2010

Before the year closes I want to say how grateful I am for the fall and winter that Ballet for Martha has had. In October, Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan, Neal Porter and I had the incredible experience of seeing the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra incorporate the book into a performance of Appalachian Spring. Publishers Weekly gave the details here. Thanks especially to Jan and the SLSO for working to make that happen, and to Roaring Brook to sending us all to St. Louis so we could see it for ourselves. This past month, I’ve been grateful to see Ballet make a number of end-of-the-year lists: Booklist Top Ten Art Books for Youth, Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books, Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, School Library Journal Best Books, New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Fuse #8 Production’s 100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2010, Horn Book Magazine Fanfare, and the Washington Post Best of 2010: Books for Young Readers. Sincere thanks to those reviewers.

And that’s a wrap for 2010. I look forward to posting soon about some work recently completed, and about the book currently sprawled across my drafting table. That’s my work for the rest of the winter and into spring. But that’s for next year. Happy 2011 to all!

Above: An alternate cover sketch.