DEAR SANTASAURUS Blog Tour - Scenes From a Book Tour

Scenes From a Book Tour 

In October, my debut picture book, DEAR SANTASAURUS, was released. Since then, I’ve been visiting schools and bookstores. It’s been great meeting hundreds of kids and families. It’s also been funny and emotional. Here are some of my favorite moments.

I went to visit my nephew’s school. The 2^nd graders knew that I was related to their classmate, but one little girl couldn’t remember how. She pointed to my nephew and asked me, “Are you his grandma?”  I’m only 30-something. I guess that’s not too young for gray-covering hair dye and wrinkle cream. I got some on the way home.

At that same school, a boy asked me, “Are you famous?” I told him no, not really. He wanted my autograph anyway. “In case you get famous someday.”

I find preschool visits to be a fun challenge. The 4 and 5 year olds can’t sit still very long, and I’m also distracted by all the nose picking. (I guess it’s a habit that comes with all that not-being-able-to-sit-still.) After reading and playing dinosaur games with the group for 20 minutes, I asked if anyone had questions. A little boy raised his hand and asked, “Can I give you a hug?” Sure!  A second later I was mobbed by preschoolers wanting hugs. My eyes welled up. I didn’t even think about all the nose picking germs until after.

While I was doing a signing at a bookstore, a boy asked me if he could read my book before buying it. Of course! So he went to the corner and read the book quietly. When he returned it to me, I asked him what he thought about it. “It’s pretty good. But I don’t like dinosaurs.” Then he was gone.

At another book store event, a young childless couple was wandering around the kids section. They must have thought I was an employee (even though I was standing behind a table stacked with DEAR SANTASAURUS books and a sign that read, Meet the Author). The woman asked me, “Can you recommend a picture book to give as a gift?” Long story short, I’m not a good self-promoter. The couple ended up buying Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos. I gave them a free dinosaur sticker.

What’s the biggest dinosaur? At an event at a children’s museum, I told the kids that it was the Argentinosaurus. (I just looked it up, and I may be wrong on this. But the Argentinosaurus is in the top three.) Well, one little boy insisted it was the T-Rex. For five minutes, we debated. I told him the T-Rex was large, powerful and is very popular, but T-Rex is not the biggest. The boy told me I was wrong. Over and over and over. Eventually, I conceded.  I think it was the right move.

And now for the daily cookie…

Double-Decker M&M Bars

Ingredients:

3/4 C butter, soft

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 C flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C cocoa powder

1 TBS butter, melted

1 C mini M&Ms, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease 13x9x2 inch pan.

2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, mix 2.25 C flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend slowly into cream mixture.

4. Divide batter in half.

5. Blend cocoa and melted butter in another bowl, add to one half of the dough. Mix well.

6. In remaining dough, add the rest of the flour and 1/2 C M&Ms.
7. Spread chocolate dough in bottom of pan. Then spread the white dough on to top. Sprinkle with remaining M&Ms.
8. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Help & Hints:
It's difficult to spread the dough. I recommend dropping heaping spoonfuls all across the top and gently spreading them together.

And don't miss the rest of the tour.

Date	Site	Cookie
Nov 29	Writers Rumpus	Nutella Cookie
Nov 30	Booking Mama	Red Velvet Crackle Cookie
Dec 1	Susan Heim	Chocolate Dunked Shortbread
Dec 2	Tina Cho	Toll House Chocolate Chip
Dec 3	Tara Lazar - PiBoIdMo	No Cookie Today
Dec 4	Just a Little Creativity	Soooo-Easy Macaroons
Dec 6	The Children’s Book Review	Thin(ish) Mints
Dec 7	Giraffe Days	Peanut Butter Kissed Cookie
Dec 8	Lib Laura 5	Lemon Butter
Dec 9	Children & Teen Book Connection	Snickerdoodle
Dec 10	Carrie On	Andes Mint Chocolate
Dec 11	Nova Library Mom	White Chocolate & Cranberry
Dec 12	There’s A Book	No Cookie Today
Dec 14	Sharp Read	Oreo Cream Cheese Ball
Dec 16	Geo Librarian	Double Decker M&M Bars
Dec 17	Flowering Minds	Find Out on the 17th

Get your copy now at...
Indie Bound
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
BAM
Or your favorite bookstore.