CHILDREN'S BOOKS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

LITERACY MONTH

2012-03-12T02:20:00.002-04:00

The month of March is "March into Literacy" month. Go here to put this nicely designed spread on your blog or site.

Via MAT@USC: Become a Teacher

DRAWING FROM MEMORY

2012-03-08T23:37:00.004-05:00

I read DRAWING FROM MEMORY on my plane ride to South Carolina a few weeks ago. The kids and Librarians were great there, by the way, but I digress. Anyway, I really loved the mix of drawings and photographs. At first I wondered if it would work but I was pleased to find that the photos really pulled me into the story. And the drawings are great.

This is a summary from the publisher that I got off of Amazon:

"DRAWING FROM MEMORY is Allen Say's own story of his path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. Shunned by his father, who didn't understand his son's artistic leanings, Allen was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan's leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his "spiritual father." As WWII raged, Allen was further inspired to consider questions of his own heritage and the motivations of those around him. He worked hard in rigorous drawing classes, studied, trained--and ultimately came to understand who he really is.

Part memoir, part graphic novel, part narrative history, DRAWING FROM MEMORY presents a complex look at the real-life relationship between a mentor and his student. With watercolor paintings, original cartoons, vintage photographs, and maps, Allen Say has created a book that will inspire the artist in all of us."

It's funny, but the parts that fascinated me weren't told in great enough detail. Why, for example, was he allowed to live by himself at such an early age? Was this common practice? I mean, he was 11! He was in the 6th grade! If that was done in the US it would be child abuse. I was more fascinated by his relationship or NON relationship with his father and the distancing one with his mother. Also, there wasn't much student/teacher relationship shown. The teacher wasn't around much. What there was a lot of was a demonstration of Say's progression as an artist. I liked that at first (I mean, how cool for everyone to SEE what we artists do and how we grow as artists!) but at times I wished for more of the people parts of the story.

Lastly, I wanted to know what happened to Say in America! What happened to him with his dad? The reader is left hanging. Big time. I enjoyed reading this story but I wanted more. Could there be a part two perhaps? A what happened with Say and the people in his life? Life beyond the pencil perhaps?

UM... UNIQUE BOOK TRAILER

2012-03-07T19:21:00.003-05:00

At first I thought the mouths were hand/thumbs talking... until I realized that they were really upside down faces... erm... chins! Interesting? Funny? Scary? Or just too odd for its own good? You decide!

BIRDS WEARING MILITARY OUTFITS

2012-03-04T12:50:00.002-05:00

These are by a Japanese artist. Very cool.

Thanks to my friend Natalie for showing them to me!

TAYE DIGGS

2012-03-01T18:11:00.003-05:00

Yes, yes... more celebrities coming your way! i haven't seen his book so I can't comment on the quality. He is good looking. I'll give him that. And I like the message, especially since I'm worrking on my bully book. Maybe I can contact him and he can give me something for it. Well, I can dream anyway.

JAN BERENSTAIN

2012-02-28T01:13:00.004-05:00

Both of my computers broke last week and I was in South Caroline for some school visits so I wasn't able to post anything. Anyhow, Jan Berenstain died today at the age of 88. Wow, she lived a long life! The first Berenstain Bear book, called The Honey Hunt, was published in 1962.

This is a film I remember from my childhood:

My sisters loved to collect the books. I wasn't that into them because I didn't like obvious messages. I was one of those kids who didn't like to be told what to do (still don't!). But I can certainly appreciate the books none the less.

I like this quote: “It’s wonderful to do something you love for so many years,” Jan Berenstain told the Associated Press last year. “Not everyone has that.”

MARK KELLY WRITES A KIDS' BOOK

2012-02-22T17:17:00.003-05:00

Mark Kelly, former Rep. Gifford's husband, is signed up to write a picture book about a mouse who goes into space called Mousetronaut: A Partially True Story. It will be illustrated by C.F Payne. "While in space the astronauts are busy with their mission when only the smallest member of the crew can save the day," said a statement released this week. Kelly said that writing "Mousetronaut" was "fun" and "not as emotional" as his wife's memoir.

Everyone wants to write a children's book. I guess they imagine it is a fun thing to do. Parts of it is. But if you make it your career it can be stressful and some parts of it are not fun. But I guess if it's a side hobby and you don't go through agonizing rewrites then it could be called "fun."

A NEW HISTORY VIDEO

2012-02-18T02:32:00.003-05:00

I've decided to post new fun bits from the past when I find them since I write nonfiction and all. I was watching Storage Wars and found out something really funny. In the 40s and 50s they made sunglasses for chickens! And today they are valuable. Check out this video. Watching a chicken wearing them in color is even funnier but this old B&W one gives you the real deal:

WOULD I PICK UP THIS BOOK OR NOT?

2012-02-15T13:31:00.005-05:00

Fuse #8 did an interesting post about different versions of book covers – UK vs US, etc. I really liked looking at the difference between them, and, of course, I have my own opinions. I haven’t read any of these books so this is purely based on the covers. I’m calling this: WOULD I PICK UP THIS BOOK OR NOT?

Here we go:
Life - here symbolized by a leaf - is peaking through a long winter… this means there is promise of hope...but then there is barbed wire, subtly hidden along the edges, which a viewer might miss upon first glance. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to mean - some sort of pain or literal imprisonment? It looks boring to me. I know there’s barbed wire there implying that there must be something that goes on of interest but it’s just too subtle. I mean, I don't want to read about about a new sapling. I would walk right by this book.

(US COVER)

Yeah, this one hits you over the head – and the tag line does it even more so – “Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth?” But sometimes you need to hit the shopper over the head. People walk past shelves really quickly. I immediately see this cover and think three things: COLD, ALONE, PAIN. I’d wonder what this book is about.

(UK COVER)

Hmmm. I like the colors. The rocket is very phallic. The title is so small I can’t see it. I’m not sure if I’d bother to pick up this book or not.

(US COVER)
This is a completely different take. The designer decided to go with a font only approach, which is a very adult fiction thing to do. I do like the font. It’s fun to look at. I have to say that once again, I’m going to vote that I’m not sure if ‘d pick up the book based on this cover either.

(UK COVER)

Neither cover above tells me what the book is about. Why is that? I think of the two I'd go for the first. It's more interesting. There are a million covers that have funky fonts that take up the whole cover. That whole thing is really played out to death - and it's an adult theme for sure.

Below are two VERY different takes on the same book.

This is a very juvenile looking cover. The child looks young. It’s a playful looking cover. I think if Jack Gantos’s name wasn’t in skywriting it wouldn't look so young to me. I’d put it in a big black font that matched the font in the “Dead End” sign. That would make the cover look a little more edgy. I think that’s my issue. It seems a little too Beverly Clearly to me. I kept flip flopping on this one but ultimately I don’t think I’d bother picking up the book based on this cover. It looks… eeek… boring. Or like something that’s already been done a dozen times before.

(US VERSION)

The next version is the COMPLETE opposite. This looks very syphofisticated and adult like. I love the tagline “Welcome to the World’s deadliest town…” That definitely makes me want to read the book. The skeleton looks very Day of the Dead to me. The skeleton looks a little silly so maybe the book has some humor to it? I’m not sure. I might want to read the book but more based on the tagline.

(UK VERSION)

These three covers are interesting.

The first one: Boring. Very adult. It looks like a romance novel cover. This I would not even glance at.

I’m intrigued by the second two. The first says danger and mystery. The second is very trippy. I love the second cover because it’s so unique. I’d definitely vote for the second. I want to know more about the character just staring at it. Is she human? Monster? On drugs? Who is she a daughter of? I don’t have these questions based on the other two covers. It's a 3D glasses trip to stare at this cover and who wouldn't want to take that home?

The chime covers:

The green one is boring and typical. The viewer is looking straight at the person on the cover. I don’t want to know more about her. The background is boring. There’s nothing of interest going on there. And the whole thing makes the title boring too.

This cover is more interesting. There seems to be a root like hand crawling on her chest. And the character is wearing chocker that ads mystery and intrigue. The colors are very nicely balanced as well. The brown fades into the background allowing the blue title to jump out at you, meanwhile, the characters dark eyes have this piercing quality that catch your gaze and don't let go. Your eyes end up flip flopping between the font and dark eyes - It works well.

