From Alan O'Rourke: Top 500 influencers in Picturebook and Children's Publishing in the UK and Ireland - WOW!
From PW: A Dystopian Twist for Library E-Books - Why Tor's decision to embargo new e-book releases in libraries is a wake-up call for librarians
From The Art Room Plant: Frida Khalo Exhibit (clothes and such!)
From Muddy Colors: Baby's Favorite Illustrators of Yesteryear
From Medium: The Long Middle: When I'm 64 - On women, aging, and creativity (GREAT!)
From SLJ: Drag Queen Story Hour Brings Fun - And Continued Protests
From SLJ: Educators and Race: A Conversation with Author Ijeoma Oluo on Tackling Systemic Racism in U.S. Education
From The Literary Hub via PW: 10 Little-Known Children's Books by Famous Writers (WOW!)
From Muddy Colors: Some Basics About Copyright
Shelli R. Johannes' CECE LOVES SCIENCE
Shelli R. Johannes and I are friends from way back, so I've watched her struggle and succeed with her publishing career. Therefore, I'm thrilled to share her first picture book, CECE LOVES SCIENCE written with Kimberly Derting and illustrated by Vashti Harrison. I asked her some questions about it...
Shelli: I usually get an idea quick from something someone says or something I see. I always come up with a synopsis first to see if the story is developed enough in my head. Then I move to a synopsis. If it makes it past that stage, I can see where it is going and outline the whole book. Needless to say I have a lot of synopsis that never made it past that phase. But I can always go back if the spark comes again.
Shelli: I don’t know much about Illustrations, but I know that i love to feel something when I look at the art in stories. I will say Vashti brought art and so much heart to our story. WE looked through so many illustrators and when our publisher finally presented Vashti (who was new to publishing at the time), we knew immediately that she was the one. We emailed our editor back within minutes saying “YES YES please”. We did not know then that Vashti’s star was rising so high but we are not surprised. Her art has so much heart.
CECE is everything Kim and I imagined. Vashti brought CECE to life. So right now, to me, Heart Art = Vashti Harrison :)
Shelli: For CECE, My daughter mentioned that she didn’t want to go to science camp because it was for boys! What?! This immediately sparked an idea: “How do we get young girls to focus on science and math instead of being pretty and fancy.” The idea off a “Fancy Nancy Loves Science” came to mind.
I first pitched the idea spoke to my critique partner (and best friend) Kimberly Derting. As a biology major, she was excited about the idea and we decided to do it together. The book went through many iterations before submission and even after selling. We are thrilled with where CECE ended up today.
Shelli: I love that I can make up my own people and places and stories. I get to be Gaia for a day create my own worlds and histories and relationships. I get to think about who I want to be, who I am, and what I want to talk about in the world.
Shelli: I think it’s important that we encourage our girls to be smart and sassy (before pretty and obedient) and our boys to be emotional and loving (before strong and sporty). I love that CECE is strong and sassy and knows that science is important and fun! I hope it encourages more kids to love science and to focus on the world around them.
e: What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Shelli: I am working on another YA thriller. I would love to break out traditionally in that market. But mostly, I hope our publisher wants more CECE books because I think this book has an important message and a lot of heart.
e: I look forward to more!
Shelli: I usually get an idea quick from something someone says or something I see. I always come up with a synopsis first to see if the story is developed enough in my head. Then I move to a synopsis. If it makes it past that stage, I can see where it is going and outline the whole book. Needless to say I have a lot of synopsis that never made it past that phase. But I can always go back if the spark comes again.
Shelli: I don’t know much about Illustrations, but I know that i love to feel something when I look at the art in stories. I will say Vashti brought art and so much heart to our story. WE looked through so many illustrators and when our publisher finally presented Vashti (who was new to publishing at the time), we knew immediately that she was the one. We emailed our editor back within minutes saying “YES YES please”. We did not know then that Vashti’s star was rising so high but we are not surprised. Her art has so much heart.
CECE is everything Kim and I imagined. Vashti brought CECE to life. So right now, to me, Heart Art = Vashti Harrison :)
Shelli: For CECE, My daughter mentioned that she didn’t want to go to science camp because it was for boys! What?! This immediately sparked an idea: “How do we get young girls to focus on science and math instead of being pretty and fancy.” The idea off a “Fancy Nancy Loves Science” came to mind.
I first pitched the idea spoke to my critique partner (and best friend) Kimberly Derting. As a biology major, she was excited about the idea and we decided to do it together. The book went through many iterations before submission and even after selling. We are thrilled with where CECE ended up today.
