This Is Why I Do What I Do

No big post this time. I just wanted to share this wonderful picture that shows better than any of my words can explain why I write books for children. This is what it's all about!

Robert reading Fibonacci Zoo to some wonderful children.

Chelan - Morgen Owings Elementary Author Visit

What a great day to talk Fibonacci! This morning I got to spend 40 minutes each with four different groups of second and third graders, talking about 'the Zoo'. More than 200 students in total. Boy, was I nervous!

No, not being in front of people talking. I do that for a living as a high school teacher. No, it was being in front of second and third graders that made me a little nervous. See, what is it that really motivates an eight-year old? For some, it's the excitement of coming to school and learning each day - that's awesome! For others, it's just trying to sit still when there is all this energy inside just waiting to get out. For a few, it's a chance to tell another person a story about their life, relevant to the conversation or not. I heard after the fact that 'some famous author was coming to their school to talk about his book.'. My first response was, "Who?" Oh...it was me.

Fibonacci wouldn't appear to be for the faint of heart. Yes, the sequence is simple enough, but oh, the applications! Still, would it be enough to talk about mating bunnies and zoo animals to keep these youngsters content and still for 40 minutes? The answer was a resounding YES.

These sweet children were such a delight! They asked questions, told me about their bunnies at home, this time they went to the zoo and saw a gorilla just like the 13 in the book, how a cousin speaks Italian (like Fibonacci) and on and on. No one was really that curious about how the book-writing process works, but then again, these were younger students, apparently really excited to meet a famous author (as soon as I figure out who that is, I will let you know!)

I think the best part was filling out our 'notebooks' just like Eli did, and discovering the pattern in the process. It was astounding how many of these kids figured out the pattern on their own without any hints or prompting from me. They discovered the animals were coming in alphabetical order, and easily predicted which animal would be next (except for the geese. They were gorillas). But the best part was when the book ended with a challenge to guess how many animals the next exhibit would hold. I was fascinated by the guesses, from a low of 20 to a high of 300. But so many figured out that after 21 comes 34, and they were expecting to see 34 iguanas, which they did, each one beautifully illustrated by Christina Wald.

I admit - doing four straight presentations is a little tiring, but the adrenaline was pumping, and the smiles on the faces kids discovering a powerful sequence, then successfully drawing their own Fibonacci spiral was what I will remember.

You know - I think I could get used to this...

WWU Woodring Love!

I am happy to announce that the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA), my Master's degree alma mater has featured my book Fibonacci Zoo on its latest alumni news page. Check it out at the link below!

Woodring College of Education Alumni News and Notes

Inside Story - Success!

What a night! May 5, twenty-eight authors gathered in the UW Bookstore -Bellevue to tout our new books. I don't get rattled all that easily, but this night was something completely new for me. So many people there who knew lots of other people. I felt like I had been invited to a party where everyone knew everyone, and I was the only person new to the group.

But it wasn't like that at all. We all had our displays set out, ready for us, and the best part of it all was seeing my hardcover books for the FIRST TIME! Hats off to Lee, Donna, Heather, and Katie at Arbordale Publishing who went above and beyond to make sure that Andrea (Gabriel, author and illustrator of Wandering Woolly, also from Arbordale) and I had our books for the event. They made it with just a couple of hours to spare!

They told us there was food and wine available to enjoy but a) I didn't find out until it was too late to get any, and b) I was so nervous, I couldn't really eat anyway. What do you do at an event like this? Do people just come up to you and talk to you? Do they actually buy your book?

What if I sit there the whole night, having driven three hours to get there, to be followed by a three-hour drive back home, and no one wants my book? It's daunting. It's frightening. And it's exhilarating!

Just before the evening began, I got a sign everything was going to be ok. Jeff (The Drake) Heckel showed up, the first of THREE former students who came to see me and buy my book. What an honor it was to sign the very first copy of Fibonacci Zoo for Jeff and his kids. And then another Jeff (Wood) showed up with his wife. And then it was Bethany and Garrett with their kids and all of a sudden, I felt like a bit of a rock star.

