll give a presentation on Earth Inspired Art and Writing and another on my book, Keeping Our Earth Green!

I'll be presenting at SLMS - School Library Media Specialists of NY. The presentation's focus will be RIVER WILD, in conjuction with the Hudson Valley's Quadricentennial.

FOR THE PUBLIC:

I'll be giving a "green" presentation at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library in April, reading Pizza for the Queen and making pizzas at the Hudson Children's Book Festival , and signing books at the Children's Book Festival at The Albany Academies.

It's the International Year of Astronomy -- Perfect timing for the Indian Mountain School's year long astronomy themed curriculum!

I was asked to visit at the beginning of the year to present a program from LEAP INTO SPACE for the Lower School students. What fun!

What a treat working with each class to create astronomy art!