For Teachers

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

I know that summer vacation is here, or nearly here, but I suspect many teachers are planning their fall curriculum. So here are a couple of useful gifts.

If you click on the section of my web site called TEACHERS you’ll be taken to a pair of curriculum guides for BIG GEORGE and WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE? I’m very pleased with these guides. They’re professional, useful, and even fun. (I particularly like the Revolutionary War uniform coloring pages for BIG GEORGE). You can downlo [...]

It's Earth Day

arprods@mac.com — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

This is a short, short, blog, because I am departing for China today. So I’ll fly over the North Pole and find out for myself what the other side of our beautiful planet is like. In the meantime, do something green and good for the planet, and I’ll try and do the same.

Celebrating the Green

arprods@mac.com — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Green is for spring, but it’s also come to stand for pride in being Irish-American. I imagine that is because of the shamrock, that humble little bright green plant that Patrick, a Roman Christian, chose to teach the Irish about The Holy Trinity, which he so strongly believed in.

My Right Hand

arprods@mac.com — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

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Growing, Growing, Grown!

arprods@mac.com — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I hope my friend and fellow illustrator Carolyn Croll (illustrator of SWEET POTATO PIE, which I wrote,) will read this. She’ll understand why it makes me think of her and send her good wishes.

A few nights ago I went to an art opening at our newly renovated Byram Schubert Library, which has a spacious and beautiful gallery. The show was huge, and the artist being honored was my middle child, Lizzy Rockwell, who is an illustrator. There were plenty of visitors, framed pictures ever [...]

NEW BOOK! What's So Bad About Gasoline?

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

When Paul Meisel and I did WHY ARE THE ICE CAPS MELTING? we realized that it couldn’t cover the huge subject of global warming in its entirety. We felt other books were needed to expand the subject for children to offer them more to think about. And one of the most urgent aspects of the problem is the contribution of carbon dioxide to global warming made in large part by the burning of fossil fuels.

As I child I was fascinated by fossils. I still am. Not only that, but a weekend tr [...]

Founding Fathers

arprods@mac.com — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

It's strange that two biographies I wrote on two people who are American founding fathers, each in his own way, would appear in the same year, same month, by the same publisher.

BIG GEORGE was to be published in fall of 2008 by Harc [...]

Cinco de Mayo – Homage to Jose Clemente Orozco

arprods@mac.com — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Although September 16 is actually Mexican Independence Day, many Americans seem to think May 5 or Cinco de Mayo is. This year the world owes the people of Mexico apologies and compassion for being the most devastated by the new strain [...]

Earning Myself a Nice Cuppa

arprods@mac.com — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Yesterday I said good-bye to February with a celebration. Just Books in Old Greenwich, Connecticut held a signing for my new book, "Big George: How a Shy Boy Became President Washington," Harcourt 2009, beautifully and evocatively illustrated by Matt Phelan. In these tough times we all know [...]

The Big Day

arprods@mac.com — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Here's a picture of my grandson Nigel at the President Obama inauguration, taken by his mother, Lizzy Rockwell.

He looks cold, doesn't he? I figure he'll always remember how cold George Washington and his less well-layered troops were that first winter in Valley Forge.

Long Time Coming

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Some books take a mighty long time between the flash of an idea and the finished book. If I count the first moment of the idea, ”Big George” (January 1, 2009, Harcourt/Houghton) has been 10 years in the coming. Or more. George by the fire

Revising Illustrations

arprods@mac.com — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I get lots of inquiries on illustrating books for children. I try and answer them as best I can but every question has its own answer. Some years ago a painter friend of mine commented that she probably should switch gears and try illustrating books (which she obviously thought easy to ac [...]

Not Barack--Not Hillary

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I'm amused that people who see the cover art by my daughter Lizzy Rockwell for our most recent collaboration, "Presidents' Day" assume that the boy and girl on the cover (dressed as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington) are intended to be Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Not so. The book was written and illustrated and delivered to the publish [...]

Going Green

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Picture books for children take a long time to go from idea to object. When I wrote "Why Are the Ice Caps Melting? The Dangers of Global Warming" five or six years ago being “Green” was not the big subject it is today. But by the time the book came out former Vice-President Al Gore had written "An Inconvenient Truth," and won an Oscar for the documentary film of the subject. Leonardo di Caprio had (I believe) 6 Prius cars in his garage. Hollywood had spoken. Green was good [...]

Mono Means One

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100

When I was too young to understand such technological marvels, perhaps five or six years old, my father took me to the newspaper printing press of The Commercial Appeal to drop off advertising layouts and copy for the morning paper. I was spellbound by the noise of the press, the speed, the smell of ink. To this day I'm convinced I was early on imprinted with love for [...]

Welcome to My Blog

arprods@mac.com — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I’m calling my blog THE LADY HERMES. No, it’s not one that will link to eBay where you can buy Hermes (the high status one pronounced air-mez) knockoffs cheap. If you read my book "The Robber Baby and Other Greek Myths," you’ll find that the robber baby is the god Hermes, messenger of Zeus, but also the god of secrets, lies and dreams—in other words, the [...]

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