Shelli: I love that I can make up my own people and places and stories. I get to be Gaia for a day create my own worlds and histories and relationships. I get to think about who I want to be, who I am, and what I want to talk about in the world.
Shelli: I think it’s important that we encourage our girls to be smart and sassy (before pretty and obedient) and our boys to be emotional and loving (before strong and sporty). I love that CECE is strong and sassy and knows that science is important and fun! I hope it encourages more kids to love science and to focus on the world around them.
e: What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
Shelli: I am working on another YA thriller. I would love to break out traditionally in that market. But mostly, I hope our publisher wants more CECE books because I think this book has an important message and a lot of heart.
e: I look forward to more!
Harvey Nicks in Edinburgh
Fringe is over, scaffolding is coming down, tourists have left, and Edinburgh is getting back to 'normal' - or whatever our wonderful normal is here. We still have crazy things like the display windows at the local Harvey Nichols Department Store - a.k.a. "Harvey Nicks." These aren't great photos, but I figured you may like to see what's reflected in the glass as much as what's behind the glass. Like this girl hanging out in a palm tree, as you do.
Coloring Page Tuesday - Indian Elephant
If you use my coloring pages often, please...
Just love this one image? Consider a one-time donation...
CLICK HERE to sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week.
I create my coloring pages to draw your attention to my books! For instance...
my latest picture book, Crow Not Crow - written by New York Times Best-selling author Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple.
Kirkus calls it "a solid choice for introducing the hobby [birdwatching] to younger readers."
Also, A Bird on Water Street is now available in Chinese!
The Greenaway at the Book Festival
I'll admit the weather in Edinburgh has been mostly dreich this summer, with only a few rare sunny days. Saturday's outing was one of them. Sunday's, on the other hand, was back to the rain and an unseasonal cold front. I almost didn't go, as it was raining cats and dogs when I left the flat. But I had a ticket to the Kate Greenaway panel at the Edinburgh Book Festival and I really didn't want to miss it.
I'm so glad I went because it seemed the majority of those who did make it were simply a big group of hard-core illustrators. They were on stage - Debi Gliori, writer Nicola Davies, and Petr Horacek (who I interviewed on my blog HERE).
This is what I love about the book festival. I always run into friends, and make new ones. I do wish the weather had been nicer, as I would have done a lot more hanging out to see who I see, and perhaps get to know some of the teachers and librarians who have the fun jobs to moderate the panels. But even so, the book festival is always a great chance to connect with people who I share this crazy book passion with. I look forward to next year! (When I'll have two books out, and who knows, maybe I'll get to be onstage myself! Fingers crossed!)
I'm so glad I went because it seemed the majority of those who did make it were simply a big group of hard-core illustrators. They were on stage - Debi Gliori, writer Nicola Davies, and Petr Horacek (who I interviewed on my blog HERE).
This is what I love about the book festival. I always run into friends, and make new ones. I do wish the weather had been nicer, as I would have done a lot more hanging out to see who I see, and perhaps get to know some of the teachers and librarians who have the fun jobs to moderate the panels. But even so, the book festival is always a great chance to connect with people who I share this crazy book passion with. I look forward to next year! (When I'll have two books out, and who knows, maybe I'll get to be onstage myself! Fingers crossed!)
Tam O'Shanter
I was recently reminded that Robert (Rabbie) Burns' Tam O'Shanter is full of witches and fairies and tricksters and such. But I felt like listening to it. Hm. Not sure it helped much with clarity, but it sure is entertaining! Click the image below to go have a listen and a look at the fun illustrations that go with this reading.
A Gallery Show on Circus Lane - and Books, of course!
Circus Lane is a bucolic little street tucked into the Stockbridge area in the city of Edinburgh. 
Then we headed to the Edinburgh International Book Festival to see David Almond and Michael Morpurgo. We also ran into friends to sit with. It was a beautiful and wonderful day!
Then we headed to the Edinburgh International Book Festival to see David Almond and Michael Morpurgo. We also ran into friends to sit with. It was a beautiful and wonderful day!
A Bird on Water Street in Chinese - more!
My publisher recently sent me several copies of A Bird on Water Street in Chinese, and what a surprise was waiting for me! 
As both an illustrator and author, I've been looking forward to the day when another illustrator would apply their vision to my words. And here it is!
As both an illustrator and author, I've been looking forward to the day when another illustrator would apply their vision to my words. And here it is!