This third cover, however, is the one like best. It is the most mysterious. There’s something strange going on in the background but I can’t qute see what it is - an odd yellow light coming from the trees - yet the character is walking toward it. She’s wearing a long white gown, which is earie looking. I want to know where the character is going, what she is involved in. That’s a cover that works.

(UK COVER)

Read Fuse #8's post on this same subject because she has very different opinions!

OLD PHOTO BLOG

2012-02-10T19:54:00.003-05:00

I was looking for some old photos and stumbled upon a blog called OLD PICTURE OF THE DAY. It's pretty neat. There's a photo per day with fun information below. There are a lot of photos to go through!

"We wrap up Domestic Activities Week with this picture. The photo is from 1904, and it shows a woman napping at her table at the end of a busy day. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and get plenty of rest."

I will end this by saying that I hope you get plenty of rest as well. There will be no rest for me as I am trying to get done a new and exciting project! Well, I hope it's new and exciting. Though I might go to bed early because I got up early, which I never do, but that's another story...

ART ON POST-IT NOTES

2012-02-08T16:56:00.001-05:00

SENDAK

2012-02-08T16:21:00.000-05:00

KANGAROO VS. MAN

2012-02-02T15:06:00.003-05:00

I'm working on an idea about a boxer and I wanted to open my book-to-be with kangaroos boxing men. This was done in the 1800 and 1900s. And, of course, the wonderful youtube has some clips!

This one looks in good fun:

While this looks like serious business. Not play acting at all:

Kangaroos have very strong legs and could knock out the strongest of men. Interesting stuff. This practice of men fighting kangaroos was done away with in the mid 1900s.

I love writing nonfiction for this reason. You never know what you might learn!

A FEW IDEAS FOR BARNES AND NOBLE

2012-01-31T10:37:00.003-05:00

A CNet, Harry McCraken gives a few ideas as to how B&N can help boost sales and save the company. As he says in his article, all he saw when he walked into B&N recently was the Nook booth and the push of digital offerings at the magazine area, people at the cafe, and a bland offering of books. Below are a few of his suggestions to make the store better:

"A more inventive selection, more inventively displayed. Sorry, B&N, but my favorite local bookseller is Green Apple Books, an independent in San Francisco that's filled to the brim with fascinating stuff. I can't go in there without immediately stumbling across several books I want to buy. By comparison, today's B&N stores have a bland, cautious feel: They're largely about the books I already know, not the ones I'd never discover otherwise.

More art books. Nooks, Kindles, and iPads still aren't great when it comes to heavily illustrated volumes. Their screens are too small and they don't have enough pixels. I suspect that coffee table books will still sell well even after novels and other more text-oriented books have mostly gone digital, so the more of them B&N stocks, the better.

Discounts! When B&N stores first started popping up everywhere, the chain's slogan was "If you paid full price, you didn't get it at Barnes & Noble." Somewhere along the line, the company ditched automatic price breaks on non-bestsellers in favor of discounts granted only to members of a club that costs $25 a year. (It must be a profit center--at the store yesterday, a cashier was trying to browbeat customers into joining up.) Given that B&N's principal competitor is Amazon, where discounts of 30, 40, and 50 percent are the norm, its books almost always feel overpriced. Might it sell many more if it charged a little less?"

You can read the whole article here.

JACK GANTOS

2012-01-28T11:44:00.004-05:00

I was listening to WAIT WAT, DON'T TELL ME on NPR this morning, and Jack Gantos - winner of the Newbery this year - was a special guest. He told his tale that was written about in this book:

I had no idea until now what this book was about! Crazy! He became a drug smuggler and at one point was pushing shopping cart of pot down the street!

When the NPR piece is posted I'll put it up on here if I can because it's quite funny - and amazing - and shocking.

Amazon.com Review
"I find myself moving like a knife, carving my way around people, cutting myself out of their picture and leaving nothing of myself behind but a hole." A gaping hole of misery is what popular young adult author Jack Gantos remembers when he thinks back to 1972, "the bleakest year of my life." Just 20 years old, Gantos was in a medium security prison for his participation in a get-rich-quick drug scam. Scared silly by the violence he saw around him daily, Gantos's only lifeline was a battered copy of The Brothers Karamazov, which he painstakingly turned into an impromptu journal by scratching his own thoughts into the tiny spaces between the lines. There, he recorded both his fears and his dream of someday writing a book of his own. Before prison, Gantos had penned a scattered myriad of journals, but had never been able to pull them together into a cohesive narrative. It was during his time behind bars that he found himself growing into a focused, diligent writer who eschewed drugs for the bigger high of watching his words fill the hole once and for all.
Gantos, best known for his award-winning Joey Pigza titles, mines darker material here that is as deeply compelling as his lighter fare. Using short, meaty sentences, Gantos manages to write in a way that dismisses the dubious "romance" of prison, drugs, and "life on the edge" without ever sounding didactic or heavy-handed. Older teens will appreciate his candor and sheer willingness to give them the straight story. Vigorously recommended. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

This got me to thinking about my graphic novel memoir again. Several agents said if I did it I would ruin my reputation. There are a few parts that are kind of crazy - I get car jacked for instance (this really happened when I moved to NYC) and some other things. But I'm thinking of simplifying some of it and trying again. The point of my graphic novel is to show that you can go from nothing and keep trying until you accomplish your goals - in my case it was to get published.

So anyway, when I get to work on Sunday (the bookstore) I"m buying Gantos' book! I've got to read it!

IF I COULD CHOOSE...

2012-01-26T12:34:00.004-05:00

I'm going to play "If I could choose the Caldecott..."
I have not seen all that many picture books that came out this year so this is from my limited viewing... please keep that in mind! But I love Kadir Nelson. I think he's amazingly talented and deserves to win. Hands down.

REALLY GREAT STOP MOTION

2012-01-26T08:57:00.000-05:00

"There's nothing quite like a real book."

IS NOOK MOVING? IS NOOK BYE BYE?

2012-01-25T12:58:00.002-05:00

The New York Times wrote an article about Nook (it's still odd not to write "the Nook") and where it's headed. It said "Barnes & Noble has acknowledged that the Nook has not been profitable, leaving investors anxious about the future costs tied to it, with the need to develop new software and hardware and to advertise the products. By one analyst’s estimate, Barnes & Noble spends $200 million to $250 million annually on its Nook operations." Every good product needs TIME to grow, but what this article indicates, is that the investors do not have the patience to wait. Hmmm. "Barnes & Noble’s stock has fallen 30 percent in the last 12 months. The company attributed the revision primarily to lower-than-expected sales of its black-and-white Nook devices, acknowledging that it had ordered too many of them."

"One possibility is that Barnes & Noble could sell part of the Nook business to the public and maintain a majority ownership stake. Mr. Lynch did not rule out the option of selling the Nook business entirely." Another of their ideas is to open up a separate boutique for Nook devices. That would be crazy in my opinion. For one, people who come into the stores to look for book products find themselves looking at Nook readers and vice versa. They'd be losing that synergy. Second, they spent a ton of money making those lovely Nook centers VERY RECENTLY! What a waste of money!

Badly managed? Bad plans? I think so. I think B&N is just staggering along and not thinking of a long term plan - having a map from day one if you will. And they should have. Think of Apple. They clearly were modeling Nook centers after Apple. Apple took years and years and years to get to where they are now! You can't give it two years and hope to make some bang huge profit. And what about the bookstore aspect? Do they abandon Nook and go back to selling books again like before? Half their stores look like toy stores and gift shops at this point. How does all of this get fixed? I'm worried.

BOOK COVER CLUB

2012-01-24T11:37:00.002-05:00

"READ A BOOK. DESIGN A COVER FOR IT."
BOOK COVER CLUB

ALA AWARDS ANNOUNCED

2012-01-23T21:57:00.003-05:00

I had this thought. What if someone could only win twice? Or three times? I'm talking about for the honors as well. That would allow new people to win the award and then everyone would be happy.

Please comment on this one if you have an opinion!

AN ARTIST AT WORK

2012-01-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

You know I love street art - this is very interesting... and... uh... the buffalo head... yeah.

LOVE THESE

2012-01-19T15:57:00.003-05:00

EVERYTHING GONE COMPUTER...YUCK

2012-01-14T14:50:00.002-05:00

I've noticed that Richard Scarry's animation has gone from a nice painted background look to all colored digital. YUCK.

