Jennifer at Jean Little Library posted the first blog review for Growing Patterns, and it’s a good one.

“This book uses exquisite photographs and perfectly chosen text to explain the concept of patterns in nature, specifically Fibonacci numbers, in such a way that even a kindergartner can understand. Hey, I bet I could read this to PRESCHOOLERS and they would get it!
There’s not too much text, it’s simple enough for an easy reader; but each word is obviously perfectly chosen to explain a mathematical concept for any reader.”

I am so glad she likes it and will share it with her library’s readers. Jennifer’s post is tagged as a Nonfiction Monday post. This week’s host is Great Kid Books. Check out the round-up of reviews here.

This month, I am the featured guest on WritingSnacks.com, a website with lots of useful information for writers. Dana Cleveland Konop and Melissa Thomas-Dubois, two of my colleagues in the Southern Breeze region of SCBWI, created the site.

As the title would suggest, one of the things you’ll find out in the interview is my favorite writing snack.

I lifted this photo from my friend Julie’s blog. This is one of her students reading my book. I get a great deal of satisfaction from watching kids read my books. Julie’s a mom, part-time librarian, part-time writer, knitter, and crafter. Just an all-around kindred spirit. I love her blog because it has lots of photographs and she uses colors and images so well. You can read the post she wrote about photographing student engagement here. We are partnering on some work at her school (St. Therese Catholic School) this spring. I’m sure I’ll be sharing some about that in the coming months.

In the meantime, I find myself doing lots of paperwork related to the business side of being an author and illustrator. I am checking each of the 1099’s as they come in against my own records of last year’s income. So far, of the three that have come, I have found mistakes in two. I am setting up spreadsheets to record 2010 expenses, income, mileage, and sales tax. I am famous, or infamous, depending on how you look at it, for the piles of papers on my kitchen desk and my “real” desk. I would always rather be creating, blogging, editing photos, writing, anything really, than doing paperwork. But such is life.

It’s ready to view! See the book trailer for Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature. I’d love to hear what you think.

It’s also available on my website and on my Amazon author page. (Look in the far right column at the bottom.)

At long last, the weather and school schedule were both good on the same day. I led groups of fifth graders at McLeod Elementary School on a field shoot. We were in search of living things in the schoolyard. Each student carried a digital camera. Each group chose a different section of the schoolyard to shoot in. I am sharing some of their photographs here. As we went about our work, the students and I generated lots of questions. “What is it? Why is it that color? Will I find these where I live? Will it bite?”

My work on this project is funded by the Ask for More Arts collaborative of Parents for Public Schools of Jackson. McLeod is an Ask for More Arts school and participates in the JumpstArt program, which brings artists of all kinds into elementary classrooms across the city for arts instruction integrated with traditional academic subjects.

Richard and I have been busy behind the scenes (mostly Richard, it must be said) working on a new look for the website and the blog. Please let us know what you think.

I promised I would post a photograph of this amaryllis blooming so here it is. In a post back in December, I showed what it looked like when it had just been planted. I love the bold color and bodacious blossom. Wow!

Richard and I added compost to our raised beds two weeks ago, and yesterday, we planted seeds. We planted lettuce, spinach, kale, swiss chard, beets, and leeks. Richard got a rain barrel for Christmas so some of our watering will be collected rainwater. We have plans to add a few raised beds this year. The zucchini and yellow squash need their own boxes.

Allow me a proud Mama moment. The Murrah High School Quiz Bowl team took second place today in a tournament organized at Madison Central. Here are the team members posing with their coach, Andrew Yoder, a Murrah math teacher, holding the trophy. My son, G, is on the left. I was awed at these kids’ knowledge and poise under pressure. I sat and quilted and bit my tongue when they missed the occasional one that I knew. In a lightning round about banned books, they didn’t know the Judy Blume title banned for its discussion of breasts, bras, and crises of faith. Anybody remember that one? (See, I did tie it in with children’s books.)

I saw the fine cut of the book trailer for Growing Patterns today. I really like it and I think you will, too. Just some tweaking to do and we’ll be ready to go live. I can’t wait.

I sent a copy of Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature to my Great Aunt Ann. She complimented the book, reminded me that she has always liked figures, too, and then drew my attention to p. 11, where she noticed a blank space where she didn’t expect one. She wanted to know if that was intentional or “a goof”? I explained that it was intentional, but I understood why it stood out for her. Her brain was expecting the established pattern to continue and it didn’t. I loved hearing from her and hearing how she engaged with the book. She’ll be 88 this year and is still leading senior citizens’ tours because “it gives the widows something to look forward to.” I hope I am still critiquing books and traveling when I get to be her age. Go Aunt Ann!

I spent the day with about 70 Mississippi artists, convened for professional development by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

We had ceramicists, playwrights, storytellers, painters, dancers, musicians, and more. In the morning, we heard from Dianne de Las Casas, a storyteller from Louisiana. de Las Casas explained ways artists can use technology to manage marketing and other business-related tasks. She is an active user of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Ning. She maintains a calendar online, sends press releases via prweb.com, and manages billing online.

After lunch, we had an interactive lesson taught by Sonya Robinson, a musician and arts integration teacher, from New Orleans. Robinson led us through a multi-stage dance/movement lesson. It served many purposes: ice-breaker, team-building exercise, introduction to some of the skills involved in dance, and an example of how to create space in teaching for discovery and inquiry (and not just linear instruction).

I learned some things today that I will use in my teaching, presenting, and marketing. As one of the other artists said today, it also served as a great time of fellowship for those of us who spend a lot of work time isolated in studios or offices. I appreciate the organizing efforts of Diane Williams, Kim Whitt, Shirley Smith, Larry Morrisey, and Susan Dobbs, all of the Mississippi Arts Commission.