The Muse atop my tree

Remember the beautiful snowflake painted by Inga Poslitur that I won at auction last year? Here she is,  crowning my tabletop tree:

Merry Christmas and a peaceful and inspired New Year to you all. 

I'll be on a blog break for awhile.

I win a snowflake! (and do some gumshoeing)

Isn't it gorgeous?

The artist is Inga Poslitur, and I've been snooping around, trying to find out more about her.

Cool facts:

#1: She studied Russian Native Embroidery Design at the Academy of Applied Arts in Moscow.

#2: She painted props for the Earth Day Parade, New York City.

#3: Look! Her online portfolio! I'm especially fond of this beautiful painting, which is titled "Village Ryuminskoe, Russia." I hope this one might be part of a longer story, one that she's illustrating, perhaps?

#4: Aha! Maybe THIS is her next book! Look at this illustration for "Soup from a Sausage-Peg," which is a Hans Christian Andersen tale that I've never heard of. Here's the traditional translation, which is difficult to read online, but I love the part where the mouse grandmother says:

"If one is a poet, one can make soup out of a sausage peg."

Ha! I should post THAT where I can see it every day. (Psst! Want to know what a sausage peg looks like? Well, they really look more like skewers than pegs. Here you go.)***

If you want to have a snowflake of your own to research, check out Robert's Snow, Auction 2, which begins today.

***I imagine this is just the kind of detective work that illustrators do, looking for visual references for their work. Except they probably run down to the market, and sketch some sausages, and buy a yummy cupcake with sprinkles or something while they're there, instead of surfing the internet for an hour, with only their lip to chew on, like I just did.

Fresh Snow

This week, you have the chance to taste fresh snow---original artwork by some of the best illustrators around---but you're going to have to do more than stick out your tongue. You have to speak up! You have to go bid! See below for all the details.

Thanks to Tricia, who pulled the following information together:

Auction 3 will begin accepting bids on Monday, Dec. 3 at 9:00 a.m. with a starting bid of $50 for each snowflake. All bids must be placed before the close of Auction 3 on Friday, Dec. 7 at 5:00 p.m. Don't forget that 100 percent of the proceeds from this online auction will benefit sarcoma research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and that all but $25 of the winning bid is tax deductible.

Auction 3 List

Read about all the illustrators who contributed to this auction at the sites linked below. (The order presented is the same as on the auction page.)

• Consie Powell at Becky’s Book Reviews
• Anna Alter at The Longstockings
• Adam Rex at Booktopia and Welcome to my Tweendom
• Julia Denos at Interactive Reader
• Giles Laroche at Book, Book, Book
• Matt Phelan at A Year of Reading
• Brooke Dyer at Bookshelves of Doom
• Barbara Lehman at The Excelsior File
• Scott Magoon at Just One More Book!!
• Alissa Imre Geis at Wild Rose Reader
• Judy Schachner at Kate's Book Blog
• Laura Huliska Beith at Just One More Book!!
• Genevieve Cote at a wrung sponge
• Ruth Sanderson at Book Moot
• Susan Kathleen Hartung at Wild Rose Reader
• Linda Graves at Your Neighborhood Librarian
• Diane DeGroat at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup
• Susan Mitchell at Check It Out
• R.W. Alley at at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup
• Wendell Minor at Wild Rose Reader
• Melanie Watt at Whimsy Books
• Elisa Kleven at Rozzieland
• Sally Vitsky at Shelf Elf: read, write, rave
• Jimmy Pickering at Shaken & Stirred
• Jeremy Tankard at the excelsior file
• Mark Teague at The Miss Rumphius Effect
• Annie Patterson at Check It Out
• Ashley Bryan
  
• Diana Magnuson at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
• Bill Carman at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
• Elizabeth Sayles at AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos
• Grace Lin at In the Pages
• Dan Santat at Writing and Ruminating
• Jarrett J. Krosoczka at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Jeff Ebbeler at Sam Riddleburger's blog
• Margaret Chodos-Irvine at readergirlz
• Nancy Wallace at In the Pages . . .
• Robin Brickman at Greetings from Nowhere
• Joy Allen at Check It Out
• Christopher Demarest at Writing and Ruminating
• Mary Newell Depalma at Wild Rose Reader
• Derek Anderson
• Peter Brown
  
• Rebecca Guay at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Jui Ishida at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Kathy Jakobsen at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Linda Bronson
  