This is what it used to look like:

This is what it looks like now (please excuse the non-english - it was a better resolution)

I think it's a real shame. Everything these days is DIGITAL DIGITAL DIGITAL. 3D!!!! YAY! Seriously? I watched Avatar like that and it gave me a headache. Those old Disney cartoons a great!

I could only find a remix to Alice in Wonderland, but it's pretty cool:

INTERESTING VIDEO AND MY PROBLEMS

2012-01-12T14:25:00.003-05:00

I'm busy trying to get sketches done for a book. It's been a bad week for me because I found out I'm going to lose my health insurance in a few years from my part time job. It was really good health insurance and I really need it since I have a pre-existing condition. Now what? Freelancers Union, etc. doesn't offer anything good enough for what I need because of the medications I'm on. Eeek. Anyway, this is what a freelancer goes through. I wish congress would recognize that there are people out there like me who need options and aren't wealthy. What do I do? Quit being an author and go hunt for a full time job? Could I even get one in this economy? I'd have to say that I really wouldn't want to do that since I've put in 13 years (wow!) into this author thing. Sigh.

Anyway, here's a fun artsy video I found. This group seems to do all their videos to look like stop motion, even though I think they use other methods?

RED RIDING HOOD PART 1

2012-01-05T14:30:00.009-05:00

Someone asked about scary children's images. I immedietly thought of Red Riding Hood. The old images are the good ones....

Paul Gustave Dore 1832 - 1883 - French artist

Walter Crane 1845 - 1915 English artist

And here is a cartoon take on red riding hood called Red Hot Riding Hood, animated short, 1943:

SOLOMON AND THE RUSTY NAIL

2012-01-03T11:43:00.000-05:00

My roommate showed me a book he got the other day. It came from Amazon. It's a used copy by William Steig that's clearly from the library.

"It's in great condition. Why did the library not want this anymore?" I wondered.

The story starts out simple enough: Solomon can turn into a rusty nail at will . "And zingo! just like that, he became something hard and tiny." I really laughed at the, "Something hard and tiny." Great language.

An odd sort of story idea, yes, but I was willing to go with it. It gets tense when Solomon meets a very scary cat wielding a sharp dagger. Solomon turns into his rusty nail self so that the cat can't eat him....

This is when I thought to myself, "Hmm, this would NEVER get published today."

The story gets really odd. The cat kidnaps Solomon, AKA, "the rusty nail" and keeps him locked up.

Solomon refuses to turn back into himself because when he does he will be eaten. Only at night does he become his bunny self, when it's safe to attempt to escape the cage. The cat gets frustrated by the length of time Solomon remains in his rusty nail state, so he takes him out of the locked cage - in rusty nail form - and hammers him into a board in his house. There Solomon is trapped... forever?

The story is really ridiculous. There's also some sub plot about Solomon liking to catch butterflies... I would definitely edit it down because it's clearly all over the place, but it does have a sense of fun that I think a lot of books now are missing. Are children's books losing their playfulness because editors are playing it too safe? Or do books need to play it safe? Do children today need to be aware of the dangers rusty nails and cats wielding daggers?

Simms Taback: 1932 – December 25, 2011

2011-12-28T11:45:00.005-05:00

Simms Taback died at the age of 79 on December 25 of Pancreatic Cancer. As the School Library Journal says, "he managed to fulfill his dream of traveling to Israel and London before his death." SLJ also said that he designed the first McDonald's box in 1977, which I found interesting... so I went in search of it:

WONDERFUL TO GET... WONDERFUL TO GIVE!

2011-12-23T00:07:00.003-05:00

You may know that I love myself a good 1950s ad. Liz Goulet Dubois posted this of facebook and I can't resist reposting it. Enjoy the memories of the old typwriter:

STITCHES

2011-12-21T14:37:00.002-05:00

I'm getting this book for my dad for Christmas. He's never read a graphic novel before but there's a first for everything, right?

SHHHH... IT'S LEARNING TIME

2011-12-16T22:38:00.002-05:00

"uh oh... the point broke." I think that's when I burst into laughter. Well, one of the moments.

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLING

2011-12-16T13:19:00.002-05:00

Dan Santat did this. I like...

ROOMMATE INSPIRATION

2011-12-15T17:43:00.008-05:00

My new roommate rocks. I love his art and today I found out he has a new blog - christoperdarling/blog - and on his new blog he posted about his studio. As I told him, I'm always jealous of people's studio and his is no exception. It's really super cool. It's the studio I've always dreamed of: spaciousness, cool/talented artists to share the space with, an amazing rooftop with a stellar view if you need to stretch your legs (ehem, and may I say it would be a wonder on the 4th AND on New Year's - basically anything with fireworks). My roommate is a great artist so I'm going to show you all some of his work, design, and his workspace.

Here we have some cans. I really love these. If you go on his website you'll see that they animate--the can lids flip open, displaying the sloshy, lumpy insides. I like to stare at them flip flopping over and over again.

This group of three is from a graphic novel he worked on. Chris is going to contribute something to my bully project, which is just super! His work is perfect for my vision so stay tuned!

Here is a lovely/detailed line drawing:

spot illustrations...

Chris interned at FSG and designed this eye-catching new cover of Shrek:

And these are examples from Carrier Pigeon, a magazine that he co-founded. He designed/illustrated the cover and endpapers. I really love the look of it. I want my own copy! Where is my copy? Okay, I'm going to go ask for a copy....

"I wrote and illustrated this the first winter I lived in New York. I intended 111th Street to read like a children’s book with adult content. It explores the relationship between isolation and city living."

And last, but certainly not least, are photos from his studio. It's in a fancy new loft building in Greenpoint, NYC. I remember when it was being built. I park my car in that area so every time I drove by I'd wondered who would move in. I remember thinking, "Wow, it looks so fancy. Only rich people will be able to move into a place like that!" But it turns out that his studio space is totally affordable and the people he splits it with are amazingly talented. I spoke with one of his "roommates" and she is really nice and her paintings are wonderful. I want one! I need one! Maybe I'll make another post about the other people in his space, if he'll allow me!

I've never lived with a fellow illustrator before but I can say this: It's inspiring. Uh, yeah, that kind of sounds cheesy but I'm being serious. It's nice to talk shop when eating some popcorn and that sort of thing, you know?

GOOGLE BOOKS

2011-12-13T13:32:00.004-05:00

I have to admit that when I'm researching something I love it when a book pops up on Google Books. ESPECIALLY when the WHOLE book pops up. I would buy this said book - I really would - but a lot of times books go out of print and there's no way for me to buy these things! I also love it when medical texts are available on google books. In those instances the books may be in print but they're so much money and all I want is a teensy bit of info that there's no way I'm going out and buying the book! So yeah, I use google books.

How do I feel about my books being on google books? Hmmm. I guess I don't mind. If you go to my website you will find that I have made available all of my out of print books to read in their entirety. Heck, I put a lot of work into those babies! I want them to be seen! I don't really care that much if my in-print picture books are available either. I still think it's crazy to sit around a computer and have story time. I figure if the text is small enough it would just be crazy to attempt it.

But anyway, I just read this:
The Google Book Settlement may be dead, but the litigation lives on..." This was done yesterday, on the 12th. Blah blah blah, the gist was does google's scanning of books amount to copyright infringement.

The Authors Guild said this:“Google’s scanning project has a commercial purpose,” the brief states. “Google undertook the Google Library Project to gain a competitive advantage over other participants in the search engine market, by offering a wealth of content not available elsewhere. Google uses the works obtained from libraries and other sources to attract visitors to its website, thereby increasing its attractiveness to advertisers.”

Enough said there. So, what do you think about this? Is this bad? Is this good? We all know they make money off of it. If they made money off of my book I guess I'd want some of it!

BOOK IDEAS

2011-12-12T11:07:00.003-05:00

I just read this on the Blue Rose Girls (from 2006!!!)

"Calling all kids' book folks--writers, illustrators, booksellers, librarians, editors, etc. What has been the most OUT THERE story idea you've ever heard? I'm talking about those times when you're at a gathering and someone overhears that you have something to do w/kids' books. Then they immediately launch into the "I have a GREAT idea for a kids' book that I KNOW will get published soon..." and all you can do is sigh.

