Michael (Me!), Michelle Obama, Sasha Obama, and Joao Morlet (TJ Fan)
If there's a place on Earth in need of help from our favorite grungy foursome, believe they will find a way there!
Though it's a bazillion stinky light-years away, news that our new President and his daughters would be moving into the White House was heard loud & clear all the way through to Planet Fungeye. Think of it: 2 kids will be living in the one of the most important houses in the universe! Teej and the guys suddenly realized that something had to be done: there's too much trouble to get into and plenty of things to crush a toe with in that big house so I was urged to take action: Sasha and Malia Obama must learn about The Toenail Fairies!
Lucky for our scraggly-winged friends, I happen to see the Obama girls from time to time at the restaurant I work at when I'm not illustrating for the The Toenail Fairies. Sasha and Malia know me, even. I know. Weird. Almost as weird as being close friends with the TJ, Korn, Gout, and Rucas.
Getting Secret Service Clearance for The Toenail Fairies.
So, my mission was clear: The next time the Obama girls came into the restaurant, I was to hand them and their friends a few books. It wasn't easy. There were secret-service bodyguards everywhere and I feared that the stench of my nervousness would give me away. But these girls needed my help and didn't even know it. I was determined!
After a couple stops at the table sharing some light chat about food and their move from Chicago, I saw it - the perfect moment! The time was NOW! My brain was boiling over, my face was red, my palms were sweaty, my ears were twitching, my eyes were spinning in their sockets and my toes ... well ... my toe-nails were scraggly and reeking.
So ... I calmly approached Sasha and Malia's mom, our new First Lady, Michelle. I told her about the Toenail fairies and how John, Brian, and I had been given the task of telling their tale. She smiled, so I continued ... I asked her if it would be OK to give a few books to her girls and their friends. With a smile, she said, "Sure!"
What?! That was way easier than I thought. So, I went to my secret, air-tight, stinky book stash and brought back a few copies (signed by little ol' me ... those lucky girls ... haha!). The girls and the First Lady were all very thankful and impressed. The body guards didn't even flinch. I did hear some "Ewww..." and "Gross!" coming from the table, but nothing to get too worried about.
Because of their wicked stench, the Toenail Fairies aren't always so easily welcomed, but I wasn't dragged out of the restaurant ... I wasn't brought in for questioning ... in fact, I was given a few really big "Thank You's!"
First Family Raps with The Toenail Fairies!
Later I overheard the girls rapping along to Toe Jam's rhymes and giggling over the pages as they flipped through the book. Like when other young readers totally get into the story, this was another magic moment that made me realize we've done the good job the Toenail Fairies recruited us to do. I love it!!
These dudes are moving up fast. The Toenail Fairies have some big, official, government business in their future and I know they've got the goods to make it happen. Keep an eye out for signs of that foul-smelling foursome in the next photos and interviews you see of the Obamas. The girls ought to be keeping the book close-by! And Sasha and Malia ... let us know what you think of the story!
– Michael
Here's an excellently putrid pencil drawing of Toe Jam by 9-year-old Daisy Genson, a 4th grade Toenial Fairy fan living in Whitehall, Michigan (which happens to be my home town from waaaaay back). She's got some skills!
I feel a bit nervous
that with some continued practice she may be able to really nail the Toenail Fairy look and the Teej and the guys
might recruit her for their next books!
Thanks a ton for sharing and great job, Daisy! I love it! Keep at the
creativity, and don't stop at drawing versions of the Toenail Fairies that we already know. Maybe you could think up some more foul-smelling friends
from Fungeye that we haven't met just yet!
Hmmmmmm.... Maybe there's a stinky little girl fairy named Blain who plays the toenail xylophone or an old man fairy named Callus who plays an accordion made of stinky gym socks! Ok...ok...that's enough from me. Your turn! -Michael
PS to Everybody - let us know if you'd like us to post your Toenail Fairy drawing!!
