I attribute my crazy schedule during October, November and December in large part to the popularity of the two Thanksgiving-related books I illustrated: Turkey Trouble and Turkey Claus. Both books were featured in Scholastic Book Club this Fall, and both spent time at #1 on Amazon in several categories. That’s why I decided to name this busy stretch ‘Turkey Tour 2013’.

There was a lot of Google mapping involved with The Turkey Tour of 2013. In three months I traveled over 11,000 miles! The map on the left is the route I took the week of November 10th when I had one charity event, one library presentation, and four school visits. There was also a lot of books to sign that week, as the picture above and to the right shows! Sometimes my hand got tired but I’m not complaining!

When I made my paper-mache turkey hat over four years ago, little did I know how useful it would become. In addition to preventing road madness, he’s also a good prop for PR photos and helps me ham it up during school visits!

Half the battle of a long tour is finding the school and getting a good night’s sleep. Once at the school it’s easy. I really do love working with kids. Some of my favorite things are those things that happen spontaneously. One day a group of third graders seemed antsy so we all stretched like Woolbur. Now it’s a regular part of the show. It always feels good to ‘do the Woolbur’!

One of the things I worked on during The Turkey Tour of 2013 was my silly voices. I think my nephew Stephen liked my silly voices when I visited HIS classroom.

Walking into a school and seeing the hallways covered with children’s artwork inspired by my books is an incredible feeling. I could fill an entire book with all the creations I’ve seen while visiting schools. PS: If I’ve been to your school please email me your creations. They inspire me!

After a school visit I love it when children send me thank-you notes. I save every one of them.

While out west I also had a book-signing in Salt Lake City. The day before the signing I took the sky-tram to the top of Snowbird. While at the top I saw a group of people standing around who looked like other tourists. They were taking pictures. I asked if one of them could take a picture of me. One woman immediately volunteered. The next thing you know she's fiddling with my camera and telling me where to stand. She said this is what I do, now move over there. She moved me all around and clicked away. I thought she meant she was the mountain-top photographer. I apologized and offered to pay her something. She politely said no, handed me back my camera and walked back to her friends. One of her male companions came up to me a few minutes later and whispered to me that I just had a photo-shoot with Ellen Kuras, the famous cinematographer and director. He told me she has worked with Scorsese and was nominated for an award for her cinematography in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind among other things. He was her guide for the day and they were scouting locations for a Yoplait commercial. We exchanged emails and I promised to send her a book.

At one of the schools I visited in Wyoming, during question and answer time a child asked me what medium I work in. I told him that I work in watercolor on paper. My answer was received with blank stares and a couple of giggles. A few questions later another child asked me if I could say again what medium I work in. Again I answered watercolor on paper. More giggles. Apparently it is very hilarious for a child from Wyoming to hear a person from Philadelphia say watercolor on paper.

The boredom of the road can drive a man to madness. To avoid this fate, one of the things I did to entertain myself was take silly pictures of my paper-mache turkey hat. Don’t want to go mad.

One of the great joys of being a picture book author/illustrator is when you have the opportunity to get out and about to to share your work. This fall I had many such opportunities as my schedule brought me to many schools, libraries, conferences and bookstores from Pennsylvania to Wyoming. I’m very thankful for all the kind people I’ve met and sights I’ve seen along the way.  On this page I’ll share some pictures and notes from that journey.

There are two things I’ve learned all kids love: drawing and watching me draw! That’s why I always draw a lot during school visits. (Plus, I get some practice.) Above are some of the drawings I made while visiting schools during the Turkey Tour of 2013.

Most of my school visits take place in PA and NJ. So when I was asked to visit schools in Wyoming I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and see Mount Rushmore. It was a little cold! After driving on icy roads for two hours without seeing another human being I began envisioning how they'd find my frozen body: hand outstretched to flag down the car that would never drive by . It was Sunday morning on Rt 16 and it was -15° F. Why would he think a car would drive by? the obituary would ask the reader. But I made it to Mount Rushmore. By the time I arrived it was a balmy 5° F. All the trails were closed but the gate was easy to climb under. I met a Frenchman on the trail who took the picture to the right.

On my last day out west I met Wendi Silvano, the author of Turkey Trouble and Turkey Claus. It was the first time we’ve met! We did a story-time and book signing together at The Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. It was great fun.

Naturally, some of the children got involved. This little girl sort of stole the show, which I’d have to say was the perfect conclusion to the Turkey Tour of 2013.


Thank you, everybody!


Happy 2014!!