is OUTTA HERE!! Off to my editor!! *Whew!!*
I took that upside-down, inside-out puzzle and slicked it up tight! At the last minute I spoke to some more experts from the area/era which filled in some fact gaps and lent more validation to the story. I wrapped up my dedications, and went through edits from my two readers for any obvious errors.
All said, I am SO PROUD of this novel!!!! Is it too big-headed of me to think I may have created something important? I hope not. I think this book can/should be the beginning of many important conversations in schools and society. I so hope it will be...
Decatur Focus
Remember when I told you about the Sidewalk Saturdays in Decatur when I did sidewalk chalk art? Well, they had a professional photographer running around documenting all the performers and artists. He got a great photo of me with a bunch of kids and... it made the cover of the Decatur Focus magazine. Wild, eh?
What Most Schools Don't Teach...
And why the heck not?
It's amazing that computers have become so pervasive in our society and yet coding is not being taught in schools. I taught myself html during a slow time at one of my graphic design jobs before I got into children's books. And yes, it is intimidating, but it IS learnable!! And I use those skills almost every day on my blog and website, when I created LULA'S BREW, in my volunteer work - you name it. It's a necessary skill. "I'm a luddite" shouldn't be an acceptable excuse anymore.
Thanks to SwissMiss for the heads up.
It's amazing that computers have become so pervasive in our society and yet coding is not being taught in schools. I taught myself html during a slow time at one of my graphic design jobs before I got into children's books. And yes, it is intimidating, but it IS learnable!! And I use those skills almost every day on my blog and website, when I created LULA'S BREW, in my volunteer work - you name it. It's a necessary skill. "I'm a luddite" shouldn't be an acceptable excuse anymore.
Thanks to SwissMiss for the heads up.
Dulemba.com is a Top 50 Book Blog!
According to Cisionblog, dulemba.com is rated about dead center on the list of Top 50 Book Blogs! I have no idea what this is, but I'm thrilled to hear it! Woohoo!
Tedd Arnold's DIRTY GERT - Giveaway!
What an honor to have Tedd Arnold on my blog today. He is the creator of such classics as PARTS (and the following PARTS books); HI! FLY GUY and the rest of the series; HUGGLY's series of books; the list goes on!
His latest is DIRTY GERT about a little girl who loves to eat dirt. What are her parents to do when her feet take root and her hair sprouts leaves? The rhymes are hilarious and the art is classic gorgeous Tedd Arnold style. I asked him about his latest creation as well as his trade...
Q. Hi Tedd - Thanks so much for dropping by dulemba.com - as a fan, I'm honored! You've been in the children's book business a long time now. How did you get into it?
A. Hi, Elizabeth. I'm glad to be able to visit. Yes, I've been published for more than 25 years. And it was all inspired by my wife, Carol, who was a kindergarten teacher. I was doing advertising and graphic design while she was collecting picture books for her classroom. I began noticing her books that I hadn't paid any attention to since I was a child. I loved them and joined in the collecting. And a seed of a dream was planted--that one day, maybe I too could illustrate a picture book. I had always been an artist and a cartoonist. Back in middle school I did a lot of comics inspired by Mad Magazine. I began to realize that the close collaboration of words and pictures in children's picture books was actually similar to the words and pictures I had doodled with in my grade-school comics.
Q. Which book was your big breakthrough to the big-time? How did that change things for you?
A. NO JUMPING ON THE BED was my first full-blown picture book. I hadn't intended, at first, to be an "author". But I didn't know how else to break into the business as just an illustrator. I needed SOMETHING to illustrate. So I wrote. That was the hard part--figuring out how to put together and write a good story. It took 6 years. So when NO JUMPING ON THE BED came along, it changed my entire life. I quit my day job! We had some hungry years. But I always approached my picture book work as a full-time job, not a sideline interest.
Q. You have a wonderful walk through of your method on your website
A. My early books were somewhat realistic and smoothly rendered. My book, Green Wilma, changed all of that. I experimented with my art style for that story. I wanted Wilma to look frog-ish. (Is that a word?) So I drew her with large froggy eyeballs. To go along with the eyeballs, I began drawing the rest of the bodies more loosely and cartoony. I was literally drawing faster. So, instead of rendering the shading slow and smooth, I was scribbling the tones in quickly. Suddenly I liked the energy of the scribbles and worked with it until the scribbles became a nice jazzy texture.