I'll start -- I was at a party a while back and a seemingly normal guy told me about his story idea. It was about a selfish child who loses her precious red shoes. She needs to be taught a lesson... (so far okay) and THEN things got interesting. "The girl whines that she can't find her shoes and Jesus comes in the form of a giant hand which comes from a cloud to tell her she doesn't need the shoes and she should learn her lesson..." This guy with beer in hand blabbed on and on about Jesus and shoes and even bunnies may have been involved, though I'm not sure. Then he said "So, you think you could help me with it?" "Help you?" I said. "Yeah, he replied, "help me get it published...."

The funny, or not funny thing, is that this continues to happen. This happens within my own family. My mom told me that my uncle told her that my cousin had a good idea that I should know about. (it wasn't good). Um... don't they think that maybe I have enough of my own? I'm not being cocky, it's just that I really do! I'm kind of booked at the moment. Then OF COURSE there are the parties. Those are the best places to get new bad ideas (as seen above). I should make a list for humor's sake. Of course, if your friends and family REALLY do know you then maybe they WILL give you good ideas. MAYBE.

SEXIST 1950s and 60s ads

2011-12-09T17:00:00.004-05:00

Here are some of the most sexist ads I've found kicking around the internet. Mind you, magazines from this time period ARE all about women cooking and cleaning but the ads aren't all blatant sexist ads like this. There are a few, obviously, because these were found. I will post a few that I've found on my own soon.

Get upset... laugh... enjoy:

This is when the man needs to be pushed off the cliff....

Oooh, pleeeease don't let me be locked out from you!

I know I want to circle all of them!!!

If she's not pretty she should stab her eyes out. That's what I would do.

That's right, just watch that football game while I wash all the dishes and then I'll bring you a beer...

what the???

Now women know how to get rid of a bad husband: get a lumpy mattress!

We all know that women are so weak that they can't twist open anything including soda bottles, pickle jars, pill containers, hot sauce, mustard jars, juice bottles, and so on. Thank goodness they've made something a woman can maybe open! MAYBE.

Oh, but women like a good spanking.

Thank goodness they've made pants to fit men in style and comfort so that they can walk all over women properly!

This is my goal: can I apply my knowledge of this and put it into a children's book? (all joking aside... REALLY) This is a tough one! I know I can do it though. I think....

RACIST AUNT JAMIMA AD

2011-12-09T15:57:00.004-05:00

I'm going through old magazines because I'm working on a new book and I'm doing some research. I've stumbled upon some interesting advertisements and articles, which I'll be posting just for fun. Here's one that I find kind of racist. What do you think about it? It was from 1939. In the same magazine I found a piece about a "Negro sorority." Obviously today one would find terminology insulting but there's a big photo of African American girls in college. So there was some forward thinking even then. Hmmm.

KIDS AND ART 1938

2011-12-09T14:39:00.001-05:00

I was looking through old articles and stumbled upon this one from 1938. I just love that kids were encouraged even then!

PICTURE BOOK MONTH

2011-12-07T14:35:00.003-05:00

It's Picture Book Month... or was?. Authors write why they think picture books are important. And they are!!!

MESA

2011-12-03T16:40:00.002-05:00

You all know I like street art. Maybe you do too... but maybe you don't. Check out this guy's stuff. It's blowing me away!

I'm inspired by all sorts of art. Right now I'm thinking about doing another Mona Lisa book - this time nonfiction - we'll see! Just looking at old paintings is inspiring. Looking at this guy's stuff is inspiring. He's doing a painterly style on walls outside - amazing!

LITTLE PRINTER

2011-12-03T16:32:00.001-05:00

If you have the desire to go back to paper... as I sometimes do, then this is for you!

Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

MYSTERIOUS BOOK SCULPTURES

2011-12-01T23:58:00.003-05:00

These sculptures have been deposited in libraries throughout Scotland. The anonymous artist has left notes such as, "I've left a little something for you near the Women's Anthologies X. In support of Words, Books, Words, and Ideas..." for the librarian to find.

This is a great story. Read the first part here and then the second part THE LIBRARY PHANTOM RETURNS!
Thanks to Julia for posting about this on Facebook!

UNDER THE HOOD

2011-11-23T14:21:00.002-05:00

I found this cool book...

It's a very short book but it's a lot of fun to lift the flaps and see what's going on underneath the hood of the cars and to check out the tool box and such. I wish more books got into the nitty gritty of the insides of the cars and the dirt and such. Boys especially love the car books but they all have such a neat appearance. I like this one because its a fix-it book. It reminds me of my plastic tool box as a kid.

SMILE

2011-11-18T11:40:00.003-05:00

I've been busy... celebrating my birthday at my parents' house (relaxing). They let me go to the antique store and pick out something for 100 dollars. I bought a great, huge metal sign for the kitchen with a hotdog on it. Perhaps I'll post a picture when I get around to plugging in my ipod. Then I got sick so I couldn't function. But now I'm better!

Anyway, I've been reading SMILE. What a great book! As some of you may know I wrote my own "book" about being bullied and it just so happens that my story also has a lot to do with teeth. I put "book" in quotes because my story is not yet published... and maybe it will never get published. But let's not dwell on my story, let's talk about SMILE. Number one, I love the art. It's great. Very expressive. The comic book style lines to show movement - like when a kid flicks a rubber band at the back of the main character's head, is perfect. I really fealt it. And I am always a fan of landscapes (I paint them in my spare time - uh... what spare time?). Raiana Telgemeier - the author - places them in just the right places - to set the scene and atmosphere. And the story, of course, is great. Raina's "friends" make little snide remarks that escalate as the story goes on. This was also my problem as a youngster! I also put this in my graphic novel-to-be. Of course, Riana does something that I never did - she stands up to them! Perhaps Riana is the person I wish I could have been.

To sum it up: This is a great story, great art, great book. Buy it. Read it. Share it with your students or kids or the young kids you may bump into.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOLDEN BOOK COVER

2011-11-12T13:23:00.003-05:00

My author/illustrator pal Megan Cash posted this on my facebook wall yesterday, as it was my birthday. I really dig this cover!

THE BULLY PROJECT

2011-11-10T13:49:00.001-05:00

I'm starting a project. I want get author/illustrators together to make a really great graphic piece of work of short graphic novel pieces about being bullied and being a bully. This has been on my mind for a long time and I finally feel that I really must just go for it. I didn't want to "announce" any of my plans except that I need a little help - I want to invite teens to submit their stories. My idea is for some of the stories to be chosen and illustrated. Then of course I'd like to try to get this thing published.

I've made a webpage for this that isn't "launched." None of the links work except for the "about the book," and, of course, there is no book. Ha. Anyway, I do plan on making the whole thing work shortly.

What I want help with is spreading the word. If you know of a published author or illustrator who has a good story about being bullied or being a bully then send them my way! I do want this to be fully illustrated - no just text so if an author is involved then somehow their text would have to be illustrated. I'm also now thinking that it would be cool to put some photography in the piece here and there. Also, the biggest part I want help with is looking for teens. If you know of a teen who has a story have them write it and send them to me!

thanks!

THE BULLY PROJECT

HOW TO DRAW A BEAR

2011-11-09T20:09:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about making another "How to draw" bits... especially because a kid asked me if I had one on my website for Balto. I do not. Maybe I should make one?

Anyway, I stumbled upon this cool video:

GREAT ACTIVITY BOOKS

2011-11-08T11:00:00.002-05:00

These books are great:
They are activity/coloring books. They're super creative and fun and not like the ones I grew up with. They're for kids but I'm an adult and Iike them! They're also great for authors and illustrators to give them promotional ideas.

TALE OF A TIGER

2011-11-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

Does anyone remember this one? This really inspired me as a child. It's an Australian movie about a kid who really wants to fly and is picked on by bullies in the neighborhood. The bullies have model planes that they fly and the kid who is picked on insists that he is going to fly a real plane. He finds a hermit type character in a warehouse who used to be a pilot and encourages him to fix up his old plane.

Anyway, here's a teaser:

I wish I could find the actual film.

IN HONOR OF ANDY

2011-11-05T22:42:00.002-04:00

I'm going to give Mr. Grumpy Pants a pass here because he had a lot of good points on a lot of OTHER things. And he was a fixture in American society. He did need to trim his eye brows but I guess that will never happen. RIP Andy!

BBC CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

2011-11-05T12:57:00.002-04:00

Anyone remember this version? I loved it!

