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See you there?
Every child receives a free book!
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Archive for March 26, 2025
Saturday, 3/29: The Poughkeepsie Children’s Book Festival
Category: Current Events / Tags: James Preller Book Festivals, Poughkeepsie Children's book festival
Photos from Some Recent School Visits
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I just thought I’d post a few of these shots, with and without captions, depending.
I’ve got a busy week ahead of me, with four days of school visits, Tuesday-Friday, and then on Saturday the Poughkeepsie Children’s Book Festival.
I’m dancing as fast as I can.
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This is from last week, a local school.
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This last shot was kind of amazing. My first day in Tulsa, OK, and my first presentatiion: 450 5th-graders in a gigantic gym. Whoa!
TEACHERS, PTO MEMBERS, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS:
In the world of author visits, I am fairly unique because I can share age-appropriate books, in paperback (cheap!), for PreK-8. Each presentation is different and, like the books themselves, geared specifically for the age and interest levels of the audience.
I live in the Albany area of NY state, and will happily travel by car or plane to any location in the U.S. and beyond.
Some titles typically discussed:
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Coming in August: TWO BALLERINAS . . . AND A MOOSE!
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Here’s a rough sketch for my upcoming “Ready-To-Read” book, illustrated by Abigail Burch.
It’s called Two Ballerinas . . . and a Moose.
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So then there will be two:
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Category: And a Moose! / Tags: Abigail Burch, And a Moose!, James Preller easy to read, Two Ballerinas and a Moose
MAXX TRAX Remembered!
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MAXX TRAX: Avalanche Rescue! was my first published book, 1986. I worked closely with my late beloved pal, editor Craig Walker. Could not have written it half as well without him. I was a snot-nosed kid, 25. The book sold more than 1.5 million copies (no royalties, flat fee) on book clubs, first time out of the gate. A shocking success (I worked on the 10th floor as a junior copywriter at the time). Scholastic bizarrely changed illustrators for the second title — a totally new look, computer generated, and awful — and it didn’t fare well. Oh, well. Done, gone, those two books long out of print.
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And yet not entirely forgotten. I still get emails about it. Several just this year. People who remember loving MAXX TRAX as a kid. Or parents who read them with their children. They still love the thrill of trucks and action stories. I haven’t been able to sell anything like it since. This is almost 40 years ago. This photo came to me last week . . . so kind of this family to remember those books & think of me.
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Category: Fan Mail, the writing process / Tags: Craig Walker, Fan Mail Wednesday, Maxx Trax Avalanche Rescue, Preller Maxx Trax