Recent Blog Posts

Over 2000 Kids Meet the Dragons!

March 8, 2011

I just tallied up how many school visits I’ve done this winter in Minnesota, particularly in February, which is “I Love to Read” month and I’ve introduced the dragons and Dragon Fire, Ocean Mist to over 2000 children from kindergarten to 6th grade!!!.  It’s been a wonderful experience for me to talk with children about [...]

Dragons Busy in Minnesota

January 19, 2011

In the next month the dragons are going to be very busy visiting 5 different elementary schools.  To me there is nothing more fun than interacting with children in the realm of the imagination.  In one school this Friday I’ll be teaching sumi art to groups of third graders.  And speaking of imagination, where have [...]

Dragons in Lake Superior?

September 18, 2010

Well, summer has come to an end – sigh……  But it’s fun to remember the adventures of summer, isn’t it?    One thing we did was go dragon hunting in the sea caves on the southern shore of Lake Superior in                northern Wisconsin (how’s that for confusing south [...]

The Dragon of Krakow, Poland

July 27, 2010

Our trip continued with a visit to Krakow, Poland to search for the dragon that once lived in the caves at the base of the big hill where now stand the huge castle and cathedral that was the center of the Polish kings for many centuries.  In Polish the word for dragon is smok and [...]

Dragons Back from Slovakia

Well our research trip to Slovakia  on the nature and history of European dragons proved interesting and just scratched the surface of things.  First off, in Slovakia we found many statues and coats-of-arms of villages and churches with dragons.  Only problem was that in all cases they were being slain by a brave knight with [...]

Dragons off to Eastern Europe

June 17, 2010

In a few days the dragons will be off to Slovakia and Poland to see if they can find out something about their European ancestors.  They’re hoping to find the Wawel dragon in Krakow, Poland if all goes well.  He breathes fire every 5 minutes from a gas jet in his mouth.  And apparently you [...]

Dragons in Kirkland

The month of May there were dragon sightings at various places in the Pacific Northwest.  At Ben Franklin and Juanita Elementary Schools, 2nd -4th graders talked about going to Shi Shi Beach to see if they could find Shiran, Shalini, Shoram and Shyla.  Especially Shyla, since one of the girls was named Shyla – she [...]

Dragons Visit Portland!

April 20, 2010

Once again we travelled to the City of Roses, this time to visit two wonderful elementary schools and do author presentations.  The first school, Findley Elementary has a wonderfully diverse student population (over 30 languages!) and dragons for a mascot!  So the Findley dragons welcomed the Shi Shi dragons and were thrilled to find real [...]

Dragons Back on Whidbey Island

April 1, 2010

I think the dragons flew back to the Pacific Northwest after bidding their cousins in Lake Superior goodbye for now.  We drove back. But, sure enough, when we got back to Whidbey Island, they were here too!  And joined by another dragon – the dragon of Whidbey Island!  Did you know that Whidbey Island has [...]

Dragon Updates – Minnesota

Well, it’s been a couple of months since I wrote anything and a lot has been happening in the dragon’s world.  First off, back in Minnesota, our stay there was completed with a wonderful visit to Rush Creek Elementary School.  The kids were a great audience (as are kids everywhere when dragons are concerned), the [...]

More Great School Visits!

February 9, 2010

My time here in Minnesota has been occupied with visiting various schools and sharing the wonders of Shi Shi Beach, the dragons and the transformation of the heart with lots of different children.  One highlight last week was visiting a second grade classroom at Bel Air Elementary School in New Brighton, MN, where the teacher [...]

Super Simple Sumi Art!

January 21, 2010

Last week I had the good fortune to be able to teach several classes of talented 5th-8th graders at the Armitage Academy in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  They all had heard about the dragons last year when I visited this school and this time I was able to introduce them to sumi painting in more depth.  I’m [...]

Dragons at Barnes and Noble!

December 9, 2009

The dragons and I have gotten a rousing welcome to Minnesota by being at the local Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove which is a suburb of the Twin Cities (and where my grandchildren,  the REAL Jaxon and Allie – the kid stars of the dragon book,  live…..).  We’ve been part of 6 bookfairs that [...]

Dragons Head to Minnesota!

November 14, 2009

It’s true – the dragons of the Pacific Northwest are going to explore the snowy wilds of Minnesota!  It appears they have some cousins who live in Lake Superior.  Only problem is that they may be hibernating in the deep waters of the lake by the time they get there.  But their author (that’s me) [...]

Dragons Win the Bronze!!!!!

October 20, 2009

Big thrill!!!!  On October 10, 2009 Dragon Fire, Ocean Mist received the bronze medal in the Best First Chapter Book category of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards!!  The awards ceremony was in Charleston, West Virginia at the West Virginia Book Festival.  It was a real thrill and very inspiring for me to be in the [...]

