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…at the Blue Manatee

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Bicycle rider by Chris Raschka and bestselling author Bob Staake painting at Blue Manatee

Bicycle rider by illustrator Chris Raschka and bestselling author-illustrator Bob Staake painting at Blue Manatee

I wandered over to the beautiful kid’s bookstore The Blue Manatee on Saturday morning and accidentally got quite a thrill. Caldecott Medal-winner Chris Raschka and bestselling author Bob Staake were in the midst of creating a giant fantastical painting for the Manatee’s front window.

While my daughter nibbled on her favorite Lemon Poppyseed muffin and the smell of espresso had me considering whether I could handle another round of caffeine in the Manatee’s DeCafé, the artists were painting away, chatting with manatee-ites and working their magic.

Chris Raschka and bestselling author Bob Staake painting at Blue Manatee

Caldecott-winner Chris Raschka and bestselling author Bob Staake painting at Blue Manatee

My mom has collected every single Caldecott award-winning book so when I hear the word “Caldecott” my enthusiasm alarm goes off.  Chris Raschka‘s ”A Ball for Daisy” won the award for most distinguished American picture book for children in 2012. Bob Staake has written and illustrated a zillion books, including the one about President Barack Obama’s dog!

What a lucky day for me. You can stop by the Blue Manatee yourself and check out the cool mural they created. Then go home and get out a big piece of paper and create your own. What would you put on yours? Let me know in the comments – what fun!

xoxoxox April

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Email

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My friends, as I change my web page from blogger to wordpress, I discovered that my April Eight email is not working. Me=sad face! If you have been trying to reach me in the last week and had that email bounce back, please accept my apology! I’m working on the problem and should have it fixed. Please do try again. I love hearing from you. As Maria in the Sound of Music says, “The Reverend Mother always says, ‘When one door closes a window always opens somewhere….’” Looking for the window, folks! http://cinerarium.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sound-of-music.jpg The Sound of Music xoxoxo April

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Looky What We Won!

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Hey Friends,
How sweet is this?! The fine people at Cincinnati Hulafrog chose April Eight Songs for Peace Music + Arts Camp as one of their Top 10 Summer Camps. Whoot!

Top Ten Camp 2013 Hulafrog

April Eight Songs for Peace Camp – Top Ten Summer Camp in Cincinnati

We’re so pleased an honored – I’m feeling super smiley about it!

I can’t wait for Summer Camp to begin. I’ve got so many ideas and fun to share. Hope to see your fantastic kid there!

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We Added August!

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Yay for Summer Camp! So many great kids are being signed up for our June Camps that we decided to do it all again in August. By then I’ll have been to a few Faerie Festivals, to the beach, and even performed with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra at Devoe Park in Covington, KY on August 3rd. More about that very soon. April Eight Songs For Peace Music+Arts Camp has added the week of August 5-9!

Boredom Begets Creativity

If your little dreamer is ready to make the world a better place by spending a happy week writing and singing songs, doing some great yoga with expertly fun yogi Hollie from OMYA! and making art with the worlds sweetest crafter ever, Miss Summer, than this is the week of joy for you and your kid. Sign ‘em right up and we’ll keep ‘em busy and you can take a break, busy parent. They’ll come home singing, we promise!

Register your dear one today! April Eight Songs for Peace Music+Arts Camp

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The Peaceful Narwhals – “Hello Friend!”

When we sing our songs at April Eight Songs for Peace Music+Arts Camp, the kids beam with pride. I love hearing stories from their parents months later telling me how their children play our Camp CD for friends, listen to it none stop in their rooms, share our songs with their church and community groups. Music creates joy and spreads it from friend to friend. <3!

To Sign up for the August 5-9 Camp, Click Here. $195 for the week.

Register Today

 

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Spreading Hope and Joy!

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We added a week in August to the April Eight Songs for Peace Music+Arts Camp. We’ve had so many sign-ups already (a whole bunch of the awesome kids from last year and some great new kids we’ve never met!)we just had to make room for some more.

What I’ve come to see about the songs we write and the fun we create together is that it lasts the whole year through. Kids from last summers camps are sharing the songs they wrote with their friends, church groups, and other communities that are looking for some hope and joy. They teach their songs to their friends. They listen to them in their rooms and in the car. Their proud of what they create and the beautiful thing about song is, it creates community. We are spreading hope and joy one song at a time – with wonderful kids that become wonderful friends. How does it get any better than this?

To sign up for camps June 7-11 (almost sold out) June 14-17 and August 5-9, just click right here. You also have the option of doing a Split Payment of 97.50 now, 97.50 the week before camp. We want you there and we can make it work. Big love to you, dear one. xoxox APRIL

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Einsteins of My Heart

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My favorite Einstein is this shaggy fellow here – can you guess why they called him Einstein?

I met this fine gentleman in Binghamton, NY at the wonderful B&B I stayed in while performing at the New York Faerie Festival last summer. I look forward to seeing him again at the end of June. Which reminds me, I better make that reservation!

And of course that OTHER brilliant Einstein said…

Source: littlefrills.tumblr.com Pinterest

So true, so true. My favorite Cinderella is this one by K. Y. Craft. The illustrations are gorgeous and Cinderella is ever so admirable. Mega-recommend! I have the link to amazon, but I’m sure your local independent bookstore (in my neighborhood of Cincinnati my favorite is Blue Manatee) can order a copy if they don’t already have it in stock.

xoxoxox, Your April Eight

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Birthday Bonnie!

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I love my awesome mom and today is her birthday! I think she is 48 or something…. ;-)

Since I’m a songwriter, I thought the best thing to give her is a song written just for her. Who doesn’t like to be serenaded on your special day, right? Well, my mom is truly her own girl: she is very clever and funny, she seems like she might just be a regular gal, but she is so much more interesting, dynamic, charming, silly (shhhh, don’t tell her I said that!) and glamorous than you’d ever expect from a small town Indiana girl. I love her with all my heart and I know she loves me too. Lucky ducks us!

Here is the song I wrote for her, uh, 47th birthday….

xoxoxox Happy birthday, Super Star Bonnie!