Toe Jam

"Ewwwwwwww!" Kids get a whiff of Toe Jam and The Toenail Fairies at FaerieWorlds 2008!

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!

10,000 fairy fans to meet Toe Jam and The Toenail Fairies? Holy fungus froth!

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 ...!

Toe Jam and The Toenail Fairies fly to FaerieWorlds!

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!!!

Daughter & Dad make The Roseville Review!

Fun stuff ... fresh off a foul-smelling May of visiting six elementary schools in Minnesota, Stephanie Green wrote up a nice story about how it all started two years ago.

Click here to read the story in our local community newspaper, The Roseville Review.

TJ TV: Live from Rochester, MN!

Folks at KTTC-TV are still trying to figure out why this one-minute feature on Toe Jam story-telling at Jefferson Elementary in Rochester, MN generated out-of-this-world, record ratings. Well, to anyone who's read the book, the answer's easy: toenail fairies throughout Planet Fungeye tuned in on their TDS' – that'd be their "Toenail Detection Systems" for those who haven't got to that chapter yet. Enjoy!

(We also got a plug in the local Rochester newspaper: click on the image below to see that story!)

What The Fungus Froth!!??

YUCK! Thanks guys. Now that TJ and The Toenail Fairies' book is out, seems they've been making more midnight visits to my studio than ever before. That's cool. But this morning, I woke up to a nasty, stinky pitcher of fungus froth. Guess they made more than they could chug.

- Michael

Hoodies hit Edgerton

The decorations were up. The games were set. The jars were jammed with candy. The cake-walk course  was complete. Edgerton Elementary was locked tight in anticipation of their huge, annual Spring Carnival kicking off the next morning.

And when the crowds arrived, there were some odd items added to the Silent Auction room: four hoodies, one each with a picture of Toe Jam, Korn, Gout and Rucas on the front. And yes, there was a strong odor coming from the corner of the room where the hoodies were hanging.

Bizarre. No one knew how they got there or who brought them. The maintenance team confirmed everything had been locked up the night before. It was a total mystery. But by the end of the carnival, four lucky bidders snatched them up ... four lucky kids (we think!) who will be among the first to be visited by TJ and The Toenail Fairies in Maplewood, MN when their book's published in April!

- John

PS: Persons with information leading to the conviction of those involved in breaking and entering Edgerton Elementary School with Toe Jam hoodies will be rewarded. Click on the "Comment" button to submit such information.

Invite Toe Jam into your classroom!

From rockin' all-school, K-6 assemblies, to hands-on classroom workshops, to more intimate get-togethers with students, teachers and parents ... as the author of TJ's story, I love sharing my toenail fairy experiences in person! (Sometimes we can also rope in Michael the illustrator and Brian the art director. So let’s talk!)

To learn about all the different ways you can invite TJ into your school, click here to download all the details >>> Download ToeJamLive

To learn about the purpose behind the putridness, click here to download our educator overview piece >>> Download toe_jam_for_educators.pdf  

Contact me to talk about the possibilities. With all the pressure to collect enough toenails to keep their fairy licenses, the more kids who know about toenail fairies, the better.

Hope to talk soon!

john@picklefeather.com

612.209.7230

TJ visits Maplewood, MN on Halloween!

A little weird, that's true. But no kid could resist plucking TJ, Korn, Gout and Rucas out of the candy bowl right along with a pack of M&M's!