Betty Birney’s Blog

  Our recent house repairs and renovations have turned up plenty of wildlife. Some unwelcome furry critters, some nasty old termites and last Thursday, we looked outside my office window and saw this on our back wall.

This is the second bee swarm we’ve had. At our last house about 40,000 bees (estimated) swarmed our barbecue grill and built a substantial hive in a few hours. I can’t bear the thought of killing such useful insects (unlike termites) so we found a beekeeper to come and remove them. I recently had a friend tell me she couldn’t find anyone to take away live bees but we looked in the yellow pages and found someone who came out in an hour.  Bees have alarmingly disappeared recently, endangering such crops as almonds, so I was relieved to recycle them to a bee farm.

We recently had our electrical panel redone and apparently they left a few small holes. The queen got in and the work began. The beekeeper told us to stay inside (didn’t have to ask me twice) and we watched as he located the queen and put her in a box. The vast majority of bees follow because without their queen, they’re nothing! But many remained and so he released some smoke, which helped encourage some others to move on.

However, a group remained. We were told that they were the bees out collecting nectar who returned to the spot and wondered what the heck happened to their queen. We called and were told that they should be gone by Saturday - that they’d find a new queen - but to call if they weren’t. Actually this is Tuesday and there are no 10 bees remaining, but we haven’t called because they aren’t really bothering anything. 

We do have a busy group of bees working in the garden on the side of our house - lavender and roses there.  And there’s a lot (too much) clover in our backyard. That would be some yummy honey.

As for the birds, I had news from my friends at the Shaw School in U.K. They email from time to time and I visited there in March, where I met their hamster named Humphrey.

Apparently Humphrey recently got out of his cage (it is suspected he had a little human help) but after 24 hours they found him and he’s doing fine. They also had some baby birds hatch in a nest outside a window - they had a video camera so the students could watch the eggs’ progress. When they hatched, the children named them Betty and Birney. I have never been so honored! I’m sure they’re well out of the nest now. Bon voyage, Betty and Birney!

I do love birds. In fact, I talk to the birds in the yard outside my office. Some of them - like the mockingbirds - talk back.

When I’m out of state and I talk about our wildlife in the backyard (skunks, possums, squirrels, r___s - and twice I’ve seen coyotes in the front yard), people say, “Oh, so you don’t live in L.A.” But I do. L.A. is not all concrete. It is lush, verdant, mountainous and we are at the bottom of a canyon with two wildlife preserves at the top. We have avocados, lemons and limes. Our neighbors have oranges, apricots, avocados and figs. The house behind us has a banana tree. Animals love these things as much as people. 

Our backyard is a paradise and completely private. But we live on a busy street. Nobody really understands L.A.!

Two weeks. Eight flights.  Three states. Four hotels. 1500 books signed. 15 schools.

And now I’m home. It was a great trip with few hitches (airline related-only). I’m home for a week and a half, then off for the final trip of the year - to fulfill the Humphrey Drawing Contest. (I have to visit the school of the winner - more about that soon.)

The photo above is from the Cedar Rapids leg of the trip - it was taken by librarian Sally Reck at Indian Creek Elementary in Marion, IA.  I give it three BOINGS!!!

   Sally and Wynelle Lindsley of Bowman Woods arranged this wonderful visit for me. Here I am with Jan Dickinson and Wynelle at their library.
 The kids there performed a GREAT-GREAT-GREAT poem for me and the answer to their question is “Yes, there will be another Humphrey book.”

To that end, ADVENTURE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY is being typeset for next spring and I’m starting the first “shorter” Humphrey book - a short chapter book that will be illustrated. I may have some time off from travel but never time off from Humphrey!

 I’ll catch up with the Bucks County part of the trip in a few days. Let’s just say it ended with a double rainbow!

