This coming Saturday, I’ll be introducing my old friend Betsy Hearne at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, where she will be delivering the Barbara Elleman Research Library Lecture. 25 bucks for lunch with Betsy and me at noon; the BERL lecture (hey Barbara–how’s it feel to be an acronym?) is  at 2:00 PM and free with admission to the museum. Like Anne Carroll Moore, Bertha Mahony Miller, and Ellen Robillard O’Hara before her, Betsy Gould Hearne is a true three-named Great Lady Legend and you shouldn’t miss this chance to hear her speak.

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The 2012 finalists for the Children’s Choice Book Awards have been revealed. Kids can vote from March 14th to May 3rd.

The winners will be announced live at the Children’s Choice Book Awards gala on May 7th. Nominees have been divided into four groups classified by different school grades.

In the Author of the Year category, middle-grade fiction writers dominate. The nominees include Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson, The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan and Dork Diaries 3: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star by Rachel Renée Russell.

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It was kind of a kooky idea, I admit it.  I’ve seen plenty of sites where artists will reinterpret someone like Maurice Sendak in their own styles.  What I wanted was something a little different.  I wanted to see what would happen if great children’s book illustrators illustrated one another.  If a Lobel illustrated a Bemelmans.  If a Carle illustrated a Silverstein.  Trouble is, famous folk have a way of not bothering to illustrate one another (to say nothing of the fact that a bunch of them are dead as doornails).  The solution?  To offer a silly fun challenge.  And so the Re-Seussification Project was offered: To re-illustrate any Dr. Seuss book in the style of another illustrator.

Now there was some question at first about revealing the identities of the people making the mash-ups.  Some folks thought this fun contest was unfortunate because I wasn’t celebrating the great talents of up-and-coming artists.  So as a compromise, I’ll present the art first and then the names of the artists at the bottom of the page.  Makes it a little more streamlined anyway.

And now . . . the moment you’ve all been waiting for . . . in the order of the faux artists, here’s the lot!

So, we’re all friends here, right?  Right off the bat I’m going to make a confession.  In offering this contest all I really wanted was for someone somewhere to do an Eric Carle.  It was a lot to ask since we’re talking about an artist dealing in the medium of cut paper.  It looked like it wasn’t going to happen.  Then, last night, the final submission was sent in and it was . . .

1. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN AN ERIC CARLE STYLE

A brilliant way to start us off!

Next up, I’ve fond memories of this book.  As a child of Kalamazoo I was slightly obsessed with any and every mention of my hometown, no matter where it might be.  Dr. Seuss was one of the few authors to understand the true glory of my hometown’s name and for that I shall forever be grateful.  It lifts my heart a little then to see him memorialized in the form of . . .

2. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG IN A LAURENT DE BRUNHOFF STYLE

I particularly like how worried Babar appears.  One thing’s for certain.  That elephant bird is gonna be one snappy dresser.

This next image didn’t go the easy route, no sir.  Some illustrators have styles that are easier to imitate than others.  For this next one I was incredibly impressed by the sheer details at work.  From the border to the font to the colors to the fact that this looks like an honest-to-gosh watercolor.  Hold onto your hats folks, for you are now in the presence of . . .

3. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN A TOMIE DEPAOLA STYLE

The best part is that his name is signed with dePaola’s customary little heart.  THAT is the attention to detail I crave.

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At NCTE I found myself laughing at myself, because with 700 sessions to choose from, I managed to attend a session that I had already attended last year!  Not so surprising--the concept of "Picturing Writing: Fostering Literacy through Art" is right up my personal alley, and the collage-based approach called "Image-Making Within the Writing Process" is my back door.  Thanks to Beth Olshansky and her teacher colleagues for leading me home (two years in a row).

So, in our new 2.0 Elementary Integrated Curriculum we are supposed, as winter sets in, to be studying plant and animal life cycles, planting seeds and learning about baby animals. (Never mind that all around us dying, darkening, sleeping.)  To tie it all together and to lead us into a poetry project, I chose Leo Lionni's Frederick and Eric Carle's The Tiny Seed, which we have been comparing and contrasting, enacting and evaluating: which parts of this story could really happen?  do Frederick and his family do what real mice do? 

