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Hi all,

I'm in California on vacation right now and am trying to unwind a bit--it's been a grueling month or so work-wise. So, no real post today. And sorry to miss last week too. I've been a little distracted.

from the BRG archives: There's stuff outside the studio? Seriously?

Thursdays are my day to write in the Blue Rose Blog. I have my own blog that keeps me very blog-occupied, but it is as scattered and variable as my life, which is very scattered and variable, and there's been no mention of children's books there in a long time.

I've been having a lot of adventures lately that seem distinctly non-illustration-oriented, but in fact, the thing about illustration, is nothing is non-illustration oriented. To be an illustrator you have to be someone who is interested in everything in the world, because at any moment you could be assigned a story about a bunny, or a Russian folk tale, or a true account of modern day mountain climbers in Tibet. There is always a lot of research to be done, but the best sources are always your own memories and experiences.

Right now I happen to be working on the true account of modern day mountain climbers in Tibet. There's a challenge there in that I've never been to Tibet, or climbed a mountain. I've immersed myself in a small fortune of pictorial reference books to get a feel for the landscape, and studied the men and the equipment used on the actual journey. But the spirit of the book will come from my own monumental journeys, such as a 3 week ride on horseback from Massachusetts to Canada when I was young, and times I came upon awesome landscapes that took my breath away-- the Utah Salt Lake, Mount Katahdin, the Grand Canyon, Italy.

This blog, being specifically about children's books, and not mine alone, will make me find the links between my eccentric out-of-the-studio activities and what's on my desk. But I'm especially looking forward to reading the thoughts of my fellow Blue Rose Girls, who are all personal heroes of mine. I'll blog about how incredible they are next Thursday. :)

Todays studio music: The Fiery Furnaces.

First published August 3, 2006

LOCAL FLAVOR

I remember going to a fair during the summer. There would be the booth where you'd throw the ball and knock the guy or girl into the water and then the rows of tiny fish bowls. The player got three chances to toss the plastic ball into the bowls. Generally, the balls never landed in the fish bowls, but once in a while the ball landed and the player would win a fish. I remember winning a fish one year and it was so exciting! My dad went down to the basement and cleaned out an old fish bowl to put the fish in. I think the fish lasted a few days and then died. I guess you can't expect much from a fish at a local fair. There were crazier things I've found at local fairs, such as the dung toss game, etc.

I'm sharing this because of Libby's post. I agree with her that some local flavor can and should be added to the right books! I thought of this as I posted about my recent discovery about more advertising in kids' books. Everything is becoming so SIMILAR. All the kids wear the same shoes and little kids are wearing lipstick at younger ages. It's kind of frightening. Something a little different now and then would be nice!

ADVERTISING IN KIDS' BOOKS...

As someone pointed out, the link I gave doesn't work. Oops! I need to check these things. Try this. There are two posts about this. Tell me what you think!

2011 Cybils Announcement

If there’s a children’s or young adult book that you’d like to nominate for a 2011 Cybils, do it soon! The nominations close on October 15th!

Cybils Nomination Form

I’m happy to be serving as a Round One Poetry Judge this year. We have a terrific panel once again!

Click here to check out the 2011 Cybils Poetry Nominations


The 2011 Poetry Judges

Poetry has long been the genre where we've insisted on the most credentials and expertise. It may get the fewest nominations, but it's far from the easiest to judge. Many of our experts are poets themselves and bring their practiced eye to the Cybils.

ROUND ONE 

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater 

The Poem Farm

@amylvpoemfarm

Susan Taylor Brown

Susan Writes

@susanwrites

Elaine Magliaro

Wild Rose Reader

Bruce Black

Wordswimmer

@wordswimmer

Tricia Stohr-Hunt

The Miss Rumphius Effect

@MissRumphius

Jone Rush MacCulloch

Check It Out

@JoneMac53

Carol Wilcox

Carol W’s Corner

@carwilc 

ROUND TWO

Diane Mayr  

The Write Sisters

www.thewritesisters.blogspot.com

Mary Lee Hahn

A Year of Reading

http://readingyear.blogspot.com

@maryleehahn

Julie Larios

The Drift Record

http://julielarios.blogspot.com

Andi Sibley

A Wrung Sponge

Laura Purdie Salas

laurasalas: writing the world for kids 

**********

I reviewed a few of the nominated poetry books for Wild Rose Reader.

Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children

 

At the Sea Floor Café: Odd Critter Poems

 

TWOSOMES: Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom

********************

Over at Wild Rose Reader, I posted a mini collection of my original animal acrostic poems.

David Elzey has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Fomagrams.



ADVERTISING IN KIDS' BOOKS

I don't want to overshadow Libby's post today (so I won't make this long) but I did a post on my blog that I think is important. I'll just post a little bit of it:

"Someone pointed out to me that in Mike Lupica's new book The Underdogs there was a bookmark advertising shoes his characters wear in the book placed in the middle of every book that was shipped to the bookstore to sell. The bookmark has a photograph of the shoe in all of the colors."

For the rest of the post go here and please tell me what you think of this!

Corn baths etc.

Last weekend some of the Blue Rose Girls and our friend Alissa visited Anna in her beautiful quiet cozy country cottage. As usual, conversation was the main activity -- Tilda and Juniper (Alissa's daughter) stayed close to us, eagerly joining in with smiles and babble. Neither can talk yet, but they seemed to enjoy being part of the group.

We talked about our writing (so inspiring! and so tempting to just stay in front of the fire doing that the whole time) but one afternoon we did manage to leave the house to attend the Ashfield Fall Festival, where local children make, set up, and run the games. When we arrived, Alissa's boys had already won a small bag of marbles doing things like climbing rope ladders and ringing the bell at the top. They and the other children did this with just as much excitement as the children Grace described grabbing for the brass ring at the Tuileries in Paris or the ones I described dancing at the ceilidh in the Hebrides.

The one that seemed to delight them the most was the corn bath -- tubs filled with raw corn kernels. They rolled and dug and played and only got out when the person running it said -- several times "Come on, guys, time to go -- we have to clean up." Maybe the real proof of how much fun they had was that they helped her do it.



Since I got back I have been comparing this country pretty unfavorably to Scotland (though in fairness to me, at these kinds of festivals where I live, people mostly just buy things, eat, and sit listening to loud music). So it was really great to be reminded that there are communities right here in this country where people take just as active a part in their own amusement --and with just as much enthusiasm and energy. Maybe there are more of these kinds of communities here, and children are taking more delight in simple pleasures, than the media would have us think.

After all, as Grace pointed out, big companies aren't making money with things like corn baths -- maybe THAT'S why we don't see them in the media. But that's no reason not to put them in our books, even if some people do find such things old-fashioned. For others (maybe more than we, and some publishers, realize?), it's reality....and as much fun to read about, too:maybe more fun to read about than, say, Angry Birds. It depends how it's done, of course, like everything else in writing!

Fall RISD Sale this Saturday

Grace and I will each have a table at this Saturday's RISD Alumni Sale. There will be lots of fabulous handmade goodies at the sale: from hand-blown glass to fine art to knitwear and pottery. It's always a fun day signing books and meeting the other artists. Though the real reason I go may be to shop! It's hard not to covet all the beautiful handmade lovelies I'd like to take home and put around my house.

Grace will be at table #90 and I'll be at table #149 selling books and prints. Libby has been kind enough to join me for the day, so if you are in the area and can stop by you see three Blue Rose Girls! We'd love to meet you so do come say hello.

Details:
Saturday the 15th from 10:00-4:00 pm
Benefit Street in Providence, in between Waterman and George Streets

NPR INTERVIEW - NOW WITH PICTURES!

SIGNING THIS SUNDAY! FREE COLORED ART!

I'm signing this sunday with two other lovely authors in Brooklyn under the Brooklyn bridge in Dumbo. Here's the link so that you can get directions and all of that good stuff.

So why I'm posting is this: I will be giving away 5 drawings of Balto to people who buy my book that day. Just buy the book and I'll write your name and email down. I'll pull the names out before I leave. And because I don't trust myself I'm going to bring the drawings with me and will leave them at Powerhouse so that you can pick them up there. I think that's best. I don't trust myself to mail them to anybody! My first thought was to give the 5 drawings out to the first 5 people but that doesn't seem fair, does it?

