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www.billharley.com
www.myspace.com/billharleymusic |
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Hello Friends,
I hope that spring find you all well. I'm looking out my window at the rain pouring down in our yard. My brother works for a tulip company, and last fall he came up to our house and we planted three hundred tulip bulbs. Now they're coming up - here's hoping the deer I saw in the yard yesterday doesn't eat them before they bloom. Debbie sprayed the bulbs with stinky stuff - hopefully it will keep them away.
This spring has included a trip out West, with work in Montana and California. Highlights include some time on Tomales Bay north of San Francisco, where I could look out my window and see Elephant Mountain. It looked just like the cover of the album by the Youngbloods I had in high school. I know - this may mean nothing to you. But it does to me! |
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photo of Elephant Mountain by Debbie Block
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Attention fans of children’s literature - Reading Reptile Auction
Speaking of creatures, one of my favorite bookstores in the universe, Reading Reptile – a great bookstore for kids (and adults for that matter) in Kansas City, MO is having an auction to help pay off the debt it has accumulated over the years – the cost of running a business for love, not money. Some of America’s best children’s authors and illustrators have contributed original artwork and signed copies of their work to help these great folks pay off some debts. For my part, I’m offering a song, written for the highest bidder about a subject of their choice. The list of auction items is amazing, and you’re helpig one of the great independent bookstores in the country – check it out. |
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Raptor rapture
On my recent trip to Montana, I finally got a chance to spend some time with Kate Davis, the director of Raptors of the Rockies, at her home just south of Missoula. Kate does great programs on birds of prey, and has more than a dozen in her care – ranging from pygmy owls to golden and bald eagles. She is an amazing person, full of life, and passionate about nature and, especially, her birds. With her encouragement, I climbed in the cage with the eagles and then held her beautiful Peregrine Falcon, Sibley . You’ll notice Sibley is wearing blinders over her eyes, just in case she decides to take a poke at me. The world’s better off for having people like Kate. You can check her web page out www.raptorsoftherockies.org.
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Bill and his faithful Peregrine Falcon, Sibley |
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Dirty Joe available everywhere!
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At last, the book Dirty Joe the Pirate: A True Story is finished and available in stores everywhere, as well as on our website. IT LOOKS GREAT. THE PICTURES BY JACK E. DAVIS ARE HILARIOUS. To celebrate, we asked teachers and students to come together and write a poem (or poems) about pirates or siblings. We were overwhelmed by the response and we've posted A LOT of the poems on our website.
We're happy to announce that the grand prize winner is Mrs. Gehring's 2nd Grade Class at the Central Elementary School in Brookings, SD. To see all the winners, click here or scroll down. |
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Spadefoot Toads
I'm currently finishing the final rewrite of the Night of the Spadefoot Toads, which will be out this fall on Peachtree Publishers. It's got a little bit of everything - a bully, a new kid, frogs, snakes, a strange teacher, and spadefoot toads. Spadefoots come out one night a year - a very rainy night in April - to breed in small vernal (spring) pools around my home. The book has a strong environmental theme - about endangered species close to home - and I hope it will find a place on the bookshelves of kids and parents interested in nature and their backyards. Related to that, I heartily recommend Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods - a great book about kids and nature. |
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Summer
Plans this summer include finally getting to that adult recording I've been meaning to do, and one recording of stories - I've got way too many unrecorded stories, and am unsure which ones I'll do yet. I'll also be performing in some great places - New York City, Flint, Kansas City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Orem, Indianapolis, Boston and more - check my calendar. |
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The Apples and the Tree
Our older son Noah is currently living in Berlin, which seems to be the art center of the universe. He has discovered he can make a living playing music in the streets of Berlin. I don't know if that's good or bad. He and his friends are a crazy part of the culture of that vibrant city. I'm not jealous. Really. Our younger son, Dylan, will be leading canoe trips this summer - in northern Maine and parts of Canada - at the camp he went to, Darrow (a great place www.darrowcamp.org/) after HE VISITS HIS BROTHER IN BERLIN, WITHOUT THEIR FATHER. But like I said, I'm not jealous. |
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Books -
I have a pile of books by my bed, waiting for me. Finally, after years of waiting, I picked up Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life (by Robert Spaethling)- a compilation of letters written by that famous composer. It was an illuminating trip through the life and mind of one of the most famous musicians in the history of the world - one who died penniless, selling his furniture, while music was pouring out of him. A lot of food for thought.
