November Carnival of Children's Literature

Check out the November Carnival of Children's Literature at Wendy Wax. Lots of great links to children's lit topics, interviews and blogs - and this great art custom made by Wendy herself!

JUST ONE BITE - what a book!

Today I get to share JUST ONE BITE - the life-sized story of what animals eat, written by Lola Schaefer and illustrated by Geoff Waring.
     The first thing that strikes you about this book (other than the fabulous cover) is how BIG it is! It has to be, it's life-size - really! From the tiny caterpillar hidden on the end papers to the whale eating the giant squid. Yup - fold out pages had to be included to cover that aquatic appetite!
     Full disclosure, Lola is a friend, but that didn't stop me from love, love, LOVING this book! The story is simple - the cycle of life, while the graphic illustrations grab me and shake the artist right out. They are FABULOUS.
     I'm so in love with this book, I had lots of questions for Lola...

Q. Wowsa Lola, I adore JUST ONE BITE! How did you come up with the idea?

A. As with all ideas, it simmered inside of me for many years until one day when my husband Ted and I were traveling to visit one of our sons, I asked, "How much do you think a worm eats? How much nectar does a butterfly sip?" The questions kept coming. After many months of refining the text, my agent sent it out and Chronicle immediately gobbled it up.
Note: Click here for Lola's article on how authors research narrative nonfiction.

Q. Who's idea was it to make JUST ONE BITE life size?

A. The idea for the life-size illustrations was a bit of collaboration between my editor - Melissa Manlove - and myself. Originally I envisioned face-on illustrations with the mouths and food being shown with their real dimensions. Then my editor suggested that the illustrations would be more impressive if we showed a bit more of the head, or whole animal in some cases. Of course, she was right. Then Geoff Waring, the illustrator, made those animals and their mouths and teeth just pop on the pages. I'm thrilled!

Q. The illustrations are so incredible and such a fantastic fit for this story, can you tell us more about Geoff Waring?

A. As with most picture book development, Geoff and I have never met. He lives in the UK and is an editor of an impressive magazine. I have no idea when he found the time to illustrate this book, but he did a marvelous job. I've shared the book with quite a few students in elementary schools and they adore the art, especially the Komodo Dragon and the Sperm Whale. Our editor asked me to send some scientific notes on species, size, color and any visual features that would be noticeable. Geoff took those notes and created picture book magic.

Q. Along with winning a Charlotte Zolotow Honor and a Children's Choice Book Award, you have *ahem* a few other titles under your belt. How many is it now? And how does JUST ONE BITE rank among them?

A. I've published more than 260 books for children. However, having said that, quite a few of those are school/library books. That market taught me a lot about discipline and meeting deadlines. I also publish books for teachers to support them as they work with student writers in the classroom. How does JUST ONE BITE rank in all of that? It's a gulp of good fortune!

Q. What's in the pipeline, what's coming next?


A. I had three books debut this fall. FRANKIE STEIN STARTS SCHOOL which is a companion to FRANKIE STEIN published by Marshall Cavendish. And, Mittens the kitten, a My First I Can Read book with HarperCollins, made another appearance with Happy Halloween, Mittens. This month I have a new teacher book coming out with Scholastic for teachers of Kindergarten and Grade 1. And in 2011 the next book with MITTENS will be available, as well as a picture book with Hyperion.

Fantastic - thanks Lola!
Learn more about Lola's incredible career at lolaschaefer.com. Follow her on Blog Tour at:
Tina Nichols Coury (November 22nd)
The Well-Read Child
Robyn Hood Black
Kids Lit, Menasha Library
Booking Mama
A Year of Reading
Zero-to-Eight
The Friendly Book Nook

More News! JUST ONE BITE was named a National Science Teacher's Association/Children's Book Council 2011 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12. Woosie!

Winners of THE 14TH DALAI LAMA

Lauren and Linda are the winners of the two free copies of THE 14TH DALAI LAMA which I gave away over the Thanksgiving holiday (via peaceful comments on my blog). Congratulations to you both!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Christmas Candle

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     Happy Holidays!...
     Here we go! The holiday season is in full swing. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a happy one!
     Looking for holiday images? I have plenty! Click here to go to the Holiday collections at Coloring Page Tuesdays.
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.


Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!



Please follow my copyright policy when you use my images! And share your creation on the Coloring Page Tuesday facebook page!

Write About Now: The Changing Face of Publishing: Author/Illustrato...

Check it out! I was a guest on Write About Now: The Changing Face of Publishing: Author/Illustrato...: "At the SCBWI conference this summer I was struck by how many of the presenters spoke about creating 'content.' These day, stories are shared..."

Inspired Ideas by Amy Powers

OMG - You have got to go check this out. INSPIRED IDEAS is THE most adorable magazine EVAH!! Pages and pages of creative holiday ideas from some of the most talented creators out there - from Mary Engelbreit to Jenny B. Harris. Woosie - there's no keeping the creative juices down after having a look. My fave? The toilet paper roll elves - brilliant!

Calendars by Children's Book Illustrators

Check out this fantastic post at Playing by the Book. Zoe had pulled together a fantastic listing of "Calendars with Art by Children's Book Illustrators." Including this great one I know you stampers will love... Flower Fairies!

