hand

gunpowder city

Gunpowder city went kabloo
In the year of our Lord two thousand-two.
O, what a sight it was to see
Blessed be, artillery.

the dog that wondered which is the real pickle

The nineteenth story from the Omro Elementary second-graders is Max's "The Dog That Wondered Which is the Real Pickle".

SPOILER ALERT:

It's not the black one.

boat

poof

As I was telling Missy over at The [fill in the prefix]est thing I saw today, I witnessed something this morning that's right up her alley: an unattended boombox on top of a newspaper stand in downtown Milwaukee, cranked all the way up, and playing "Promises, Promises" by 80's greats Naked Eyes. And just below that: an empty coat on the sidewalk. God, this is a cruel world.

robert's snow

If you're looking to help out a worthy cause, and take home an original holiday ornament from one of your favorite picture book illustrators, please visit Robert's Snow: For Cancer's Cure, an online auction supporting The Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Bid on one, bid on many, but keep in mind that my snowflake is the only one to feature a Christmas tree-styled hairdo. I'm just saying, is all.

knish

I don't know who wrote this, I don't know what it's called, but I'll tell you this much: I could really go for a knish. While I look for a kosher deli, please check out Untitled's "Untitled".

steven l. 8

number two

I've got this thing on my blog called Site Meter (if you blog, you've probably got it, too, or something like it), and it lists, among other information, all the URLs through which people link to this site. It seems that several visitors have found it by Googlin' the words "pickle dog", which, I think you'll agree, is kind of a weird thing to search for (though perhaps less weird than "smell of boobs", another search that has led one or two folks to this page). So, today, I did some investigating (by which I mean I typed two words and clicked a button), and found that Newmanpicturesblog is number two in Google search engine rankings for "pickle dog". Number two! I don't know what that means, but I am honored, nonetheless.

Thank you, people probably looking for this, the number one ranked "pickle dog" site, or perhaps some savory tubed meat, for giving Newmanpicturesblog its moment in the sun.

next stop

Thanks to my awesome wife-to-be, I'll be attending the thirty-first Keene State College Children's Literature Festival at the end of October. I'm really excited to get back to the East Coast to see some family and friends, visit with other authors, illustrators, and picture book enthusiasts, and check in on my owl. If you've got some extra cash and live in the area, come on down. We'll do lunch.

jeff and the dog

Outside of a few Pagan ritual mishaps, bone fires are responsible for approximately zero deaths throughout history. Lest we grow complacent, however, comes Will with a reminder that we can never be too scared of things that will probably never happen. Here's his story, "Jeff and the Dog."