Tag: knitting

Young Minds Focus Group

Barbara Gruener

Hello August; can I ask you where June and July went?

I know for me, a lot of hours were spent playing around … and playing with words as I put the finishing edits on the text for my new picture book. Just yesterday, I met with the last of my Young Minds Focus Groups; what a great experience, to read my book aloud and get first-hand feedback from the actual audience that I’m writing this book for.

Their mom posted this lovely reflection after our time together:

I was blessed to work with their older brother, Even, when they first moved to town a decade ago; as a bonus, he was there visiting as I read to the girls to get their thoughts and feelings. I wanted to ask him how it felt to have storytime with Mrs. Gruener after all of these years, but I chickened out. He was in the fifth grade back then and I didn’t want to embarrass either of us.

So the book is coming along beautifully; any day now, the editor will start working on adding fonts and editing any errors or issues. We are hopeful for a September release.

For fun, I’m sharing my favorite illustration from our uber-talented Art Educator and Artist, McKenna Giamfortone. Just look at how brilliant her black-line watercolor pictures are.

Can you feel the warmth on this page, even without the context or the words?

I’ve also used coloring.app to create a coloring sheet to complement our story.

I am so very grateful to the Road To Awesome publishing team and excited about putting this story out into the world and onto the hearts of its potential readers. To create intrigue, I will share that the traits it tackles include loss, grief, friendship, joy and love while it revolves around the healing powers of knitting.

Stay tuned for more details; do reach out if you’ve got a budding author or artist who would like to be a part of my Young Minds Focus Group. It’s a great chance to get inside the heart and mind of an author while possibly providing key changes that could make our story even better.

First-Look Focus Friends

Barbara Gruener

Today I’m excited and grateful to share some details about my return visit to Howard Elementary, where I got to share a draft of our new picture book and ask for their feedback. Before the read aloud, I gave each of their teachers a limited-edition Kindness Blooms t-shirt design I created for Avery, our seed-money scholar.

The students listened intently as I shared with them all about how Mipps planted the seeds for this scholarship while he was still with us.

Then I got to share my new book with them.

Notice my dad in the front right, a bonus to have him there with me. My husband also came along, to support me and take the pictures. Here we are, on one of my favorite pages. The sketches are still in draft form, but we’re excited to be on track to go to press in late August.

After the read-aloud, we posed for these pictures.

I left them each with a cardinal sticker and a challenge, to color these slippers and offer me their feedback; today I had the pleasure of receiving their creations and thoughtful reflections.

Here now, the most creative three:

Congrats to Deb, Alaina and Abby for using their time and talents to win three author-signed copies of Knit {Back} Together for their incredible teaching team.

Their notes offered so much fantastic feedback, which I’ll be using to make a few updates, for sure. But my favorite has to be from Abby, who wrote, please, please, please, PLEASE come to Lineville next year (please).

How adorable and affirming is that, to get invited to her new school. Sigh.

I am grateful for every energizing interaction during my visits; please let me know if you’d like to schedule a school visit for the upcoming school year.