• James T. Williamson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Kristina Swarner at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Vladimir Shpitalnik at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Linda S. Wingerter at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Meghan McCarthy at A Fuse #8 Production
• Carin Berger at Chasing Ray
• Salley Mavor at ChatRabbit
• Amy Young at Kate's Book Blog
• Rebecca Doughty at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
• Brian Lies at Greetings from Nowhere
• D.B. Johnson at Lessons from the Tortoise
• Jeff Mack at AmoXcalli
• Selina Alko at Brooklyn Arden
• Sean Qualls at Brooklyn Arden
• Randy Cecil at ChatRabbit
• Jeff Newman at A Year of Reading
• Mo Willems at MotherReader
• Karen Lee at sruble's world
• Shawna Tenney at Kate's Book Blog
• Julie Paschkis at the excelsior file
• Victoria Jamieson at AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos
• Juli Kangas at Sam Riddleburger
• Connie McLennan at The Shady Glade
• Kelly Murphy at ChatRabbit

Auction 2 List (Bids are now closed)

• Ashley Wolff at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
• Karen Katz at Whimsy Books
• Maxwell Eaton III at Books and Other Thoughts
• Matthew Cordell at Just Like the Nut
• Rick Chrustowski at laurasalas
• Lisa Kopelke at Lisa's Little Corner of the Internet
• Melissa Iwai at Brooklyn Arden
• Susan Miller at Your Neighborhood Librarian
• Joanne Friar at The Longstockings
• Annette Heiberg at Lisa's Little Corner of the Internet
• Susie Jin at sruble's world
• Roz Fulcher at Goading the Pen
• Scott Bakal at Wild Rose Reader
• Tim Coffey at The Silver Lining
• Linas Alsenas at A Wrung Sponge
• Ellen Beier at What Adrienne Thinks About That
• Alexandra Boiger at Paradise Found
• Joe Kulka at ChatRabbit
• Kevin Hawkes at Cynthia Lord's Journal
• Diane Greenseid at Just One More Book!!
• Mary Haverfield at Your Neighborhood Librarian
• Denise Fleming at MotherReader
• Aaron Zenz at Jo's Journal
• Carol Schwartz at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup
• Theresa Brandon at The Shady Glade
• Janet Stevens at The Miss Rumphius Effect
• Don Tate at The Silver Lining
• Laura Jacques at cynthialord's Journal
• Sarah Dillard at The Silver Lining
• Teri Sloat at The Miss Rumphius Effect
• Margot Apple at Jo’s Journal
• Rose Mary Berlin at Charlotte’s Library
• Carol Heyer at The Shady Glade
• Cecily Lang at Kate's Book Blog
• Cynthia Decker at The Silver Lining
• Mike Wohnoutka at laurasalas
• Lee White at Please Come Flying
• Denise Ortakales at cynthialord’s Journal
• Akemi Gutierrez at AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos
• Amiko Hirao at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Amy Schimler at Please Come Flying
• David Macaulay at Here in the Bonny Glen
• Lauren Stringer at laurasalas
• Greg Newbold at The Longstockings
• Holli Conger at Please Come Flying
• Judith Moffaft at Jo's Journal
• Lizzy Rockwell at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Matt Tavares at Please Come Flying
• Sheila Bailey at lizjonesbooks
• Sophie Blackall at not your mother’s bookclub
• Steven James Petruccio at Blog From the Windowsill
• Sylvia Long at Whimsy Books
• Timothy Bush at Here in the Bonny Glen
• Jane Dippold at Just Like the Nut
• Jane Dyer at Whimsy Books
• Wendy Edelson at What Adrienne Thinks About That
• Paul Brewer at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
• Brian Biggs at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Calef Brown
• Timothy Bush
• Barbara Lanza
• Lauren Stringer
  
• Graeme Base at Just One More Book
• Cece Bell at Jo's Journal
• Stephanie Roth at Writing with a broken tusk
• Sherry Rogers at A Life in Books
• John Hassett at cynthialord’s Journal

Auction 1 List (Bids are closed)

• Daniel Mahoney at Paradise Found and Great Solutions to Team Challenges
• Brie Spangler at Lectitans
• Yangsook Choi at What Adrienne Thinks About That
• Ginger Nielson at MISS O's SCHOOL LIBRARY
• Philomena O'Neill at Jo's Journal
• James Gurney at Charlotte's Library
• David Ezra Stein at Hip Writer Mama
• Barbara Garrison at Brooklyn Arden
• Hideko Takahashi at The Silver Lining
• Brian Floca at A Fuse #8 Production
• Mary Peterson at Brooklyn Arden
• Maggie Swanson at Chicken Spaghetti
• Elizabeth Dulemba at sruble's world
• Michelle Chang at The Longstockings
• Gretel Parker at Finding Wonderland
• Sara Kahn at Kate's Book Blog
• Ann Koffsky at Book Buds
• Frank Dormer at What Adrienne Thinks About That
• Erin Eitter Kono at Sam Riddleburger
• John Nez
  
