The Second Critique -- Jay

NOTE: At the bottom of this post is a clue to our third dePaola Code...to be deciphered very soon!


I love my fellow Disco Mermaids. They’re always trying to outdo each other; trying to get their name mentioned first in the acknowledgements. Robin read all 249 pages of my manuscript in just two days…so, of course, Eve had to read it in one.

I wasn’t quite as nervous going into this critique because Robin helped improve my manuscript so much with her critique (especially the ending). But I was worried the story wouldn’t get the same emotional response from Eve since she was well aware that it made Robin cry. When you expect tears, they’re always harder to produce. But she did cry! And I am so flippin’ happy, once again!

The scene that made them both cry was interesting to edit. There were a few things that needed tweaking early on in the chapter, based on Robin’s critique. The hard part was figuring out how to tweak it without taking away the tension. Since I've been working on this manuscript (off and on) for three years, it's so hard to feel where the suspense is coming from anymore.

So now my wife has the manuscript, which is both good and bad. It’s good because she’s out of town till Saturday, and that means I have at least three free days before I'll start editing again (compared to Robin’s two days and Eve’s one). But it’s bad because it hurts so much more when my wife finds something wrong with my manuscripts. In my dreams, she’s taken aback by my writing prowess and says things like, “It’s flawless. Don’t change a single word. You impressed me so much. And guess what, honey? It even made me cry.”

- Jay


CLUE: The fertility of...Strega Nona!!!

The dePaola Code: Clown

He often incorporates religious symbols

in his illustrations...

- from Tomie's bio in The Holy Twins: Benedict & Scholastica -

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Welcome back for another round of...The dePaola Code!

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Tomie dePaola's The Clown of God is a similar story to The Little Drummer Boy. How can Giovanni express his love for God when his only talent is juggling? To paraphrase a couple of monks walking by, "Duh! Juggling makes people happy, and that's awesome!"

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Flip through your copy of The Clown of God and what do you notice? Yes, yes, Mr. dePaola is a genius. But what else? Something repetitive...something almost too coincidental. And remember, in the hands of a master artist, nothing is coincidental. In multiple scenes near the beginning of the book, there's a lone orange at Giovanni's feet...and how often do you find a lone orange at your feet? The orange is even seen without Gio around--all by itself--a few times. It's almost like Mr. deP. wants us to Notice the Orange.

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For our first clue, rearrange the letters in Notice the Orange. What did you get? Neo Genetic Torah? So did we! Neo...New. Genetic...Living. Torah...Bible. The New Living Bible.

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He's talking 'bout Jesus, people!

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But wait, there's more...

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In later scenes, the orange ball at Gio's feet is replaced by a golden ball. It's almost like Tomie's telling us, "Notice, the orange and gold balls are interchangeable." For his grand finale, Gio tosses the gold ball into the air and says, "And now for the Sun in the Heavens!" Hmm... Sun in the Heavens. Or Son in the Heavens? Again, we're talking 'bout Jesus, people!

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So what do we have?

- some Italian clown juggling for Jesus

- Tomie makes us Notice the Orange by isolating it

- Notice the Orange = Neo Gentetic Torah = Jesus, people!

- the orange and gold balls are interchangeable

- Jesus = Son in the Heavens

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Not convinced? Fine. Turn your book over...or just look at the top of this Code. There's a white bird staring at the Holy Citrus. Now, let's finish the quote we started with:

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[Tomie] often incorporates religious symbols

in his illustrations,

most often the white bird,

the symbol of the Holy Spirit.

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What does this mean? Let's just say the Disco Mermaids are popping Vitamin C pills like there's no tomorrow.

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Stay tuned for our next installment of...The dePaola Code!!!

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Bike Aisle -- Robin

NOTE: at the bottom of this post is a clue to our second dePaola Code...to be deciphered very soon!


Brand new bikes for 14 cents? Here I come!

That is the reason I was recently shopping at Wal-Mart with my three-year old, hoping to buy him his first bicycle. I say ‘hoping’ because I never got to buy him that bike. While I was tugging on his leg, testing to see which bike was the perfect size, someone walked by my cart and snatched my purse.

Security was called and the underpaid employees went into Mission: Impossible mode...profiling subjects and sniffing out packages. Within a few minutes, they found my purse--ditched on the Barbie aisle. But the wallet was gone.

The police were called and I had to give a statement to the officer. Which brings us to the silver lining of this story. The police officer...was...GORGEOUS! The officer, who I will now refer to as Officer Dreamboat, asked me simple, direct questions. I blushed and rambled.

“Ummm...yes, officer, see, I was shopping, or something, and, then, wow...is it hot in here?”

“Just the facts, ma’am,” Officer Dreamboat said through his perfectly shaped mouth.

During all my rambling, my three-year old (who is now wearing Officer Dreamboat’s handcuffs) reached into my purse and pulled out my vitamin pill. One of those calcium supplements that comes in a powdered form.

“What’s dis, Mommy?” my son said as he pulled the pill apart. White powder dusted my son, my purse and the officer’s hand.

“That white powder isn’t what it looks like Occifer! It’s just a pill...I mean, a vitamin...I mean, I’m not the kind of girl who...it’s just that...wanna dance?”

“No, I don’t want to dance. But I trust this isn’t what it looks like,” Officer Dreamboat said in such a totally dreamy way.

“Wow,” I said to my son as I watched Officer Dreamboat walk away and out of my life. “What a wonderful police man. Do you want to be a wonderful police man like him when you grow up?”

“No!” he said as he pulled my tampon out of my purse and wagged it in my face. “I want to be a dinosaur!”