These drawings will be with black marker on cardstock and will be colored in if I am ambitious enough and have enough time. I DO know how to go to far with things!!!

So come! It will be worth your while! These pieces of art may be worth money! I may be doing this "give away art" thing again because I'm doing one more signing coming up soon but I can safely say that they will not be colored in.

Too many books? or too few?

I have too many books, I know it, I'm trying to get rid of some. But even after filling 2 boxes, my shelves still look almost the same.



It's discouraging to think of how many more I'll have to give away or sell to make a difference.



And it's so hard to get rid of them! I'm not sure why. It's not because I love my books -- I'm not even trying to part with the ones I love. But even when I don't love a book, it's still hard -- maybe because I'm admitting that I'll never read it again (or in some cases, read it at all!),

or ever go back to the places (travel books) or finish the project (books on King Arthur -- I was once going to write a book about him; make my own clothes -- books on how to that; and even, for some bizarre reason, books on learning Gnu emacs and, less bizarre, Swahili).

Maybe that's always why getting rid of things is hard: you admit that you're never going to wear the great shoes that cost $100 on sale but never fit; or that the beloved cashmere sweater, while flattering and the perfect color, has so many holes that it looks weird-- or as an English friend more kindly put it, "as though you don't care what you look like." But by getting rid of the things you're not going to do or use or wear, you make it easier to do or get the things you really want -- in this case, go to Scotland for six months!

When my resolve to get rid of something weakens, I say:
"Every box of books I get rid of now is one less to move, pack, and store later."
(will be true of kitchen stuff as well when I move on to that category.)

Okay, that's the end of one essay....another was that one thing I find myself saying as I put books in the "to sell" pile is: "Well, if I ever want to read this again, I can read it online." This, I know from experience, though, is only true for some things -- classics, say.

The books that used to form the bulk of my reading (and the publishing industry!) are those well-written books that aren't quite classics and aren't bestsellers, either. This by the way is the category Jane Austen's books were in when they first came out "People are more likely to borrow than buy my books" she said. Now, I'm thinking of the novels of people like Angela Thirkell or Patrick O'Brien -- and many others, too many to list here. Their books don't exist as ebooks -- I know, because I tried to buy them when I was loading up my ipad for my last trip to Scotland.

What's going to happen to books like this when no one (even libraries) has hard copies of anything anymore? Will they just disappear if they didn't get made into ebooks? Maybe there are both too many and too few books -- too few of the kind I really like to read.

Being Elmo

Are you going to see the new documentary about Being Elmo? The trailer gave me goosebumps.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life movie, plus Chris Colfer (again)

Wednesday night I went to the premier of the movie Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life based on the book by Wendy Mass. Wendy had been working with another editor at Little, Brown (hi Amy!), and when Amy left the company, I became Wendy's new editor, but Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life was the transition book--Amy freelance-edited the book from her new home in Maryland, and I was the in-house editor. I love this book--it's still one of my all-time favorite Wendy Mass books, and believe me, there's a lot of competition. But it's a great example of the type of book I love most--it's sweet, funny, and challenges the reader think about life. In this case, the literal meaning of life, of course. And the movie did the same for me. It's been quite a while since I've read the book, so it was wonderful to relive it on the big screen. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. There were a few differences from the book, of course, the most obvious being that Jeremy's mutant candy collection isn't in the movie--oh well.

The movie isn't going to be released in the theaters, but is currently available as an exclusive at Walmart, and then will be released more widely next Spring. See more info on Wendy's blog here. Also, I love that almost all of the commentors on Wendy's blog seem to be children. And they're so enthusiastic and insightful. I especially loved this comment from Ingrid H:

Awesome! The trailer was really cool! I’m kind of glad that it’s not coming to every theater, since it’s sort of an off-beat book, and that would make it more main stream. Congrats Wendy!

