Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for Dec. 31, 2024

 This author was born in England, but when he was 8 years old his family moved to Australia. He felt like an outcast at school, except in art class where he wowed the other students, so he decided early on to become a professional artist. He studied graphic design in Melbourne and worked in advertising, but soon started writing and illustrating books for children. He wrote My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch and it was accepted by the first publisher he sent it to (which almost never happens! My first picture book will come out in 2026, 28 years after I began submitting stories). His next project was a richly detailed animal alphabet book, called Animalia, which was an immediate hit in Australia and became popular worldwide. He also wrote and illustrated a picture book with mystery elements, called The Eleventh Hour. This is Graeme Base.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for December 17, 2024

 Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago put out a coloring book every Christmas, and in 1939 they assigned an ad writer to come up with a character for the book. He chose an animal like the ones his daughter loved at the zoo, but his idea was rejected because his character had a trait associated with alcoholism. When the art department made the animal cute enough, the story was accepted and went on to become a book, song, and animated tv show. The writer was Robert L. May and his red-nosed subject was Rudolf. A legend that he wrote the story to help his daughter get over the loss of her mother turned out not to be true.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for December 10, 2024

 This American writer, born in 1779, was primarily a seminary professor and real estated developer in early New York City. He is best known for a poem he wrote--or did he?--which first appeared anonymously in a Troy NY paper in 1823. Some scholars suspect another writer, a relative of his wife, was the true author. At any rate, his poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" is still a part of holiday traditions today. This is Clement C. Moore, and the title we use now is "The Night Before Christmas."

Come support these book events on Dec. 13th!

FREE BOOKS!

 The Free For All book giveaway will take place on Friday, December 13 at the Glenwood Springs Community Center! Books make great gifts, so come find some treasures at the Free For All! It starts at noon. But on the same day at 11:00, come hear three local authors read their books and sign them at Alpenglo Book Store, 720 Grand Ave. in Glenwood by the bridge. Wendi Silvano from Grand Junction will read and sign her turkey books, and Glenwood authors Nancy Flood and Deborah Williams will read and sign theirs.