• Julie Fromme Fortenberry at Your Neighborhood Librarian
• Sharon Vargo
• Abigail Marble
  
• Marion Eldridge at Chicken Spaghetti
• Chris Gall at Through the Studio Door
• Annette Simon at Check It Out and Deo Writer
• Rolandas Kiaulevicius at a wrung sponge
• Paige Keiser at Your Neighborhood Librarian
• Tracy McGuinness-Kelly at Sam Riddleburger's blog
• Jeannie Brett at cynthialord’s Journal
• Peter Emmerich at Loree Griffin Burns: A Life in Books
• Anna Dewdney at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Erik Brooks at Bildungsroman
• Joan Waites
  
• Patrick Girouard at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Yuyi Morales at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Jennifer Thermes at Through the Studio Door
• Liza Woodruff at Check It Out
• Ilene Richard at Something Different Every Day
• Molly Idle at The Shady Glade
• Leanne Franson at Just Like the Nut
• Anni Matsick
• Inga Poslitur
  
  

Robert's Snow: Week Five

Here's the schedule for Week 5, which starts Monday. As previously, this early schedule links to the participating blogs, instead of to the individual posts. You can find links to the posts themselves, and any last-minute updates, each morning at 7-Imp. Jules and Eisha have also set up a special page at 7-Imp containing a comprehensive list of links to the profiles posted so far. Also not to be missed is Kris Bordessa's post summarizing snowflake-related contests to date over at Paradise Found.

Monday, November 12

• John Nez at ChatRabbit


• Liza Woodruff at Check It Out


• Jane Dippold at Just Like the Nut


• Mike Wohnoutka at laurasalas

Tuesday, November 13

• Cynthia Decker at The Silver Lining


• Cecily Lang at Kate's Book Blog


• Jane Dyer at Whimsy Books


• Akemi Gutierrez at AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos


• Lee White at Please Come Flying

Wednesday, November 14

• Philomena O'Neill at Jo's Journal


• Maggie Swanson at Chicken Spaghetti


• Timothy Bush at Here in the Bonny Glen


• Peter Emmerich at Loree Griffin Burns: A Life in Books

Thursday, November 15

• Yangsook Choi at What Adrienne Thinks About That


• Laura Jacques at cynthialord's Journal


• Mary Newell Depalma at Wild Rose Reader


• Leanne Franson at Just Like the Nut

Friday, November 16

• Mary Haverfield at Your Neighborhood Librarian


• Lisa Kopelke at Lisa's Little Corner of the Internet


• Salley Mavor at ChatRabbit


• Greg Newbold at The Longstockings


• Elizabeth Sayles at AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos

Saturday, November 17

• Paul Brewer at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy


• Aaron Zenz at Jo's Journal


• Wendy Edelson at What Adrienne Thinks About That


• Joan Waites at Chicken Spaghetti

Sunday, November 18

• Giles Laroche at Book, Book, Book


• Annie Patterson at Check It Out


• Teri Sloat at The Miss Rumphius Effect


• Annette Heiberg at Lisa's Little Corner of the Internet


• Wade Zahares at Wild Rose Reader

Please take time to visit all of these blogs, and read about these fabulous illustrators. And think about bidding for a snowflake in the Robert's Snow auction. Each snowflake makes a unique gift (for yourself or for someone else), and supports an important cause.

Robert's Snow: Week Four

Here's the schedule for Week 4, which starts Monday. As previously, this early schedule links to the participating blogs, instead of to the individual posts. You can find links to the posts themselves, and any last-minute updates, each morning at 7-Imp. Jules and Eisha have also set up a special page at 7-Imp containing a comprehensive list of links to the profiles posted so far.


Monday, November 5

• Ana Alter at The Longstockings


• Laura Huliska Beith at Just One More Book!!


• Cece Bell at Jo's Journal


• Denise Ortakales at cynthialord’s Journal

Tuesday, November 6

• Carol Heyer at The Shady Glade


• Joe Kulka at ChatRabbit


• Steven James Petruccio at Blog From the Windowsill


• Carol Schwartz at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup

Wednesday, November 7

• Jeff Ebbeler at Sam Riddleburger's blog


• Scott Magoon at Just One More Book!!