 Doylestown, PA May 18, 2008

Okay, I kind of made a mistake and inadvertently booked back-to-back trips this spring. So on Mother’s Day, I flew to Indianapolis and then drove to Carmel, IN - a charming area just outside Indianapolis. I stayed at a great B&B (Old Towne Bed and Breakfast) where I was graciously hosted by Lorraine and Doug who went the extra mile to make sure I had what I needed. I spoke at Smoky Row Elementary and Forest Dale Elementary. My thanks to hosting media specialists Mrs. Marley (Smoky Row) and Mrs. Duffy (Forest Dale). I had a GREAT-GREAT-GREAT time and offer my heartfelt thanks to the Ahearns for a lovely dinner and great conversation.

 Then up at the crack of dawn (always at the crack of dawn) for the trip to Cedar Rapids. I changed planes in St. Louis, my home town. It was to supposed be a close connection but a lightning storm shut down the airport so we were delayed. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to stay over and see my relatives.

Wynelle Lindsley of Bowman Woods Elementary in Cedar Rapids picked me up and whisked to her school to sign lots and lots and lots of books. Then it was off to dinner at Sally Reck’s house (Indian Creek Elementary) for another great homecooked meal where I got to meet some of the other media specialists and their entertaining husbands.

Then it was a stimulating round of school visits to Novak, Linn Grove, Indian Creek, Oak Ridge, Westfield, Wilkins and Bowman Woods where I met GREAT-GREAT-GREAT students who were very enthusiastic about Humphrey!!

Thanks so much to the extremely gracious media specialists: Cynde, Melissa, Sally, Sue, Deb, Tiffany and Wynelle for great lunches and dinners (we won’t talk about the many hours of signing - I had a very nice room to do it in).

Cedar Rapids/Marion (Marion is where these schools were located except Bowman Woods) is a truly beautiful area, reminding me of my midwestern childhood. And the people, as I always find in the midwest, are so friendly. Kind of like Humphrey!

Now I’m in Bucks County, PA for the weekend. I’ll fill you in on that schedule later … but I had a lovely morning exploring Doylestown - what a charming town - quintessentially American, complete with streets lined with American flags. I drove on to New Hope which is great but it poured rain and I hurried back to the room for emailing, blogging and basically catching up!

And I’ll catch up with the rest of my trip later!

I couldn’t say it at the time, but when I walked out of the ceremony in Tulsa where I received the Oklahoma State Award, the Sequoyah Award (followed by a three-hour signing session), I checked my email on my Blackberry and learned that The World According to Humphrey had won the Nebraska Golden Sower Award! It wasn’t announced until May 1 but I was celebrating early and am looking forward to going to Lincoln in October for the ceremony. This is Humphrey’s 7th state award. He’s also won the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award, the Iowa Children’s Choice Award, the Maryland Black-eyed Susan Award, the Washington Sasquatch Award, the Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Award and the Oklahoma Sequoyah Award. He also received the Children’s Crown Award - that’s another award voted on by children and sponsored by the National Christian School Association.

That’s a lot of swag for a tiny hamster … and he and I are VERY-VERY-VERY grateful.

Thanks, Nebraska!

   Gennifer, Barbara, me

I just got back from Dallas for the Texas Library Association conference. A whirlwind trip, staying at the beautiful Adolphus Hotel Wednesday and Thursday nights.  The real purpose of the visit was to be on a panel with Gennifer Choldenko (Newbery Honor book Al Capone Does My Shirts, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, www.choldenko.com ) and Barbara O’Connor (How To Steal a Dog, Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia,   www.barboconnor.com). I’d met Gennifer before when we were receiving Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Awards and we presented together, and it was a pleasure to meet Barbara for the first time. We were all grateful to the intrepid librarians who attended our 8:00 a.m. session!  And grateful, also, to moderator Viki Ash for setting a very comfortable tone and keeping the interesting questions coming.

Other highlights of the conference: hanging out with my editor, Susan Kochan, and the inimitable Tomie dePaola (Strega Nona, the 26 Fairmont Avenue books and so many more, www.tomie.com), for a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon, getting to know the Penguin marketing people lots better, getting to do a little manuscript work with my editor, Susan, one to one instead of on the telephone. And then there was the cocktail party Thursday night. I cabbed it there with T.A. Barron (the Lost Years of Merlin books and so many more) and Penguin’s Kim Lauber. At the party, I got to reconnect with Gennifer and Barbara, finally meet Toni Buzzeo (Dawdle Duckling, Our Librarian Doesn’t Tell Us Anything www.tonibuzzeo.com ) whom I had emailed a while back because in her previous life as a librarian, Toni was at Longfellow School in Maine. (In case you don’t know, that’s where Humphrey goes to school. Well, not necessarily in Maine; here are lots of other Longfellow Schools as it turns out.)