I got my two minutes to speak, working through the presentation I had practiced, about 28 times while driving over (see earlier reference to three-hour drives...) and while the time slipped away before I could fully finish my story, I was able to close with my key line 'Remember, you can COUNT on Fibonacci!'

It got a few chuckles, and we moved on. The night was long, but then out of the blue, the lady sitting right in front, closest to me, won a trivia question and went to select her prize from the collection of books we had donated. She picked mine! Wow. I mean, I knew my friends would buy my book, but here was a lady I had never met who wanted, out of all the books she could choose from, mine! Later, when she came to have me sign it, I might have been beaming from ear to ear.

The view from my corner.

Finally the presentations ended - and by the way, what an incredibly diverse set of stories, experiences, and perspectives. I was and still am incredulous at the talent I saw that night. But then it was the 'free-for-all' time. Well, not like the books were free for all...you still had to pay for them. But the lines started, and the books started moving, I was signing, making conversations with teachers, librarians, book sellers,etc. And it was such a rush! It was not unlike being at a farmer's market or a trade show where you see people approaching and wonder, are they coming to see me? You don't want to seem desperate or needy, but you don't want to blow them off either. It was almost an out of body experience for me. Pictures with my students, dedications to whole schools and classrooms, and just like that it was over, and there I was...with ONE copy left over. I looked around. Some authors had stacks left over. Some sold well. But I sold all but one of mine and I felt like they had gone to good homes or schools, where good kids will get to read about and learn good math.

Truth be told, afterwards, I was exhausted, emotionally spent. It didn't help that I had taught all day, then driven (how many hours was it?) across the passes to get there. But I was light as air, not wanting the night to end. I said my thank yous, grabbed some M&Ms for the road, and left, wondering when my next event would be, and how popular my book really was going to be. For one night, however, everything felt right.

SCBWI Inside Story - May 5 - UW Bookstore - Bellevue, WA

Twice a year, once in spring and once in fall, the Western Washington region of SCBWI (The Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators) hosts a really fun and important event called Inside Story. Authors from the region gather together to present (alas, very briefly) their new releases, meet and greet the public, sign copies of their books, and much more.

I was originally planning on attending the event this past November, but then my release date was postponed to, well, actually, yesterday, April 28!

INTERLUDE- Fibonacci Zoo is out!! Actually, the books are all in the process of being shipped to booksellers around the country, but I can now finally say, after nearly two years of work on this project, that my book is out and available for sale. Woo-hoo!!

Ok, interlude over. So now it's almost May, and the time has rolled around for me to attend. The event will be this coming Tuesday, May 5 (just one day after Star Wars day - you sci-fi nerds know who you are) at the University of Washington Bookstore (Go Dawgs!) in BELLEVUE (not the main branch by campus).

Photo credit: www.starwars.com

The event runs from 7:00-9:00 and there will be 28 of us there promoting our books. I would love to see some 'fans' out there welcoming in Fibonacci and coming to say hello! We THINK (hope, pray) we will have books there in time for signing after the event, but we're cutting it close. Regardless, you'll get to hear some of the back story behind the writing and publishing of this exquisite book (and no, I'm not in any way biased!) along with many others, and there will be fun for the whole family - details below!

TUESDAY • MAY 5 • 7:00PM

SCBWI Inside Story

Bellevue Store

Love children's books? Crazy about kidlit? University Book Store and The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators of Western Washington are excited to present this spring's "Inside Story" event for booksellers, librarians, teachers, and children's book lovers. Featuring over 25 local children's book authors and illustrators, the evening will feature behind-the-scenes looks at all of the authors' and illustrators' most recent or upcoming publications. Additional activities will include fun trivia games, cool prizes, tasty treats, time for book signing, and the opportunity to meet and chat with dozens of talented authors and illustrators from the area.

