Just got back from the Sock Monkey Festival in Rockford…

The festival was great. Cece signed a ton of books. Gave away flat pennies and boomarks. And we both got to meet the incredible Ron Warren, of “Sock Monkeys (200 of 1,863)” fame.

Most interesting tidbit: We learned that Nelson, Rockford’s giant sock monkey, got to meet Obama!

Details and photos from the festival soon…

Interview with Cece in Roanoke Times

An interview with Cece appeared in the Roanoke Times today, accompanied by a review concerning a two-year-old’s reaction to the book.

We surprised and delighted to see Letters from Rapunzel glowingly reviewed on the same page. It’s by our blogging buddy Sara Lewis Holmes. (The book was reviewed by an 11-year-old who said, “I thought that this book was great!”

A Star is ….

Bathed Awarded to Joe and Sparky!

Close personal friend of Sock Monkey, Jamie Michalak,  just got a big juicy Kirkus star for her new book: Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels!!!!

Bee-Wigged is part of Candlewick’s Story-Hour Kit!

This is exciting! Cece’s book, Bee-Wigged, was chosen for Candlewick’s Read to Us! Story-Hour Kit.

The kit which is FREE for anyone to download has ideas and activities for sharing four books with kids:

The Pencil, by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman

Little Beauty, by Anthony Browne

Bee-Wigged  by Cece Bell

and What the Grizzly Knows by David Elliott and Max Grafe.

The idea was to connect the common themes of these books: friendship, loneliness, imagination and the importance of being true to yourself.

For Bee-Wigged the discussion guide includes this: “Jerry is described as artistic, generous, helpful and funny. Ask children how they would describe themselves.”

Plus, there’s a coloring page with “B” words and this cool Connect-The-Letters picture of Jerry Bee:

Happy Valentines Day from Cece Bell & Tuna

Our dog Tuna Maria has lots of clumsy love to share with the whole world this Valentines Day!

Cece made this for the Eastmont Art Society’s heart-themed art show!

Two giants of the Sock Monkey World meet at last!

We’ve heard that Ron Warren is going to be at the Rockford Sock Monkey Festival this spring, too!
That’s right, Cece and Ron, two of the greatest champions of sock monkeyness will meet each other right there near the historic home of the red-heeled sock. Amazing!

If you haven’t seen Warren’s book: “sock monkeys (200 out of 1,863)” then rush out and buy it! No, wait, rush to the Sock Monkey Festival to buy it and meet Cece, too.

Liverpool loves Sock Monkey

Just bumped into this review online, aparently from the Liverpool Echo:

* It’s absolutely fabulous. It’s got humour, a great storyline and clear and colourful illustrations; and I reckon it would be a hit with adults, never mind young school children.

Liverpool Echo on Sock Monkey Goes to Hollywood

New Sock Monkey Game: Supercoaster!

I finally finished Sock Monkey’s Roller Coaster game. It’s not exactly a game. It’s in the same genre with LineRider and Pencil, though far less complicated. Basically, you make a squiggle on the screen and it becomes a roller coaster for Sock Monkey, Blue Pig, Froggie and Miss Bunn to ride.

Give it a try here: Supercoaster — permalink = http://www.riddleburger.com/flash/smcoaster.html

Or try one of the other games from the Cece Bell Free Flash Game Hut:

Sock Monkey’s Make It & Shake It Dance Game

Sock Monkey’s Train Set

Adventure Man

Skunk With Mustard

A nice review from Touched By A Monkey blog…

Sock Monkey Goes to Hollywood gets a rave review from a friendly, soon-to-be parent at the Touched by a Monkey Blog:

It is fantastic. It’s funny, has great art, is fun to read out loud … and is totally pro-bathing!

Pro-bathing means that the book is in favor of cleanliness, not that Sock Monkey is a professional bather. Although that would be a very satisfactory job for him.

Read the whole thing at: http://dwitkowski.blogspot.com/2009/01/cece-bell-sock-monkey-maven.html

Big News: Cece Bell heading to Sock Monkey Festival

Alright! We’re going back to Rockford, Ill., ancestral home of all sock monkeys! We had a great time there a few years ago at the very first Sock Monkey festival. So it’s very exciting to go back again, especially since Cece is the featured guest. (Along with Sock Monkey, of course.)

The festival is March 7 & 8. If you’ve ever thought of going or of visiting Rockford, home of the original Red Heel Socks that begat the monkeys, this is the time to do it! Cece will be signing books AND hand drawing Sock Monkey in each one!

Plus there’s a sock monkey beauty pageant, a sock monkey film festival and more. Read all about it here: http://www.midwayvillage.com/event_calendar.cfm?id=1003