Coloring Page Tuesday - Gingerbread Man!

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     Here I am, the Gingerbread Man here to wish you a very Happy Holiday!
     It's yet another classic image that I hadn't created for you and needed to remedy. I hope you find him positively scrumptious.
     And as my Christmas gift to you, I've added a BONUS! image this week - a recipe card for you to share your favorite cookie recipe with friends!

     CLICK HERE! to find more Christmas images to color.
     And don't forget - Hanukkah begins today (the 20th)! CLICK HERE for Hanukkah coloring pages. (An image for Kwanzaa will come next week.)
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
     We've finished up our book signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA but its not too late to purchase a copy as a gift for your friends and family! Sterling Children's Books is working on a version for each state and they make GREAT teacher gifts.

Singing Christmas Hedgehogs

I'm not sure how they programmed this, but its very inventive and purty darned cute to boot!

Ho-ho-hedgehogs!

Book Signing at the Atlanta Symphony

Last night Susan Rosson Spain and I had the pleasure of signing THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at the Atlanta Symphony hosted by Stephen Jones, Manager of the Symphony Store (between us in the photo below). He's been a great fan of 12 Days since its release, so we especially enjoy supporting his store.
     And it didn't hurt that there was a performance of bells going on right in front of us while we signed books. So nice! The place was packed with holiday adorned patrons and we signed a ton. And I ran into a fellow board member for the Georgia Center for the Book. (Hi Charlotte!) Turns out she and her husband are ushers at the Symphony. What a cool thing to do.
     'Twas a great night, so thank you, thank you Atlanta Symphony!
     Afterwards, Susan and I stopped by Table 1280 for a celebratory *clink.* It's quickly become our annual tradition to celebrate the end of our book signing tour. And it's been a good one. We're both pretty sure 12 Days sold many more copies this year than last year - so obviously, the enthusiasm for our book is catching on. Gotta luv it.
     Happy Holidays!

Book Signing at Little Shop of Stories!

Last night Susan Rosson Spain (author) and I had the pleasure of sharing THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at my favorite children's book store, Little Shop of Stories! The downtown Decatur square was hopping as they had the annual holiday bonfire - it was fun to be a part of the entertainment line-up.
     Here we are signing yet another copy of 12 DAYS. (I had to make sure Susan's antlers made it into the photo.)
     Tonight is our last signings at the Atlanta Symphony Store. Hope you can drop by!

Muppets on your walls

I am just so into wall decals - they're cool! But coolest of all is the new Muppet wall decals from blik. I mean really - can you imagine having Animal or Miss Piggy or Kermie on your wall? How awesome would that be?

Thanks to SwissMiss for the heads up!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Rudolph!

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     I can't believe I haven't created a Rudolph for you yet. That must be remedied!
     Want more Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE! (Kwanzaa images to come soon as well.)
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.

     I still have more book signings for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA at indie bookstores all around Georgia! I hope you can drop by:

Little Shop of Stories
Decatur, Georgia
Thursday, December 15 from 7:00 - 8:00 pm
Atlanta Symphony Store
Atlanta, Georgia
Friday, December 16 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm.

     And I hope you'll consider purchasing my latest picture book - THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA as a gift for your loved ones this year! (Sterling Children's Books is working on one for each state. Click Here to see if the one for your state has been created yet.) CLICK HERE to learn more and download free activities.

Small Demons

This is cool! Would you be interested in knowing what other books also mention your favorite song, street, people, etc? What an interesting new way to bring in a socially interactive side to reading.

They're accepting Beta testers now - click the logo:

Thanks to Nathan Bransford for the heads up.

Baby Sea Turtles

Remember when sea turtles were barely on our radar? Fast forward to toady, where volunteers make sure Olive Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings make their way safely to the sea (where they'll face enough future hurdles). Does a heart good:

Visit the video on YouTube to read more about this rare daylight dash to the sea.
Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up!

Book Signings!

'Tis the season to celebrate THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA with book signings at indie booksellers all over my fair state of Georgia. Susan Rosson Spain (the author) has done most of the leg work this year as I'm still healing from foot surgery (but getting MUCH better!). And we're still doing several signings together.
Here we are at Scott's Bookstore with owner Earlene Scott:


Thursday we stopped by Hall's Book Exchange in Gainesville, Georgia where we caught up with fellow writer friends Robyn Hood Black and Paula Pucket. He we all are - me, Susan, Myra Meade (owner), Robyn, and Paula.

Hanging out with fellow book lovers is the best part of book signings - especially when we color coordinate! :)

John C. Campbell - Creating Picture Books Class

Almost every year I have the pleasure of teaching Creating Picture Books over a weekend at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. It's a nice place to visit:

And this year's class was a great one.
     I actually had several illustrators in the group as well as writers, so was able to share more about the process of illustrating picture books too. It's an intense weekend, as usual, but again it was amazing to see students' work change so drastically in that short time. It truly makes me happy to know that I'm helping others learn about a craft I hold so dear.
     Here I am with my students:

     Some are holding the "mini-dummies" we create to focus on key points in their stories. It's a fun exercise (they get to draw and color) but it also zooms in on what a story is really about. Very cool.
     And to top it off, we were there for the Fireside Sale weekend, which means the campus was decorated with wreaths and Christmas trees and twinkle lights. Ahhhhh.

School Library Journal Giveaway

School Library Journal is hosting a giveaway of 15 children's and YA titles along with a Kindle Fire to 16 lucky librarians! The deadline to enter is December 15th, so CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up.

Coloring Page Tuesdays - Santa Star

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     Here come the Christmas images! I drew this guy a while ago and have been anxious to share him with you. Hope you like him!
     Want more Hanukkah and Christmas images to color? CLICK HERE!
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.



Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!

Jazz for Cows

Just because...

Thanks to The Kid Should See This for the heads up!

Teaching again at the John C Campbell Folk Scool

     Twice a year I head to the mountains of North Carolina to teach weekend courses at the John C. Campbell Folk School. This weekend it's "Creating Picture Books." It's also the weekend of the Fireside Sale. Christmas trees and wreaths are everywhere - how awesome! I'll tell you more about it after I get home.

STUCK, by Oliver Jeffers

I can't wait to get my hands on this book...