Then the group joined Newbery winners Linda Sue Park (A Single Shard) and Lynn Rae Perkins (Criss Cross), and I had a great chat with Linda. I had been invited to dinner with Gennifer and her the previous night but was already committed to having dinner with my editor and some librarians from the Coppell school district. By the way, a lovely group at a great restaurant, Hibiscus.

After the party, the Penguin people (I know, it sounds funny - they don’t wear funny tuxes) took John Erickson (Hank the Cowdog), Neal Shusterman (Unwind, The Schwa Was Here, etc.) and me to the Dallas Fish Market, another wonderful restaurant. It was raining as we left, so we got soaked on the way back but it’s sort of embarrassing to take a cab one block.  (Susan was at a memoir event with Tomie.)

THANKS-THANKS-THANKS Scottie, RaShahn, Emily, Kim! And Susan, of course. I can never thank Susan enough for taking on Humphrey to begin with and I always enjoy hanging out with her. She and I cabbed it to the Dallas airport Friday morning and that was that!

 I am home for one day and then leave early Sunday morning to fly to Tulsa for the Oklahoma Library Association conference and receiving their state award, the Sequoyah Award. More fun!

Why did the cookie go to the doctor?

Because she was feeling crummy.

 This cookie’s been feeling crummy for two full weeks and there’s not an end in sight. Yet I’m leaving Monday for three days of long-anticipated school and library visits in Farmington, MI.  I’ll make it - I’m just not sure about my voice.  

Looking backward … I’m still savoring my U.K. visit.

One little addition: I wish I’d put Marcus Chown’s website up when I talked about World Book Day. It’s www.marcuschown.com. He’s a fascinating person! I wish he’d been my science teacher.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get many pictures at the Royal High School in Bath. There were some tech problems which still didn’t mar the day for me. The school is situated on a hilltop overlooking the unbelievably beautiful and unusual city of Bath. Rebecca Hindmarsh, who arranged my visit, just emailed me some pictures. A windy morning on a high hill … and a wonderful memory. She also emailed the link to their website where they talked about my visit. They did a better job of explaining World Book Day than I have so far!

 http://www.royalhighbath.co.uk/junior/news_events/recent_news/VisitFromWorldBookDayAuthor.html

Meanwhile … back at the ranch …..

 At our ranch-style California bungalow, after three months, we have a kitchen! And I love it. The refrigerator was finally moved out of the dining room a week ago. Those lemons in the sink are from our Meyer lemon tree. I couldn’t even figure out what they were when we first moved in. Now, about nine months of the year I can go outside and pick a fragrant and delicious Meyer lemon.

  The second week flew by. On rainy Monday, we chose the British Museum, about a block from our hotel. I’m there with the Elgin Marbles - amazing the amount of treasures moved there … and well, should they give them back or not?

The rest of the week: I adored Westminster Abbey even more than I expected and got very sentimental at all the writers memorialized in Poet’s Corner. Frank was looking for a plaque memorializing his fifth-great-uncle George Walsh. We asked at the information desk and the docent looked it up, but no, it wasn’ t in the book. The docent apparently took a dim view of us Americans claiming to have a relative there, but she grudgingly said we could go to the library and research it there. (Frank remembered seeing the plaque years and years and years ago.) We were walking through the Cloisters on our way to the library when Frank looked up and it was there, larger than life, huge and very legible - dear old Great Uncle George. We also found Magdalena Walsh, said to be a relative, but I’m not sure how. Hey, I just married into the family. I did name my son “Walshe” - using the family spelling with the “e” which was supposedly added after Uncle George gave his life for his country as a kind of honor - or? A family castle would have been nice but the “e” is distinctive. By the way, we went back to tell the docent we found the plaque but I’m not sure she believed us. I hope she took a walk over there later - you could hardly miss it. (By the way a couple of years when Walshe was visiting there, he asked about the plaque and was told they’d show him - for a substantial fee. He didn’t take up the offer.)