• Connie McLennan at The Shady Glade
  
  
• Julie Paschkis at the excelsior file

Thursday, November 8

• Genevieve Cote at a wrung sponge


• Linda Graves at Your Neighborhood Librarian


• James Gurney at Charlotte's Library


• Matt Tavares at Please Come Flying

Friday, November 9

• Susan Kathleen Hartung at Wild Rose Reader


• Mary Peterson at Brooklyn Arden


• Annette Simon at Check It Out and Deo Writer


• Melanie Watt at Whimsy Books

Saturday, November 10

• R.W. Alley at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup


• Jeannie Brett at cynthialord’s Journal


• Daniel Mahoney at Paradise Found and Great Solutions to Team Challenges


• Amy Young at Kate's Book Blog

Sunday, November 11

• Tim Coffey at The Silver Lining


• Elizabeth Dulemba at sruble's world


• Chris Gall at Through the Studio Door


• Amy Schimler at Please Come Flying

Please take time to visit all of these blogs, and read about these fabulous illustrators. Think about bidding for a snowflake in the Robert's Snow auction. Each snowflake makes a unique gift (for yourself or for someone else), and supports an important cause.

Little Criminals and Robert's Snow: Week Three

What my niece thinks about battling her cancer:

The remaining tumor cells in her body (are) "little criminals" and we need to "round them up and put them in jail before they become big criminals".

Here's the schedule for this week's flurry of interviews with illustrators. As previously, this early schedule links to the participating blogs, instead of to the individual posts. You can find links to the posts themselves, and any last-minute updates, each morning at 7-Imp. Jules and Eisha have also set up a special page at 7-Imp containing a comprehensive list of links to the profiles posted so far.

Monday, October 29

• Dan Santat at Writing and Ruminating


• Joanne Friar at The Longstockings


• Alissa Imre Geis at Wild Rose Reader


• Diane Greenseid at Just One More Book!!


• Sean Qualls at Brooklyn Arden

Tuesday, October 30

• Ann Koffsky at Book Buds


• Bill Carman at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy


• Gretel Parker at Finding Wonderland


• Matt Phelan at A Year of Reading


• Stephanie Roth at Writing with a broken tusk

Wednesday, October 31

• Shawna Tenney at Kate's Book Blog


• Adam Rex at Booktopia and Welcome to my Tweendom


• Mo Willems at MotherReader


• Rolandas Kiaulevicius at a wrung sponge

Thursday, November 1

• Karen Lee at sruble's world


• Diana Magnuson at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy


• Melissa Iwai at Brooklyn Arden


• Victoria Jamieson at AmoXcalli and Cuentecitos


• Molly Idle at The Shady Glade


• Meghan McCarthy at A Fuse #8 Production

Friday, November 2

• Tracy McGuinness-Kelly at Sam Riddleburger's blog


• Sara Kahn at Kate's Book Blog


• Sylvia Long at Whimsy Books


• Jeremy Tankard at the excelsior file


• Holli Conger at Please Come Flying

Saturday, November 3

• Susan Miller at Your Neighborhood Librarian


• Ellen Beier at What Adrienne Thinks About That


• Hideko Takahashi at The Silver Lining


• Judith Moffat at Jo's Journal


• Wendell Minor at Wild Rose Reader

Sunday, November 4

• Joy Allen at Check It Out


• Robin Brickman at Greetings from Nowhere


• Lauren Stringer at laurasalas


• Nancy Wallace at In the Pages . . .

Robert's Snow: Week Two

Jen, from Jen Robinson's Book Page has graciously composed the following post, with all these wonderful links, so I'm borrowing it here. Thanks, Jen! (The schedule will also be posted in my sidebar this week.)

*************

Here's the schedule for Week 2, which starts Monday. Because the posts aren't up yet, this list links to the participating blogs, instead of to the individual posts. You can find links to the posts themselves, and any last-minute updates, each morning at 7-Imp. Jules and Eisha have also set up a special page at 7-Imp containing a comprehensive list of links to the profiles posted so far. Also not to be missed is Kris Bordessa's post summarizing snowflake-related contests to date over at Paradise Found.