Most of the stars of the movie, including Mira Sorvino, were in attendance. Mira's children and father (actor Paul Sorvino) were also there. The event ended quite late (almost 10 pm), and Mira's young son was crying that he needed to go "to his house" because "it's so dark outside"--of course, this was right outside the theater under bright lights--I guess this was his way of saying that it was late and he was tired. Poor kid

We did a media tie-in edition cover to coincide with the movie. We pretty much used the movie poster design, but decided to focus on just the kids:

But the original design with the keys still exists:

Congratulations to everyone involved in the movie! Thank you for bringing this book to life.

***

On Saturday evening, I went to the New Yorker Festival to see Chris Colfer interviewed by New Yorker editor Susan Morrison. There a great wrap-up of the evening here. I was especially fascinated by the audience, which seemed to be mainly young, avid fans of Glee and Chris's specifically. The Billboard.com wrap-up I linked to had a great description:

His answers were met with aws, gasps and giggles from the audience, who made a mad dash to microphones during the Q&A to express their nervous adoration and question him on a variety of topics ranging from what it's like to kiss his on-screen boyfriend Darren Criss, ("Darren's a good kisser. And he knows it.") to what parts of himself he wished were in Kurt ("He was very lonely,  but I wish he didn't feel like he need someone to be loved. It was a lesson for me as well.").

And when asked about his book deal, props to Chris for mentioning Little, Brown by name!

He also briefly discussed his forthcoming novel, a children's book called "The Land of Stories," which he said he'd been thinking about since he was seven years old, when his younger sister was diagnosed with a rare from of epilepsy and he was seeking an escape.

"I had this old book of fairytales that my mom was given by her mom. I'll never forget because you opened the pages and all the illustrations were actual pictures of dolls in freeze form of the story," Colfer shared. "I remember in the moment never wanting an escape more ever, I wanted to literally dive into the book. I then came up with the story about these two twins that went to fairytale world and all the adventures they had, adventures I wanted to experience rather than what I was going through.  I promised myself then if I ever had the opportunity to write it in a book, I would."  Now Colfer has a two-book deal with Little Brown, with the first installment due out August 2012.

Now, I just have to finish editing The Land of Stories so all of Chris's fans can actually read it!

from the BRG archives: clearing the decks

I feel a little like a squirrel preparing for winter (and not because it is once again 40 degrees in Boston). I'm about to start the paintings for a picture book and hole up in my studio, my little hollow in a tree.

This involves several stages:



1. Getting rid of all sketches, notes, books, odds and ends that are filling up all usable table space in my studio so that I won't be distracted (above was my desk at the beginning of the day).



2. Now I can start filling up all usable table space with new sketches, notes, books, odds and ends that will weave their way into the illustrations for this book (this is my desk at the end of the day- I'm in OCD paradise!).

3. Settling all unfinished business that has been hanging over my head and dragging on for weeks so that I can, without guilt, completely withdraw into my head and live in the world I'm about to try and paint.

Its a little like going away to camp when you're a kid. You feel a little nervous about going somewhere new. Hopefully I will make friends with my characters and fall into a groove quickly. Then, before I know it, I'll be emerging from this cave and blinking at the sun. I am glad I have my pen pals at the BRG to send postcards to!

Originally published November 21, 2006

presque fini

Recently, I have been blogging sooo much at my personal blog that I've nothing left for this blog! But by next week, my posts about my trip to France:

Linnea (and me!) in Monet's Garden

and the adventures of Pocket Pacy:

will have ended. Though, as I've said earlier, I'm quite enjoying the Pocket Pacy project and may continue it here in the States. What do you think?

A NEW BLOG

Yes yes, another new blog. This may not be of interest to some of you... but others may like it so I thought I'd mention it. It's called STREET ART NYC. I love carrying around my camera and taking photos of the art I see. People do stencils, they use chalk, they paste things to walls... and all sorts of stuff. I think it's a lot of fun. I don't like graffiti. I think it can ruin a landscape. But a little gem of art here and there can brighten one. I plan on posting a few times a week with new photos of art that I've found around the city. Check it out! Become a follower!