We ALMOST got into Parliament but at the last minute, they had too many invited guests. So we took a long walk up past Downing Street - there was some kind of activity going on at #10 but hard to see. because of the amazing security, which I understand. And just steps away, we happened to arrive at exact moment of the Changing of the Horse Guards (this is different than the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace) - beautiful horses and they knew just what to do.

We spent a very windy and blustery few hours at the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and thoroughly enjoyed it. The pomp and circumstance is a funny contrast to us human rabble gaping on the sidewalk and the horseriding Bobby and her white horse both thoroughly entertained us - she, with her dry wit and the horse, with his subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) ability to get people to move.

Wind howling, we made our way across Hyde Park to a pub recommended by our neighbors, Don and Mary, from when they lived nearby.  I hesitate to tell anyone about it because it could be ruined by tourists and it’s small and cozy and we sat and chatted with the proprietress, Cynthia, and ate an absolutely delicious lunch and lingered. There were people from Cape Cod there … one woman whose daughter goes to my son’s alma mater, Boston College … a cute dog … a roaring fire. There’s even a ghost. It’s supposedly in that book, 1001 Places You Should See Before You Die … at least I’ve hit one of them.

Okay, I’ll give you a link. http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=193 From there we trekked to Harrods for shopping and viewing the food court and picked up nibblies to take home for dinner.

Our last day was just fabulous. We went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which most people either remember as being built by Sir Christopher Wren and/or where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married. From there we went to Sir John Soanes’ Museum - the very quirky home of a very quirky collector, highly recommended by my sister and everyone I asked in London and now, by me. From there, we walked to Covent Garden and were glad we did - great shops and restaurants and the best “buskers” ever. Amazing performers. We hated to leave but we had theater tickets! We walked down Charing Cross in the drizzle to the old Garrick Theater and saw Alan Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular, starring Jane Horrocks (we loved her as Bubble in Absolutely Fabulous and as the Academy Award nominated star of Little Voice) and other familiar faces from BBC and Masterpiece Theater. Wonderful performance, very funny, Jane Horrocks was everything we could have expected. We were struck by the casualness of the somewhat shabby but historic theater. People with trays selling sweets and ice cream - sort of like in Shakespeare’s day. And people took crisps, bar drinks and candy to their seats and ate. Which is fine in a movie theater in the U.S. but never in the “legit” theater.

A wonderful end to a visit we didn’t want to end at all.

There so much I didn’t get to see but I will return. And the trick of enjoying the week was concentrating on seeing what we could see without obsessing over what we couldn’t fit in this time.

On Tuesday, up early again for a car to take Helena and me to the Guardian (newspaper) newsroom. This is an educational facility across the street from the newspaper offices, bright and modern with all kinds of interactive displays and a mock newsroom to help students learn about journalism. First things first, though: a stop at the coffee shop where I met fellow author Sue Bentley, which whom I’d be presenting, and the program’s organizers.

Sue is author of a super-popular series here called The Magic Kitten. Her World Book Day book is the 16th in the series and there’s a magic puppy in Sue’s future! They brought in two different groups of students and we each spoke, then took questions together and did a signing. Sue and I were so simpatico, if I lived here, I’d suggest we always do our presentations together. The only sour note was that one school didn’t make it, due to a train shut down in Tooting. It’s not difficult to remember how exciting a field trip is and we were so sorry for their plight. We signed a set of books and posters to be delivered to them.

A quick lunch with Sue and organizers, then off to the BBC. I’m not only a fan of BBC television productions, I even listen to the radio online. And there I was, at one of the larger radio facilities on Portland Place, where another Faber friend, Rebecca, met me. It was quite an impressive place with an oddly menacing revolving door at security. Vibeke Venema, the producer, took us upstairs to tape an interview for Go4It, a children’s program on Radio 4. I was told that I’d be interviewed by children but, to my surprise and delight, I was interviewed by a hamster named Henrietta (in the human form of actress and reporter Sue Elliot-Nichols). Sue had developed a complete life history and personality for Henrietta and it wasn’t all so happy (Her family always forgets to top off her water.) As I answered questions about Humphrey, I learned a lot more about Henrietta, including the fact that she has quite a crush on Room 26’s favorite pet. Even with breaks for Henrietta to crunch her celery, it was a delightful experience. I’ll put up the link when I have it.

