Thank you, Inlander!

Reporter Tammy Marshall wrote a fantastic article about SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO and it's featured in this week's Earth Day edition of the Inlander. Tammy is a terrific talent and I appreciate her wonderful effort so very much.

Check it out HERE.

SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO in the NYC B&N?

It's TRUE, according to my friend and fellow writer Deborah Heiligman. As of this morning, SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO is in the window at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. Man, what I'd give to get a picture of that! How dumb is it that I'd like a picture? Pretty dumb. But this book has been such an honor, in every respect, I say it unashamed.

To my delight, the book has been reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, the New York Times and Horn Book. So far. I haven't given up on the hope that School Library Journal and VOYA will also comment on the book. Why do I care so much?

William Sumner. That's why. He's such an American hero, in the best sense of the word, I crave attention for the book more than I have ever craved it. This man put his life on the line, not just to accomplish his mission in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army, but he spent every minute of his spare time caring for animals that would have died without him.

Lawrence Anthony, a brave conservationist from South Africa became the primary focus when he released his book about the rescue. Press accounts told the world he made that wave of survival possible. But without William Sumner and a vast team of volunteers -- Farah Marrani and Brendan Whittington-Jones in primary roles -- Anthony would have been all but helpless. Sumner's common sense approach and leadership ability helped make it possible to scrape together bits and pieces of time, money, food, medical care and whatever else the zoo animals needed. Teamwork was the message I hoped to convey.

So yes, I'm excited about the publicity. No one deserves to have his story recognized more than Major William Sumner. I feel lucky to have had the chance to help him tell it.

BTW, William sent me this picture, via Brendan Whittington-Jones, another of the heroes in our book. The tigers we sent had new cubs -- and you're among the first to see them. Thanks, Wes, for being the man you are.

SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO in Sugarland B&N!

My friend and librarian extraordinare, Melanie Rivette Mallory (from Lantern Lane Elementary) took this picture of her little man Jacob holding one of FOUR copies on display at her local Barnes & Noble store. MAN, does that make me happy! See you in May, Melanie. You ROCK.

One more SASQUATCH exhibit photo.

Here's another shot from the exhibit featuring an illustration from TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS. See the post below for a link to an article about the Washington State History Museum exhibit.

Sasquatch Exhibit featuring RICK!

Can you imagine how proud I am of my friend and illustrator Rick Spears? Some of his illustrations from TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS were used in a wonderful exhibit at the Washington State History Museum. Called, "Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch," the exhibit explores the same things CRYPTIDS and my new book IN SEARCH OF SASQUATCH explore. So they asked Rick for permission to use some of his art. I think they were REALLY smart to enlist his help, and I'll be visiting the exhibit on June 5 -- and sooner, if at all possible.

Rick is amazing. I'm lucky to call him my friend and creative buddy, quite often!

Here's a link to an article about the exhibit.

Publishers Weekly Review

I couldn't be more delighted to announce that Publishers Weekly reviewed SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO this week (check it out HERE).

It begins, "This eye-opening tale of compassion and cooperation chronicles the mission of an international team of military personell, zoo staffers, veterinarians and relief workers to rescue neglected animals in Baghdad."

It goes on to say William Sumner's sidebars compliment my text that, "doesn't sidestep the ever present danger."

I think it's a good and accurate review and I am so appreciative. Thank you, PW. You ROCK.

Kelly

DINOSAUR PARADE, Koala style!

Just found out I WILL be able to get the Australian edition of Dinosaur Parade, published down under by Koala. I'm so excited. I've known since summer that the book was reprinted there in a new edition, but I only just found the right contact to buy a copy or two. I can't wait to see it. Hope Lark can tell me if those royalties will show up on the next statement, too. But for now, I'm just excited.

Here's the PDF of the Scholastic Australia sale of the Koala version. FUN.

http://www.scholastic.com.au/pdfs/June_2009_Parade.pdf

And here's the Koala Books PDF.

http://www.koalabooks.com.au/downloads/KoalaDraftCat2009.pdf