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The following message was recently shared with me by the wonderful Jennifer O’Toole, the brains behind Asperkids and author of this fabulous guest post on her special use of Rush Hour!  Her Color Me Awesome initiative is inspiring – click here for more!

So recently, I came across a coloring book called “Nerdy Baby,” which is all sciencey fun.  My daughter Maura (for whom coloring was hard) fell in love with historic coloring books featuring mythology and medieval fashion….and suddenly she WAS coloring BEAUTIFULLY (which showed up in handwriting!)…and inspiring friends to get to know her favorite topics just by sitting together and creating.

Meanwhile, I’ve also just taken to sponsoring a group of artists and artisans on The Asperkids Treasury on Etsy (glass supernova magnets and Hogwarts arm warmers and handmade fairy garden pieces and carved wooden toys and cookie cutters in the shape of molecules!!!) – two of my loves, beautiful handiwork and witty humor, both supporting the Asperkids cause.

And here’s where those two notions intersect:

In all that kerfuffle…(we’ve put the cart a bit before the horse, as the popular interest was already VIRAL)….I am sponsoring an international project to publish the “COLOR ME ASPERKIDS AWESOME” geek chic coloring book DRAWN BY Asperkids.

The book itself is not for little kids, probably aimed more 8-adult. And this is no saccharin stuff – we’re talking nebulas, historical fashions, atomic structures, pteranodons, grammar humor…all things beloved by Asperkids. Unapologetically awesome.

Asperkids up to age 18 are eligible to submit an original B&W line drawing depicting their own clever, “colorable” interpretation of science, art, literature, history, or “geek chic” mash up.

Then, Asperkids, LLC (and publisher) will evaluate entries based upon creativity, accuracy of concept, wit, and clarity, and will choose 40-50 to include in our final published product (artist’s name and home country will be shared, but no monetary compensation is involved).

I’m going to donate a portion of the proceeds to arts programs for spectrum kids…And yes, one of my artisans is even going to make up crayons (like Tardis Blue) to market alongside.

Submissions are already coming in hot and heavy (due date is 3/1) – and the buzz is just electric. Thank you for sharing and supporting what will, I think, be a fantastic (and FUN) product that celebrates the lighter side of Asperger’s.

Warmly,

Jennifer O’Toole, Author. Aspie. Advocate. Mom.

Creator, Asperkids LLC www.Asperkids.com

Get involved! Please submit PDFs by email to kristen@asperkids.com.

Puzzlers worldwide are celebrating today… in case this missed your calendar, it’s National Puzzle Day!  Thankfully, ThinkFun’s resident puzzle expert (and head of inventor relations!), Tanya Thompson, brought this oft-overlooked holiday to my attention just in time – whew!

Need some inspiration?  Check out the great free puzzles in the Puzzles.com Puzzle Playground! Feeling crafty? A search for “DIY Puzzle” on Pinterest was enough to get my creative juices flowing!

For all you word puzzlers out there, I had some fun creating my own ThinkFun-themed word search today with some of my favorite game and puzzle titles (here’s a great site if you want to make your own!)… give it a try!