A GOOD USE FOR THE IPAD

2011-11-04T13:55:00.004-04:00

When I was in VA for my school visit a week ago I was talking to a librarian about the translation of books to digital. Of course I'm not the most thrilled person with the whole idea so I expressed that. She told me that she has my book Balto on her iPad and said she projected it in front of her class. The book looks great on the iPad and the nice part is that it can be read aloud in front of the class with the pictures displayed nice and big. No one is left out when the book is projected!

So... I guess these digital things do have their uses.

WILD THING PUMPKINS

2011-11-01T00:23:00.004-04:00

In honor of Halloween, I present to you a variety of carved (and a few not carved), complex (and a few not complex) pumpkins:

CLAES OLDENBURG SANDWICH

2011-10-31T12:01:00.003-04:00

I'm starting a new section of my website called "favorite artists." It's basically my favorite artists... obviously. It's going to take me a long while to finish it. But anyway, at the bottom of each artist page -- I will put up images of the artist's work - there will be a video. I thought I'd post some of the videos I find because I find them inspiring (and sometimes amusing).

GREAT ANIMATION

2011-10-29T15:07:00.004-04:00

My new roommate, Christopher Darling (he's an illustrator), did the drawings for this animation for Sony:

Robert Johnson: Devilish Detail on Nowness.com.

I wouldn't say this is kid friendly (for teens it's okay) but since I'm in the animation zone so to speak, I really got a lot out of it. I love the use of B&W with just a little bit of color. And it's very expressive. Just watching the foot wiggle was great.

MY TRAVELS, A BOOKSTORE, AND HOUDINI THE HANDCUFF KING

2011-10-28T14:20:00.007-04:00

I was in Richmond VA this week for a school visit. As usual, the kids were great and the librarians were fabulous.

Afterward I did a little signing at a local bookstore called bbgb.

One of the owners, Jill, is really great and knows her stuff. She showed me a bunch of nonfiction graphic novels because I told her I was working on some. She let me pick one for the plane ride home. I chose HOUDINI: THE HANDCUFF KING, by Jason Lutes & Nick Bertozzi.

It's a glimpse into Houdini's life and shows one of his stunts: his jump off a bridge. I really enjoyed it. The art and text are just right.

I think the lesson for me is that sometimes it's best to take a snippet from someone's life instead of trying to tackle the whole thing. This book left me wanting more. I think any kid who reads this book will want to research Houdini's life afterward and that's what a great nonfiction book does! This book also reads like a great movie - another key to a great nonfiction book. No snore fest here! A big thank you to all the staff at BBGB's. You were great... and of course Brenda, the librarian, who was with me all day!

CHILDREN'S BOOKS WITH 3D PAPER ART

2011-10-25T20:48:00.004-04:00

I really dig this 3D cut paper thing...

These are by Giles Laroche:

DAV PILKEY ON BECOMING AN AUTHOR

2011-10-21T16:51:00.004-04:00

On the topic of paying attention, this is an interesting talk by Dav Pilkey. He indicates that teachers didn't have much faith in him. It was his own imagination out in the hallway that started him on his path to becoming an author.

I think teachers can harness this sort of creativity. Kids like this just learn in a different way. I know it can be hard when you have a large class and you certainly can't concentrate on just one kid but putting them out in the hallway probably isn't the solution. Thankfully, I was never put in the hallway! Of course, I was not a disruption in class. I just didn't pay attention. I loved it when I could do an art project out of a book -- like instead of a standard book report once I got to make a comic strip report telling what the book was about in that way. I still have the comic!

TROUBLE FOCUSING - AN INTERVIEW WITH MY MOM

2011-10-21T14:15:00.003-04:00

I am writing about the same thing on the Blue Rose Girls today because it has taken me a LONG time to put this together. I have finally uploaded the finished interview with my mom on reading, with images and all!

This is the sample I put on the BRG:

ME:I remember when I asked you to read my first attempt at a novel. You said something like: “Bridget is the writer in the family. You should stick to art,” or some such. You later explained why you said that. You really thought my writing would be terrible and was trying to save me from embarrassment. But this is why I ALWAYS ask you for advice on my writing before anyone else--because you are honest and I value your opinion. I think we have the same taste in writing and art. Sometimes honestly is hard to swallow, but it always works out for the best. What did you think of my early writing attempts? You can be honest. I won’t cry.

MOM:I think you struggled with writing in school for the same reason that sometimes made it hard for me to figure out what you were trying to tell me in everyday conversation. You tended to start telling me something as if I was inside your brain. I remember having to ask lots of questions to figure out where your ideas were coming from. This is a really simplistic example; "Mom, she was there when it happened." And I would be totally puzzled and have to say, who what where and when. Consequently your writing was confusing. I think you also had trouble organizing. Remember your little index card to help with a math test. You were allowed to bring one index card with some helpful facts to a math test. You filled both sides with microscopic letters and numbers with no spaces between them. It was like looking sanskrit .

Your notebooks came home with huge holes where you must have erased right through the paper. I used to marvel at them.

Basically your attempts to help yourself learn, produced chaos. So I was astounded when you began to write coherently. when you were in your twenties. I think that part of your brain just matured late."

---------

The funny thing is that just the other day I asked my friends if I still do that... if I start talking about stuff and don't explain what I'm talking about. They said "yes." I mentioned it to them because I fear that I'll do that when public speaking... that I'll start talking about something and not explain myself and not make any sense to people! In my brain I make TOTAL SENSE. But I guess to the outside world I make none? I also worry about this because I have done a few radio interviews and you really have to think on your toes. Will I say things that don't make any sense then? I don't know if this is just me or all A.D.D people have this issue. It's funny but my taste in books reflected that. My sisters loved books that made more sense and I loved the the crazy books that were all over the place -- like In the Night Kitchen and One Monster After Another. It was like my brain had come alive via the page!

To read the whole interview go here!

GEORGE'S MARVELOUS MEDICINE

2011-10-19T20:19:00.002-04:00

This is a very energetic read-aloud of Dahl's story...

THE PAPERBOY

2011-10-16T23:18:00.004-04:00

Before Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey was busy doing a lot of other great books. I love The Paperboy. It's simple and poetic and really gives you the feel for what it's like to be a paperboy. It was first published in 1996.

I love spreads like this:

It's hard to ride a bike
when you are loaded down with newspapers
But the paperboy has learned how to do this,
and he is good at it.

All the spreads are blue and black and dark green until the last few pages when the sun peeks up above the trees and colors a few lines of sky orange and yellow. Then the paperboy tiptoes back to bed...

MORE ADVERTISING IN CHILDREN'S BOOKS

2011-10-14T13:33:00.005-04:00

As you can read from my two earlier blog posts, I've found some blatant advertising in a recent popular children's series. Is this a new trend? Is this going to be a way to make more money for publishing companies?

I found the below comments on a site called COMMERCIAL ALERT - "Protecting communities from commercialism."

"Keep Disguised Ads Out of Children's Books

HarperCollins Children’s Books recently announced plans to publish a new series of books targeted at 8- to 12-year-olds featuring a character called “Mackenzie Blue.” Although touted by the publisher for teaching kids about protecting the environment and promoting global understanding, the Mackenzie Blue series actually aims to be a vehicle for delivering commercial messages, through product-placement hidden advertisements, product tie-ins, and affiliated multi-media corporate sponsorships. The author of the series, Tina Wells, is chief executive of Buzz Marketing Group, which specializes in marketing to children and adolescents.

Book publishers should not be exploiting children for commercial gain. Books should educate and entertain children — not encourage them to buy a particular brand of shoe or soft drink.

Tell Susan Katz, publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books, not to publish "Mackenzie Blue" unless all product placements and tie-ins with external advertisers are removed"

This was obviously written before the series came out. They also wrote this letter:
Commercial Alert Letter to HarperCollins Children's Books Regarding "Mackenzie Blue"

After HarperCollins Children’s Books announced its intent to publish a series of children’s books entitled “Mackenzie Blue,” Commercial Alert sent the following letter to Susan Katz, publisher of HarperCollins Children’s Books, opposing the decision. According to news reports, the “Mackenzie Blue” series will be infiltrated with product-placement hidden advertisements and will be designed effectively as a marketing vehicle for big companies. Commercial Alert is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that seeks to limit excessive commercialism in society.

