World Read Aloud Day | March 4th, 2015

I'm back!  And for good reason: I'm getting ready to celebrate World Read Aloud Day on March 4th, 2015.  A program by LitWorld, WRAD celebrates the importance of reading aloud and encourages all to participate and share stories.

I've been participating since 2012 by doing Skype visits with schools and libraries and it's one of my favorite days of the year.

What about you, what are your plans for World Read Aloud Day? Read on, everyone!

And the Mail Art / Illustrated Envelope goes to...

A day late, but here are the winners of the SLEEPOVER WITH BEATRICE AND BEAR illustrated envelopes giveaway:  Annie Silvestro, Stacey Hsu, and Elizabeth Corbett McGoran!

Thank you very much to everyone who tweeted, shared on Facebook, told a friend, and/or left a comment on the blog post.  I collected all the names, numbered them, and used a random number generator to pick the winners.

Your envelopes will be arriving in the mail soon!
Cheers!!

Giveaway | Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear

Today is publication day for Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear!  To commemorate I'm doing a giveaway open to all (US residents and abroad.)

Here are three illustrated envelopes with characters from the book: Beatrice, Bear and Squirrel, each hand drawn and painted -- you can own an original!  There will be three winners and each will receive one of the envelopes mailed to their door.  I'm a big fan of illustrated envelopes and mail art and I hope you are too!

To enter, help me spread the word about Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear: you can tweet about it, share it on Facebook, Pinterest, tell a friend, ask for it at your library, it's all good.  Leave a comment on this blog post, with a link back to you or a way for me to contact you should you win.  Winners will be randomly selected and contacted for their snail mail.  Then wait for your mail carrier to deliver the handmade envelope to your address!

Contest runs from today until Tuesday, August 26th.  Winners will be announced on Wednesday, August 27th.

Thanks for participating, everyone!

Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear | Countdown to Publication Day

The big day is almost here: August 7th, 2014, publication day for Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear! This week it will be officially out into the world, and it's time to celebrate!

My very talented friend Stacey Hsu from Original Sock Dogs did her magic again and created a wonderful Beatrice doll, capturing her personality and features perfectly.  Beatrice will be accompanying me to all events and book festivals, of course.

Stacey's daughter Sophie read the story and sent me this really cool drawing of Beatrice and Bear (please note her addition of Worm and Book --  ADORABLE!)

Also all ready for download is a terrific Teacher's Guide created by Marcie Colleen -- really, really good stuff, lots of ways to use the book in all sorts of fun activities in the classroom (or at home!)

And finally, what better way to celebrate a book launch than with a giveaway? Stay tuned for more information on a separate blog post on Thursday, August 7th, pub date!

Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear | Delivering The Final Art

And so it arrives, one of the best days of the whole book publishing process, especially for illustrators -- delivery of the final art! Since I live close to New York City, I get to deliver the art in person: what a treat -- I get to see my editor Nancy Paulsen and art director Cecilia Yung and visit the Penguin building in Lower Manhattan.  I remember when I did it for the first time with Little Dog Lost, that day is still so vivid in my memory. It was glorious!

The same was true with Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear.  I take a day off from my day job at the library and head off to the train station.  The art is all prepared: each spread labeled, covered with mylar, in a sturdy art bag.  Once I get to Penn Station it is a quick subway trip and soon I'm standing in the lobby for the offices of Penguin Young Readers Group.  There are bookshelves with some of their books displayed, all imprints, and look what I saw on the shelf:

After getting in we head to a conference room and display all the art around a table, so we can see it from page one to page 32.  Here are Nancy Paulsen and Cecilia Yung helping me set all the art in sequence on the table:

Other Penguin employees are invited to come as well, and take a peek -- it's a lovely opportunity to meet other people who will be working together on our book: publicists, library marketing, as well as other editors, etc.  

Afterwards we go out to lunch and have a fantastic time!

To read other entries in this series just go to Character Development,  From Storyboard to Final Art, and Book Cover.

Next we will talk about the other best day for an author/illustrator: publication day!

Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear | Book Cover

Book covers are the first thing people notice about a book, be it at a bookstore, at the library or even online.  A book cover needs to be attractive and eye-catching, pique one's interest with a glimpse of what the story is about while at the same time keeping readers guessing how it will develop. It should make one wants to get the book, browse, take it home. 