SAVING SUMMER: A Memoir Poem

In September of 1984, my mother’s father passed away. I was devastated. I had spent many of my happiest childhood days at the home of my maternal grandparents. Two of my cousins lived on the other side of my grandparents’ duplex. We three cousins played together in my grandparents’ yard, made a clubhouse under their porch, picked apples and pears from their trees. We also had great times inside their house celebrating holidays like Easter and Christmas Eve. My grandparents took great joy in their granddaughters and loved watching us have fun together.

Dzidzi, my grandfather, had a big vegetable garden behind the house. He loved working there. He enjoyed having us kids pick tomatoes and peppers and onions and carrots and beets from his garden. Babci, my grandmother, would preserve many of the vegetables and fruits reaped in late summer and early fall.

After my grandfather died, I so wanted to write a story in verse about my Babci and Dzidzi. It didn’t work out too well. Some years later, an image from my childhood of my grandmother working in the cellar preserving tomatoes in mason jars popped into my head. That image gave me the inspiration for writing the poem Saving Summer—and for an entire collection of poems about my grandparents, their house, their yard, their garden—and the happy times I spent their with my cousins and sister. The collection takes me through a year at their house. The unpublished collection is titled A Home for the Seasons.


SAVING SUMMER

In the cellar
Babci sits on an old kitchen chair
made new with glossy gray paint.
Wearing an apron blooming with faded flowers,
she leans over the tub of steaming water,
plucks out plump tomatoes,
and peels off the wet, papery skins.
She fills shiny jars with soft red pulp,
stretches on rubber sealers,
presses down moon-round lids,
clicks closed the metal clamps.
She places the jars in a wire basket
and lowers them into a pot of bubbling water to cook.


On wooden shelves in a corner
she stores stewed tomatoes beside rows of pickled beets,
golden peach slices, green piccalilli,
and carrots the color of October pumpkins.
Standing there in late afternoon,
sunlight shining through a small side window,
I see her harvest preserved:
a rainbow glistening in glass.
Babci is keeping summer alive in jars.

********************

Over at Wild Rose Reader, I have a post titled Old Poems & New Furniture.

Sara Lewis Holmes has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Read Write Believe.

SIGNING NEXT WEEK...

Anonymous Scottish book art

Isn't it lovely? More here.

What I'm working on now, and book trailers!

I'm in the throes of editing hell...actually, I'll rephrase that--I'm in editing HEAVEN! Just a whole lot of it at once, is all. But the books are SO GOOD, and this is the meaty part of my job that I love the most. Speaking of, I've been meaning to update my "How I Edit" post from almost exactly five years ago, as technology has changed my process somewhat. Perhaps that will be for next week.

What I was working on this past weekend specifically was finishing up an editorial letter for the first book in Libba Bray's new four-book series, The Diviners. It's a YA historical paranormal with hints of horror (okay, more than just hints) set in New York City in the 1920s. Flappers, Ziegfeld's Follies, speakeasies, political protests, secret government experiments, cults, ghosts, supernatural powers, and oh yes, a serial killer. It's magnificent, and coming out next Fall.

This past weekend I've also been working on Chris Colfer's middle grade novel The Land of Stories, coming out next August. It's a fantastical adventure to a fairytale land, and it's a page-turner, with unexpected twists and turns, a lot of heart, and best of all it's funny. I was reading it on the subway and found myself chuckling out loud at the dialogue. I'm excited for the world to see that this kid can write as well as he can sing. And boy, do I love his voice (I can listen to his version of Blackbird all day).

So, while I keep editing, I wanted to share with you two trailers that were released recently. The first is for Peter Brown's hilarious new picture book You Will Be My Friend!, starring Lucille Beatrice Bear, who some of you might remember from his last book, Children Make Terrible Pets. You Will Be My Friend launched earlier this month, and on Saturday I attended his book launch party at Powerhouse Studio in DUMBO. And as Lucy would say, OH! MY! GOSH! This is the cutest trailer EVER!



This second trailer is for Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone which officially pubs tomorrow! Happy early book birthday! There's been an incredible amount of excitement and buzz for this book, and the love, especially from bloggers, has been tremendous (and well-deserved, although I may be biased...).



Isn't that cool?

Okay, back to work!