Q. You're a prolific creator - do you ever run out of ideas? Are you booked ahead?
A. I think most creative people occasionally feel like, YIKES! What am I going to do now??? But I tell kids I can only do two or three books a year because the drawing part takes a long time. Two or three ideas a year? Not too tough. I've been blessed with an abundance of ideas. One frustrating thing is to get an exciting new idea, then have to put it in a waiting line behind ideas that came before.
Q. Can you imagine yourself ever doing anything other than children's books?
A. Nope! I'm kinda out of touch with any other life-skills by now.
Q. How did the idea for DIRTY GERT come to you?
A. It came from simply playing with names. Gert and dirt rhymed. The original Gert rhyme grew out of a never-completed collection of silly rhymes I attempted to create long ago. But I was told by publishers that collections of poetry often started out with hundreds of rhymes that would then be winnowed down by editors to 30 or 40 of the best, to fit into a 32 or 48 page picture book. I am pretty good at coming up with ideas, but that became too much for me. So that book project got filed away in my REJECTED folder. More than a decade later, in my home town, I put up an art show of my career work at the local museum, and my Holiday House editor, Grace Maccarone drove all the way from New York City to Elmira, New York to attend the opening. On one wall of the exhibition, I had put up a few images labeled REJECTED IDEAS. Grace spotted Gert and said, "You never sent me this!" I replied, "Er...um..." in my typically articulate way. "Send it to me," she said. And that's that!
Q. DIRTY GERT actually has a lovely environmental angle to it - have teachers been using it that way?
A. I fully expect that to happen. I love to see how teachers and librarians use my book. I say to myself, "Oh! That's what my book is about!" At this interview time, DIRTY GERT is so new that at the schools I've visited recently, the librarians are just now getting their Gert copies. But I was impressed by one very nice Kirkus review that taught me a new word. "Gert likes dirt to the point of geophagy...", geophagy being the practice of consuming soil. Apparently a modicum of soil consumption strengthens immune systems and lessens allergies! I don't want to be seen as encouraging kids to literally eat dirt, but it is definitely not a bad thing for children to play outdoors and get dirty. Soil becomes "internalized" by accident from dirty hands or inhaled as dust and it is indeed good for young growing bodies!
Q. Do you mind sharing a photo of your studio space?
A. My studio was formerly the attic. It's all fixed up now. I work at one table with watercolors and color pencils and at another table on the computer. Dirty Gert was entirely illustrated using Photoshop software and a Cintiq monitor.
Q. Thanks so much for stopping by. I wish you much continued success!!
A. Thanks. You too, Elizabeth!
GIVEAWAY!!!
Holiday House is giving away one free copy of DIRTY GERT to one of my lucky commenters! Sign up below. (Must live in the continental US to qualify.)
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Coloring Page Tuesday - Balloons!
Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and... Please check out my books! Especially...
MY COLORING BOOKS!
Going on Vacation? Want to take Coloring Page Tuesdays on the road? The Coloring Page Tuesdays collections, "I Love to Read!", "Fun Stuff!", and "Holidays!" are now available as bona fide coloring books with over 20 coloring pages in each. Click the cover to buy a copy through Lulu.com for $7.50 plus shipping or $5.00 to download as .pdf's.
"I Love to Read!" covers book-themed and back-to-school subjects. "Fun Stuff!" is all the general stuff like happy animals, robots, ballet, etc. And "Holidays" covers all major holidays and some minor ones, including birthdays, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Earth Day. Enjoy!
Summer Schedule...
School is winding to a close (just a few weeks left!), so I'll be moving to my blog summer schedule. Don't worry - I'll still have my coloring pages each week! And I'll do giveaways as often as I can. I just won't be blogging every day. I figure that works out for you too, because you'll be out basking by the pool, right? Right?
Crayon Sculptures
FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO by Molly Idle - GIVEAWAY!
There's a new wordless picture book out that has the children's book world all a buzz. It's called FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO and was created by an artist whose work I adore (and who is a fellow member of the Picture Book Artists Association), Molly Idle. Today, I have the great pleasure of hosting Molly at dulemba.com and asking her more about her work...
