I had the pleasure of talking to a class of teachers, Teach for America students, this evening at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. I spoke about "Living Story," finding the story thread that runs through our lives, bringing story into the curriculum to make information easier for students to absorb as well as putting information into a context that relates to them directly.
It was a great class and they asked some great questions. A few were really fired up and looking out at their smiling faces just made my day. I tell ya, if this is the future of teachers, our kids are in good shape!
2006 Caldecott Winner: "The Hello Goodbye Window"
Illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster
Honor Books:
ROSA, illustrated by Bryan Collier
ZEN SHORTS, written and illustrated by Jon Muth
HOT AIR, by Marjorie Priceman
SONG OF THE WATER BOATMAN DNA OTHER POND POEMS, illustrated by Beckie Prang
NEWBERY AWARD WINNER: CRISS CROSS by Lynne Rae Perkins
I watched the webcast announcements live from the ALA at www.ala.org. It was very cool. I predict this is going to be a hot thing to watch every year in the children's book world. They did a great job with it combining live video with a power point presentation showing each book and award. Very good!
THE PRINCE'S DIARY No. 1 on BookSense!!
Wow, wow, wow. THE PRINCE'S DIARY, my first picture book, has been named No. 1 on the 2006 Valentine's Day Top Ten picks by Book Sense in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers' (AAP). Needless to say, I am thrilled!
Illustration Friday, Theme: E is for . . .
ME!! Elizabeth, otherwise known as "e!" Haha!!!
(if you click on my bud monster, you can see what I really look like.)
:)
Geography Quiz
Click Here.
This is cool - it gives you the states and asks you to place them on a blank map of the US. See how you do!
This is cool - it gives you the states and asks you to place them on a blank map of the US. See how you do!
illustration Friday, Theme: Sea
This was a spec sketch I did for a publisher a while back.
I haven't created anything new for Illo Friday in a while, gotta fess up. I'm busy illustrating a chapter book which is due the end of this month. It's going well, but it's keeping me busy! On top of that, I applied to the Master of Fine Arts program at Georgia State. Please cross your fingers for me on that one. I'm pretty excited about the prospect. Anyhow, after this deadline, I'll create some original pieces for Illo Friday. Promise.
<8-P
e
Illustration Friday, Theme: Flavor
I drew this weird dude eons ago - not sure exactly what he is really. This weeks theme can be so widely interpreted, "flavor." Hmmm. So, here's my weird dude enjoying the flavor of his soda.
Illustration Friday, Theme: Surprise
This is an illustration from "The Prince's Diary" written by Renee Ting for Shen's Books. I had fun posing to get her gesture just right.
Sea Monkeys - the team
I was contacted recently by the Mom of a "Lego First Competition" student. This is an "Odyssey of the Mind" type organization and her son and his team had to create an under sea robot. They wanted to call themselves the "Sea Monkeys." When the Mom googled the term, she found my art. I was honored to have my art adorn their t-shirts as they competed and won 4th place against several older students! They sent pictures too - so great.
Here is the team with their medals:
And here are the back of their shirts with my Sea Monkeys illustrations:
Too, too groovy.
:)
Here is the team with their medals:
And here are the back of their shirts with my Sea Monkeys illustrations:
Too, too groovy.
:)
Imagine It!
I had the pleasure of reading "The Prince's Diary" at the Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta this past Saturday. What a great place. The museum is featuring Arthur right now, along with a focus on literacy. All of the activities circled around these themes, and the kids were having a blast.
I had my storytime in the "purple room." The museum is basically a large warehouse space chocked full of movable walls and displays, so it's rather loud. I had to wear a headset while reading - that was odd.
Most exciting to me, I made a dummy of "Glitter Girl and the Crazy Cheese" and read that for the first time (it comes out in the Spring from MacAdam/Cage). It went over great! It's a fun rhyming story right in line with the age group I usually get at these types of things (young, young), and they ate it up. I can't wait to dive into marketing Glitter Girl when it's released.
We also read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with sound effects. Had no idea it was such a noisy story? Try it sometime. The museum provided jingles and jangles and clappers, the kids loved it.
Funny ditty, on the way to the museum, a 30 foot tall Emo suddenly floated across the road in front of us. Turned out they were having a parade downtown - we had no idea. It did create some issues getting to the museum, as several roads were closed. Luckily my husband knows downtown like the back of his hand. And in our navigating, I also saw a giant Power Puff Girl and a parade of llamas!
Illustration Friday, Theme: Blue
Well this week's theme is "Blue" and I have the perfect thing. This is a scene from my story "The Big Blue Oops!" Lou is trying to find something to clean her world - which has turned completely blue!!
:)
Hey Y'all, thanks for all the nice comments recently. I'm always amazed anybody has time to see my postings - Illustration Friday has grown so big! I really appreciate your thoughts.
illustration Friday, Theme: Small
Well, I've posted several images from "Teacup" - but this is the cover - the key to it all. Never published, it's about an itty bitty dog who wants to see the great big world.
My Aunt "R"
I attended my Aunt Arlene's funeral in Baltimore this past Wednesday. She had lymphoma cancer and passed at age 57 after four years of fighting.
I remember her as my "Crazy Aunt." She was the coolest adult I knew as a kid. She knew all the words to the whopper song. You know the one, "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce . . ." I remember her screaming as she drove through intersections, just to freak us kids out. Mostly, I remember laughing whenever she was around - which was never enough. Funny the things that stick with you.
She lived in Baltimore surrounded by family. Here is a picture of her with my cousin (her daughter) Khaki at her wedding shower this past June.
Luckily, R was here to share Khaki's beautiful day. All of the southern Oberholtzer's headed north for the occassion too. It was a joyful day full of smiles and laughter.
I wish geography hadn't kept us so far apart. I wanted . . . want to spend more time with all of the "Baltimore O's," but especially R. Distance can be cruel sometimes, but cancer is worse. R fought against it bravely and, of course, with humor.
I love her, and will miss her. She was a beautiful lady, inside and out.
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