There are Cats in this Book

I am thankful for how ingenious, clever and sweet picture books can be, like There Are Cats In This Book - written, illustrated and read by Viviane Schwarz:


Shop Indie Bookstores

Dot. The World's smalled stop-motion animation.

It's vacation week for many of you, so I'm sharing some fun and inspirational things. Including this amazing, teensy tinsy animation:

Thanks to Fuse #8 via Crooked House for the heads up!

Today I give thanks for... Carl Sagan

In high school I took an amazing class called "Cosmos and Connections." We basically watched the series by Carl Sagan, "Cosmos," and James Burke's series, "Connections." Wow. Would that even be possible in today's educational environment? Anyhow, I took the class after years of watching Carl Sagan's tv show - so I was already quite familiar. And then there's my favorite all time movie, "Contact," based on his novel. Needless to say, I'm a huge Carl Sagan fan and have been most of my life.
     The way he described space, time, and our ideas of reality amazed me - but even more, I loved his curiosity, enthusiasm, and pure wonder. It was contagious and made me proud to be human.
     So I was thrilled to recently learn about some of his ideas being set to music. Enjoy.


p.s. - You can watch the Cosmos series on Hulu.

The 14th Dalai Lama - book giveaway

I recently had the pleasure of seeing the Dalai Lama in person, along with Richard Gere and Alice Walker at Emory University. You can read about it here.
     His Holiness has been named a Presidential Distinguished Professor by the University, and lucky for us in Georgia, he has taken it very seriously. In fact, Emory has been reaching out to the Tibetan monks for some time now creating collaborative studies between religion and science. We're spotting their tell-tale robes around town more and more as a result.
     With this as a backdrop, I was recently sent a new graphic novel - a manga biography created by Tetsu Saiwai for Penguin Books called THE 14TH DALAI LAMA.
     It's the story of the Dalai Lama's incredible life journey through illustrations. And even though the Dalai Lama has been surrounded by violence for much of his life, the book handles it with sensitivity. Although I do wish it had focused more on the amazing things His Holiness has actually done rather than simply focus on what was happening around him and how he escaped it all - I still learned much from this book.
     In fact, the author/illustrator, Tetsu Saiwai, has done a number of educational biographical mangas over his 20-year career. He lives in western Japan, so sadly, I was not able to do my preferred interview for this book. However, I love that manga can handle non-fiction in this way, making history more accessible to readers who tend to absorb information better in an illustrated format. (Great for reluctant readers!)
     Seeing His Holiness in person was awe-inspiring. With all he's been through, all the war and injustice he's had to experience, he still smiles quickly, laughs easily, and is downright charming. It's amazing that his attitude and world view remains so peaceful and incredibly positive.
     With that in mind, and thanks to a Penguin Books publicist, I have TWO free copies of THE 14TH DALAI LAMA to give away in a... peaceful manner. (Especially appropriate as we head towards this day of thanks.) Leave a comment below about or for peace. It can be a quote, a thought, a sentiment, whatever you like. That's all you need to do to enter the drawing. I'll randomly choose a winner on the last day of November, announcing the winner on December 1st. So get your comments in!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Cornucopia!

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     Happy Thanksgiving!
     As we enjoy the abundance in our lives, let us remember those without such gifts and work towards making sure everybody has what they need - including joy. Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving.
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more Thanksgiving-themed coloring pages.

THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA!
     Susan R. Spain (author) and I (illustrator) will be on tour all over our lovely state of Georgia in these weeks leading up to Christmas. We'll be celebrating the release of our newest book, THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA. You can check my schedule here to see if I'll be in your neighborhood any time soon.
     And heck, if you're traveling, look for us in the Atlanta airport on the busiest travel day of the year (November 28th). Susan and I will be at two bookstores in various terminals between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. You know what they say - whether you're going to heaven or... hiccum, you have to go through the Atlanta airport. So look for us!
     THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA is part of a series from Sterling Children's Books which will eventually have a book for each state. They have several already, so CLICK HERE to see if they've done the title for your state!

Please follow my copyright policy when you use my images! And share your creation on the Coloring Page Tuesday facebook page!

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language

This is a little long and pretentious, but it's very interesting. And since I've been working at the University of Georgia, I am once again surrounded by type experts. I've long professed to be a font geek myself - instilled by the passion of Professsor Ron Arnholm, my type instructor at UGA - who is still there and is now a world-famous type designer. Obviously, things like this are on my radar even more so these days...

Thanks to figment, the blog, for the link

Mississippi John Hurt

Here's a Sunday treat - have a listen to blues master Mississippi John Hurt singing "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor." But I'm sending you to YouTube to listen, because in the sidebar (2nd down) you can click "Mississippi John Hurt Mix" and get an awesome soundtrack for a lovely, relaxing Sunday morning filled with some kickin' good music.

Daniel Radcliffe sings "The Elements"

Have a chemical test coming up? Maybe this will help...

     To see/hear the original version of the song by Tom Lehrer CLICK HERE.
     Thanks to Fuse #8 via bookshelves of doom for the heads up!