Interesting enough, book covers are usually the last piece of artwork produced when working on the final art.  A lot of thinking goes into the making of a book cover, so valuable input comes from many sources: editorial, art direction and design, publicity and marketing.  Titles can also change in the process, which means new covers need to be created.

The title for Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear went through a number of changes.  At one point, it was called The Great Hibernators -- below is a rough sketch for a possible cover:

I was lucky to be working with book designer Annie Ericsson: a book designer has a profound effect on a book and especially on the cover.  She picked the type fonts, put together the jacket (front and back covers, spine, front and back flaps) and came up with what I think is just the perfect cover for this story, don't you think?

One Spread: From Storyboard to Final Art

When I started working on the final art for Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear, I had big plans to document every step so that I could share the progress afterwards.  It didn't quite work as well as I had hoped: once I started painting (and re-painting) it was hard to remember to stop and take pictures. Also when working on deadline, the need to make sure paintings got done by a certain date/time would take precedence over everything else.  Before I knew it, I had skipped taking breaks to photograph my progress.

But I did manage to document one spread in detail.  It's one of those happy cases where the very first tiny sketch, done for the storyboard, remained basically the same throughout the work.  Here it is as a 1 x 2 inch doodle: Beatrice and Bear saying goodnight and going sleep:

Next came a larger sketch, better suited for the dummy, done with a bit more detail:

I sometimes photocopy pages from the dummy to test colors -- the paper is not really suited for watercolor painting, but it helps me to see whether the colors I'm envisioning work or not and to try different color combinations:

Now for the final painting, which was done on Fabriano 140 hot press paper.  I used a light box to transfer the sketch to the watercolor paper, and did the outline first, with a brush and Winsor & Newton black India ink.  I erased all pencil marks and then started painting using Sennelier watercolors and Prismacolor pencils to add texture and/or shading.

It's kind of cool to see it like this, from little doodle to final art.  Next we will talk book covers!

Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear | Character Development

Working on a picture book takes time -- lots of time -- for everyone involved: author/illustrator, agent, editor, art director, book designer, marketing team, etc.  It is a VERY collaborative effort so publication dates mean a whole lot to many, many people.

August 7th is pub date for Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear (Yay!), so I thought I would use this month to talk a bit more about the making of the book.  In an earlier post I talked about story development and working on storyboards.  Now let's talk a bit about character development: working on poses, expressions, colors, etc.

I typically have a lot of pieces of paper with small drawings and studies for each character, color combinations, etc.  I need to write things down, otherwise I may not remember how to maintain the same color scheme.  I paint the pages out of sequence, so I will usually need to recreate the same color used days or weeks before and -- believe me -- it's easy to forget.  If something works, write it down.  There are happy accidents, and sometimes you want to make sure you can make them happen again.

Next time, I'll be discussing working on a page from storyboard to final painting.  See you soon!

Ernest and Celestine

This weekend I saw a great movie -- Ernest and Celestine, based on the series of books by author/illustrator Gabrielle Vincent (who is also the author of one my favorite dog books, A day, a dog.)

The movie won France's César Award for Best Animated Feature and was a nominee for this year's Oscar for Best Animated Film.  It is a an absolute delight -- I can't wait to watch it again.  I do that, you know, I watch movies I like over and over again.  It's started when I was learning English and used to watch movies several times to practice (I would read the subtitles the first time, and then stop for all subsequent viewings.) You can learn a lot from watching movies repeatedly: once is really not enough, you miss too much.  This is also what started my love affair with movie soundtracks.  By the way, the soundtrack by Vincent Courtois is also a treat.

Anyhow, the movie does a wonderful job adapting Vicent's characters and artistic style.  The film blog has a lot of really cool information about the making of the movie, including how they decided to keep the backgrounds as watercolors to stay true to Vicent's sketchy and airy watercolors.  The blog is well worth a read: it's not only informative, but quite funny too!

Ernest and Celestine is a must-see!

World Read Aloud Day | March 5th, 2014

For the 3rd year in a row, I will be participating in WRAD -- World Read Aloud Day.

It is LOADS of fun!

I take a day off from work and spend the day Skyping with schools and libraries from all over the country. This year I'll be meeting teachers, librarians and kids from Florida, Maine, Texas, Georgia, New Hampshire and Ohio!

