The Twelve Days of Christmas in Tennessee

I tried to visit many of the places that Teddy and Carly visit in the book. My favorite place was the Lost Sea Cave in Sweetwater, TN. It's a giant underground lake and what I learned about creating a scene underground is that it's very DARK. I put the family in the boat looking up at the crystals that sparkle on the cave roof. By Mary Uhles (illustrator)

On day 12 the cousins visit Memphis, TN known for, of course, Elvis. Count them, there really are 12 Elvis (Elvi?) dancing on Beale Street By Mary Uhles (illustrator)

On one of the final spreads Teddy and Carly see all of the creatures and characters they visit over the twelve days. That was a LOT of characters to get on one spread... and they are not small things, one of them is 7 trains choo-chooing! Fortunately for me I knew that there is a train bridge that crosses the Mississippi river in Memphis so I used that to my advantage... but you have to see the book to see how! Let's just say there are some daredevil train riding Elvi and line and dancers... By Mary Uhles (illustrator)