Happy Holidays to all my friends!

Hello everyone!

I love December because there are so many holidays to celebrate! I celebrate Christmas, but I have friends all over who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, St. Nicholas Day, The Winter Solstice, Eid'ul-Adha, St. Lucia Day, Omisoka and lots of others!

Whatever you celebrate, have a really lovely time, and I'll see you again next year!

Your friend,
Nicholas

A Lovely Day

Hello!

I got to go to a really wonderful event on Saturday, November 15th at Forster's Book Garden in Bolton, Ontario, in Canada! It was great fun, and it was wonderful to see my friends there. Miss Laurie read to us from some of my books and we colored together and ate one of my most favorite treats- croissants! I like to travel all over to visit my friends, so if I'm ever in your town, I hope you'll stop by! Here are some pictures from our afternoon:


we all love to read!



Also, more of you sent me letters and drawings and I love them! Look, this one is from
Nell:There I am, next to the Eiffel Tower! And Vita wrote me a letter:


It sounds like Keely has a hard time keeping track of her things, just like I do! I hope your concert went well Vita and Keely!

Thank you so much everyone- I love the pictures you send me and I hope I get to see you soon!

Your friend,
Nicholas

My mittens and my friends

Hello! I'm so excited! I want to show you the great pictures my friends just sent me!

Look, this one's from Nicole:

Wonderful work!

And this one's from Geordie:



Thank you so much for making these and sending them to me! I love them and I hope you'll send me more. My friends are terrific!

Also, I almost lost my mittens yesterday, which would have been awful! I was playing with the Avenger's Gang (those are all my friends, in case you didn't know. You can read all about us in my new green book, Nicholas in Trouble) in the old abandoned lot with a broken car. We were playing cops and robbers and I put my mittens on the ground and then I forgot them when we left! I was nearly back to my house when I realized I didn't have them, so I had to go all the way back to the lot to get them, and then mum yelled at me for being late to dinner. But just imagine if I'd lost my mittens! Then she REALLY would have been mad. It's hard to keep all your stuff together when you're out playing, but I do like my mittens an awful lot so I'll try to look after them better. Well, I'll talk to you all again soon and have a lovely weekend!

Your friend,
Nicholas

Winter Morning

Hello all!

It's starting to get cold here now- I woke up this morning and the floor felt like icicles! Dad told me to stop complaining and put on some socks. It wasn't too bad once I got some breakfast and was on my way to school, though. I quite like the cold when I'm dressed properly, because the colder it gets the more likely it is that it will snow! I love it when it snows because then my gang and I can have big snowball fights, and sometimes we get off school. It hasn't snowed yet, but Mum said it would probably snow by December, which is only a few weeks away. I can't wait!

I'm working on my Christmas list to give to Santa. I think I'm going to ask for checkers and a puppy. I already have two Chutes and Ladders games, because Dad's boss sent me one in the mail. Did I tell you about that already? Well, you can read about it in the green book, Nicholas in Trouble if you'd like. Mum told me that there was a new President elected in the United States and that he told his daughters on TV that they would get a puppy! I told pop he should run for President so that I could have a puppy too. He and Mum just laughed, but maybe Santa will listen. What are you going to ask for for Christmas?

Okay! I'm off to go play, but I'll write again soon.

Your pal,
Nicholas

Halloween and Holiday Fun!

Hello! Halloween is in two days and I've been so busy with school, I almost forgot about a costume! Luckily, my Mum is lovely and she helped me make it today, so now I'm ready. She even said she would take me trick-or-treating round our neighborhood! I'm going to be a cowboy, and my costume is fantastic. I bet I'll get even more candies than Geoffrey, who's father is rich and will probably buy him a smashing scary costume that costs loads of money.


I just love all the holidays, don't you? Once Halloween is over, the next one for me is Christmas. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in France, but I wish that we did- maybe Mum will let me celebrate now that I have so many American friends? I could invite all my friends and we could have a giant turkey and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie with cream! If I could celebrate everyone's holidays I would, but I don't think Mum would like to throw that many parties- she says it makes her tired, but I think they are wonderful fun.


Oh! I nearly forgot! My brand new book is almost out- Nicholas in Trouble! This one's got a green cover and you can read about all the new adventures I've been having with my friends. I love the drawings you send, so if you send me more to nicholas@phaidon.com, I'll be sure to let everyone see them here!


Happy Halloween!

Your friend,
Nicholas

Fun in England!

Hi Everyone!

I just returned from a fun trip to Oxford, England. Do you know where that is? Oxford is a city in South East England, and it is home to Oxford University, the very oldest university in the whole English-speaking world. Wow!

I went to Oxford because my friends at Blackwell’s Bookshop invited me to their store for a day of reading and fun activities. Here is a photo one of the reading sessions!

Blackwell’s is quite nice – it has been around since the late 1800s! Many people came to the event, and it was so much fun to make new friends. Here I am outside of Blackwell’s with Ean & Willem, two of my biggest fans!

I love traveling around the world for events! If your favorite bookstores or libraries are interested in having me visit, please let me know by sending an e-mail to nicholas@phaidon.com.

***

Finally, I just wanted to share something special that I received in the post this week. Fraser Wilson sent in a painting he did of me!

Isn’t it brilliant? It’s me with my suitcase – a very appropriate image for August, since everyone in France goes on holiday during this month. I like to go to the beach on my summer holidays. Where do you like to go?

Thank you, Fraser, for my lovely painting! Don’t forget to send your artworks to nicholas@phaidon.com, and I will try my best to put them up.