Following is the text of the letter:

Dear Ms. Katz,

I am writing from Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that is concerned with excessive commercialism in society, and particularly the impact on children.

We are appalled at your recently announced plans to publish a new series of books targeted at 8- to 12-year-olds featuring the character “Mackenzie Blue.” According to news reports, the Mackenzie Blue series of children’s books will be infiltrated with product-placement hidden advertisements and will be designed effectively as a marketing vehicle for big companies.

We urge you to abandon these plans immediately.

Your news release touts the Mackenzie Blue series for teaching kids and especially girls about how to relate to peers and develop a positive self-image, and helping them build an environmental consciousness.

These purported objectives of the series are totally incompatible with the overriding commercial partnering strategy of the series.

Excessive commercialism in youth culture is undermining kids’ self-esteem, as it substitutes an inventory of what they possess for the developmental challenge of defining who they are. It teaches children similarly to judge classmates and peers based on what they wear and how they appear, interfering with their ability to relate to others based on their unique personalities and to appreciate diverse personalities and styles. Excessive commercialism is heavily correlated with the youth obesity epidemic. And, of course, the commercial influences and the emphasis on intensified consumption is incompatible with the fundamental ecological challenges facing the planet.

Beyond these specific concerns, marketing to young children is wrong for the fundamental reason that—even in a technology-heavy environment—many kids under the age of 11 do not have the ability to discern advertisements and promotions from entertainment and life experience. Hidden advertisements, such as product placements, and integrated multi-media marketing strategies make this line-drawing that much more difficult.

Children and adolescents are already assaulted with advertisements on a daily basis—books, of all things, should be a haven from the commercial assault on kids. Books should educate and entertain children, not serve as a vehicle to deliver hidden marketing messages encouraging them to buy a particular brand of shoe or soft drink or cosmetics.

The Mackenzie Blue concept is a horrible degradation of the honorable field of publishing. If there is virtue in the Mackenzie Blue story concept, it will only be redeemed by liberating it from the commercial entanglements your plans seem to envision. We strongly urge you to remove all product placements and eliminate all tie-ins with external advertisers before proceeding with your publishing plans.

Sincerely,

Robert Weissman,
Managing Director"

I have NOT read this series so I cannot personally comment. I will look over the books this weekend and then give you my personal opinion.

I did find a NYT article on the subject:

"In Books for Young, Two Views on Product Placement

By MOTOKO RICH
Published: February 19, 2008
Specifying a character’s brand of lipstick, shoes or handbag is a commonly accepted way to add an aura of reality or consumer aspiration to books aimed at young readers: just think of “The Gossip Girl,” with that series’s abundant references to Prada and Burberry. But what if writers and publishers enlisted companies to sponsor those branded mentions, as is the widespread practice in Hollywood?

Authors of two book series have come to separate conclusions: in one case, the writers tried it and then changed their minds; in the other, for a new series to be published next year, the author, who owns a marketing company, said she planned to give corporate sponsorship a chance...

In “Mackenzie Blue,” on the other hand, a new series aimed at 8- to 12-year-old girls from HarperCollins Children’s Books, product placement is very much a part of the plan. Tina Wells, chief executive of Buzz Marketing Group, which advises consumer product companies on how to sell to teenagers and preteenagers, will herself be the author of titles in the series filled with references to brands. She plans to offer the companies that make them the chance to sponsor the books.

Ms. Wells said she would not change a brand that she felt was at the core of a particular character’s identity merely to cement a marketing partnership. “Mackenzie loves Converse,” she said, referring to the series’s heroine and the popular sneaker brand she favors. “Does Converse want to work with us? I have no clue. But that doesn’t negate the fact that Mackenzie loves Converse.”

However, when asked what she would do if another sneaker company like Nike (one of her clients) wanted to sponsor the books, she said, “Maybe another character could become a Nike girl.”

For the full article go here.

Obviously the series started out a good number of years ago. But what I'm wondering now is with kids having cell phones and those bar codes at the back of books and now with bookmarks ADVERTISING PRODUCTS IN THE BOOKS what's stopping kids from ordering things right from the bookmark and the parent getting a nice bill?

Stay tuned....

MORE ON THE UNDERDOGS AND NEW BALANCE

2011-10-12T17:37:00.003-04:00

Here's a quote I found:
"We are extremely excited to be part of Mike's latest inspirational story for youth about the importance of good sportsmanship and the power of persistence and teamwork in achieving goals," says Rob DeMartini, chief executive officer and president of New Balance.

This is a video interview on Mike Lupica and his books, which is actually pretty interesting. At the end he talks about his new book and the role New Balance plays in it.

Watch this at WNCN

I don't think any of this would be at all bad if the shoes were not advertised on bookmarks placed in the books! Also, the fact that the shoes are specifically spelled out in the book (I'm sure to some reading it -- especially advanced reader copies -- it will seem like made up shoes) 897 Football Cleat by New Balance, it's just a little much.

Oops, did I give my opinion?

ADVERTISING IN KIDS' BOOKS?

2011-10-12T12:48:00.010-04:00

Someone pointed out to me that in Mike Lupica's new book --The Underdogs-- there is a bookmark advertising shoes his characters wear in the book, that is placed in the middle of every book, that was shipped to bookstores to sell. The bookmark has a photograph of the shoe in various colors: red, blue, silver, black... Here is a sample:

On the bookmark it says something like - Buy the shoes that the character wears in the story...
Honestly, this is a really nice looking cleat. If I were in the market for a football shoe I'd want it. If I were a kid I'd want it. So is this a problem? If I were a parent would I see this as a problem? I mean, you buy a book for your kid to read and there, in the middle of the book, is a bookmark advertising really cool shoes that the character wears. Your son (or daughter) is going to be asking for them. Then you're going to have to shell out all of this money that you weren't expecting to shell out. And what's next? Are books going to be advertising other things? TVs? Video games? IPads? Cellphones?

Another question: Who makes the money off of this synergy? The author? The publisher? Both? Neither? What do YOU think? Editors/Publishers--any of you have something to say?

BARNES AND NOBLE PULLS DC COMICS FROM SHELVES

2011-10-11T22:24:00.005-04:00

Last week Amazon launched the Kindle fire and because DC comics agreed to be exclusive and not allow BN's Nook to sell DC products electronically, BN made a big decision and decided to pull all of DC books from its shelves. BN said in a statement: "Barnes & Noble works with thousands of publishers to bring customers the world's largest selection of physical and digital reading content. However, regardless of the publisher, we will not stock physical books in our stores if we are not offered the available digital format."

Wow. This is a huge decision. My question is: are they in such a great position to making this kind of move? Also, clearly the line between bookseller and publisher has been blurred beyond recognition. Also, I find this especially ridiculous since graphic novel/comic book readers mostly don't like to read on e-readers!

NPR INTERVIEW - NOW WITH PICTURES!

2011-10-09T12:41:00.001-04:00

BUMBLE ARDIE

2011-10-08T15:51:00.006-04:00

Maurice Sendak has a new book out. I commend him for keeping at it. I haven't had a chance to look over the book for a good judgement YET but as perhaps some of you may have figured out, I won't give you my full judgement of a book anyway... because you know... I'm an author... and that would be bad.

Anyway, this is his new book:

And this is a short film from the old Bumble Ardie:
(thanks to Sheila for the heads up)

I will say this about his work. His art has gotten a little sloppier. Or a lot?

And here's a cool stop motion animation from Sesame Street.

I remember this when I was little. I remember feeling uneasy about it. Isn't that weird? I didn't like its hairdo or the eyelashes or the song it sang. But at the same time I thought it was interesting to look at and I like when it croaked.

A TRIBUTE TO STEVE JOBS

2011-10-07T14:45:00.001-04:00

This is crazy...

And speaking of street art... if you like looking at pretty pictures, don't forget to check out my street art blog.

BARNES AND NOBLE CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENT GETS AN OVERHAUL

2011-10-05T13:17:00.004-04:00

There are some big changes coming to the B&N Children's Department. They are getting rid of many categories, such as pop-up books, some of the favorite characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine, and the nonfiction picture book section is no more. Also, section such as "Science," have been replaced with "Up in the Air," etc.

B&N wants to create an "experience." Their research has been that shoppers want to shop in a certain manner and that creating these new sections will help foster the experience that shoppers are looking for.

