UNDER THE HOOD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyone remember this version? I loved it!

A GOOD USE FOR THE IPAD

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

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