    Sue, Vibeke and me

Then Rebecca and I walked to another BBC building a few blocks away. Literary fans, I checked in at the desk next to author Julian Barnes. Then we went up to somewhat shabbier offices and waited in a reception room until I was called into a tiny room where I was left alone with a microphone and headphones and a volume switch. I was told that someone would come on the air soon. It took about as long as it takes to boil water (forever) before I heard the voice of Steve Scruton of BBC Radio Essex telling me we’d be on the air in a minute. Steve was a great interviewer, as it turns out, who gave Humphrey and me a glowing introduction which included a review from a young boy who said everything I’d want to be said about the books.  Steve had done his homework well and the interview was a lot of fun.

My career at the BBC came to a (temporary, I hope) end and a car took me back to the hotel where I got ready for a very big evening!

Julia Wells, my UK editor whom I’d never met, came to the hotel first, then walked Frank and me to a nearby pub where other members of the Faber team were waiting. Julia was hardly a stranger after several years of emailing and one phone call and besides, she chose Humphrey! It was something like meeting long lost relatives - faces put with names, and people who are working for Humphrey that I didn’t even know about.  Then we walked around the corner to a restaurant on Charlotte Street called Passione. http://www.passione.co.uk/home.php3 The chef is Gennaro Contaldo, who is Jamie Oliver’s (The Naked Chef) mentor. We had a private dinner upstairs with the Faber group and select people from the children’s book world (buyers, reviewer, etc.). The best food and generous pourings of wine and excellent, excellent company. A night to remember and yes, I do remember what I ate: a pear and rocket salad, halibut on a bed of spinach, blood orange and lemon sorbet. More interestingly presented than I made it sound. I couldn’t finish it all and the walk home (after lengthy goodbyes to our Faber friends on the sidewalk) felt pretty darn good.

  World Book Day display, Borders bookstore on Charing Cross Road; Humphrey’s up in the left hand corner

 World Book Day is celebrated in many countries (not the U.S.) but is especially big in the United Kingdom. There are numerous events for adults and children in celebration of books, special short reads published for adults … but the children here get the very best deal. Every school child in the UK gets a 1 pound token to buy one of nine short books especially commissioned for the event. Or they can get 1 pound off any other book.

This year there were nine authors chosen, including Dav Pilkey, Neil Gaiman and me! Thirteen million tokens are given out; the book printings are around 250,000. My book, ADVENTURE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, is about a third of the size of a normal Humphrey book.

Many schools mark the day with book events including costume parades where students dress up as their favorite characters. I met several children who were dressing up as Humphrey - my apologies to their mums for having to make such complicated costumes!

Because WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY was a Richard and Judy winner (Richard and Judy being the Oprah show and book club equivalent in the UK), and because I was asked to write a World Book Day Book (ADVENTURE) and because TROUBLE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY and the audiobook for WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY both come out in April, Faber and Faber, my UK publisher, generously invited me to come over for a week of promotional activities.

(My husband Frank tagged along because we’re spending an extra week here on our own.)

The Tower, the Tower Bridge and a proud Yeoman of the Guard

Arriving in the UK, there’s a sense of coming home, especially if you’ve devoured as many English novels, films and TV series as I have over an entire lifetime. The flight was uneventful, leaving L.A. at 6:15 in the evening and arriving at Heathrow at noon the following day. Uneventful flights are always desirable. Lots of people with dicey passports in immigration but then an easy express train from Heathrow to Paddington Station. Agatha Christie’s 3:10 to Paddington came to mind as we arrived at my first ever English station. (Frank has been before.)