:: See all blog posts

Over 2000 Kids Meet the Dragons!

March 8, 2011

I just tallied up how many school visits I’ve done this winter in Minnesota, particularly in February, which is “I Love to Read” month and I’ve introduced the dragons and Dragon Fire, Ocean Mist to over 2000 children from kindergarten to 6th grade!!!.  It’s been a wonderful experience for me to talk with children about writing and illustrating, share with them how magical Shi Shi beach and other Washington beaches are, and especially to introduce them to sumi painting.  Here are some pics of my demonstrating how to paint dragons (a great hit!)

The dragon takes shape

Painting the fire

 

Signing the painting with my chop

Enthusiastic audience!



Dragons Busy in Minnesota

January 19, 2011

In the next month the dragons are going to be very busy visiting 5 different elementary schools.  To me there is nothing more fun than interacting with children in the realm of the imagination.  In one school this Friday I’ll be teaching sumi art to groups of third graders.  And speaking of imagination, where have you seen dragons lately?  Here are a couple of ones that I’ve seen on a stone wall.

Snow dragons on a rock wall

Snow Dragons

Snow dragon battle



Dragons in Lake Superior?

September 18, 2010

Well, summer has come to an end – sigh……  But it’s fun to remember the adventures of summer, isn’t it?    One thing we did was go dragon hunting in the sea caves on the southern shore of Lake Superior in                northern Wisconsin (how’s that for confusing south and north?).  Well, not dragon hunting exactly, more  precisely, it was dragon habitat exploring by sea kayak.  What a paradise of caves and arches cut into red      sandstone cliffs by the wind and waves of the largest lake in the world.  Mighty cracks that swallowed our    kayaks, great caves resounding with booms of the crashing waves, and keyholes that we squeezed our            boats through.  Lots and lots of caves!  In the winter they fill with icicles and ice stalagmites – the perfect      home for ice dragons!  In the summer??????  Perhaps the dragons have gone north to the Arctic to spend the summer…..The home they left behind is surely magical!  And for those of you that want to find the caves on the map they are called the mainland sea caves on Mawikwe Beach (part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore)  near Bayfield, Wisconsin.




The Dragon of Krakow, Poland

July 27, 2010

Our trip continued with a visit to Krakow, Poland to search for the dragon that once lived in the caves at the base of the big hill where now stand the huge castle and cathedral that was the center of the Polish kings for many centuries.  In Polish the word for dragon is smok and since this is the dragon of Wawel Hill, the dragon is called smok wawelski.

Legend has it that the dragon was terrorizing the countryside, eating everything in sight, including young girls.  In desperation the king offered the hand of his daughter to whomever could slay the beast.  All the brave knights tried and failed.  Finally a poor cobbler stepped up.  The king was dubious but said OK.  So the cobbler asked for a freshly slain sheep. He took out the innards and filled the inside of the sheep with sulfur and placed it in front of the dragon’s cave.  The dragon wolfed it down.  Soon after the sulfur began to burn the dragon’s stomach.  To stop the pain and ease the burning, the dragon started drinking up the river that flowed next to its cave.  He drank and drank and drank so much that he finally burst open and died!.  Needless to say, the cobbler married the princess.

In the 1970s a huge 20 foot bronze statue of the dragon was erected in front of the cave.  And true to the description the dragon belches fire every 5 minutes from a gas jet that’s inside its mouth.  Great fun!  And of course all the tourist shops around the hill specialized in kitschy dragon stuff.  Even more fun!  The flying dragon is from one of those shops – he’s about 18 inches long and really flies when the wind chime at the back moves.

The dragon of Krakow

Flying dragon from Krakow - he really flies!



Dragons Back from Slovakia

Well our research trip to Slovakia  on the nature and history of European dragons proved interesting and just scratched the surface of things.  First off, in Slovakia we found many statues and coats-of-arms of villages and churches with dragons.  Only problem was that in all cases they were being slain by a brave knight with a long sharp lance!  Ouch!  And one of our relatives said, “In Europe the dragon is always the loser.”  This does seem to be the case all right.  And the dragons depicted seem to specialize in having 3 heads – when one gets cut off the others can take over.  Not a happy sight!  Here are some pictures of such a dragon fountain.

Slaying the 3 headed dragon

Close-up of the 3 headed dragon fountain

On a happier note in Bratislava in the old city there is a pharmacy with a golden dragon hanging over their entrance.  Some people told us that the dragon was the guild emblem of herbalists and pharmacists.  We haven’t been able to substantiate that but the dragon certainly is very lovely.  And not being slain!

Golden dragon



:: See all blog posts