"Artists are a tough people in my experience. You have to be tough to create. Just ask God." - Tony Kushner, in his 2011 Columbia School of the Arts Graduation speech (33 minutes in).
Thanks to Lee Wind of The Official SCBWI blog for the heads up.
Sketch of the week - Reading Peter Pan
Okay - so I may not do this every week - but it's a good goal. This one took two evenings to create (I either draw or make trolls while we watch tv). I use a simple mechanical pencil (nothing fancy) and a pencil-shaped white eraser (it comes in a plastic dispenser thingie) on a nice drawing pad - paper that has a tooth to it. I sketch lightly, then go in with harder lines. I erase a lot. Then, once I have the drawing down, I start shading. I probably could have pushed this one even further.
Now I've got it in Photoshop to color. I'm trying some new techniques, fiddling - fiddling. I'll show it to you when it's finished.
Now I've got it in Photoshop to color. I'm trying some new techniques, fiddling - fiddling. I'll show it to you when it's finished.
Books vs. eBooks
Book Patrol recently featured a great infographic by the people at TeachingDegree.org about the popularity of books and ebooks in today's reading environment. The good news? Surprise! E-Books & Print Books Can Coexist!
People aren't reading fewer book because of ebooks - they're reading MORE - exactly what I thought might happen! And libraries? More needed/used than ever! And my passion - picture books? The real page-turning thing has yet to be replaced.
So let's curl up with a good book!
CLICK HERE to see the graphic larger on the Book Patrol blog.
People aren't reading fewer book because of ebooks - they're reading MORE - exactly what I thought might happen! And libraries? More needed/used than ever! And my passion - picture books? The real page-turning thing has yet to be replaced.
So let's curl up with a good book!
CLICK HERE to see the graphic larger on the Book Patrol blog.
Reading Rainbow Remixed | In Your Imagination...
by PBS Digital Studios... Go LaVar Burton! (He rocks.)
Coloring Page Tuesday - Christmas Candle
CLICK HERE for Holiday images to color - Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and New Years. And be sure to share your creations in my gallery so I can put them in my upcoming newsletters! (They don't have to be just cards - share your kids' art too!)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Post it to a blog, then share it in my GALLERY!
Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view the entire Coloring Page Tuesday collection!
Click the cover to learn about my picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA! Makes a GREAT teacher gift!
Don't live in Georgia? CLICK HERE to see if Sterling has created one for your state yet (they'll each have one eventually), then ask your local bookseller to order you a copy!
All I Want for Christmas Is You
I've never been a big Mariah Carey fan, but I have to admit - this is awesome. It's Jimmy Fallon and friends with kids' musical instruments... and kids. And yeah - Mariah can sing.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Christmas Decorations
Christmas decorations are like smiles from complete strangers.
Seriously, think about it. Among those who celebrate Christmas, people without hope or no sense of joy do not hang Christmas decorations. No matter what they're going through or what life is throwing at them - a wreath on the front grill of a truck, glowing colored lights hanging inside a dormitory apartment, garlands on almost every house in your neighborhood (even the ones that could use some work) - decorations are exclamations of happiness and hope. Each and every little light makes me smile.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
PublishersLunch Bookateria
I've followed the trade e-newsletter Publishers Lunch for years. It's a free daily e-newsletter sent out by Publishers Marketplace - a paid online resource of industry folks.
In Publishers Lunch, they send out daily listings of book sales in various genres, often mentioning the purchasing editor, selling agent and price range. Each listing gives a quick blurb about the book (an elevator pitch, if you will). It's a great resource for studying the children's book biz, the key players in it, and how a good pitch sounds.
Of course, a lot of those blurbs make you want to rush out to buy the book - which you could never do before today.
I'm not sure how they'll work out the timing, as most announcements are made at the time of sale, not release - which can be months to years apart. But Random House saw an opportunity to use Publisher's Lunch already established market as a platform to offer books via indie-booksellers (Indiebound), publishing houses (not just Random House), etc. as a potential feel-good competitor to Amazon. They're trying to gain leverage and I think they might be onto something.
Per their site:
“[Bookateria will] provide the industry with a “store neutral” catalog of book product pages for linking as well as research/reference, as well an open place to comment on books … Publishers Lunch Bookateria also provides a complete private environment for searching books."Click the logo to go visit and look around. They seem to have brought together several different things which were never in one place before (award lists, store lists, latest releases, book sales, etc.). They even mention a social aspect - I'm wondering if it will be like Goodreads?
They have most (not all) of my books in their system - so I think I'll be promoting sales through Bookateria now too. :)
The Perfect Bookstore Christmas Tree
The Sanibel Island Bookshop has the most perfect Christmas tree in their store this year - don't you agree?
Thanks to Lady Banks of SIBA for the heads up!
THE GOON HOLLER GUIDEBOOK - giveaway!
Today I have a very interesting book to share with you called THE GOON HOLLER GUIDEBOOK! Interesting because the creators - Parker Jacobs, Christian Jacobs, and Jon Barrett - are veterans of Nickelodeon, and they've taken their high content, highly engaging ways of thinking and put them into a BOOK! The fabulous book trailer (!!!) first caught my attention because I know I would have spent hours with a book like this as a kid.
Co-creator Jon Barrett answered some questions about the project...