Cheers!

Nicholas

National holiday!

Hi Everyone!

I nearly forgot to mention that yesterday, July 14th, was a very special day!

Do you know what day it was?

In France, where I am from, July 14th is Bastille Day, our National Holiday. But amongst my pals and my mom and dad we call it Fete National or Quatorze Juillet, which just means 14th July!

Bastille Day is just like the American Independence day - we have great firework shows and parades and tons of yummy food! I was so busy celebrating that I didn't get a chance to let all of you know about it. So mark your calendars so that we can all celebrate together next year!

Happy belated quatorze juillet everyone!

Cheers!
Nicholas

Gone Fishing!

That’s right, I’ve gone fishing. Or I will go fishing just as soon as my Dad gets all of his gear ready. I love fishing. The first time I went fishing was at summer camp when our camp leader took us to the pier. It was great! He got live worms and everything! Some of us got them on the hooks right away, but Paul couldn’t because he was too scared and George and Conrad were too busy having a worm race on the dock!

But sooner or later we all got our lines in the water. Do you remember who caught the first fish?

We had really hoped to get more fish that day on the pier, but in the end we only turned over two fish to our cook but said they were great! Best of all, he gave us cookies as a reward!

Well, Dad’s all set with our fishing rods so we’re going to go down to the lake and have a go. Have you ever been fishing before? Why don’t you tell me your story too!

And for more about my fishing adventure with my camp gang check out Fish Soup in the red colored book, Nicholas on Vacation!

Happy fishing!
Nicholas

Summer is here!

Hi Everyone!

School is out, which means that summer is here! Do you know what I like best about the summer, besides three months without old Mr. Spuds?

The beach!

Every summer I go to the beach with my mom and dad and I meet loads of new friends who have even more fun games to play. We go swimming and kick the ball around and dig huge holes deep in the sand.

What’s your favorite thing to do at the beach?

I love the beach so much I could stay out in the sand all day long! But Mom's always on me about the sun. She says that if you're not careful you can get a terrific burn! Boy is she right cause this one time Dad was out in the sun all day and came back looking like a lobster! The Doc made him stay inside for two whole days! That's a lot of beach time and I wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun! My mom sure does know her stuff - she's OK!

For more of my adventures in sun and sand, read The Beach in the red colored book.

Cheers!
Nicholas

Weekend Birthday Parties

Hi Everyone!

It’s Friday, which means tomorrow starts a brand new weekend! Besides recess and soccer and playing cowboys with my friends, I like weekends the best!

I was just thinking about that weekend I was invited to Mary Jane’s birthday party. At first this seemed like an OK idea because even though Mary Jane’s a girl, she’s alright and birthday parties can be loads of fun with all of the cake you can eat and the games you can play.

Of course, when you go to a birthday party there isn’t always such a great gang as Alec and Geoffrey and Eddie and Rufus and all them, but I didn’t expect to be the only boy at Mary Jane’s party! It was all girls in pink dresses with lots of frills!

Mary Jane’s was nothing like the parties I’d been to before: no cops and robbers or kicking around the soccer ball. Do you remember some of the things we did at Mary Jane’s birthday party? I’ll give you a hint: one of them made me look like a right fool!

Even though I was the only boy at the party it wasn’t all that bad. The food was the best part because they had little cookies and chocolate milk and cake. What’s your favorite part about birthday parties?

If you want to read more about the time I survived an all-girl’s birthday party check out Mary Jane’s Birthday in the yellow colored book, Nicholas and the Gang.

Cheers!
Nicholas

What to do for Mother's Day

Hi Everyone,

Mother's Day in the USA is coming up this Sunday and I thought I might get my mom something nice!

I'm really strapped for ideas, though. I spent all of my piggy bank money on flowers for her birthday. I got into a terrific mess with those flowers, but my mom said they were the nicest bunch she ever had. My mom is OK!

Do you remember what happened with those flowers? I'll give you a hint: it started with Geoffrey and his big mouth!

If you have any neat ideas for a Mother's Day present, maybe you can let me know, because I haven't got a clue!

And if you want to read more about my mess with the flowers check out A Bunch of Flowers in the tan colored book, Nicholas.

Cheers!
Nicholas

More bookstore and library events!!

Hi Everyone,

The winter season has flown by! I have been busy making loads of new friends throughout the United States.

First, I traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
for the American Library Association Midwinter meeting.

I met some really great librarians
who were terrific fun and looked fantastic wearing my badges!

Since then I have been hosting Nicholas Club Story Hour events at libraries and bookstores all over the country.

In New York City I met a few friends who recognized me from their French studies. We read great stories and had time for juice and photos!

In Tacoma Park Maryland my great new gang of friends read some of my books and later a group of them even acted out one of my stories!


At the bookstore, Books & Books, in sunny Miami Florida, my new friends ate chocolate croissants just like my pal Alec.

This weekend I'm heading out to San Francsico, to the nice people at Books Inc. for some more fun! Check in next week for more photos!

Tell me about your travels! What did you do on your spring break?

If you are interested in having me at your local library or bookstore,
just email me at nicholas@phaidon.com and maybe we can enjoy croissants and stories too!

Terrific news!

Hi everyone!

This fantastic newspaper just arrived in the post. It was made by members of the Nicholas Club and it's called 'Terrific news'!
Have you tried making a newspaper on my website? You can write your own article for the front page and choose the pictures to go with it. It's great!

Why not send your finished newspaper for me and my gang to see? Everyone who sends in a paper will get a Alec badge and some of the entries will go up on this blog depending on space.