From Paddington, a taxi  (past Baker Street - hello, Sherlock), straight to our home away from home - a nice hotel in Bloomsbury made up of five townhouses. Ours was built in the memorable year of 1776. We unpacked, freshened up a little, then went down to the bar to meet publicity manager Helena of Faber who arranged this whole trip for us. We immediately knew we were in good hands for the rest of the week.

After reviewing our schedule, Helena left and we were so tired, we didn’t feel like searching for a restaurant (it was 7 by then), so asked if they had food there. Two other women were eating in the bar area as well. Thus unfolded a scene straight out of Fawlty Towers “Sorry, Chef has no ham as it turns out.” A tuna melt arrives which is canned tuna on hot bread and nothing else. That goes back. No chips or crisps as the menu described. Back for those. Frank receives an all-white sandwich on a white plate. All of this became a bonding device for us and our fellow guests, who turned out to be two infant school teachers (think pre-school-K) from Leicester who escape their husbands a few times a year for shopping and theater in London. After a hilarious comedy routine surrounding their desserts.  (”I recommend the cheesecake - it’s our speciality.” “But it’s not on the menu.” “Oh, but it’s our best.” “We’ll take it.” “Uh, er, sorry, we’re all out of cheesecake.”) It turns out all that was available was apple crumble (by then the pretense of there ever being a chef was abandoned). With two soup bowls of ice cream, which Kath and Chris shared with us.  After a mysterious visit from the police (”just go ahead, folks, have your drinks”) we had a cozy evening comparing schools and they were very excited about the Humphrey book for World Book Day.

Helena had generously given us a whole day to recuperate before the onslaught of events but what did we do on Saturday? As much as possible, of course. The weather was decent, for one thing, so we thought we should take advantage. We walked from our hotel (down Tottenham Court Road) to Oxford Circus and searched and searched for the double decker tour bus that was supposed to be along there somewhere.  No bus. We did happen upon Carnaby Street and for a 60s girl like me, that was a fun detour. Back to bus-searching and we finally found - not the bus we were searching for - but the other bus, the more expensive one with better guides and happily hopped aboard for our first views of Big Ben and Parliament among other sights. The guide was wonderful in building us up for the turn around the corner and our first magnificent glimpse of Big Ben.

We got off at the Thames and took the boat tour, which was included and definitely worthwhile. It ended at the Tower of London and though we hadn’t planned on it, spent the rest of the afternoon there - just happening on the beginning of a tour with a very entertaining guide - a Yeoman of the Guard pictured above - and climbing stairs with abandon. Saw the crown jewels, the dungeon, and had a magnificent history lesson. And some good fish and chips. No time for the magnificent London Eye - the amazing wheel but perhaps later.

Back on the bus, past Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Scotland Yard - but it didn’t go all the way back to Oxford Circus so they let us off at Marble Arch and we walked all the way back down Oxford Street -quite a trek. Oxford Street is the main shopping area and on a Saturday evening so packed you could barely walk. I’ve never seen such crowds even in New York. We stopped at a Waterstone’s and I signed some stock but the World Book Day Humphrey books were locked up in the back until Wednesday.

Where to dine on a Saturday night, tired and windblown? We were almost back to the hotel and passed a Thai restaurant called Busaba - about a half a block from where we’re staying. (We’re directly across the street from the University of London.) Helena had mentioned there was a great Thai restaurant down the street and it looked wonderful so we wandered in. They had large communal tables and we were seated. There was a large family group well along with their meal and two guys. We fumbled around the menu and started asking questions. Soon, any of the supposed English reserve (everyone here talks about how reserved they are but honestly they’ve been warmly friendly) dropped away. The food and wine were great - the best calamari, prepared with ginger and cilantro, I’ve ever had - and we became fast friends with the family. There was a son and his wife, his parents and her mother because the next day was Mother’s Day in the UK (for UK friends, Mother’s Day is in May in the US).  Then I bonded with the fellows sitting next to me and we all hated to part in the end. Little did we know how lucky we’d been to get in - a half block queue outside waiting to get in. And that’s true night after night at this lovely restaurant. Back at the hotel, books were waiting to be signed for Kath and Chris - they had even found some Humphrey World Book Day books for sale!

What a start to the week ahead - and little did I know what was yet to come!