Friday Links List - 24 August 2018
From Electric Lit: The Weirdest Libraries Around the World (Get your books from a phone booth, monastery, military tank, or camel
From @Iron_Spike on Twitter: Black Hair for Non-Black Artists: a Cheat Sheet Thread (good for writers too!)
From Chronicle Vitae: How to Teach Information Literacy in an Era of Lies
From The Guardian: Best job in the world? Luxury resort in Maldives seeks bookseller: Pay derisory. Fringe benefits unparalleled.
From Adobe Spark (forward by my hubby): 13 Rules to Help You Stop Making Bad Font Choices
From PW: Turkish Agent Issues Warning, Requests Patience
From The Bookseller: Festival directors call for overhaul of visa system
Also from The Bookseller: Rankin and Fry stand in solidarity with Ukrainian writer on 100th day of hunger strike
From NME: Every Studio Ghibli film ranked in order of greatness
From PBS: Grace Lin on Why our culture is a seed, not a treasure
From The House of Illustration: Drawing a Day Challenge
From @Iron_Spike on Twitter: Black Hair for Non-Black Artists: a Cheat Sheet Thread (good for writers too!)
From Chronicle Vitae: How to Teach Information Literacy in an Era of Lies
From The Guardian: Best job in the world? Luxury resort in Maldives seeks bookseller: Pay derisory. Fringe benefits unparalleled.
From Adobe Spark (forward by my hubby): 13 Rules to Help You Stop Making Bad Font Choices
From PW: Turkish Agent Issues Warning, Requests Patience
From The Bookseller: Festival directors call for overhaul of visa system
Also from The Bookseller: Rankin and Fry stand in solidarity with Ukrainian writer on 100th day of hunger strike
From NME: Every Studio Ghibli film ranked in order of greatness
From PBS: Grace Lin on Why our culture is a seed, not a treasure
From The House of Illustration: Drawing a Day Challenge
Brian Lies' THE ROUGH PATCH
e: My friend Brian Lies stops by today to tell us about his latest masterpiece! Take it away Brian!
Brian: When I’m writing and illustrating a story, it typically arrives as bursts of word and image fragments, which I’ll get down on paper. I collect words and images for a while, and then try to pull them together so they more or less read like a story. It’s a fairly messy process, in which I create a lot more stuff than can ever go into a picture book, and as with many authors, the story can change greatly as I work on it.
The books I’ve done in the last fifteen years or so have all been painted with acrylics on Strathmore Series 400 or 500 paper. What I love about the acrylics is that I can paint in layers and glazes to create deep shadows and bright areas in a way that makes the physical space in the illustrations convincing. I’m fascinated by how we can look at a 2D display of ink on paper in a published and get the illusion of 3D space.
e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?
Brian: I think “Heart Art” has to be something that you’ve never seen before, so it’s possibly startling or arresting in some way. But it might also be a little mysterious, so not everything is spelled out literally, and leaves enough space for the viewer’s curiosity. Something magical happens when the viewer is allowed to fill some of that questioning space with her or his own feelings. If you’re not curious about something in an image, it’s very easy to look at it for a moment and turn the page. If you can create an image that arrests the reader, and perhaps elicits a reflexive “Oh. . .!”, then that’s “Heart Art.”
Brian: The Rough Patch grew out of a moment of wry reflection as I struggled with clearing weeds from my vegetable garden. I was getting tired of weeding the same patch of ground, and I thought: maybe I’m doing this wrong. This garden is determined to push out weeds, rather than the vegetables I’m trying to grow. What if I were to transplant these weeds into neat rows, and pretend I cared about them? What would grow up between my rows THEN? I’m not exactly sure when that concept—someone who cares for a garden of dark weeds—turned into a story of loss and hope. But I never intended to write a book on a tough subject, and I’m glad it started with the character and the story first, and then turned into a book about something serious.
Brian: I don’t do a lot of advertising, apart from a presence on social media. When I have a new book coming out, my wife Laurel and I will put elements together for a book tour. In the past, that’s included elaborate props, such as a fully-functioning 13-note PVC pipe organ (think “Blue Man Group”) I built on top of our car for people to mess around with at our Bats in the Band book events. But it seems like book events have changed in the last decade—physical book events just aren’t as effective in selling large numbers of books as they were—and so we’re not planning to be quite as elaborate with our props and things as we have in the past. I’d rather spend three months working on a new book, rather than engineering a pipe organ that collapses for driving. So I’m looking more at social media presence—posting about things I think or see on Facebook, posting sketches on my Instagram, doing a little Tweeting and so on.