Q. Hi Molly, thanks for stopping by! Congratulations on FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO! It seems the entire Kidlitosphere has fallen in love with your creation - what has it been like to receive so much press?
A. Hi Elizabeth- thank you so much for having me over! And thank you too for your kind words about FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO.
The reception that the book has received from kids, and the kidlit world, really leaves me speechless... Which, I suppose is appropriate, given that FLORA is a wordless picture book. The story was so close to my heart as I worked on it, that when it was done, I wondered if a book that felt so personal to me would translate to readers. Was it relatable? So, seeing it embraced wholeheartedly by so many people does my heart good.
Q. How did the idea for FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO come to you?
A. Ah, which came first- the Flamingo or the egg...
I wish I could remember exactly how the idea was hatched... where I was... or the time of day... but I don’t. I do remember my inspirations for the story though: My nieces- Sarah and Katie, my two boys, and my proclivity for puns.
My nieces provided the visage for Flora. When they were little, my sister would dress them in matching bathing suits and swim caps- ADORABLE!
My boys contribution to the story came as they were starting school. Figuring out how to make friends amidst a sea of kids was a tricky business. Some days they would come home dejected—other days elated—depending on how well their attempts had fared. And the back and forth between the two extremes made me think that the formation of a friendship is like a dance.
And that is where my love of puns comes into play. When I was little I thought that “flamenco dancing” was pronounced “flamingo dancing”... and so, to me, a flamingo seemed like an ideal dance partner.
Q. You worked for DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios straight out of school. Did that influence your story-telling ability?
A. Yes, I’m sure it did, and does. You simply can’t work in a place filled with hundreds of talented creative visual storytellers and not be influenced by it!
Q. Your medium is colored pencils, right? Do you add any other media in? How did you develop your style?
A. Yes, I am admittedly a color pencil junkie. Prismacolors pencils. Ages ago, I did try starting pieces with a watercolor wash because I thought it might speed up my process. But for me the opposite turned out to be true. I spent so much time fighting against the paint... So now, I simply build up layer upon layer of pencil- and I find that not only am I able to work more fluidly (ironically), but I feel as though I get better results too.
Q. So, it's wordless, but you've written another picture book too - TEA REX (Viking). As an illustrator, how was the writing experience different for you?A. I suppose that on one hand, it isn’t really very different. Whether I’m using words or pictures- making a book is all about making a good story. So, I suppose the real difference for me, is comfort. I have spent so much of my life with a pencil in my hand creating stories with pictures—that it feels comfortable. However, I’ve spent comparatively little time with a pencil in my hand creating stories with words. It’s a different feeling... like trying to draw with your right hand if you’re a lefty. But the more I practice the more comfortable I feel. Someday I hope to feel comfortably ambidextrous!
Q. Both of these titles came out fairly close together. Have you been able to give them each proper love?
A. Oh goodness- that’s like asking me if I’ve given enough love to each of my kids! And so my answer is the same... I sure hope so! Luckily, I’ve got a great family support system to back me up with my kiddos at home. They say it takes a village to raise a child... well, the same is true for children’s books! That’s why I am so lucky to be working with Chronicle and Viking/PYRG. They are both such amazing houses—filled with talented and creative people who have been so supportive of my books.
Q. I hope you have more in the works, can you share?
A. I do. I can. And I will!
Coming out in July is ZOMBELINA written by Kristyn Crow (Bloomsbury/Walker), And on my desk right now are: FLORA AND THE PENGUIN (Chronicle), and CAMP REX (Viking)- both coming out in 2014!
Q. Please let us know about any special promotions (or dates) you have for FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO.A. I will be at ALA in June signing copies of FLORA and celebrating the 25th anniversary of Chronicle Books! Details to follow soon at www.idleillustration.com.
Q. Thanks so much for stopping by Molly, and I can't wait to see the new titles!
GIVEAWAY!!!
One of my lucky commenters will win a free copy of FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO along with a signed poster sent by Chronicle!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Coloring Page Tuesdays - Birthday Cake for 5th anniversary!
