The Groovy Granny Has Arrived! (or: What I Didn’t See Coming)

Some of you wonderful regular readers have also been reading my children’s poetry blog, A Children’s Poetry Place. A few months ago, I told you I’ve been working on a new children’s book this year.

In actual fact, I’ve been working on this collection of poems for a decade. Two of them were in my first ebook, Bubble Mud and Other Poems (Electric Ebook Publishing, 2001) and the rights have since reverted to me, so I’m republishing them. The others -including a few limericks, haiku and cinquain – are my absolute favorites among the many children’s poems  I’ve written and polished since the birth of our daughter, Kayla.

What I didn’t see coming was that one day, our daughter would ask to illustrate the poems, and that her illustrations would be really, really good —and funny. What I didn’t see coming was that she’d be the illustrator I’ve been searching and searching for all these years for The Groovy Granny —and that I’d be the publisher! (through my registered business, Graceful Publications).

We’ve created our first children’s poetry book together. It’s perfect for reading to preschoolers and beginner readers, and middle graders will love reading it aloud.  You can preview the entire book and have the option of buying it in softcover, image wrap hardcover, or hardcover with dust jacket (the hardcovers are totally worth the extra dollars, they are gorgeous, bookstore quality) HERE:

Thanks so much for taking a look at our ‘baby.’

Best wishes,

Heather and Kayla

Heather and Kayla reading The Groovy Granny for the first time (April 12, 2011)
Reading her favorite poem, 'On Bad Days,' photos by Bill Stewart.

A Few Kids Poems: Introducing Artist Kayla Stewart, 5

Did you guys know I write childrens’ poems? I love it. In fact, my first published book was a children’s e-book, Bubble Mud and Other Poems (available as a PDF file for anyone interested). The publisher no longer exists, and the rights to those poems have reverted to me. I’ve included some of the best of these poems in my children’s poetry manuscript, The Party In Your Lunchbox, and am in search of a publisher for this anthology of poems for preschoolers to 10 year olds.

In the mean time, I’d really like to share some of the poems from “The Party In Your Lunchbox” with you readers, and with my daughter, who asked me about the book the other day.

“Can I draw pictures for your book? I could do it! Let me do it!”

We spent this Saturday reading my poems out loud, with her brainstorming about how she could interpret them with her own illustrations. I thought she might create one drawing. She whipped off five.

I love it when stuff like that happens. Please visit A Children’s Poetry Place to see the first of the results, and leave a comment there if you do.

I may just have to hire my own kid to illustrate my book of kids poems… 😉

A Few Cat Poems by Heather Grace Stewart & Introducing Artist Kayla Stewart, 5.

'Cat Wants In From the Rain' copyright Kayla Stewart 2011, don't steal my kids picture or I'll beat you up.