Brian: My favorite part has got to be the “bloodhound on the scent” part, where I’ve had a story idea for a while and it’s been worrying at me, but then suddenly I have a sense of where the story has to go and I start running in that direction with both words and sketches. That’s the part that’s the most full of curiosity and enthusiasm, the least worrying about “is this right?” That’s the phase where everything is a “yes!” Later, when I’m trying to work out sketches or onto the final paintings, it becomes much more workmanlike and serious (though there are still bouts of enthusiasm when a painting is going particularly well or I’ve discovered a combination in my color palette that wasn’t in my original plan for a piece.
Brian: It’s useful to booksellers to categorize a story, put it into a simple “box” that might make it easy for prospective buyers to select a book. But that can get very restrictive—some buyers, for instance, have categorized my bat books as “Halloween books,” because. . . well, bats. But they couldn’t be any less Halloween-y! They’re really spring and summer books. I hope that THE ROUGH PATCH won’t be boxed in as a “useful story on a specific topic,” and will be seen more as the story of a fox in a difficult period of his life. I didn’t set out to write a book on a theme or on a difficult subject, so I’d hate for it to be just be seen as a “niche” book. I’d love it if readers could just go along with Evan as he takes his journey, and find it attaches in a meaningful way to some particular experience they’ve had in their own lives.
Brian: I have a number of stories in the works—one is a quixotic project that I’ve wanted to do for over a decade, that would involve very elaborate illustrations done in a variety of media, including carved bas relief, sculpture, oil paintings, etc. I’ve got some other things brewing as well, but they’re in that fragile stage where the slightest criticism could knock them over, so I’m being protective of them.
Brian: Does Evan, the main character in The Rough Patch, have a last name? Yes, he does, though his surname ended up getting cut from the story. His full name is Evan Faulstich (I honestly can’t say why—that’s the name that “arrived” when I first conceived of the character). During the editorial process, some people felt that last name was too unusual. They expected it to matter to the story arc somehow, and felt it left something unanswered when it turned out to be just a name. So though most readers will never know his full name, I can’t think of him just as “Evan,” because I’ve been mulling this story over in my head for fourteen years!
Twitter:
@HarperChildrens
@GreenwillowBooks
@HarperStacks
Facebook:
HarperCollins Children's Books
Greenwillow Books
Brian: When I’m writing and illustrating a story, it typically arrives as bursts of word and image fragments, which I’ll get down on paper. I collect words and images for a while, and then try to pull them together so they more or less read like a story. It’s a fairly messy process, in which I create a lot more stuff than can ever go into a picture book, and as with many authors, the story can change greatly as I work on it.
First rough sketch, Blue pencil. For content and composition.
Inking sketch: after I transfer a sketch to the paper I’ll paint on, I ink in the lines so they don’t disappear under my first wash of color, used to “kill” the white of the paper.
The books I’ve done in the last fifteen years or so have all been painted with acrylics on Strathmore Series 400 or 500 paper. What I love about the acrylics is that I can paint in layers and glazes to create deep shadows and bright areas in a way that makes the physical space in the illustrations convincing. I’m fascinated by how we can look at a 2D display of ink on paper in a published and get the illusion of 3D space.
Full-sized tight pencil sketch, tracing paper.
e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again? Brian: I think “Heart Art” has to be something that you’ve never seen before, so it’s possibly startling or arresting in some way. But it might also be a little mysterious, so not everything is spelled out literally, and leaves enough space for the viewer’s curiosity. Something magical happens when the viewer is allowed to fill some of that questioning space with her or his own feelings. If you’re not curious about something in an image, it’s very easy to look at it for a moment and turn the page. If you can create an image that arrests the reader, and perhaps elicits a reflexive “Oh. . .!”, then that’s “Heart Art.”
Brian: The Rough Patch grew out of a moment of wry reflection as I struggled with clearing weeds from my vegetable garden. I was getting tired of weeding the same patch of ground, and I thought: maybe I’m doing this wrong. This garden is determined to push out weeds, rather than the vegetables I’m trying to grow. What if I were to transplant these weeds into neat rows, and pretend I cared about them? What would grow up between my rows THEN? I’m not exactly sure when that concept—someone who cares for a garden of dark weeds—turned into a story of loss and hope. But I never intended to write a book on a tough subject, and I’m glad it started with the character and the story first, and then turned into a book about something serious.
The Garden: Here’s one view of my 30’ x 60’ vegetable garden. In the front, left to right, there’s green beans (starting their way up my bamboo trellises), kale, broccoli raab, artichokes and okra. In the back, cucumbers (climbing on lacrosse net), and several kinds of lettuces. Very back, pumpkins (I had to grow pumpkins this year!), and the fencing leading into my blueberry bushes area. To the right: weeds!
Brian: I don’t do a lot of advertising, apart from a presence on social media. When I have a new book coming out, my wife Laurel and I will put elements together for a book tour. In the past, that’s included elaborate props, such as a fully-functioning 13-note PVC pipe organ (think “Blue Man Group”) I built on top of our car for people to mess around with at our Bats in the Band book events. But it seems like book events have changed in the last decade—physical book events just aren’t as effective in selling large numbers of books as they were—and so we’re not planning to be quite as elaborate with our props and things as we have in the past. I’d rather spend three months working on a new book, rather than engineering a pipe organ that collapses for driving. So I’m looking more at social media presence—posting about things I think or see on Facebook, posting sketches on my Instagram, doing a little Tweeting and so on.
Pencil sketch has been transferred to Strathmore paper, and edges have been taped with a low-tack artist tape. Sienna/brown wash gives middle tone for all of the colors to push against, light and dark. Here, I’m beginning to paint the trees and sky in the background.
Brian: My favorite part has got to be the “bloodhound on the scent” part, where I’ve had a story idea for a while and it’s been worrying at me, but then suddenly I have a sense of where the story has to go and I start running in that direction with both words and sketches. That’s the part that’s the most full of curiosity and enthusiasm, the least worrying about “is this right?” That’s the phase where everything is a “yes!” Later, when I’m trying to work out sketches or onto the final paintings, it becomes much more workmanlike and serious (though there are still bouts of enthusiasm when a painting is going particularly well or I’ve discovered a combination in my color palette that wasn’t in my original plan for a piece.
I’ve finished the sky. Note Scotch tape, used to create a crisp line at the top of the fence.
Starting in on painting the fence. I could have just painted the whole fence as a single wash of color and then gone in to paint spaces between the “boards,” but I found that painting each one separately, masked off with Scotch tape, gave a much more convincing effect of real boards.
Brian: It’s useful to booksellers to categorize a story, put it into a simple “box” that might make it easy for prospective buyers to select a book. But that can get very restrictive—some buyers, for instance, have categorized my bat books as “Halloween books,” because. . . well, bats. But they couldn’t be any less Halloween-y! They’re really spring and summer books. I hope that THE ROUGH PATCH won’t be boxed in as a “useful story on a specific topic,” and will be seen more as the story of a fox in a difficult period of his life. I didn’t set out to write a book on a theme or on a difficult subject, so I’d hate for it to be just be seen as a “niche” book. I’d love it if readers could just go along with Evan as he takes his journey, and find it attaches in a meaningful way to some particular experience they’ve had in their own lives.
Closeup of Evan’s face. Starting to model the fur on his cheeks. I tend to paint eyes fairly early on, because they carry so much of the emotional weight of an illustration, and having the finished eyes directs much of the rest of the painting.
Brian: I have a number of stories in the works—one is a quixotic project that I’ve wanted to do for over a decade, that would involve very elaborate illustrations done in a variety of media, including carved bas relief, sculpture, oil paintings, etc. I’ve got some other things brewing as well, but they’re in that fragile stage where the slightest criticism could knock them over, so I’m being protective of them.
Fence and Evan are finished, working on modeling the light on the pumpkin (lighting is bad here—the image isn’t this dark in reality)
Final image.
Brian: Does Evan, the main character in The Rough Patch, have a last name? Yes, he does, though his surname ended up getting cut from the story. His full name is Evan Faulstich (I honestly can’t say why—that’s the name that “arrived” when I first conceived of the character). During the editorial process, some people felt that last name was too unusual. They expected it to matter to the story arc somehow, and felt it left something unanswered when it turned out to be just a name. So though most readers will never know his full name, I can’t think of him just as “Evan,” because I’ve been mulling this story over in my head for fourteen years!
Laurel came in while I was painting, and snapped a photo without my knowing. I’m probably listening to Spotify or NPR on headphones, which suggests this is early morning.
the other side of my studio, with finished paintings from the book hanging up. The mess on the desk indicates that I’m very deep into the final paintings, and horizontal surfaces are being used for dumping things.
Twitter:
@HarperChildrens
@GreenwillowBooks
@HarperStacks
Facebook:
HarperCollins Children's Books
Greenwillow Books
Book Festival: Dream Panel
The local chapter of SCBWI hosted a wonderful panel at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year called 
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