Toe Jam

Reeking Through Books at Kieran's!

2009-11-06T11:26:14-08:00

This will be awesome! TJ, Korn, Gout, Rucas and I will join author Pete Hautman to talk about the craft of writing books for young readers on Tues, Nov. 10 @ 5:30.

The event is officially called "Raking Through Books." (Sorry about the typo in the headline: Gout got to the keyboard just before I hit "post.") It's co-sponsored by The Loft (where you probably know Toe Jam first visited me about writing the story), The Rake, KFAI, U of M Bookstores, and of course, the good folks from Kieran's.

Thanks for the invite, Dara! (My friend at The Loft.) Still able to help me sneak in a few foul-smelling toenail fairies through the back door? We're all excited to be there, but not sure I can get the dudes to shower for this one!

Hope you can join us, too ...

Raking Through Books Happy Hour Book Club

Tuesday, November 10 @ 5:30 pm

Kieran’s Irish Pub, Minneapolis

Toenail Fairies sighted in Northern Iraq.

2009-10-10T12:56:01-07:00

There's no downtime when you're a toenail fairy! Between gigs baggin' kids' toenails, TJ, Korn, Gout and Rucas love to pile into the HyToe and visit kids who could use a laugh. And you know, even though they reek, kids love rockin' with The Toenail Fairies!

Last stop: they chugged into northern Iraq with books and trading cards to rap with kids waiting for life-saving heart surgery with the help of PreemptiveLove.

Next stop: New Market, MN where they'll share books, trading cards, hoodies and t-shirts at the annual fundraiser for Majestic Hills, a ranch offering therapeutic horseback riding to children with special needs.

In their sights: a rowdy, reekin' event in St. Louis Park, MN at Perspectives: an organization committed to breaking the cycle for at-risk families and children for total family recovery.

Doing something special for kids anywhere in the world? Toe Jam and The Toenail Fairies would love to hear about it. Maybe they can visit, but please understand: their stench may linger days after their appearance. Just sayin' ...

Pin-point Planet Fungeye in the constellation Hercules!

2009-07-24T18:12:31-07:00

Just in from Starry Night on Twitter: "Hercules is well-placed for summer viewing."

Know what that means? Planet Fungeye is also well-placed for summer viewing. Yes!

Learn more at Starry Night. Then focus your eye on where TJ's pointing.

Steady ... put your juice-box down ... there, see it? That's what we're talking about: you've discovered the beautiful, beloved Planet Fungeye!

Very nice. Toenail fairies have been around for millions of years but kids are just starting to see them now.

Tell your friends!

TJ meets TJ!

2009-07-12T11:56:08-07:00

Wow! TJ, Korn, Gout and Rucas (all of Planet Fungeye, really!) are tuned in and amped up by this talented TJ and his crew. With all their amazing moves, you'd think a toe-stomping incident is bound to happen. TJ meets TJ? That would be awesome!

Toe Jam, Korn, Gout & Rucas Rock The White House with The Obama Girls!!

2008-12-14T22:43:00-08:00

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

Creative Kid: Daisy Genson's Toe Jam Drawing!

2008-12-01T06:50:00-08:00

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!!

Thank you, Dara!

2008-11-12T06:45:00-08:00

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.

Twin Cities Toe Jam tour!

2008-11-02T11:43:00-08:00

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!

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

2008-08-04T08:48:00-07:00

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!

2008-08-01T08:39:30-07:00

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 ...!