Huge thanks to author Kate Messner who graciously compiles on her blog a list of authors and illustrators willing to Skype for free on WRAD.  It's a wonderful idea and for a great cause!

Ladybug Picture Book Award!

And now for some really FANTASTIC news:  Little Dog Lost is the winner of the 2013 Ladybug Picture Book Award!

*dances, jumps and twirls around the room*

According to the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library, "The Ladybug Picture Book Award is designed to promote early literacy and honor the best in recent children's picture books.  A committee of children's librarians from around the state selects 10 picture book titles early in the year.  Then, during November, New Hampshire children from preschoolers to those in third grade choose the award winner."

How cool is that?  Honestly, I was so honored just to be nominated this year.  Winning the award is just the best Christmas present ever!

A HUGE thank you to all children's librarians, teachers and children who read and shared Baltic's amazing tale!

Spotlight on Books and Illustrators

Do you know Eric Barclay? If you don't, you're in for a treat!  I discovered Eric and his amazing art through Illustration Friday, where his posts in response to each week's prompts were always fresh, original and masterfully done.  Eric is also a most generous person, who left encouraging comments on everyone's blog -- believe me, it means a lot to receive cheering words from such a talented artist!

August has been a great month for Eric who has two brand new books out:

I can see just fine (Abrams, 2013) in which a young girl is not quite ready to admit she needs glasses (I can totally relate!!)

and

Hiding Phil (Scholastic, 2013), a funny and charming story about three siblings and one very big (adorable) elephant they must bring home.

Make sure to spend lots of time looking through Eric's blog -- you'll see just how creative he can be!  Look at what he did with with a plain empty toilet cleaner container:

Truly, the man is a GENIUS!

I'm sure there will be many more great books from Eric to come!

Talking About Art Supplies

Well, hello there!  It's been ages, I know.  I had big hopes of keeping to a schedule, adding new content to my blog on a consistent basis, but here I am, 4 months after my last post... tsk, tsk, tsk.

But wait, I have a good excuse!  I was working very hard on my second picture book, which I'm happy to say is DONE (and art was delivered on time, yay!) *happy, happy dance*  Aaaand, the book has a new title, ready?

Ladies and Gentlemen, keep your eyes open for... SLEEPOVER WITH BEATRICE AND BEAR! Coming 2014 from Nancy Paulsen Books and yours truly.

On my last post about working on book 2, I said that I would be talking next about my favorite art supplies.  This sounds like a great way to get back into blogging mode!

My favorite watercolor paper lately is Fabriano Artistico Extra White, 140 lbs, hot pressed.  I use blocks - they're more expensive than sheets, but easier to store and do not require stretching.  That beautiful watercolor pan set was a gift from my parents (Sennelier artist watercolors) and it's been put to great use!  I also use tube Winsor & Newton artist watercolors.  Pen nibs and holders, as well as a selection of brushes, and Winsor and Newton Black India Ink.  In a jar, a selection of Prismacolor color pencils (there are a lot more that I keep in clay pots by my window).

My studio is a corner near a window (see the clay pots with pencils?)  It can get a bit messy and crowded, but it's home!

This is where I worked on both Little Dog Lost and Sleepover With Beatrice and Bear, and while I do most of the inking and painting there, I also use the kitchen table and any other surface available for drawing and sketching, cutting paper, using the light box, etc.

Welcome to my world!

Book Spine Poem

Book Spine Poems -- a brilliant idea, right? Travis Jonker from 100 Scope Notes is looking for a few good book spine poems to celebrate National Poetry Month.  You can read all about it here and here.

So below, my humble contribution to this month's celebration:

Can you tell I'm a librarian? ;-)

Picture Book Watch | April Edition

And we're back!  Here are a few great titles due out next month!

By Tiffany Strelitz Haber ; Illustrated by Matthew Cordell

Philomel, 2013

9780399256035

A new book from Tiffany Strelitz Haber, author of the adorable The Monster Who Lost His Mean (Henry Holt, 2012) and illustrated by the always amazing Matthew Cordell.  I love his illustration style: sketchy line ink drawings, natural, spontaneous and fresh.  And funny too!  Check out this great piece by Jules Danielson about Matthew and his amazing book Hello! Hello! (Disney Hyperion, 2012)

By Emily Gravett

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children, 2012

9781442452312

From the über-talented Emily Gravett, a book about Cedric, a little dragon who wants to be read the same bedtime story, again, again and again.  Emily creates the most original books, both in terms of story and design.  I've been a fan since her debut picture book Wolves (Simon & Schuster, 2006). You can learn more about her unique books in this neat piece published by The Guardian.  