My current favorite book is The Braindead Megaphone - a collection of essays by George Saunders. They are very perceptive and very funny - the first and last essays (Braindead Megaphone and Manifesto) are genius. Highly recommended! And I'm currently enjoying East of Eden by John Steinbeck and The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman.
And finally, Steve Martin’s autobiography Born Standing Up is just really great.
Debbie's recent picks are: The History of Love: A Novel by Nicole Krauss, Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flag, The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde.
No report from the boys - they are incommunicado at the present moment.
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From the Office |
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Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live: an update
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As you may remember, Montana PBS shot a live concert with Bill last spring in front of a packed audience in Missoula. We'll be releasing the full concert on DVD in August but they also created a wonderful fundraising program for use by all Public Television stations! We'd love to get the word out and hope you will help. If you would like to see this Bill Harley concert on your local airwaves, contact your hometown public TV Station and ask them to consider airing " Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live". It will be offered this Summer 2008 (distributed by NETA, Produced by MontanaPBS KUFM-TV Missoula, MT). It's a fabulous family concert - you will feel like you are part of the audience!! Alternatively, if you would like us to make the connection, please send us the contact information for your local PBS affiliate and we’ll take it from there.
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Dirty Joe Contest:
And all the winners are:
Grand Prize Winner:
Mrs. GehringÕs 2nd Grade Class,
Brookings, SD |
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1st Prize Winners:
Mrs. RaeÕs 3rd Grade Class, Darien, WI
Mrs. MintonÕs 5th Grade Class, Delavan, WI
Ms. EwingÕs 1st Grade Class, Indianapolis, IN
Ms. CrawfordÕs 2nd Grade Class, San Ramon, CA
Mrs. BurrowsÕ 4th Grade Class, Barrington, RI
Ms. BurruelÕs Class, Tucson, AZ
Mrs. SanchezÕs Class, West Palm Beach, FL
Ms. de PoixÕs 4th Grade Class, Riverton, UT
Lori Curling, Homeschooled, VA
Ms. StefansÕ 2nd Grade Class, Westport, CT |
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2nd Prize Winners:
Mrs. MenzÕs 1st Grade Class, McBain, MI
Ms. TuckerÕs Class, Waxhaw, NC
1st, 2nd and 3rd Grade Classes, Kalispell, MT
Ms. DowlingÕs 1st Grade Class, Oxford, CT
Mrs. SmithÕs 3rd Grade Class, Kresgeville, PA
Mr. KatzÕs Class, Brookline, MA
Mrs. HumesÕ 4th Grade Class, Woodstock, CT
Mrs. AlemeidaÕs K Class, Rumford, RI
Mrs. StithÕs 1st Grade Class, Blacksburg, VA
Ms. ColemanÕs 4th Grade Class, Springfield, MO
Ms. RallisÕ 3rd Grade Class, Council Bluffs, IA
Ms. PaganÕs Class, Davidson, NC
Mr. WhiteÕs 3rd Grade Class, Fort Mill, SC
Ms. TesterÕs 2nd Grade Class, Selah, WA
Miss Pyck 3rd Grade Class, Auburn, IN
Ms. ReichertÕs 3rd Grade Class, Livermore, CA
Mrs. WeissÕs Class, Boone, IA
Ms. JohnsonÕs Class, Omaha, NE
Ms. EliasÕ Class, Brooklyn, NY
Kathie Longbricco, Homeschooled, VA
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Thank you to everyone who sent us a poem. We loved reading them all!
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Dirty Joe on Sale Now!
For a limited time, when you purchase Dirty Joe the Pirate from billharley.com, it will include Bill's signature. While supplies last!
Our price: $17.00
"This book has everything to attract kids and tickle their funny bones-pirates, smelly socks, and, best of all, undies!" School Library Journal
"Clever rhyming, plus illustrations filled with colorfully clad pirates and soiled laundry hoist the audience appeal here to the tiptop of the mast." Kirkus Reviews |
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www.billharley.com
Round River Productions
301 Jacob St
Seekonk, MA 02771
800-682-9522 |
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