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| SMART PIGGY'S NEWSLETTER By Audrey Wood Compiled by Heath Uliasz November 1999 Issue #9 Dear Friends, For me, the holiday season always begins with my favorite time of year, Halloween. That’s when THE NAPPING HOUSE (Don used our house as the model for the house in our book) is transformed inside and out into an abode within which the Adams family could reside quite comfortably. Over the years cemeteries have sprung up in our front yard and ghosts have sailed out of our second story windows landing on our Jack-O-Lantern lit sidewalk. One Halloween our son, children’s book Illustrator Bruce Wood, attached speakers in trees so that he could provide a voice, backed up by spooky music, for our flying ghosts. In the fall of 1987 I was searching for a new approach to writing a holiday book. I observed that when Halloween ended, our house returned to it’s usual dignified adult attitude. The next holidays were on their way, and it was time to be more serious. It was necessary, after all, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, and the New Years, are all significant and meaningful times of the year and each deserves its due respect. I then began to think about the relationship I had with the holiday season when I was growing up. As a child I recalled having many happy holidays. My mother and father did everything they could to make sure that the holidays were marked with music, laughter and an abundance of good tidings. But I also recall experiencing feelings of- stress. The house had to be cleaned until it was shining, silver ware polished, dresses starched, leaves raked and guests invited for formal- adult dinners-prolonged dinners that I had to attend with my two sisters. As an adult and a mother I had a romantic notion that my son and his cousins would only experience thankful thanksgivings, glorious Christmas times and extremely happy new years. However, like life, I discovered, there are ups and downs in the holiday season and sometimes children suffer even though we don’t want them to. My child and his cousins were all recruited to repeat many of the same seasonal preparations and traditions my parents inflicted on their children. I began to meditate on these observations and out of them eventually evolved a seed of an idea. The idea blossomed into my book, THE HORRIBLE HOLIDAYS. The book contained three easy-reader stories sure to strike a chord with all children who experience holiday stress. At the moment, THE HORRIBLE HOLIDAYS, is out of print and very difficult to find. So I thought it would be fun to share the stories with the subscribers to our Smart Piggy’s Newsletter. Teachers and parents - read these stories to your children. You might open up all sorts of avenues for discussions! If you are a child, read the story to your significant elders, then tell them how you might be feeling about an up-and-coming holiday. One of the three stories will be at the end of each newsletter in the November December and January issues. I hope you enjoy them and collect them all! Let me know what you think. Happy holidays! First in the Series from THE HORRIBLE HOLIDAYS "THE NO-THANKSGIVING" Copyright 1987 By Audrey Wood -AW *********************************************************************** KEEP THEM COMING! People often ask me if I get tired of being told how much they enjoy my books. Absolutely not! Letters from our readers, like the ones I include in Smart Piggy’s Newsletter, inspire me to create more stories and let me know the ways in which our books are affecting other people’s lives. -AW *********************************************************************** OPENING NEW EYES! Dear Don & Audrey, Your Web site brings me to tears! My students love, love, love your books. We have been reading your works for the last month, and next week is, "Who are Don and Audrey Wood?" week. They love your books, and can't choose a favorite, and my most reluctant reader has been turned on to the possibilities of reading. -Kerrie Marshall San Leandro, California *********************************************************************** KEEPING A FAMILY TRADITION ALIVE! Dear Audrey, Don and Bruce, Our whole family has been great fans of your books for almost eight years now. We are writing today to express our delight with your newest book, THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM. We have a family tradition of buying one nice Christmas book every holiday season, and your book beat out all other contenders for this honor by a mile! Bruce’s illustrations are incredible and the children have really enjoyed examining each page for every tiny detail. You must be so proud of him! The story is absorbing, as usual, without talking down to kids, but still reinforcing the beauty of the Christmas message. I had dismayingly thought that we were very nearly past the picture book stage, but the boys’ obvious joy in reading your latest proves me wrong. The idea of bringing Christmas to the aliens was truly inspired. Thank you so much for all the reading excitement you have brought into our home. - Tracy, Caleb, and Jared Hayes New Orleans, Louisiana *********************************************************************** A GIFT FROM US TO YOU! During the month of November, We will be offering free autographed bookplates for you to put in your copy of THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM. To learn more about this amazing offer: Enter The Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com. Then click on the "Free Gift" banner at the bottom of The Clubhouse page! *********************************************************************** AUTHOR SUGGESTIONS! Are you looking for a book for a child of a particular age? Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link. Then click on the "Author Suggests" link. *********************************************************************** OUT OF THIS GALAXY! Did you know that Bruce Robert Wood, illustrator of THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM, had illustrated over 20 sci-fi book covers before doing THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM? To learn more about this, enter THE CLUBHOUSE at www.audreywood.com and click on the "Meet the Artists" link. Then click on the "Bruce Robert Wood" link. Then click on the "Where Did the Idea Come From?" link. *********************************************************************** NOVEMBER CONTEST!!!!!!!!! DON'T MISS OUT! This month one lucky person will win an autographed copy of THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM. To enter the contest go to the CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Contest" banner. If you answer the question correctly you will be entered into a random drawing. The winner will be drawn at the end of the month. Good Luck! *********************************************************************** AND THE WINNER IS... Congratulations to Kay Patton! She won a free autographed copy of HECKEDY PEG from Audrey and Don Wood! OCTOBER CONTEST QUESTION WAS: In the book HECKEDY PEG, which child was turned into the rib roast by Heckedy Peg the witch? ANSWER: Sunday! Thanks for all of your entries. Enter our November contest and you could win an autographed copy of the book, THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM. *********************************************************************** CHILDREN CREATE CLASS PROJECTS! Dear Audrey, We are having a language arts fair at our school, you are the author that we have chosen to study! We loved reading all of your books. Our class favorite is THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM. But, we also enjoyed PIGGIES, TOOTH FAIRY, KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB, OH MY BABY BEAR!, THE BUNYAN’S and THE FLYING DRAGON ROOM. We made a lot of projects to go with your books. We took pictures of all of us being "Silly Sallies!" We made a class book of our own "Piggies." We made tooth fairy envelopes for the real tooth fairy to visit. We also made our own "Weird Parents" book about our weird parents. Thank you for all the wonderful book that you write for boys and girls, and parents, and teachers too! -Mrs. Koehler’s and Mrs. Wilson’s First Grade Class *********************************************************************** ENCOURAGING THE CREATIVE IN CHILDREN! Do you know or have a child who excels in or enjoys spending time expressing herself in one of the arts? That’s Great! But perhaps it’s time to challenge your little genius to appreciate other art forms. For instance, Joey plays the piano, you might encourage him to paint an abstract picture showing how he feels when he’s playing his favorite piece. If Monica loves to dance, provide her with some simple instruments and let her experiment with sound. Ballerinas understand space, she may respond to creating clay sculptures. My parents encouraged me to experiment with all of the arts when I was growing up. My main interests as a child were art and drama. But, because I studied all of the arts, I felt at home with writing and music. I use all these arts when creating children’s books. *********************************************************************** LAUGHTER IS THE KEY! Dear Audrey, As I sat at my computer, in the wee hours of the morning, I thought of all the work I had to do and felt a breakdown was imminent! Why did I ever think I could write books, and schedule book readings with children, work eight-to-five (at a paying job), and take care of a family. Then I opened your newsletter. I loved the story of the city pug and the country pug. Laughter really is the best medicine. I think I can go on! -Paula Hi Paula, You are right laughter does work wonders. I have a friend who says, "Relaxation is the key to big power." To me that means being able to take one thing at a time and get the job done. Then take the next job without being overwhelmed. I try to keep that little saying in mind, and sometimes it works. -AW *********************************************************************** NEW SUBSCRIBERS! If you would like to check out past Smart Piggy's Newsletters, go to THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link or the "Fun Bag" link, then click on "Smart Piggy's Newsletter Past Issues" link. *********************************************************************** Keep your questions and suggestions coming! Warmest Regards, Audrey Wood Info@audreywood.com http://www.audreywood.com *********************************************************************** THE NO-THANKSGIVING "Alf!" his mother called. "They are here!" Alf put on his plaid coat. The sleeves were too short. "Alf!" his father called. "They’ve come a long way to see you!" Alf put on his polka-dot tie. It looked too long. "Hey, dude!" his cousin Mert called. "Come join the party!" Alf joined the party. Uncle Hube was playing the piano. Aunt Ida and Cousin Mert were singing. "Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon." Everyone clapped loudly. "Now Alf must sing," said Mert. Alf tried. "Buffalo gals Won’t you dance to the moon." But the words were wrong. Everyone clapped loudly anyway. "Now it’s time for card tricks," Mert said. "Alf will help. Pick a card, any card," she said. Alf picked the queen of hearts. "Now put it back in the deck," said Mert. Alf did as he was told. "Abracadabra!" Mert cries. Then she mixed the cards. "Okay, Alf," Mert said. "Find your card." Alf looked. "Wow!" he said. "It’s gone!" "Turn around," Mert said. "Slowly." Alf turned around slowly. "Look!" Aunt Ida cried. "It’s stuck on his behind!" Alf looked. The queen of hearts was stuck on his behind. Mert fell down and laughed. "That’s enough of that," Alf’s mother said. "Let’s eat Thanksgiving dinner." Everyone sat down. "First," Alf’s father said, "we should say why we aer thankful." "For health," said Alf’s mother. "For family," said Alf’s father. "For friends," said Aunt Ida. "For food," said Uncle Hube. Alf wanted to eat. But Mert began to read a long, Thankful poem. The food was getting cold. At last Mert said, "It’s Alf’s turn now." Alf looked at the cold food. "I don’t feel thankful," he said. "Oh, come now," said his mother. "You must feel thankful for something." Alf thought for a moment. He had to do it. He picked up Mert’s poem. He stuck it in a glass of water. "I am thankful," said Alf, "that Mert does not live in my town." Alf had to eat Thanksgiving dinner in his room. |
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