This is IT! May 11th marks 5 YEARS!!! I had no idea what I was getting into when I started my coloring pages so long ago. But not only have they proved to be the best marketing for me and my books I could have ever conceived - they have brought me so much joy. Your emails and notes over the years have kept me going through some of the toughest times in this crazy world of children's publishing (and believe me, it can be tough). And its thrilled me to no end to know you've shared them with your children and young readers.
SO! To celebrate, I am giving away one of my books (your choice - it can even be a coloring book) to one of my BLOG COMMENTERS. How have you used my coloring pages and what have they meant to you? Now's your chance to share! And I'll sign and dedicate the book for you and send some bookmarks along as well.
Thanks so much for the years of appreciation - it's meant the world to me!
CLICK HERE TO ENTER.
Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and... Please check out my books! Especially...
MY COLORING BOOKS!
Going on Vacation? Want to take Coloring Page Tuesdays on the road? The Coloring Page Tuesdays collections, "I Love to Read!", "Fun Stuff!", and "Holidays!" are now available as bona fide coloring books with over 20 coloring pages in each. Click the cover to buy a copy through Lulu.com for $7.50 plus shipping or $5.00 to download as .pdf's.
"I Love to Read!" covers book-themed and back-to-school subjects. "Fun Stuff!" is all the general stuff like happy animals, robots, ballet, etc. And "Holidays" covers all major holidays and some minor ones, including birthdays, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Earth Day. Enjoy!
Katie Davis' Video Boot Camp!
Katie Davis is offering a VIDEO IDIOT BOOK CAMP! And she's the one to teach you. Katie's book trailer for her book LITTLE CHICKEN'S BIG DAY was nominated for a Moby Book Trailer Award and won the 2012 School Library Journal Book Trailer Awards! So, click the above logo to learn from the best!
Winged High Tops!
WANT! These "Schwings" are available from NeatoShop. (Well, they're out of stock right now - they better hurry up and get more!) How cool are these? (They also have Gold Strikes.)
Thanks to SwissMiss for the heads up.
Plugging along on the novel
I've told friends that revising my novel is like taking apart a jig-saw puzzle and putting it back together upside-down and backwards. And truly, that's how it's felt. Lots of stuff from the back has come forward. A deleted scene has been added back in. The town name has changed. There is not a spot in the story that I haven't touched somehow.
So it was fun to get a flurry of emails this morning - we have to nail down the name! To have the book listed in the catalogues for the major distributors, the blurb and title have to be in by May 9th. ACK!
Of course, I've been working on these all along - struggling to get it just right. Have I nailed it yet? There's nothing like a deadline to make me!
The good news is, that means I'll be able to share the title and premise with you in just a few days!!! Wahooo!!!
So it was fun to get a flurry of emails this morning - we have to nail down the name! To have the book listed in the catalogues for the major distributors, the blurb and title have to be in by May 9th. ACK!
Of course, I've been working on these all along - struggling to get it just right. Have I nailed it yet? There's nothing like a deadline to make me!
The good news is, that means I'll be able to share the title and premise with you in just a few days!!! Wahooo!!!
Happy Birthday Coloring Page Tuesdays - GIVEAWAY!!!
May 11th marks 5 years of coloring pages - can you believe it? (That's the very first one there on the right.)I had no idea what I was getting into when I started them so long ago. But they've turned out to be one of my best moves ever! Not only have they proved to be the best marketing for me and my books I could have ever conceived - they have brought me so much joy. Your emails and notes over the years have kept me going through some of the toughest times in this crazy world of children's publishing (and believe me, it can be tough). And its thrilled me to no end to know you've shared them with your children and young readers.
SO! To celebrate, I am giving away one of my books (your choice - it can even be a coloring book) to one of my commenters. How have you used my coloring pages and what have they meant to you? Now's your chance to share! And I'll sign and dedicate the book for you and send some bookmarks along as well.
Thanks so much for the years of appreciation - it's meant the world to me!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Quote of the Day - On Writing
"Everybody needs her period of apprenticeship, and it will be longer and tougher and harder than you expect or want it to be. Embrace the struggle. Appreciate what it does for you. The struggle makes you the writer that you need to be. We are forged in creative fire."
--Justine Musk from Tribal Writer and her post "11 quick + dirty things about writing."
--Justine Musk from Tribal Writer and her post "11 quick + dirty things about writing."
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