Smart Piggy’s Newsletter
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Issue # 26 February 2000 Art Director Bruce Wood
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| BENEVOLENT PUBLISHER SAVES AUTHOR’S DUCK! |
Dear Friends, A few days before Christmas I was at the grocery store when I noticed a sign that said, “Duck with Orange Sauce Packet and a Pop-up Timer.” I had never cooked duck before and the idea of a pop-up timer appealed to me immensely. A fancy holiday duck dinner sounded festive -- wouldn’t Don be surprised! I rushed home clutching my duck and associated fixings, but when I entered the door, my heart fell. How could I have forgotten? We were in the midst of a home remodel and the only room downstairs that had any semblance of order or holiday spirit was a very small portion of our living room. We had placed a round oak table in front of our fireplace with a chair on either side and a scraggly miniature decorated tree on its top. An icy kitchen greeted me. The stapled sheet of black plastic that functioned as the wall between the kitchen and the garden whipped back and forth noisily. The room beyond had been demolished that day. I threaded my way past a bucket of tools and various building supplies to read a note taped to the plastic. It informed me that while I was gone, the water had been turned off. The crew had busted a pipe under our house and the water could not be turned back on until three hours so the repair could dry. My Christmas spirit diminished substantially, but my self-punishment quota had not yet been filled. I looked at the fowl on the counter, and, in my imagination, tasted it dripping with glazed orange sauce. I had to cook the duck for dinner. In a flurry of creative culinary activity I whipped up a batch of my grandmother’s dressing, patted butter on broccoli sprinkled with tarragon, and opened a can of gravy (OK, so I cheated there). Due to the lack of water, a kitchen wall, and other factors, it was about six when I popped the duck into the oven. Visions of sugarplums were defiantly dancing in my head. Just then Don walked in the door after a long work out. He was famished and wondered when dinner would be ready. That’s when I finally bothered to check my recipe book, and discovered, much to my surprise, that the duck would not take an hour to cook, as I had assumed, but rather three hours! We needed emergency appetizers, but a search of the refrigerator yielded only that old standby carrot-sticks dipped in peanut butter. It is at this point that the Calvary in the form of my publisher came riding over the hill. A red-faced UPS man, looking as jolly as ol’ Saint Nick himself, pounded on the door and staggered in bearing a huge box. The label read, “Scholastic,” and, even more encouraging, “Gift Basket.” Don had an idea. An Alaskan storm had blown in and cold rain was falling –- wouldn’t it be fun to build a fire in the fireplace and open the box. The fire was crackling away, and the eggnog was poured, when Don at last removed the scraggly tree from the table, and maneuvered the giant box into its place. Don attacked the cardboard container with an exacto knife and soon it was opened and the basket ceremoniously lifted out of its excelsior nest. Never had we seen such a basket. We didn’t even know that such baskets existed. The elegantly designed gift was a miniature mountain built from every sort of incredible mouth-watering treat. For a moment neither of us could speak. The little mountain seemed to defy gravity. (Eventually we learned that the artfully displayed food items were ingeniously attached to each other with hidden tape so that no plastic wrapping was necessary.) The gift basket seemed magical, mythical, and holy -- we were drooling. We alternated reading the labels out loud, each staying on his or her side since the other side was out of reach -- Lindor truffles, Oyster Pate, French goat cheese spread, chocolate seashells, fancy mixed nuts, dried apricots, eclairs, Ladyfingers, party crackers, Hazelnut coffee, numerous gourmet cookie collections, exotic teas, sesame parmesan bread sticks and much more. Still rational, and in control, we decided that the structure must be kept intact so that we could show it off to friends and family. This admirable restraint was temporary. It was soon obvious that if we wanted a nibble of chocolate truffles, we would have to detach the bread sticks, etc. etc. It was a slippery slope and soon the contents of the basket were scattered all over the table. Eventually the duck was done, tender and moist (thanks to the “Pop-Up” timer). We had saved enough room for dinner and it was a success, but . . . after dinner we indulged in our second dessert, from the Scholastic basket, of course. By the time we went to bed the basket was a shambles. On the way up our stairs Don said, “Now this is beginning to feel like Christmas! It was a memorable gift. But it also reminded me how very lucky I am to be a children’s book author and to have a publisher (Scholastic Books) who appreciates what I do and enjoys expressing that appreciation in thoughtful ways! |
