Singing with My Son

Last month I was asked to be the Parent Guest Speaker at Ithaca College. I graduated from I.C. in 1973 and my son Johnny is now a senior in the Music School which was also my major. I was thrilled to be asked to speak and it was very exciting. My Marketing Assistant – also an Ithaca College graduate- suggested I talk to the other parents about how my experiences at Ithaca shaped my career so we put together some old pictures of my days at I.C. At the end of my talk, Johnny and I sang together- a wonderful song called “Get Ready to Share” that I wrote with composer Mike Levesque for my new book series The I Believe Bunny. We got a standing ovation! It was a moment I will never forget.

When Back To School Is In The Air

It is true that both my children are in college. My son is a senior at Ithaca College and my daughter is a junior at Northeastern (you can see them singing with me at www.ibelivebunny.com). Even though I no longer watch them get on and off the school bus, it always feel like September is a time to start the calendar anew. The air is crisper and the days a bit shorter and it feels like its time to take a fresh look at things and jump back into work after the warm, summer months. When I do my Author Visits at schools, I encourage my students to always carry a Writer's Notebook with them just like I do. For me, these are one subject spiral bound notebooks I buy in a myriad of colors. I always wonder as I put them in the cart what will eventually be written on all those blank pages. Will the blue one be a book on oceans? Will the red one be a new book for the Cat in the Hat? Will the pale green one be a new story for The I Believe Bunny? As I stand at the check out line I watch moms with their kids holding pens, paper, and notebooks like mine. Soon those pages will be filled with notes, ideas, scribbles and squiggles. About what? We'll soon find out. It's a wonderful time of year.

Sometimes Old School is the Best School

Last week I went to read my I Believe Bunny books to the students at the Rogers International School in Stamford, Connecticut. As always, I came prepared with my power point presentation about how I came to create the Bunny and his friends and the Flower Filled Glen which is their home. When I arrived it soon became clear the school had a microphone, but no computer, so my slick power point was not going to work. This has happened before and I went back to the "old school" way of walking around the auditorium asking the kids questions, singing with them and telling them the story of how I became a children's book author. Though at first I was a bit rattled by not having the power point to guide me, I honestly had so much fun interacting with the kids and was amazed by the level of questions they asked me so-power point or no power point-I truly love it. Here I am with Jack and Maddie, two of the I Believe Bunny's biggest fans. You may recognize them because they sing the "I Believe Bunny Song" on our web site www.ibelievebunny.com. Check it out!

From Then 'Til Now: Reaching the 90th Book

Today I turned in the manuscript for my 90th children's book and I'm really looking forward to hitting the 100 mark! Last month I was in Tennessee talking to a group of kids in my power point presentation I show a picture of me in high school (yes that's me!) and tell the kids that when I got out of high school I had no idea I would become a children's book author- I actually wanted to become a singer. I went to college in the 70's and back then people didn't seem to worry too much about how anyone was going to get a job when they got out. My parents never really seemed concerned about how my degree in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College School of Music would exactly lead to a position with a salary and benefits. But somehow things did work out, and recently I've started singing to the kids and teachers who seem to get a kick out of it. I also recently discovered that Sesame Street has put a lot of their segments on YouTube so I typed in "Swamp Mushy Muddy" and there I was performing as the singing voice for a back-up muppet in a song by Oscar the Grouch. Not exactly the way I thought I'd break into show business when I got out of college, but you've got to start somewhere. Check it out below!