You can learn about special events, new books & posters, contests, and other news on this page!
We love meeting our readers and personalizing their books & posters. It’s fun to combine readings with learning experiences in school auditoriums, classrooms, or libraries. We also visit community centers and bookstores –wherever there are people who love stories!
We are very happy to accept this award that will help us reach more young readers with our stories written especially for them!
We’re looking forward to fun at St. Mary School, where we will meet with students in elementary and middle grades to discuss writing and illustrating! 
It was a truly memorable, Monday morning with the 3rd grade students at Nathan Hale School in New Haven, where we discussed how authors and illustrators create their stories. Our assembly was co-hosted by teachers Allison Adinolfi and Melissa Talarczyk. Students had been studying the writing process and came prepared with questions for us. Very exciting!
We enjoyed a book party with 3rd and 4th grade boys and girls on April 8, 2015 at the James Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford, CT. Associate Librarian for Youth Services, Carly Lemire, co-hosted. You can read about other programs at this friendly library by visiting: www.blackstonelibrary.org. We loved how the students dove right into our Annabelle-Please-Don’t-Tell! activities, sharing their own ideas and experiences. Carly wrote: “The kids had a blast. Thanks so much for coming and sharing your book. I know they really enjoyed being center stage and reading aloud.” We
Nurturing the individual child’s growth remains our primary focus. From that close-in point, we hope to see a ripple of positive connections, child-to-child…across-and-among-communities, following Annabelle and Andrew’s adventures of discovery.
Other upcoming EVENTS include a visit to a senior center, where we will offer tips for writing and/or illustrating short narratives for grandchildren, and a signing event at a bookstore in western CT. Watch for details about future, fun interactive readings and contests with 3rd and 4th graders at other elementary schools and libraries. If you would like to schedule a book-signing or receive assistance with an educational project, please contact us on the Contact page.
A wider variety of exceptional Annabelle-Please-Don’t-Tell! POSTERS will soon be available for purchase from our order page.
GUESS TO WIN!
Volume 2 is scheduled for publication in June, 2015. The cover image is something that has NEVER appeared on the cover of a published chapter book — or ANY published book, as far as we can tell. And we won’t tell what it is before it is published! If you are the first person to correctly guess the primary cover image (prior to publication), you will Win a (free and autographed) paperback copy of Vol. 2 & Annabelle-Please-Don’t-Tell! poster. Children may submit a guess, with the help of an adult, on the Grown-up’s Comment Page.
One student recently asked if Annabelle, Andrew, and the other characters will grow older in the series. The answer to this excellent question is…………………….can you guess?…………………………………………………..yes! They will grow older just like our readers will grow older.
We are very happy to announce that My COMPLICATED Week is available on all Kindle devices. If you purchase, or have already purchased, My COMPLICATED Week from Amazon as a paperback, you will automatically be eligible to purchase the Kindle version at less than 1/2 price!
One of our friends gave us a stick of true cinnamon, that she brought back from the island of Sumatra, to show to children who have read My COMPLICATED Week. There are lots of fun activities that you might want to combine with a book-signing. One classroom mother wants to make a batch of Grandma Merriday’s cookies! Let us know if you have special ideas like that.