Miami Thrice
Three days of 80 degree weather and 100’s of thousands of readers for Anne Sibley O’Brien at the Miami Book Fair. We booked Anne for Alex Simmon’s Kids Comic Con held within the larger festival. Anne’s work from The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea was accepted in the Color of Comics Exhibit at Miami Dade where she appeared with other artists that have included characters of color in starring roles in their comics. (Photos from Miami Book Fair Flickr) Share...
read moreClaudette Colvin Live
It is one thing to read Phillip Hoose’s biography, Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice (FSG). It is another to meet the woman herself. I have had the honor over the last nine months of watching Phil share the stage with unsung Civil Rights heroine, Claudette Colvin. In Claudette today you can see the 15-year-old girl that said “no” to Jim Crow by refusing to give up her bus seat on a Montgomery, AL bus 9 months before Rosa Parks.We gathered all of the photos and audio recordings of their appearances and wove them...
read moreAncient Punk Farm Documents Revealed
Ancient Punk Farm Documents Revealed (Source: New York Times 09/15/2579) Portland, Maine—Archaeologists working at the offices of Curious City, a yet undocumented children’s sentient book marketing firm on the submerged ancient city peninsula of Portland, Maine, revealed a layer of 2005 film rolls (a specimen of “film” long lost to antiquity) that contained the lost Punk Farm footage of “Lunch Box.” “Lunch Box” was a person-to-author-live-event utilized before virtual reality allowed author to...
read moreKorean Heroes
Curious City was honored to be interviewed by Sun-woo Kim from MBC Global Media (Korea) for a documentary on the legendary Korean figure, Hong Kil Dong. As the camera rolled and volumes of tea were consumed, I talked about the trends in graphic novels for children, why American superheroes are loners, and all the places that Anne Sibley O’Brien’s The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea has taken me and its readers. I recalled being on stage with Anne at the Smithsonian, sipping green tea with the Korean Cultural...
read moreBarbara Cooney’s Wee Birds
Took a sweet side trip up to Bowdoin College Museum of Art to see the final days of the Barbara Cooney Exhibit. Oooed and awed my way through the minute details of her work alongside the beatific illustrator, Jamie Hogan. We stood dumbfounded by a group of tiny birds gathered in the gutter in an out-of-the-way corner of Cooney’s picture book, Eleanor. Watch for the attentive, busy animals in almost every single spread she creates. Was also enamored with the lupines painted on Chinese silk for Miss Rumphius. Proud to say, I have worked...
read moreMinli’s Journey, Not Grace’s Journey
Illustration by Grace Lin from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Do you as a creator with a new book have to appear places or go on tour? I will answer that question with a question (if I may). Is the time and money spent planning appearances the best use of your time and money? Is there another way you can spend your valuable commodities that has a broader impact and reach? Take the grand Grace Lin for instance. She is a super star when she appears anywhere, but with her new book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon she is hoping not to travel...
read moreALA Bound
Inspiring Young Citizens: The Library as a Forum for EngagementSunday, 7/12/0910:30 am – 12:00 pmALA Annual ConferenceMcCormick Place West, W-190BChicago, ILHow do we excite young readers with possibilities for remaking their world without burdening them with responsibility beyond their years? Authors Lita Judge, Anne Sibley O’Brien, and Phillip Hoose, librarian, Kelley McDaniel and children’s book advocate, Kirsten Cappy will share books, strategies, and book-specific educational curriculum for engaging young people in...
read moreLet’s Do Nothing!
Giddy to have an activity kit out with the brilliant folks at Candlewick Press. Nothing like working with the best designers in the country to make you look quite suave. To be exact it is a Non-Activity Kit for animation genius, Tony Fucile’s hilarious picture book, Let’s Do Nothing. Characters, Frankie and Sal have worn themselves out by doing everything so they decide to try doing nothing for a change. Poor bespectacled Frankie’s overactive imagination makes him anything but Zen. When told to “be the tree,” he...
read moreFinding Your Way to The Never-Ending Mountian
I first read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (in galley form) on a train being tossed by the fits of a winter Nor’easter. With mittened hands I read the last page, breathed out, and said, “perfect.” And it was and is after several re-readings. Make sure a copy is in your hands (mittened or not) on July 1 when the book is released.Curious City was proud to mine Grace Lin’s rich pages to create reader and classroom activities in science, math, art, calligraphy, cooking, ancestry, and the fine art of discussion. You can...
read moreAdventures with Adventure Annie
Just put the final edits on an Activity Kit with my kickin’ designer colleague, Jen Steele for the picture book, Adventure Annie Goes to Work. Author, Toni Buzzeo declares it “spectacular.” The fine folks at Penguin say it is the “best thing ever.” Adventure Annie’s superheroine adventures are thwarted when Mom gets called into work on a Saturday to find a missing report. Adventure Annie finds adventure, though, in the hunt for the report and in the many other distractions of the office. This book...
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