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Fan art, hand-delivered

At Andrew's very first show of the year, he met a reader named Alyssa, who gave him this incredible drawing. When he sent it to me, the subject of his email was just: "WOW"

Have you ever seen anything like the texture of that wall, or the vines as they grow across its face and into that sky? And the weary worry of the boy, and the weary trust of the wolf.

Thanks, Alyssa.

LAUNCH TEAM: Applications for joining the Wingfeather Hardcover launch team close on Thursday! Click here for more info.

Andrew on tour: Andrew's next show is on Thursday, and he has four others in February as well, including a conference. To see if he's coming near you, check out his music site. (And bring him some art!)

Walking on Water: If you're reading along with us, this week we're discussing chapter 3 in the forum. See you there!

Launch team, assemble!

If it's all right with your mother, of course.

Gumphrey Half-Toe

The brand-new hardcover editions of the first two Wingfeather books are nearly here!

It is so very exciting to realize that in less than a month, we will have HARDCOVER editions of this series we love, with NEW COVERS and NEW ILLUSTRATIONS. Books one and two release on March 10, with the rest of the series to follow on September 15—and eventually, the Creaturepedia and Wingfeather Tales! "This is an author's dream come true," Andrew says. (And a librarian's, I might add.)

Andrew and team are assembling an intrepid band of heroes to help spread the word. If you'd like to help, click the link below.

The Random House launch team is taking applications through the 12th—that's next Thursday! To join, click here:
#teamWingfeather

A bit of happy nostalgia

A reader named Alexia wrote Andrew recently to say she'd been feeling nostalgic about her favorite series since seeing the new covers. "I’m in high school now," she says, "but The Wingfeather Saga has been my favorite book series since I was nine." Check out this beautiful iconography she included in her email. Thank you, Alexia! To know that you've grown up in Aerwiar is an honor.

Andrew on tour: After a month off to rest with his family and work on other projects, Andrew is now hitting the road again. He'll be on tour across the U.S. and U.K. all through February, March, and April. To find out whether he's playing near you, check out his music site.

Walking on Water: This week in the forum, we're discussing chapter 2 of a writing book Andrew recommended to us. Join us here.

A Hospitable review

This review is a couple of years old, but I discovered it just recently and appreciated it. Katie from the Hospitable Homemaker says:

The familiar human experience is captured throughout the story & it draws our hearts in. We walk with older brother Janner, who is only 12, through a world of emotions we all recognize – instinct to protect family, envy toward them, frustrations that mount between siblings, chafing against expectations, anger when we feel wronged, pride in family, & sorrow at loss.

This is a redemptive story, highlighting the beauty of selfless love and transformation. Woven like every good story is, it captures the heart and draws the reader to fight for justice and love and beauty.

Thanks so much, Katie! We're glad you connected with this series.

Readers, check out Katie's blog for the rest of the review.

Walking on Water: Are you joining us for this Andrew-recommended readthrough? We're starting today in the forum. :-)

Toothy Cow sighting!

Last week a reader named GEM wrote in to say that her younger brother had made a realliality-real life size toothy cow for a class at their homeschool co-op. It is calf-sized and named Awful Alvin! WOE!

Please note that this calf is ON WHEELS. Just imagine going about your business, weeding the garden or playing Get the Boot, when suddenly this little cowling comes speeding toward you on its four evil casters! Is nowhere safe from its gashious maw or bovinial thrump?!

I hope GEM's brother received 117% on that assignment. (Also, let the record show that I would take that class.)

Walking on Water: In Adorning the Dark, Andrew says, "If you’ve never read Madeline L’Engle’s Walking on Water, put down this book and don’t come back to it until you have." Are you up for that challenge? Join us in the forum, starting next week.

Race to Peet's Castle

Today brings us a letter from a reader, and some very fun photos!

Nov. 23, 2019

Hi Andrew,

About 7 or 8 years ago, I went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert that you performed at. Before the show began, I noticed a screen with an advertisement for the Wingfeather Saga. My oldest daughter, a voracious reader, was a middle schooler at the time. We got her the first two books from the library, and she loved them! We bought her the three books that were out at the time, and for her 12th birthday, we surprised her with a hardback copy of The Warden and the Wolf King. She is 19 now, and the Wingfeather Saga is still her favorite. She has passed on her love of the series with many friends. 

My 2nd daughter also loves the books and is a huge fan of Andrew Peterson quotes. Last year, with our wonderful homeschool group, she took public speaking and wrote a speech about someone that inspires her. She picked you. 

I had the privilege of reading the series to my son a few years ago, and I fell in love with the stories too. It was great to share the story with him. 

So fast forward to now. Our homeschool group has clubs about every other week where the kids can choose different classes to take. I offered a book club for On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Some of the kids in the class had already read the entirety of the Wingfeather Saga, and others had never heard of it. We just wrapped up our last class yesterday, and there are several new fans of the series. 

For our last class, we wanted to do something big. All of us wore socks on our hands, and my daughter and I made Cheesy Chowder for the class. I decided we should play a game to see what they remembered from the books, so, with the help of my daughters, we created “Race to Peet’s Castle”.  The kids decided to leave the socks on their hands while they played which added a new level of difficulty to game play. I had so much fun with them this whole semester, but yesterday was truly a gift. This group of kids had a blast!  I’ve attached pictures because my daughter said, “you have to send those to Andrew Peterson.”