By Bob Staake

Schwartz & Wade, 2013

9780375970382

 

The first time I saw this cover, I was immediately hooked -- such beautiful colors and design.  And once I learned about the story I realized this is one of those not-to-be-missed books. Bob Staake tells a powerful story of friendship between a lonely boy and a bluebird -- in a wordless format, rendered entirely in shades of grey and blue.  There is a website with lots of great information about the making of the book. In a way it reminded me of another favorite book of mine, How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham (Candlewick, 2008)

 

By Eliza Wheeler

Nancy Paulsen Books, 2013

9780399257926

 

There's something magical about this cover, isn't there?  A sneak peak at some of the interior art from the author's blog makes me long for more!  This is Eliza Wheeler's debut picture book as author/illustrator, and it promises to be special: the story of Miss Maple, a diminutive woman with a deep love for lost seeds.  Eliza won the SCBWI 2010 Los Angeles International Conference Mentorship Award AND the SCBWI 2011 Los Angeles International Conference Portfolio Grand Prize -- her artwork is stunning! 

 

Look for these books at your library or at your favorite bookstore!

Working on Book 2 | Beatrice and Bear | Story Development

I decided to do some posts about my second picture book, which is due to be published spring 2014.  I can't share a lot right now, as I'm still working on the final paintings, but I thought it would be fun to talk about story development, art supplies, illustration processes, etc.  I'm doing a better job this time documenting the whole process from idea to final book, and felt these would make good topics for blog posts.

Little Dog Lost is a based on a true story, so in the case of my first book, story development was based on research and intended audience (aimed at very young children.)  It sold as part of a two-book deal, the second book to be determined, a project that would interest both the publisher and me.

I find that all of my story ideas begin with a drawing or a painting. Even Little Dog Lost began with an illustration created for Illustration Friday.  So for the second book, I went back through some of my sketches and illustrations and found one in particular that I felt had a strong narrative quality, that "told a story."  I did a few more sketches based on this idea and shared them with my editor Nancy Paulsen and art director Cecilia Yung.  Once I got the okay to proceed, the next step was to write the manuscript and create a thumbnail storyboard.  Writing the story for me is a combination of words and sketches, both very much connected. But at this point, it's important to focus on the text.  Again my agent Teresa Kietlinski was a fantastic critique partner -- I sent her my first draft of the manuscript and she wrote back with some very good insights and ideas which helped me develop the story.  Once I had a good manuscript, it was time to create the thumbnail storyboard, using a template with all 32 pages ready for sketching.  I went through many of these storyboard templates, drawing and re-drawing pages, cutting and moving around sequences, etc. The goal at this point is to determine the story's pacing and the best places for page turns.  It all has to fit within 32 pages, and you want to tell it in a way that is balanced, keeps momentum, and creates interest in what's going to happen next.

I shared the manuscript and storyboard with Nancy and Cecilia, and was ready to move on to the next step: creating the dummy.  Now quick sketches become more detailed and developed.  The initial dummy is the first time seeing words and illustrations together, as they would appear in the final book, but it is still very much a work in progress.  Writing a book is truly a collaborative effort and the feedback I received from both Nancy and Cecilia helped me develop a much stronger, tighter second dummy.

And I'm now at the final art stage, working on the illustrations.  On my next post, I'll talk about some of my favorite art supplies for creating the illustrations.  Needless to say, I'm CRAZY about art supplies!

Picture Book Watch | March Edition

I'm starting a new series of posts highlighting picture books I'm looking forward to reading this year.  My plan is to do so consistently -- at the beginning of each month I'll select three or more titles coming out the following month.  Sounds fun, right?

So beginning with March, here are three really exciting books to put on your radar:

By David Ezra Stein

Nancy Paulsen Books, 2013

9780399256721

I’ve been a fan of his work for ages – in fact, Leaves is one of my favorite picture books of all time!  This title about a very protective mama squirrel promises to be just as delightful!