Truth is, Toe Jam first visited me in my Writing Studio at The Loft. Now the whole story's been told in their newsletter, "A View from The Loft." Check out the article, "It's All About Kids," on page 2. And thank you for listening to and writing up our story, Dara. I hope the complaints of a stomach-churning, unidentifiable stench in the Writing Studios have since subsided.
Just wrapped up a few visits to some awesome schools in the Twin Cities area ... Franklin Music Magnet in St. Paul, Neill Elementary in Crystal and Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. As always, the kids were amazing and the teachers – after getting over the initial shock of being disinfected with 100% Toenailnaftate – toetally got into it!
Thank you to my teacher friends Paula and Mark, and to Mrs. Deegan – Minnehaha principal, for inviting us in! Toe Jam, Korn, Gout, Rucas and I loved meeting all of you. We'll treasure the cool raps students wrote for us, including this special song that Mr. Christiansen and his students shared with us – even sang for us at Minnehaha!
Click to listen to the "The Magic Toenail" ...
For the first time ever, we also met a student who's parents were podiatrists! When we asked the students if anyone knew what "gout" was, she provided a thorough definition they're still buzzing about on Planet Fungeye!
Were you at FaerieWorlds 2008? Did you meet TJ and The Toenail Fairies? Did you get some toenail fungus on your fairy wings?
Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts!
"Gross." "Cool." "Weird." "Awesome." "Yuck." "I'm not touching no toenail!" That was just some of the stuff we heard from kids, parents, graphic-novel lovers and fairies of every imaginable size & shape about Toe Jam and The Toenail Fairies at FaerieWorlds 2008. It was an amazing festival, with phenomenal fairy fans flying into Eugene, Oregon from all corners of the world. For TJ, Korn, Gout, Rucas and all toenail fairies watching from Planet Fungeye? The extra attention made them blush a deep, gross, green – which is heart-warming and rude – because when toenail fairies blush, they off-gas a nasty stench you don't want to be near!
But watching a short video of The Toenail Grab won't hurt. Check it out ... toenail-fairy fans five-feet-and-under won a free book by being brave enough to reach into a bag of toenails and snatch one with a winning sticker on it!
The burlap sacks are packed and we're heading west on Highway 126 to FaerieWorlds, reading a story in today's Register-Guard (Eugene's local newspaper) that says about 10,000 fairy fans are expected to converge on FaerieWorlds! Glug. Toenail fairies have never got this much attention before. TJ's chillin'. Korn's calculating if we have enough books. Gout's smoothing out some new beats on the groove box. Rucas looks greener than usual. Glug. More later ...!
This could get very interesting. Since their book came out in May, Toe Jam, Korn, Gout and Rucas have visited a bunch of schools and met a ton of kids , but they haven't really co-mingled with a lot of other fairies yet! 
That will all change at FaerieWorlds 2008! Tree fairies. Sea fairies. Mountain fairies. Pirate fairies. Friendly fairies. Naughty fairies. Maybe even The Tooth Fairy herself! They're all going to be at FaerieWorlds. Gross, grungy, reekin', rockin' toenail fairies? Toe Jam, Korn, Gout and Rucas will be the sole representatives from Planet Fungeye. This could get very interesting!!!
Readers everywhere are getting grimy with the Toenail Fairies, from Michigan to Utah, and all the way south to Peru, even! Word is spreading fast! With so many kids reading the book, there are bound to be some questions about these dudes. They've got such a long history and so many more stories to tell. So, just to give a little extra sniff of what the Toenail Fairies are up to, we decided to answer some questions from super-fan Katelyn B. from Hamilton, Michigan.
Alright, Katelyn... let's rap - Hit it!
Katelyn - How did you come up with the band Toe Jam and the Toe Nail Fairies?