Monday, October 22

• Mark Teague at The Miss Rumphius Effect


• Sharon Vargo at Finding Wonderland


• Christopher Demarest at Writing and Ruminating


• Rose Mary Berlin at Charlotte's Library


• David Macaulay at Here in the Bonny Glen

Tuesday, October 23

• Carin Berger at Chasing Ray


• Marion Eldridge at Chicken Spaghetti


• Sophie Blackall at not your mother's bookclub


• Erik Brooks at Bildungsroman


• Brian Lies at Greetings from Nowhere

Wednesday, October 24

• Elisa Kleven at Rozzie Land


• Consie Powell at Becky's Book Reviews


• Jimmy Pickering at Shaken & Stirred


• Frank Dormer at What Adrienne Thinks About That


• Sheila Bailey at Lizjonesbooks

Thursday, October 25

• Julia Denos at Interactive Reader


• Rebecca Doughty at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy


• Brian Floca at A Fuse #8 Production


• Margaret Chodos-Irvine at readergirlz

Friday, October 26

• David Ezra Stein at HipWriterMama


• Juli Kangas at Sam Riddleburger's blog


• Ginger Nielson at Miss O's School Library


• Margot Apple at Jo's Journal

Saturday, October 27

• Julie Fromme Fortenberry at Your Neighborhood Librarian


• Sarah Dillard at The Silver Lining


• John Hassett at cynthialord's Journal


• Abigail Marble at Please Come Flying

Sunday, October 28

• Ashley Wolff at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy


• Barbara Garrison at Brooklyn Arden


• Kelly Murphy at ChatRabbit

Please take time out to visit all of these blogs, and read about these fabulous illustrators. And, if you're so inclined, think about bidding for a snowflake in the Robert's Snow auction. Each snowflake makes a unique gift (for yourself or for someone else), and supports an important cause.

Gifts for Writers and Readers

Bumper Sticker for the Wyoming Libraries Campaign

Place Card Signs from GraphicImage

Typewriter Key Snowflake Necklace



Calling Cards from SmallMeadow Press


Library Shelf Labels
I want mine to say:
Read Me First!
Read Me Again!
and
I'm Famous: Why Haven't You Read Me Yet?


One of a kind snowflake
Go on, go look!

Blizzard Forecast For This Week

Seven day outlook: 100% chance of snow! Every day!

If you don't know about Robert's Snow, here's the official press release from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. (Please see my sidebar for a list of links to all the blogs who are featuring a snowflake artist this week.)

Be bold! Make it snow!

Art galleries in New England will become a winter wonderland starting this October as Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure, a benefit for sarcoma research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass., gets underway. More than 200 well-known children's book illustrators from around the world, including Mo Willems (Knuffle Bunny series), Kevin Hawkes (The Library Lion) and Patricia Polacco (Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare), have been given a five-inch wooden snowflake to transform into an original piece of art to be auctioned off online. Like actual snowflakes, each design is unique.

The snowflakes will be on display at the Have a Heart gallery in Newburyport from Oct. 3 - 22, with an open house all day on Oct. 6. Then the snowflakes will be on exhibit at the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham from Oct. 30 - Dec. 2, with a kick-off reception on Nov. 4, at 4 p.m.

The snowflakes will be auctioned off to benefit Dana-Farber during three online auctions, on Nov. 19 - 23, Nov. 26 - 30 and Dec. 3 - 7. To preview the pieces online and to place a bid, go to www.robertssnow.com. The artwork is great for a holiday gift and bidding is open to everyone. Gallery hours and admission prices for the exhibits are online too.

The program was developed by children's book author and illustrator Grace Lin a few years ago. Just after getting married, her husband Robert Mercer was diagnosed with sarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue and bone. While Mercer was receiving treatment, Lin told him a bedside story about a mouse that couldn't go outside to play in the snow. The story grew into a children's book, titled "Robert's Snow." When Lin was finishing the artwork for the book, her husband had a relapse, so her colleagues rallied to create Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure to increase awareness about sarcoma and to raise research funding. Mercer passed away in August 2007, but Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure continues as a legacy to his life.

Robert's Snow: for Cancer's Cure is in its third year and has already raised more than $200,000 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a world leader in cancer research and care. Dana-Farber is renowned for using its discoveries to improve cancer treatment for children and adults around the world.

Contact:

Elizabeth Chernack
Dana-Farber
(617) 632-4687
elizabeth_chernack@dfci.harvard.edu

Robert's Snow

Please don't read my blog today.

Instead, I want you to go to 7-Impossible Things Before Breakfast, where Jules and Eisha are sounding the call for Robert's Snow, the uniquely beautiful fundraiser to defeat cancer founded by Grace Lin. It's going to be a major blogosphere event, and I don't want you to miss it.

Go on. I'll be here when you get back. Right now, we all need a little snow.