By Nikki McClure

Abrams, 2013

9781419705281

McClure’s cut paper illustrations are always stunning, and since seeing this cover I just can’t wait to get my hands on this book.  I love the white background, strong black lines of the cut paper and just a touch of blue.   A story about a kitten learning to be a cat is right up my alley.

By Eve Bunting; illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier

Clarion Books, 2013

9780547752679

I like Sergio Ruzzier’s illustrations.  I like them a lot.  He does a great job with ink and watercolor, and has a very unique style.  And now he’s working again with Eve Bunting on a story about a duck heartbroken about the loss of his new socks.  They worked together before on the excellent Tweak Tweak, so this is high up on my list.

Look for these books at your library or at your favorite bookstore!

The Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration

Recently I had the chance to attend a fantastic webinar organized by ALA's Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) in honor of The Caldecott Medal 75th Anniversary.

This webinar, The Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration, was presented by Dilys Evans, artist, agent and founder of the Original Art, as well as author of Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration.  

Ms. Evans discussed the 10 Principles for Illustrating a Great Picture Book, and kindly allowed me to share them on my blog.  They are (drum roll, please):

1) In the Beginning is the Word -- it's essential that illustrators fall in love with the manuscript and stay true to the word, bringing their own expertise and artistry to the table.

2) Preparation is Paramount: Research, Research, Research.

3) Every Picture Must Tell a Story: A Great Cover is Where it All Begins.

4) Endpapers, Flaps and Title Pages: The Opportunity of a Lifetime -- use every space to put a picture that explains more about the characters, time or place.

5) Set the Scene Before the Story Begins.

6) The Medium is Part of the Message.

7) Working Sketches are the Stepping Stones to a Great Picture Book.

8) Art and Typeface Should be a Perfect Marriage.

9) A Great Picture Book is a Form of Dramatic Art.

10) White Space Rules!

Great stuff, right?  Get thee to a library and start looking for these principles in your favorite picture books!

PS.  Archived sessions of the webinars are available for free and unlimited viewing for members of ALSC!

November is Picture Book Month!

Have you heard? I bet you did -- November is Picture Book Month!  As you can see from the calendar below, every day brings a new essay by an author or illustrator on the importance of picture books.

Calendar designed and illustrated by Elizabeth O. Dulemba

There's more too.  Be sure to check out Picture Book Month at the Horn Book, where you'll find a new article about picture books every Thursday.  The first, Absorbing Pictures and What They Say written by Barbara Bader is already up.

And don't forget PiBoIdMo - Picture Book Idea Month!  Created and hosted by author Tara Lazar on her blog in 2009, it continues to grow and grow! Great guest posts, great prizes and a whole month to help you come up with ideas for picture books.  What's not to like?

My Public Library in Rio | Minha Biblioteca Pública no Rio

I'm in Rio de Janeiro, visiting my family, and decided to check my old neighborhood public library, Biblioteca Popular Municipal de Botafogo.  I was 12 when we moved to this part of Rio and this library was not far from home.

There are fewer public libraries in Brazil than in the US -- they are not as widespread or well-funded.  Collections tend to be small, but as all public libraries in the world, they play an important part in fostering a love of reading and learning.  That was certainly true for me!

Children's book publishing is growing in Brazil and it's wonderful to see so many amazing picture books by Brazilian authors and illustrators -- these are two of my favorites: Elisabeth Teixeira and Mariana Massarani.

Estou no Rio, visitando minha família e decidi ver a biblioteca pública do meu antigo bairro, Biblioteca Pública Popular Municipal de Botafogo. Tinha 12 anos quando nos mudamos para esta vizinhança do Rio, e a biblioteca não ficava longe de casa.

No Brasil não existem tantas bibliotecas públicas como nos Estados Unidos -- não são tão difundidas ou tão bem financiadas.  O número de livros é menor, mas como todas bibliotecas públicas do mundo, desempenham um papel importante na promoção do amor a leitura e ao aprendizado.  Certamente foi assim comigo!

A indústria de publicação de livros infantis continua crescendo no Brasil, e é maravilhoso ver tantos livros infantis incríveis feitos por autores e ilustradores brasileiros -- estas são duas das minhas favoritas:  Elisabeth Teixeira and Mariana Massarani.