John (the author) - Great question! See, thing is, we didn't "come up" with much. Check out the back of the book. TJ tells exactly how it all started. My daughter, Amy, (who was like 10 at the time) wanted money for a toenail she lost. I thought that was weird but interesting ... then things started happening fast. Toe Jam visited me and got me to write the story. Then we got Brian to help, he's the art director. Then Michael, the illustrator. I traveled back and forth to Planet Fungeye a lot to meet with all kinds of toenail fairies and learn their story. The first book, Toe to Toe with The Tooth Fairy, introduces us to all their adventures, but it's really just a start. There's so much more to tell about TJ, Korn, Gout, Rucas and all their toenail fairy friends, pets, relatives and clashes with the Formals!
Michael (the illustrator)- Yeah, as for the artwork, it took a while to get them down on paper just right. I'd sketch a few interpretations of them, and Toe Jam and the guys would tell me, "Too clean," or "Not enough gooberosity." They're pretty particular about how they're represented to our world. They want their first impression to be big and grimy!
Katelyn - Does the band really exist?
Michael - I guess it may have been sleep deprivation, or just the artwork talking back to me, but I swear we've hung out a few times. I'll even found left over Toenail tonic in my kitchen in the morning!
John - Santa Claus. Leprechauns. The Great Pumpkin. The Easter Bunny. The Tooth Fairy. Angels. Do they really exist? Though most of us have never seen them for real, they seem to be very real in our imaginations. So is that "real" or not? What do you think? To me, TJ and The Toenail Fairies are real like that.
Katelyn - Why do they live on a different planet?
John - They reek! They rap! They rock! They belch! They're basically as un-fairy as you can get! So a long, long time ago, the Universal Fairy Council made a decision to ban Toenail Fairies from the Formal Fairy Kingdom for eternity. Fair? I don't think so. What about you?
It all worked out, though. Toenail fairies have made Planet Fungeye one of the most awesome places in the universe ... their cities, their homes, their vehicles, their toys, their playgrounds – they're all made from toenail chunks that give their planet this really cool, green glow. (I actually think some of the Formals would love to live on Planet Fungeye, but like that would ever happen!!!)
Michael - Right! And those grimey fairies would never fit in to our
everyday lives here on Earth, they'd just stink it up way too much.
Our atmosphere can only handle a couple visits worth of stankitude each month.
Katelyn - Is the band pet a slug or something?
John - Slug, hairless gerbil, overgrown earthworm, half baby elephant/half mole ... who really knows? We only met Beau a few times then it slithered off. It seemed very shy. But we always knew when it was around: though we couldn't see it, a horrible, foul smell would fill the room and near choke us. Kids wonder if Beau is a boy or a girl? We never found out. What's your hunch?
Michael - I'm not sure. Maybe it's some sort-of Ant-eater crossed with an alien salamander? It definitely has an out-of-this-world stench. I only saw it once and I just draws 'em like I sees 'em!
John - Thanks for these cool, creative questions, Katelyn! You're a awesome toenail-fairy fan. Can't wait to hear some of your own answers to the questions we asked you!!!
Michael - Yes, thanks Katelyn. I'm really glad you're loving the book! Katelyn or anyone else, feel free to ask us more questions in the comments below this post. Thanks a ton!
[[This picture is Katelyn with her favorite illustration. Which is your favorite??]]
Just had a fun, frank party with plenty of tasty Toenail Tonics for all! What's in one, you ask? Let's just say the secret ingredient is imported from Planet Fungeye and has a magical effect on all who sip one – especially JP, Chuck, Andy, Gretchen and Todd pictured here!
They reek, but man, do they rock! Click here to start reading the story of TJ, Korn, Gout and Rucus — four foul-smelling toenail fairies rappin' their lungs out to ave their fairies licenses while the Tooth Fairy tries to take 'em down.
Create your own Toe Jam in-school experience today!
Don't just sit there! Click here to bag some toenails with TJ!
Yo, plug your nose, then click here to hook up on our website!
How did three regular guys get caught in a celestial conflict between the Formal Fairy Kingdom and Planet Fungeye? Click here to find out.
Inspected & disinfected for your reading & wearing pleasure. 
