Colorado Book Award Finalist

June 24,2011

On June 24, my brother Christopher, Bob and I traveled to Aspen, CO to participate in the Colorado Book Awards program of the Colorado Humanities. We were so honored to be part of the festivities of the 20th annual awards. Being a finalist was awesome for a first book effort by the illustrator and myself. I met an author I admire--Laura Resau--whose juvenile books are published by Delacorte Press. Her book Star in the Forest has an important immigration story and she signed it for me! She had two books in contention for the award in two different categories.

Las Golondrinas, June 25, 2011

Illustrator Bob (Robert W.) Pacheco and I traveled to Las Golondrinas Living History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for their Fiber Arts Festival. The bookstore there carries the book. We saw the wonderful 300-year-old ranch which includes a molasses mill, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse and water-powered grist mill. We met the historical interpreters who donate 700 hours a year to the museum and teach “colcha” a long-stitch embroidery of wool colored with natural dyes on hand-woven “sabanilla (woven fabric).”

June 7, 2011 Giant Map: Walking the trail

The Pikes Peak Library District hired me to do a summer program for them with the traveling giant map from National Geographic. The kids are sitting on this amazing 35’ X 60’ map and we walked across the continent from Canada to Mexico and east to west. It certainly gives one a different perspective of the continent.

    In three presentations, we hosted nearly 150 children of all ages. I showed them the trade goods and demonstrated how the object--an abalone shell, for example--moved from the west coast to the Cohokian Mound peoples to Alaskan natives to the Aztecs in Mexico. We followed the route of the Macaws from their jungle home in Central America to Casas Grandes, Mesa Verde, and Indiana.

As an historical interpreter for El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo, CO, I have lots of fun at the annual Mercado with colleagues Carol Pickerel and a trader. Since this photo was taken, a new coat of adobe was applied to our evocation site and it looks great!As an historical interpreter for El Pueblo History Museum in Pueblo, CO, I have lots of fun at the annual Mercado with colleagues Carol Pickerel and a trader. Since this photo was taken, a new coat of adobe was applied to our evocation site and it looks great! The photographer is Glori Hyder. 

This is the blog for the book Trade on the Taos Mountain Trail. Since 2007, I have become a publisher, published a book, was a finalist for the 2011 Colorado Humanities Book Awards, and traveled widely looking for book buyers. I've also acquired a wonderful friend and illustrator. Without Bob Pacheco, the book would not have been possible. These are our travels on the book trail.