Participating authors and illustrators will be:

Kevan Atteberry, Martha Brockenbrough, Dori Hillestad Butler, Stacey R. Campbell, Andrea Gabriel, Kathryn O. Galbraith, Joanna Gorham, Shannon Grogan, Brenda Z. Guiberson, Steven Henry, Patrick Jennings, Kelly Jones, Doug Keith, Karen Kincy, Sara Nickerson, Margaret Read MacDonald, Craig Orback, Julie Paschkis, Katherine Pryor,
Tom Robinson, Jeanne Ryan, Suzanne Selfors, Rori Shay, Dana Sullivan, Derek Sullivan, Laurie Ann Thompson, Carly Anne West, and Toni Yuly

Presented by The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators of Western Washington in partnership with University Book Store.


Thanks to everyone who has been so encouraging and anxiously waiting along with me for this book to be released. I hope you really like it. I sure do!

The Golden Wha....?

So there I was, minding my business, paging through the latest issue of....well...erm...let's just say it is a popular home decor magazine, aimed primarily at women, which we will call...."GH." Anywho...

As I was reading about the keys to picking the right size and style for my new chandelier (wondering if people really go out and buy new chandeliers, but realizing that this magazine article indicates they actually do!), I see "The Golden Ratio." Sweet - Fibonacci lives, even in the pages of a home design mag! Well, not so fast...

Ah, the Golden Ratio...just what you need to pick out a....wait, is that a chandelier?

What you don't see here is that in the paragraph above this box in the article, is the text below: 

Nothing like a good 'equation' to determine how big your chandelier should be, right?

So apparently the Golden Ratio is an 'equation', cool. Though, I don't see any equal signs, and I don't even see any variables. Still, 'phi' lives on! Wait. What is that again?

Let's go back to the top image. This so-called 'equation' just says to measure the length and width of the room and add the two numbers up. Change the units to inches and that's the size you want. Um...what about 1.618...? Is that some kind of ratio between the sides of your room? Or maybe how tall and how wide the chandelier should be? Maybe you need to have the number of lights and the number of chairs at your dining table in the ratio we know as phi. Something, right?

Nope. Nothing at all related in any way to Fibonacci, the actual Golden Ratio, or the number phi. It's just a term someone made up, thinking it sounded math-y enough to catch readers' eyes. Mission accomplished but for all the wrong reasons.

Note to 'GH': next time you want to share a mathematical FORMULA (which is what this is, not an equation) and you want to give it a fancy name, make sure that name doesn't belong to something else that actually IS math-y and relevant. This is no Golden Ratio. It's neither golden nor a ratio. It's simply a way to measure your room and pick out a chandelier.

Now, if I could only find a chandelier for my 21'x13' room! Wonder how big it would be....

Release News!

Very exciting news is afoot. This week marked the arrival of my official Advance Review copy (I tell everyone it's the only existing copy in the world, but I have a hunch that might be hyperbole). That means the official release date is now set - April 28!

Order your copy of Fibonacci Zooi today!

Of course, you can always to go Amazon.com right now and pre-order it. Their date shows April 10, so I don't know if they have some secret pipeline to book ordering (they ARE Amazon, after all) or if that's just when they start processing pre-orders. But either way, you can get your copy on order now if you like.

From Amazon, you have three options:

• English paperback: $9.95
• English hardcover: $17.95
• Spanish paperback $9.95

But if you would like to look at even more options, and maybe learn a little more about me, the supremely talented illustrator Christina Wald, or Arbordale Publishing, just click on the hyperlinks and they will take you where you want to go.

For an in-depth look at the writing process (for me at least), and how Fibonacci Zoo came to be, please read this interview (download, if you like!). I am in the process of setting up bookstore and school visits, so anyone wishing to schedule a time for me to come out and present the book, the Fibonacci Sequence in general or its many applications, or just to talk about the challenges involved in bringing a story from idea to the bookshelves, please just message me here, or visit my web site at Author Tom Robinson.

Finally, I want to announce that my first official appearance with Fibonacci Zoo will be May 5 at
7:00 pm at the University of Washington Bookstore (Bellevue site). The event is called Inside Story and it's sponsored by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I will have a short time to present my book and the story behind the story to teachers, librarians, booksellers, and anyone in the general public who is interested in new children's releases. I would love to see a lot of Fibonacci fans out!

Count on Fibonacci!!