Robbi and Matthew
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Hello MSI friends!

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Take a peek inside the studio, the writer’s nook, or the laundry basket via Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook—where we post a 60-second video on whatever we happen to be thinking, feeling, making, or eating. Every dang day.

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The Daily Minute: 10.14.26 In which we help find n The Daily Minute: 10.14.26 In which we help find new homes for 300 “reading buddy” Build-A-Bears. #busloadofbooks
The Daily Minute: 10.13.26 In which Matthew discov The Daily Minute: 10.13.26 In which Matthew discovers that Robbi is a one-time snail harvester. #busloadofbooks
Last Monday, we were the lucky guests of Horace Ma Last Monday, we were the lucky guests of Horace Mann Elementary in Lakewood, Ohio. Our host Jen Frank pulled out all the proverbial stops—including an invitation to spin the wheel to be selected into one of the school’s five “houses.” Upon being selected into Reveur, the house of dreamers, I was given a blue necklace and received a huge roar of approval from my fellow housemates in the audience. The wheel decided that Robbi was Isibindi, the house of courage, which she demonstrated by striking a triumphant pose to the crowd. The applause was thunderous. Her necklace was green. The house system is designed to create connection and friendship between students and teachers of different grades and backgrounds. It certainly launched us right into the heart of the Horace Mann community. As usual, we did two assemblies, brainstormed Full Moon Feelings with the younger kids and wrote a story with the older ones (“Jenna Goin’ For the Cake” was a thrilling tale of conquest and irony. Turns out, Mr. Shorty Arms’ arms are, really really long.) What I’ll remember most about our day at Horace Mann was the excitement the kids in our lunch group brought to the drawing tutorial. First Robbi taught them to draw Dumbles, explaining the expressive power of eye shape and eyebrow angle—and the importance of drawing whisker dots but *not* adding actual whiskers (which make poor Dumbles look like a cat). What’s amazing about this exercise is how a group of kids following the same set of simple instructions will come up with wildly different drawings. The choices they make—from scale to line quality to expression and composition—reveal so much about their individual style. After sharing their depictions of Dumbles, the kids let loose with their own designs—sketching the bus, continuing the adventures of Jenna, even drawing portraits of Robbi and me.   It’s a gift to be present when kids are creating. There’s freedom and power in telling your story, whether using words or drawings or both. Any time I get stuck in my own work, I think of these kids with their paper and pencils, laughing and dreaming, making their mark on the page. #busloadofbooks busloadofbook.com
The Daily Minute: 10.12.26 In which Matthew loses The Daily Minute: 10.12.26 In which Matthew loses a fashion battle to a goop-covered turtle.
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