Thank you for creating great stories and adorning the dark!

With much appreciation,
Liz Church

Liz, thank you so much for sharing your story and photos! I want to take your class. :-)

Check these out, everyone:

Book club: In Adorning the Dark, Andrew strongly recommended reading Madeleine L'Engle's book Walking on Water. A couple of us were interested in reading together, so I'm going to start that up in a couple of weeks. It'll be pretty low-key—we'll just talk in the forum—but if you're interested in joining in, now's the time to find a copy of the book. :-)

The many doings of 2019

Many doings and many celebrations. :-) Last year was so full of goodness and busyness. January is already underway and the 20s are before us, but before we dash off into the Next Adventure, let's pause a second to look back and see where the Maker has led us.

For starters: Andrew's first nonfiction book, Adorning the Dark, was released. It was a good and brave work. And it not only inspired us and many other readers, it inspired Andrew! If you go over to his Instagram, you will see that his bio now reads "Singer/Songwriter/Author/Sketcher," and his grid is full of trees and castles drawn by his own Batman-penciling hand. This makes me happy.

Last year marked the 20th anniversary of Behold the Lamb of God, complete with a full tour, all-new album art and a deluxe boxed set, new recordings, and even some new lyrics!

Last year was also the tenth Hutchmoot. It is wonderful to think that out of such small beginnings—a blog and the people who connected in the comments, wanting to meet face-to-face—a community has grown and flourished for ten whole years now.

Not only was 2019 the tenth year of Hutchmoot, but it was the first year of Hutchmoot U.K.! It was an enormous undertaking, one Andrew and Pete went into with both fear and hope, and afterward Andrew said, "When we gathered in Oxford on the first day to pray, to invite the Lord to work his will in us all weekend, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the way he answered that prayer a year ago with a resounding 'Yes.'"

In under a year, fundraising for the Rabbit Room's North Wind Manor renovations was complete, and the new barn is already built. The Manor's rebuilding is well underway, too. It's unbelievable that the goal of $450K was raised so quickly. But you know that "art nourishes community and community nourishes art" thing Andrew keeps talking about? Community is what made this happen. The work of the people. :-)

Andrew and his sweet wife Jamie turned twenty five last week. :-) If you love Andrew's music, if you love Nia Wingfeather, you love Jamie.

So far we've been talking about big stuff happening in the Wider World of Andrew, but now that I've mentioned Nia, what about Wingfeather news? Well, here's a shot of the script for the first Wingfeather movie. Do you see how thick that stack of pages is? Movies take a long while. Just today Chris (our producer) was telling me that the meetings with studio execs continue. No news to report yet (pray for them!), but behind the scenes, the team presses on.

Andrew's dear friend Randall Goodgame launched the first season of the Slugs & Bugs Show! Andrew has been involved in Slugs & Bugs since the beginning, and got to be in two episodes of the show (see if you can spot him in the lineup!). Our producer Chris is the S&B producer, too. So fun.

Let's see, what else... 2019 saw the announcement of a complete republishing of the Wingfeather Saga! The first two come out in March, so we'll be looking forward to (and shrieking about) this development all year long. ;-)

Good heavens. This isn't even everything that happened last year—Andrew toured Sweden, was involved in the "Rabbit Room on the Road" homeschool convention circuit, worked on building a new dry-stack stone wall, wrote an afterword for The Light Princess, sent Skye off to Malawi for a month, performed a wedding (!), and who knows what all else. You know what might be the most important thing that happened last year? Andrew made it through all of that! You know what Triliban Plubius says. "Whether crushed or sheltered by the Maker's hand, 'tis beneath it we go, from breath to death."

What did you survive last year? What are you celebrating? And what do you look forward to in the year to come?

Adorning the Dark: Prompt 8

Sorry, book club participants—I meant to post a prompt on Friday, but Professor Sidler and I went to see Star Wars instead. :-P

Since this week is Hanukkah and Christmas, let's do some fun and festive prompts.

Have you traveled to be with family, or has family gathered around you? Look around and listen to the way that your family is yours. Every family is different. What kind of jokes do you make? What topics always come up? What traditions do you keep? What's the quickest way to annoy your cousins? What's the song that everyone will sing if someone starts it? What's a family story that's passed around every year? Who do you miss, and what reminds you of them? Write about that.

What's a tradition you wish your family kept? What's a recipe that your grandma used to make, or you've been wanting to try? What's a craft you think would be fun with your nieces, or a creative endeavor you'd like to learn from your mom? What skills or knowledge do you admire in your grandpa? Start that tradition. Make that recipe. Plan a crafting day. Ask questions and listen.

Bonus idea: What are all the ways your family shows their creativity? Find a way to celebrate them. Call out their beauty. Host a family art gallery or talent show. :-)

I've loved reading Adorning the Dark with you these last couple of months. Thanks for participating and sharing your thoughts and creative work! We're going to take the rest of this year off at WingfeatherSaga.com, and I'll see you all in January.

The stories are true.