Well, the Bird family had a lovely Christmas down in old Atlanta, GA.  We didn’t lose any offspring either going there or back again, so I consider that a win.  And the presents!  Whether it was the Matilda soundtrack (yes, I’m a million years old and still request CDs as presents) or the collected Pogo comics (Vol. 2!) or a new laptop, this was a good little year.

What I did not know when I flew back at 6:15 a.m. yesterday was that I was rapidly winging my way home to an unexpected gift like no other.  A gift that can only be described as one-of-a-kind.  Indeed, unless more than one was produced this season, I may have the only one quite like this.

You will all recall Alison Morris.  Dubbed “The Mayor of Children’s Books” by T.A. Barron she is one of the smartest, wittiest people I know.  She is also now currently living in Washington D.C. which is a crime against man (or at least, against the convenience of seeing her as often as I’d like).

Over the years it was Alison who has inspired some of the greatest children’s literature crafts I’ve ever seen.  That Shrinky Dink necklace of Newbery and Caldecott winners?  Inspired by Alison and our Shrinky Dink Christmas ornament year.  The birdhouses made out of F&Gs?  All Alison.

So I open a present in the mail from her and this is inside: