My cold is in full swing.

On top of that I spent two hours at an allergist this morning getting my arms poked and prodded with essences of things like dust mite poo and birch tree (my only allergy is to the former, however, which is completely disgusting and common.)

The only saving grace about this experience--alone in an exam room for hours and being itchy and not allowed to itch--was reading the current issue of the Horn Book I'd brought along (wouldn't it be nice if there was a special medical office/doctor for children's book authors and illustrators where, instead of germ infested issues of Parents and People, there was Horn Book and Children's Writer and some nice pens and paper to draw or write with? And chocolate?)

I love the Horn Book. There is always at least one startling or brilliant nugget in each issue that makes you glad to be alive and care about children's books. This issue I was very taken with reading Lynne Rae Perkins's Newbery acceptance speech. I haven't read Criss Cross yet but this speech has me thinking I'd enjoy it very much. The speech isn't available online through Horn Book so you might have to shell out the ELEVEN dollars to buy a copy. Good lord. Another article by her editor, Virginia Duncan, is available online...and there's an archive of past Lynne Rae Perkins's Horn Book bits.

Here's sneezing at you,
Jaime