So what does all this have to do with children’s writing? Well, not much. But there’s never a wrong time to share a HOT police officer story! I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way...

- Robin


CLUE: a clown, the Son of God...and citrus fruit!!!

The dePaola Code: Nana

We matched the release of our first dePaola Code to the theatrical release of The DaVinci Code. But instead of starting with Leo's Mona, we start with Tomie's Nana. Both of them!

Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs.

Tomie points us toward this particular code through his website, Tomie.com. Of all his books, Mr. dePaola says that this is his favorite. So we can assume it also offers the most important code.

Ask yourself, Who is missing amid Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs? Answer: Nana in the Middle, of course. Rearrange those letters to reveal our first clue. Amend Ninth Ideal. And what is the ninth commandment we should ideally follow? Thou shalt not lie. But what if we can't stop lying? Good question! Read on...

Delete all the repeated words in Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, thereby tightening the sentence...a key rule in writing for children (one Tomie would not break unless it was intentional!). We are left with Nana Upstairs and Down. Rearrange those letters for our second clue. Satan Unwinds Pandora. Spooky? We know. But what happens when Pandora is fully unwound? Good question! Read on...

Look closer at the only other words on the book's cover: the author/illustrator's name. By long-ago altering the spelling of his name, Mr. deP. thrusts attention upon it (and Tomie is a master wordsmith!). If we spell Tomie the traditional way--Tommy--and rearrange the letters in Tommy dePaola, we learn our third clue...and our destiny...which is best understood in light of all we have learned so far.

1. Amend Ninth Ideal (play loose with the truth)

2. Satan Unwinds Pandora (and all Hell breaks loose)

3. Playmate: Doom (so stop lying!!!)

Did we learn a simple truth today? Yes. But who holds the key to our future? Who holds the hope for our world? The children, of course. And there is no better way to teach children the importance of telling the truth than with a good story...told by a great storyteller.

Thank you, Tomie.

The world thanks you!

Stay tuned for our next installment of...The dePaola Code!

Warning: Political Ranting in My Children's Books -- Eve

NOTE: at the bottom of this post is a clue to our first dePaola Code...to be deciphered very soon!


I’ve been obsessed with the plight of the illegal Mexican immigrant ever since the 8th grade when my friend Jim Simon’s homecoming dance date got deported back to Mexico two days before the big event. The sweet quiet girl from my Spanish class who helped me with my homework disappeared without a trace. Then, more kids started disappearing daily...plucked from their homes and schools and tossed back onto the other side of the fence to face a lack of jobs and extreme poverty.

I’m baffled when people get angry aboutMexicans crossing the border into the states to make better lives for themselves. These, of course, are usually the same people who hire these illegal Mexican immigrants to cut their lawns, clean their houses, and pour the concrete for their swimming pools. “They’re taking all our jobs,” they say. To which I reply, “Oh really? I didn’t know you had applied to pick strawberries and got rejected.”

Fact is, Mexicans come here to work hard, make a little money, and send it home to loved ones. At least this is the case with every single one I’ve ever met. But politics aside...and I will tie this into children’s writing, I promise...only a soulless person would turn a blind eye to the thousands of children crossing the border ALONE each year to find their families.

I recently had the rare opportunity to work with children who had endured crazy and harrowing journeys crossing the border into California. Wide-eyed and open mouthed, I’d sit and listen for hours to their unbelievable stories. They’d usually respond to my gasps with something like, “What’sthe big deal? It’s just life.”

Well, the big deal is it’s not life...for most of us privileged enough to have grown up with the luxuries of running water, electricity and free education. So, I wrote. I’m compiling their stories into a YA nonfiction anthology. When starting out, an author oncetold me, “Write the stories you must tell...the ones you can’t imagine NOT telling.” Well, these are those stories.

I don’t intend to write this book as a preachy social message. In fact, no matter which side of the immigration debate you’re on, you gotta find this stuff riveting. If just one young adult is entertained by these adventurous, survival-against-all-odds stories...great! But if another is moved to promote social change and tolerance...I’ll be thrilled beyond belief.

- Eve


CLUE: Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs, Satan, Pandora...and you!!!

The dePaola Code

Unlike The DaVinci Code, we will not spill the secrets of the Priory of Sion. We will not expose the influence of Opus Dei. We will deal with a much more restrained group...the Benedictine monks. Popular belief portrays these men as the silent type (though they have been known to break into some rockin' chants from time to time). But these monks have a secret. A secret cloaked beneath a veil of…well…a veil of itchy brown fabric. And one man holds the key to unlocking that truth for the rest of us.

Tomie dePaola.

The DaVinci Code says that Leonardo had the inside scoop on a religious secret, and that he encoded his paintings in the hopes that future minds will discover that secret. But does an artist’s paintings need to hang in the Louvre to be studied for hidden meaning? No. Illustrations encoded with holy secrets might be found in the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art…or even at your local public library.

We, The Disco Mermaids, are in the process of discovering a new religious secret. And we refer to it as: The dePaola Code. Tomie is one of the foremost illustrators of children’s book art...and Tomie has a secret. A secret, we believe, he wants to tell. It is known that Tomie once explored becoming a Benedictine monk at the Weston Priory in Vermont…but walked away. Why? What did he discover within those monastery walls? Well, we're not entirely sure, but it must have been huge!

Based on clues we will present in the coming weeks, we believe that you, too, will become a believer.

Together…we shall discover.
Discover…dePaola.
Discover…deCode.

The dePaola Code.

Decryption #1 Decryption #2 Decryption #3