Q. "Congratulations on the release of The Goon Holler Guidebook! This is not your traditional picture book with all the crazy things going on inside. There are jokes, mazes, comics, recipes, maps, and music lessons for a ukelele. (CLICK HERE to hear the songs.) It's a lot to put in one book - what made you think of it?
A. Parker has always been an artist, and it was a natural fit to incorporate it into his parenting style. The stories that he started telling and illustrating for his girls are what became the present day Goon Holler.
Q. Your history with Nickelodeon is obvious. The Goon Holler Guidebook feels highly interactive, almost like a cartoon. How did you get so much action to work in a static environment?
A. I didn't want to tell just one A to B story. I wanted to establish a world; a setting with new characters to meet and a whole bunch of things to do. I wanted to create a place to linger for awhile, play around and then make a return visit.
For mazes...
and recipes (adult supervision required)...
and jokes...
Q. There were several of you on this project - Parker Jacobs, Christian Jacobs, and you. Who did the artwork, writing, etc.? What was it like to collaborate on the project?
A. Parker did all of the artwork and the majority of the writing, with a little bit of collaboration with Christian Jacobs and Amy Cook, the editor/publisher. Christian and Parker have collaborated on projects since they were kids. This carried over to their days with the Aquabats as a band and now television show, and with Yo Gabba Gabba as well. The balance between work and brotherly interaction always provides that adorable wackiness that we've seen on Yo Gabba Gabba and now Goon Holler.
Q. I've never seen a picture book like this! Who is your ideal audience for this book?
A. It's kids! We think the sweet spot is the 5-9 crowd, kids that are reading and discovering the world of pranks and fun.
Q. You seem to be pushing the boundaries of new media with The Good Holler Guidebook. What's your overall vision for this and the future of books?
A. We definitely want to take this to television or some equivalent media distribution platform, but decided to launch this as a book first to ensure that we preserve it's most important creative qualities. In a way, we've done the heavy lifting that comes with developing a property. We definitely see mobile apps, toys, additional book titles, games and many other Goon Holler products emerging in the near future. Kids are very proactive in adopting new technology, so instead of looking at it as traditional book distribution, which is a very static concept, we see this as being more interactive content delivery. We feel Goon Holler is a great candidate to pioneer the way kids interact with brands.
GIVEAWAY!!!
Must live in the continental US to win. The drawing will be held next Wednesday! (Review and giveaway copies provided by the publisher.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Meet my latest Love Troll - Maxwell
Now available in my Etsy store. Maxwell sits about 2" tall and loves to read poetry - when he's not reading a good fairy tale.
Some people knit while watching television - I make trolls. :)
Some people knit while watching television - I make trolls. :)
Coloring Page Tuesday - Christmas Mice!
Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!
Here's a big fuzzy hug to all of you - I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
CLICK HERE for Holiday images to color - Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and New Years. And be sure to share your creations in my gallery so I can put them in my upcoming newsletters! (They don't have to be just cards - share your kids' art too!)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Post it to a blog, then share it in my GALLERY!
Click here to view the entire Coloring Page Tuesday collection.
Click the cover to learn about my picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA! Makes a GREAT teacher gift!
Don't live in Georgia? CLICK HERE to see if Sterling has created one for your state yet (they'll each have one eventually), then ask your local bookseller to order you a copy!
CLICK HERE for Holiday images to color - Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and New Years. And be sure to share your creations in my gallery so I can put them in my upcoming newsletters! (They don't have to be just cards - share your kids' art too!)
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Post it to a blog, then share it in my GALLERY!
Click here to view the entire Coloring Page Tuesday collection.
Click the cover to learn about my picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA! Makes a GREAT teacher gift!
Don't live in Georgia? CLICK HERE to see if Sterling has created one for your state yet (they'll each have one eventually), then ask your local bookseller to order you a copy!
What Children (and Everyone Else) Need to Read
Famed children's book author Donna Jo Napoli recently gave a TEDxSwarthmore talk called What Children (and Everyone Else) Need to Read. It's worth your time...
On a related note, David Almond, author of SKELLIG and other famous books, recently wrote an article for The Telegraph (UK) called Children's Books Shouldn't Sit Still and Behave. To give you a taste:
Update: I wrote this post before the school shooting and believe, in retrospect, Ms. Napoli's points are even more relevant when you consider the tragedy.
On a related note, David Almond, author of SKELLIG and other famous books, recently wrote an article for The Telegraph (UK) called Children's Books Shouldn't Sit Still and Behave. To give you a taste:
"Children's literature...tells tales of rabbits and ducks, of vampires and zombies, of ordinary kids in ordinary homes, of love and death, and explores the most profound, joyful and troubling aspects of human experience."People wonder why I read children's books, not adult books. Personally I find a story much more interesting when a character is still forming in their own lives, when even they don't know how they will react because they have no behavioral patterns defined in their lives yet. The questions of good or bad, right or wrong are still on the table, waiting to be decided. It's the stage of formation and we get to join in for a while. What an awesome thing.
Update: I wrote this post before the school shooting and believe, in retrospect, Ms. Napoli's points are even more relevant when you consider the tragedy.
Zombies for Christmas?
CLICK HERE to check out some weird holiday books that Publishers Weekly put together - like this one:
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies!
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies!
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