BABY LIT BOARD BOOKS

So here is the board series I'd mentioned:

I do find them adorable. My thinking being that babies, todlers, and even kids in elementary school... ah, heck I'll throw it out and say that there might be a few kids in high school as well, who don't know what a governess is and a toddler isn't going to know what a marriage proposal is! So, you know, cute in theory, but... 

 These spreads are from Romeo and Juliet:

And these spreads are from Jane Eyre:

I think the pages like "7 soldiers in uniform," or "3 Houses," work just fine but the other spreads are funny things for the adults. I haven't seen Alice in Wonderland because our bookstore doesn't have it but I'd love to see it! They're fun books none the less and I love the art so maybe my criticisms do not matter. I know parents must get bored reading the same board books about cows and bunnies over and over again! Maybe we can start giving kids governesses instead of babysitters?

MY NEW/OLD JOB

I'm back in the kids' department at the bookstore. I worked last week for the first time back in the department. I didn't know how I'd feel to be back there - I think I'd been gone for about 4 years? I felt like a kid in a candy store! I was secretly so excited! I found so many books that I wanted to buy. I kept adding to my pile and my new coworker kept saying, "Meghan, you're going to go broke buying all of these." So, so true. I'll report soon on my new finds. I found a really cool graphic novel series for young readers that I want to read. Also, there were a few picture books that I bought just for the art. I haven't even read the text. One was illustrated by Ross McDonald. I love him! But he did an amazing job with the particular book that I bought. It's nonfiction. I'm at my parents house so I can't remember the name (I know, how useful am I?) Also, I found a really great and interesting board book series for toddlers that I need to think over. I don't know if toddlers will exactly appreciate the subject matter! One is on Jane Austin, another on Shakespeare... I think the parents will enjoy them... but the kids? Hmmm. 


Anyway, I'll be blogging a lot on my finds I think!

Tatsuro Kiuchi

Once in a while I like to highlight an artist or illustrator that I stumble upon...

NICE ANIMATION FOR A BOOK...

Just saying...

WORLD'S LARGEST LEGO TOWER

Kids in Korea help build this crazy tower! How fun would this have been?

WHERE'S WALDO LIVE!

I thought this was super cool. These are images of an attempt to break the World's record for Where's Waldo (or in Great Britain Where's Wally). This was in three different locations in Ireland. Pretty sweet! I wish I was there.

INSPIRATION

As always, I find other artist's art inspiring. This artist's name is Erika Iris. She said, "I spent about a year tearing up anything I could find in my house – playing cards, newspapers, coffee table books." 


Here are a few of her pieces:

MAURICE DOCUMENTARY

This is a good one...

MAURICE SENDAK DIED AT THE AGE OF 83

RESEARCH CAN BE STRESSFUL! BUT ALSO FUN

I was in Washington D.C and stayed with my aunt in Virginia so that I could do research for my latest book on Betty Skelton. My little sister went with me to all of the museums. Below you can see the scale of Betty's plane in comparison to my sister standing below. (actually, the red plane you see here wasn't Betty's plane but it was a Pitt's Special, which is what she flew). I had NO idea that the plane would be so small!

We asked the man at the desk where the plane would be and when he said, "In the gift shop." We were like, "Huh?" 

This photo is of Betty's plane. the coloring is different than the red one above. Otherwise the two planes are the same. 

So I went to the Air and Space Museum in Virginia to view the Betty Skelton collection by appointment. It was SO overwhelming! The museum is a huge hanger type place that houses thousands of airplanes (or maybe hundreds... but it seemed like thousands). I was walked all the way to the back and past a huge space where people restore old planes and into a library hidden away into a corner. I was told that I could sit at a table of my choosing and then a large cart was wheeled out with a selection of boxes on it. Inside of each box was a long row of files and each file would say something like, "1935-1950." Then there would be files on cars and water sports and the Blue Angels... and it went on and on. I watched the hours go by and realized that if I did not pick up the pace I would not be able to get through everything! My beginner mistake was trying to read or skim the articles at first:

Then I started photographing everything without doing much reading. Now, I did read the agreement that said that I was not to photograph the photographs. However, I went in for the express purpose of getting photo references. I am not going to publish the photographs I obtain, I simply need to reference them. So... I frantically began photographing everything in the hopes that I wouldn't get caught. My heart was racing! In the agreement it said I could photograph news articles if I did not want to use the copy machine so I would coyly hide a stack of photos under the articles. I felt so BAD. Not bad as in guilty but bad as in CRIMINAL. At some point the man at the desk got some phone call that sounded personal... about his mom... and he walked over to another guy and said that he had to leave. That's when my photo taking ended. The other guy was more serious. He told me that I had to use white gloves to handle the photos and explained to me what the agreement was--that I couldn't photograph the photographs. No! So I did what any desperate illustrator would do: I got out my iphone and hovered it over the photos and used that since it didn't make a camera clicking noise. I HAD to take the photos of Betty training with the astronauts. I HAD to! That's what I came for! 

Anyway, I left armed with plenty of material. I was definitely drained for the day. It was very stressful. Doing something you shouldn't do for hours can drain a person, you know? But it's all for the love of the book!