Make a trip to B&N and take a look around at the new arrangements as they unfold and tell me what you think. Is it an improvement? Or do you wish some of the sections should go back to the way they were? Happy? Outraged? Speak up!

STOP MOTION FROM ISREAL

2011-10-05T13:12:00.002-04:00

This is great...

OH DEAR...

2011-10-03T22:14:00.002-04:00

"Democrats Are Dumb, A Children's Guide, is designed to open dialogue between parents and children - and anybody else, for that matter - about our current political leaders..."

SALVAGED WOOD ART

2011-10-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

RON VAN DER ENDE

This guy is too cool not to post about him (even if he's not kids' book related). All art inspires me to be creative!

A NEW BLOG

2011-09-30T14:54:00.003-04:00

Yes, yes... I can't help myself. I have so many interests that I need outlets for them all. So, I've started yet another blog. This one is called STREET ART NYC. I will post street art that I find around the city at least a couple times a week with the area I found it at and comments here and there. There is so much cool and wonderful stuff out there so please check it out!

SESAME STREET COUNT TO 9

2011-09-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

I really liked the odd ones. They encouraged creativity!

STAY AWAKE!

2011-09-29T08:11:00.003-04:00

Free coffee day ya'll!

It's national coffee day or some such so McDonald's, Krispy Kreme, 7-Eleven (from 7-11), and Dunkin' Donuts (some locations - ones in NYC included 4-10 - free iced coffee) and some other places are giving away free coffee.

So get your caffeine on and get to work!

P.S -- The paintings of coffee cups came from a site I stumbled upon - Susan Jane Belton. Check out more of her cups! They're great.

BLANKETS

2011-09-28T20:06:00.002-04:00

This is a trailer that someone did for Craig Thompson's Blankets:

And then I found this short kind of funny B&W film that some folks did acting out the first part of his graphic novel when he recounts being a kid, when his father would punish him by throwing him in "the cubby hole."

Books like this are fun because you really can act them out!

BOOK DESIGN -- HABIBI

2011-09-28T12:15:00.005-04:00

-- AUTHOR/ARTIST Craig Thompson --

Blankets is a really good graphic novel about a new, young relationship. It's a great teen read though it's shelved in the adult section in bookstores.

Since I liked it so much I bought this book.

I haven't yet read it but the design is gorgeous.

This is why books will live on (I hope!). There is a gold foil inlay on the cover and spine and the inside is equally well designed.

This is why books are wonderful!

Getting nonfiction to sell

2011-09-27T09:39:00.002-04:00

I've been away doing some research for my new book. I got to ride in a police car. Very exciting!

Anyway, Marc Tyler Nobleman wrote an interesting post today on nonfiction.

Noblemania: Picture book for sale: Twelve reactions to my latest nonfiction work: “[This] made me quite teary. [I]t’s a beautiful [story], and very nicely told” “A great conv...

Mark has had a lot of trouble getting his latest idea to sell so he asked some illustrators to illustrate his yet to be published book to show the potential in it. Take a look!

I really love the covers these illustrators came up with. Very nice work. Here's a sample:

(Julia Sarcone Roach)

His thoughts are that his idea is too obscure or rather that it's not a known subject for editors to see the selling potential. What do you guys think of this? I feel like I've done a few obscure subjects. Charles Atlas - no? Maybe I'm wrong. Do you guys think kids only go for KNOWN subjects?

MEETING A POLICE OFFICER

2011-09-21T00:41:00.004-04:00

I'm meeting with a police officer tomorrow and taking a tour of the police dept., etc. I'm trying to come up with questions to ask. So I'm asking for help. Can you guys come up with any good ones? Do you know of ones kids might ask or things kids might want to know? Let me know!

JUDGING ART PART 2

2011-09-16T20:26:00.001-04:00

I found a visual version of what I was trying to explain:

Once you get past his accent, I think you'll get it!

JUDGING ART

2011-09-15T14:02:00.002-04:00

Twice this week I've had conversations with people about judging art. The first was when I was in the break room at work. I was looking at Selznick's new book.

I like the video for it:

Since I'm very into making videos for my books I wish I could figure out how to cut out the images and make them into different plains like they did... but I digress.

Anyway, I was looking at the book and someone who works in the kids dept. asked if I was going to buy the book. I said that I was just looking at it. I wanted to look at the art. She asked if I liked it. I told her what I thought. She said that she didn't know how to judge art so she didn't have an opinion. I said, "Well, do you like this or don't you?" She said she thought it was okay. She said she didn't love it but didn't hate it. I said, "So you DO have an opinion. You can judge art." Just because I went to art school and I can verbalize WHY I like or don't like or am indifferent to something doesn't mean that I'm a better judge than anyone else. I think people who weren't schooled are afraid to give their opinion because it won't be the right one. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Are you just okay with it? That's all that matters! Go with your gut. That's all there is to it!

A VIEW OF LONDON

2011-09-14T16:46:00.003-04:00

I went on another shopping excursion and found some cool out of print books. This one is called:

A VIEW OF LONDON
By
Edward Pagram
Hamish Hamilton
First Published in Great Britain 1963

THIS HURTS MY HEAD

2011-09-08T11:52:00.001-04:00

From Publishers Weekly (thanks to Sheila for the heads up...)
"Librarians and book re-sellers say their core activities are now in question after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on August 15 upheld a lower court decision finding that the “First Sale” doctrine in U.S. copyright law—the provision that enables libraries to lend and consumers to re-sell books they’ve lawfully purchased—does not apply to works manufactured outside the U.S. While the verdict stands as a major victory for the publishing industry, which has long fought the “illegal importation of foreign works,” especially textbooks, critics say the broad decision goes too far, and could harm libraries and encourage the outsourcing of jobs. "
Go here for the whole article.

BOOKS WON'T DIE IF THIS GUY HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!

2011-09-05T11:47:00.004-04:00

One man in Texas has up to 50,000 books stored up and he's not done yet! He says he's picky, only buying nonfiction and books hard to get. If books die, go to him!

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

BALTO FILM

2011-09-02T19:02:00.003-04:00

I don't like to post stuff about my books or me or my reviews, blah blah blah. But the reason I haven't been remembering to post lately is that I've been working on this:

This is only the first half. But I'm glad it's done! I have learned a lot while working on it. I figured out how to animate stuff (badly). I did it old school - no program. I know, I'm insane. I literally moved each character one little bit at a time and then froze the image and then moved it a little more and kept doing that. And then there was the sound part. I was anal about that, too, of course.

I guess the lesson here is that you should always try something new. Push yourself. You'll get better at it as you do it and I think you'll be glad you put yourself through hell when it's done! I'm happy I tortured myself.

SKULL BOOKSHELF

2011-09-01T10:01:00.002-04:00

Oh my goodness, it's been a whole week since I've posted! Bad Meghan, bad! I got really distracted by the hurricane and then going to work, etc. Excuses, excuses.

Anyway, I came upon a book on skulls and inside was a spread that displayed this neat bookshelf arrangement:

Very creative indeed!

AAARRRRRGGGG!!!! MY UGLY DIGITAL BOOK!

2011-08-25T13:48:00.004-04:00

People want to know why I complain about picture books going digital. I feared the worst and the worst has come true for one of my books. My book Pop looks great on the apple products but my book Balto looks TERRIBLE on the Nook. I mean it. Really, truly, awful. I want to take photos to show as an example and perhaps I can pull this off. I don't want to get caught taking photos of the device while at work though. I was told that there are two different ways that the book can be displayed on the color Nook and that the programing for my book was sent in in the ugly format. I wonder why there are two options to begin with?

So I will try to explain how it looks. The first option (the good option) is for the book to look like the book (and this is how Pop looks on the Apple products). The second option - and this is how my book Balto is displayed in an awful manner - is for the text to be removed from the art and for the book to be displayed like a novel. The art is cut up in pieces and displayed here and there--sometimes at the top of the page, sometimes on the next page, sometimes blown up X200 so that it looks super bad... and the font can be changed to anything. So basically the book is BUTCHERED in the most enormous way possible. You certainly cannot read it to a child in the manner in which it is displayed on the device. It's just a joke.

I'm sorry but these things have a LOOOONG way to go before they think they can sell picture books fairly. I'd want my money back! Grrrr.

You may not believe how bad this actually is so stay tuned for photos (if I can manage).

TASHA TUDOR...

