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Statewide Blog

Minnesota author finds her ABCs at the State Fair

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Children's book author and illustrator Debra Frasier hit the big time in 1991 with "On the Day You Were Born," which has sold more than a million copies.

Her new work mines the sights and sounds of the Minnesota State Fair. "A Fabulous Fair Alphabet" marches through the ABCs with flair and plenty of bold colors.

Frasier, a Florida native who moved to Minnesota in 1984, has become a glutton for the State Fair. She's actually the Minnesota State Fair Foundation's "author-in-residence."

Her alphabet book has garnered some national attention. The New York Times and the Washington Post did blurbs.

From the Times:

The way Frasier brings to life a jaunty Ferris wheel, a sunburst-yellow pitcher of lemonade and a swirling roller coaster will nevertheless whet appetites for summer.

And the Post:

The author is something of a side-show aficionado, as well as a photo junkie. Having taken thousands of pictures of midway signs, she chose a few hundred to assemble into this alphabet-photo collage, a tribute to that most American of institutions: the country fair.

As a companion to the book, Frasier created sheets to encourage kids to write down words they see at the fair. Parents who want to turn the fair into the dreaded "learning experience" for their kids can download the game on Frasier's nifty web site.

And if the book and game weren't enough, Frasier commissioned an original song from Minnesota folkies The Lower 48 to accompany her State Fair video. You can download the song for free.

This year's State Fair runs from Aug. 26 through Sept. 6.