| NEWS! GET OUT THE CRAYONS! |
| YOUNG POET WRITES TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO THOSE LOST DURING THE 911 TRAGEDY |
Dear Audrey, My daughter, Adriana was adopted from Romania as a toddler and has been a fan of yours since (we read her your book THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON). It is still her favorite book at age 13. Adriana's poem was sent to us from her proud mother, Mary Macioce. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I checked the fields. I could not find you there. I ran. I walked. I screamed your name. You were not anywhere. I know you'll never walk through the door, |
| NEWS! NAPPING HOUSE ART POSTERS! |
The long awaited, NAPPING HOUSE ART POSTERS have arrived! You will never be able to find posters as true to the original art in our book, than the art posters now available at my daughter-in law’s (Nicoa Wood) website, StorybookGifts. Inevitably, a painting is altered when it is reproduced. The oil paintings rendered by Don Wood for THE NAPPING HOUSE are no exception. But now, thanks to technology available to artists for only the past few years, Don Wood was able to “re-master” the illustration for the “Who claws the dog” scene in the book. Using the original oil painting as a guide, Don was “on press” at the printers to personally oversee the reproduction of the poster. The result is a rich and lovely 16” x 24” poster printed on high quality, coated poster stock, more accurate than any reproduction in any edition of the book. Collectors Note! The artist personally signs each poster. |
| WILL THE REAL KING PLEASE STAND UP? |
Dear Audrey, I have heard that Don used his old college buddy as the model for the king in your book, KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB, and that the same man inspired your story. Is that true? Can you tell me about the real Mr. Bidgood? Dear Pat, |
| SOME WEIRD NEWS |
From Houghton Mifflin’s Reading Language and arts Center, Here is a review and an activity for my book WEIRD PARENTS. I both wrote and illustrated this weird book and yes, I am a weird parent and I have weird parents- (lucky me!) Audrey THE REVIEW Weird Parents by Audrey Wood is a story that illustrates how a lot of children feel about their parents. The main character, a young boy, thinks his parents are WEIRD! His mother blows kisses at his bus stop, and puts weird surprises in his lunches. His parents dress weird, drive a weird car, and act weird in public. Things are good, though, too. They treat him to ice cream, let him win at games they play, sing songs to him, and even camp in the backyard! The boy realizes that he loves his parents, weird or not! Teacher View by Jullie Payne Grade taught: 3 Maeser Elementary School East Provo, Utah USA |
| THE ACTIVITY |
This story is fun to use during a parent appreciation week. Every child thinks something is weird about their parents, but there are some things that are special, too. Using this book a teacher can lead the students to think about some of those special things. Following some discussion, students can write a letter of appreciation to their parents, noting those special things that they do and drawing a picture to accompany it. Then send these to the parents! |
| SLOW MAIL ALERT! |
 Our e-mail and P. O. box letters from children will be very much slowed down in the coming two months. Don and I are going on an adventure! If you do not receive a response from us right away just hang in there. We will answer. Our site may also be down for a few days due to a change in our Internet Server. If you e-mail us and you never receive an answer, there may be a technical problem, or an “oops I goofed and lost that letter problem!” Do e-mail us again. Please be prepared to wait for an answer to your mail for up to two months.Sorry about the inconvenience, but it will be temporary. |
| NEW SUBSCRIBERS! |
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| Keep your questions and suggestions coming! Warmest Regards, Audrey and Don Wood info@audreywood.com http://www.audreywood.com |