2011-08-21T13:09:00.002-04:00

What do you think her little art and book is worth? Any guesses?

I like her dark pumpkin painting.

It's not in English, but still pretty to look at:

TALKING ABOUT KIDS' BOOKS FROM THE PAST

2011-08-19T17:16:00.003-04:00

This is a cool segment talking about some old kids' books. I have a small collection of Big Little books that I started when I was working on Aliens Are Coming. I love the size of them!

OLD BOOK, STRANGE STORY

2011-08-19T17:07:00.001-04:00

I've been bad about posting. I'll be better! Anyway, I was at an antique store last week and picked up this book:

It's called PICTURES AND RHYMES
FOR BABY EYES AND EARS

BOSTON
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY
COPYRIGHT 1897

And here's the first little tale. Enjoy!

NEW YORK TIMES KIDS' REVIEW

2011-08-15T11:34:00.002-04:00

My new book came out last week (or so - I lose track of things). It got reviewed in the NYT Sunday Book Review yesterday. I was super excited to get the paper, which I did and lo and behold... the review wasn't in there! I was so sad! At the bottom of the table of contents it said something about - for kids' reviews go to online - So they are no longer printing the weekly kids' reviews in the paper! When did this happen? So sad. And this isn't just sad because MY review isn't in there. It will only take up a half a page! It looked like that was the only thing missing, too. When you go to the dot com the table of contents is the same only the kids' review is at the bottom. Grrr.

I'm super happy with my review but this is sad.

CHILDREN'S BOOK ART POSTERS

2011-08-12T12:00:00.008-04:00

Thanks to Anna from the Blue Rose Girls who posted these on the BRG blog:

you can shop for them here.

I think they're so cool. Minimalist children's book prints! Wonderful.

I went looking for other children's book art prints. I couldn't find anymore minimalist prints but there are some nice ones:

And here's something to scare the crap out of the kids:

SEARCHING FOR THE BAD, LOOKING FOR THE GOOD

2011-08-11T17:01:00.003-04:00

Why do we as authors and illustrators always search out the bad and not the good? Or rather, why does the bad always stick and the good disappear? I'm trying to change that. I'm trying not to care about the one person who said something negative about this or that and remember that most people say the opposite. It's also hard not to want to say something back - like "But.... this is why I did this, that, and the other, and this is why you're wrong." But we can't do that! Oh, blah. It's hard!

I remember the first time I got a review that said something negative. It wasn't even that bad but it was in a big newspaper and I was expecting greatness. I got so worked up that I told my editor I was quitting. She probably didn't believe me. I think everyone ignored my behavior - you know - there there, now be quiet and move on - kind of thing.

The last time I did a school visit it was hard because another artist was doing a talk right next to me in the gym and there was no sound barrier! We were competing for sound and he was drowning me out. It was impossible and I just wanted to give up. Then when he was over the kids were so loud leaving that the noise just went on and on. Then when that was over I had a Q&A. I was probably not completely on my game at that point and said "um" more than normal. Or something. None the less a student came up to me and said "Did you know that you said 'um" 67 times?'" "No, I didn't," I said.

It's tough being an author.

MORE BOOKSHELVES

2011-08-10T14:30:00.000-04:00

These are interesting...

BOOKSHELVES

2011-08-06T16:55:00.000-04:00

CORALINE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

2011-08-04T17:10:00.005-04:00

I was scanning through my bookshelves and found this. I read this a long while ago but thought it deserves mention on the old blog. I liked it. The art is nicely done and appropriately creepy. This is one of those cases where I can see why they'd get the idea to turn the story into a graphic novel. In my contracts there is a line that allows for an artist/writer to adapt my stories into graphic novel form and I always have that Xed out. It's obviously silly in my case because I am the artist/writer and I don't want my picture books in that form and if I did I'd want to do it myself! But this book totally makes sense. Gaimen did work on many projects with Craig Russell so I'm sure he had his full approval.

(portrait of Russell)

I love the talking rats. I will say that the colors are a little light and fluffy over all (the colorist is not Russell). If they were darker the book would even be creepier. Maybe the artist didn't want the book to be too creepy to maintain an younger audience?

I've read the book, and the graphic novel... now I guess I should watch the movie... right?

I will leave you with Russell at work:

ANIMATION VS. THE STILL PAGE

2011-07-31T14:24:00.002-04:00

I'm being swallowed alive by trying to animate little dogs moving their legs in the snow, which you won't notice anyway.

This brings me to a point. I was telling my fellow children's book author friend Julia Sarcone Roach what I was trying to accomplish (she actually knows how to animate stuff!) and she said she doesn't know how she feels about making animations on book trailers, etc. This is because she thinks books have their own rhythm and pacing and animating them is taking away from that. I agree with that completely... in a way. This is why I can't stand what ebooks are doing with things lately. But I feel like book trailers are different. They exist to tease the reader and get them to buy the BOOK. Not the other way around. I consider the two things very different mediums. What I'm doing is taking a page from my book and delving into that world and imagining what it would be like if it came to life -- very much like I would do if I were a kid sitting on the couch and having my parent read to me. I'd always animate the stuff in my head.

So it's my HOPE that my new little project won't be taking away from my books at all! I hope what I"m doing will make people want to run out and buy them.

What I'm doing, by the way, is animating little bits of the book and I'm putting it all together with me doing a reading of the book and I'm going to add real B&W historical footage and photography. Although, I do kind of like these simple little animated bits by themselves.

Anyone have any thoughts about this?

WORK/LIFE

2011-07-28T14:06:00.000-04:00

I was at the Strand yesterday (always a dangerous thing!) and stumbled upon this cool book:

It goes inside the homes of illustrators of all kinds -- children's book illustrators, editorial, etc. and shows photos of their spaces, which I always love! This book interviews illustrators from NY to Australia.

The book does a bio of 50 or more illustrators. Here is a sample of what some of them say:

MICHAEL BYERS
CANADA
michaelbyers.ca

"I think about how I'm going to approach the subject. I'll sleep on it from time to time. Sometimes I'll go for a walk, journal, workout, or have some drinks with some friends. Other times I have a shower. I tend to think a lot while I'm in the shower. A lot of great ideas have come to me while scrubbing my feet."

CAMILLA ENGMAN
SWEDAN
camillaengman.com

"With Camilla, work and life are in balance, as they are treated with equal measure and consideration. 'I love what I do and it is a big part of my life. I take long walks with my dog, Morran; she is never in a hurry. I also like to go to a cafe to get other input during my working day.' Starting a new project, Camilla's creative process seems possibly learned from her beloved pup. 'First I walk around the subject, sniffing and thinking. Finding words and pictures that I associate with it. Thinking about who's the sender, the receiver and who am I. Then I just have to start to work it through and try it all out.'"

JENNY MILIHOVE
ISRAEL
mytinydream.com

"There is music in the house all day long. 'I am listening to music from the first moment I woke up on the morning to the last minute I am going to sleep. I can't paint without music!" she says" Music helps her concentrate on her work. 'I am always thinking about the thing I am painting and trying to put myself into that world that I am painting, or to become that person myself at least for a time" Jenny hopes that the joy she finds in music translates into her illustration and art works. "I really hope and want my artworks to bring happiness to everyone who is looking on my art.'"

BOOK TRAILERS

2011-07-25T11:27:00.001-04:00

I'm working on a few book trailers so when I do that I look at others to get inspiration. I saw a new book on the kids' table yesterday and decided to pick it up because the artwork is really nicely done. I won't comment on the book itself but the trailer is just right. I think the key to making a good trailer is picking the right music and words and letting the pictures tell the rest of the story:

At the moment I'm trying to write my own music for my latest endeavor in the hopes that my publisher will agree to put it on their website. OR I might hire a friend of mine to play the sax. We shall see!

Do you have any favorites? Let me know and I'll post them!

THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE

2011-07-24T14:22:00.001-04:00

We've got the Eric Carle version...

And this wacko version...

OLD CONEY ISLAND VIDEOS

2011-07-23T15:59:00.000-04:00

I'm working on making either
1) a teaser for Balto
2) a straight reading of Balto with images
3) a reading of Balto with images mixed with film clips

I'm not sure what to do yet. I'm confused.

Anyway, during my search for noises and such I came upon this odd bunch of Coney Island clips, all put together.

It's kind of creepy yet I like it. I thought I would share.