Big Books in the Big Apple
Just back from a swoop through the New York publishing offices on a buying trip for Raising Readers.I have over 237 board and picture books in play (and stacked on my office floor) to select from for the literacy group’s upcoming book selection committee meeting.The group gives 12-15 books to Maine kids from birth to age 5 at their well child doctor visits. The organization has given out 1.2 million books in the last seven years!If under pen point I had to choose the work I love the most, it would be hunting down and narrowing down what...
read moreIllustration Huzzahs
Huzzah! Huzzah! The brilliant Melissa Sweet has been feted as such this morning in the New York Times Book Review.Her stunner of a many-layered tribute to the poetic mind of William Carlos Williams, River of Words (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers) has been named “Best Illustrated.”You must get your dear paws on this book to savor the collage of fonts, old book covers, watercolors, and bits of this-and-that that mirror Williams’ creativity. Read a brief interview with Melissa about the book.Also honored for her collage work...
read moreWhat DID Lincoln Say?
Was pleased to work with the HarperCollins marketing department to create a mailing for Sarah L. Thomson’s upcoming picture book, What Lincoln Said. Beautifully illustrated by James E. Ransome, the book frames Lincoln’s bio for the 6-10-year-old set with quotes from the brilliant man.Curious City mined the Lincoln Bicentennial website following up every event, talk, symposium, museum, and store where kids will be interacting with the story of Lincoln over the coming year.The mailing included Sarah L. Thomson’s reader’s...
read moreTalk Like a Pirate
Ahoy, Mateys! Your ship has come in!Plunder awaits at Sarah L. Thomson’s website. To launch her picture book, Pirates, Ho!, Sarah and I joined audio book narrator, William Dufris in his studio to record an uproarious reading of the piratical picture book.Listen to the reading and see pictures of the madcap recording session.We shout, “Avast!” We cry, “Ahoy!”The deadliest danger’s our greatest joy.From the first mate down to the cabin boy,we are pirates, pirates, ho! Share...
read moreI Walk the Line
Story Walk, a project Curious City is helping Let’s Go! design and launch, walked again this month.Story Walk allows families to follow the pages of a picture book along a path to encourage both literacy and movement.This time we used the ever madcap tale, Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen (Chronicle Books).Alice Design helped us redesign the concept by photographing an actual open book. Seeing the edges of the pages, the cover, and the shadow of the gutter made the signage look all the more BOOK.I love this pic of a...
read moreWe Are Pirates, Pirates, Ho!
Some picture books simply require you to make silly voices. To promote Sarah L. Thomson’s piratical picture book, Pirates, Ho! we went to the king of silly voices –William Dufris.Sarah Thomson and I giggled (until we snorted-I am embarrassed to say) as we sat in Dufris’ studio hearing him give voice to Sarah’s characters Peg-Leg Tom, Angus Black, Dreadful Nell and One-Eyed Jack. He even dived into the crystal clear waters voicing characters pictured, but not named like the pelican “brwak” and the cabin...
read moreEvery Dog Deserves A…
Bone, certainly, but a Home most definitely. Finally had the chance to photograph the Every Dog Deserves a Home game that I developed to promote Tupelo Rides the Rails by Melissa Sweet and the supporting website that raises funds for dog shelters, www.MyDogisaBonehead.com.The game pairs illustration matching with canine wish fulfillment (both visual and written) to model dog adoption for kids. Basically, kids give each dog character in the book a home. You can view the whole game and game path here.Thanks once again to Alice Design for laying...
read moreMy Dog is a BONEHEAD
Spotted on the streets of Portland, Maine today was this driver’s proclamation that their dog is a BONEHEAD.Who or what are the BONEHEADS? The “Benevolent Order of Nature’s Exalted Hounds Earnest And Doggedly Sublime” (of course) AND the stars of Melissa Sweet’s latest picture book for dog doters of all ages, Tupelo Rides the Rails (Houghton Mifflin).You can declare your dog a BONEHEAD and receive your own bumper sticker at her swell new hilarious interactive website. Any fun BONEHEADS merchandise you buy goes to help...
read moreThe Golden Girls (and Boys)
I am absolutely in love with this image this fine morning. I might just extract myself from my desk, buy a train ticket and a snack cracker and head for NYC.Golden Legacy: Original Art from 65 Years of Golden BooksChildren’s Museum of ManhattanNew York, NY July 4 – August 28, 2008 View 60 masterpieces of original illustration art by legendary artists like Garth Williams, Feodor Rojankovsky, Tibor Gergely (great emigre artists), Gustaf Tenggren, Martin Provensen, J. P. Miller, and Mary Blair (Disney folk), Leonard Weisgard, Eloise...
read moreBook Spy at a Comics Convention: Fans Vs. Readers
Well, dear readers, the comic business has been buzzing through my bookbabebrain ever since returning from the grand Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC.What can all those swell, cool, passionate comic book fans and creators teach us in the book biz who struggle against the structures of Byzantine book publishing? I will be posting a few of my thoughts (as they were) over the next week.FANS VS. READERS Comic book conventions are not about librarians, educators, retailers or publishers (as they are in the book biz). Comic book conventions are...
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