Ernestine is in over her head. Monday through Sunday, Ernestine’s week is packed with after-school lessons—tuba, knitting, sculpting, water ballet, yoga, yodeling, and karate. Overwhelmed and exhausted, Ernestine decides to take matters into her own hands and heads off to the park with her Nanny where she builds a fort, watches the clouds, and plays all kinds of unstructured and imaginative games. But when a teacher calls Ernestine's mom to report that she has not shown up for yodeling, her parents search everywhere until at last they hear their daughter's laughter coming from the park. Ernestine tells her parents what a wonderful afternoon she's had, and explains her plight, asking, "I like my lessons, but can't I stop some of them?" This saga hilariously captures the dilemma of the modern-day over-scheduled child in riotous color and absurd extremes. A delightful heroine, Ernestine will be sure to put “play” back on everyone’s agenda, demonstrating that in today’s overscheduled world, everyone needs the joy of play and the simple wonders of childhood.
Linda Ravin Lodding is the author of "The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister" (illustrated by Suzanne Beaky, Flashlight Press, 2011) and the upcoming "Hold That Thought, Milton!" (illustrated by Ross Collins) and "Oskar's Perfect Present" (illustrated by Alison Jay) both from Gullane Children's Books, London.
Linda is originally from New York, but has spent the past 15 years in Sweden, Austria and now The Netherlands. Today she lives in a one-windmill with her wonderful husband and daughter (who is, at times, as busy as Ernestine) and their sometimes-dog Nino (who speaks Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and a smattering of English).
With the publication of "The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister" Linda has realized her dream to become a published children's book author - a dream that started to take shape 13 years ago when her own daughter was born and Linda was reunited with her favorite children's books. Some of the authors that Linda counts among her favorites are Judy Blume, E.L. Koningsberg, Madeline L'Engle and the author of the "B is for Betsy" books whose name Linda has ashamedly forgotten.
In "The Busy Life of Enrnestine Buckmeister", young Ernestine's week is chock-a-block with classes. Water ballet with Mrs. Goldfisher. Yodeling with Little Old Lady Hoo. Yoga with Guru Prakesh Pretzel. Tuba with Mr. Oompah! Ernestine is the poster girl for today's over-scheduled child. But Ernestine is about to do something no Buckmeister has ever done before. PLAY!
Like her character Ernestine, Linda has taken lots of classes - everything from Archery, Chinese Cooking, Figure Skating, Fencing, Clogging (that has nothing to do with shower drains), to Zumba. She loves dreaming up stories, biking along the canals, taking photos, doing pottery, traipsing through quaint towns, playing the flute...and sometimes just playing.
Linda graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University (New York) and has an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. When Linda isn't writing, she's usually working for the United Nations as a media and public information specialist - or eating heavily frosted cupcakes.
To learn more about Linda, visit her at www.lindalodding.com, Facebook and Twitter@lindalodding.com