Meanwhile, each child used watercolors to paint 3-6 papers for collage, in the manner of both Carle and Lionni. As the class worked to see what animals, plants and weather their unpredictable painted papers suggested, I learned quite a lot that will help me support the project next time!  (Note to self:  20 collaging kindergarteners at once is too many.)  Still, their collages are very pleasing, often striking, and most importantly, quite individual. 

This week we're placing our collages in front of us and writing poems.  While a couple of the 5-year-olds are able to write their compositions on their own, for most I'm scribing with strategically placed blanks for them to spell juicy words like fish, rain, float and lion.  I cannot wait to share the whole collection with you, but for now I have only two to hand.  Jordan cut 4 shapes from a pinkish-purple paper, arranged them as a fish on a stripy bluish sea paper, and then painstakingly cut and glued maroon and ochre spots from another paper to create a bubbly surface. Here is his poem.

Mighty Minnow
by Jordan

mighty minnow swimming fast
in a deep, deep sea
pinkish-purple spots and dots
do you see any more colors
or anything else on me?

Ezekial is my youngest nearly 6-year-old and My Project for the year. We worked very closely to make the lion he imagined out of a deep muddyish turquoise paper. Here is the poem we negotiated.

Lion
by Ezekial

the blue dad lion
is walking to his wife
the playground is their house
they eat leaves and grass
they climb up the ladders
and they jump!

Extra poet's note: My plan, of course, was to model the collage-to-poem move using my own giraffe-under-sunset collage...but as my colleagues often say, "Kindergarten happened," and I found myself sitting down to write with children without ever having modeled. Guess what? For this class anyway, it has not mattered. Perhaps the other poetry we've been reading (most recently Frederick's "Sky Mice" poem and Douglas Florian's Beast Feast) and all the singing we've done has been enough. Their words sing, too!

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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 1, 2011

Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.

Kids’ Christmas Books: For the Naughty & Nice

Cedella Marley Inspires with “One Love”

Author Interview: Gary Paulsen

Review: Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online

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THE NEW RELEASES

The most coveted books that release this month:

Witch & Wizard: The Fire

by James Patterson and  Jill Dembowski

(Ages 11-15)

Big Nate and Friends

by Lincoln Peirce

(Ages 8-12)

Artemis the Loyal (Goddess Girls)

by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

(Ages 8-12)

Pretty Little Liars #10: Ruthless

by Sara Shepard

(Ages 14-17)

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THE BEST SELLERS

The best selling children’s books this month:

PICTURE BOOKS

Home for Christmas

by Jan Brett

(Ages 0-5)

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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 1, 2011

Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.

Cedella Marley Inspires with “One Love”

Author Interview: Gary Paulsen

Lessons from Laura Ingalls Wilder

Review: Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online

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THE NEW RELEASES

The most coveted books that release this month:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

by Jeff Kinney

(Ages 8-11)

Inheritance

by Christopher Paolini

(Young Adult)

Home for Christmas

by Jan Brett

(Ages 0-5)

Ivy an Bean: No News is Good News

by Annie Barrows

(Ages 6-9)

Red Sled

by Lita Judge

(Ages 0-5)

Steps and Stones: An Anh’s Anger Story

by Gail Silver

(Ages 4-10)

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THE BEST SELLERS

<

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I like a lot of Eric Carle's books. I used The Very Hungry Caterpillar when I taught kindergarten and first grade. I read books he wrote and illustrated to my daughter, and I give them as gifts.

I was surprised, this morning, to learn that he had done illustrations for Tales of the Nimipoo from the Land of the Nez Perce by Eleanor B. Heady.

For one of my courses at SJSU I've been thinking about collection development. In that thought-space I visited the Awful Library Books blog, and went through one of their slide shows about weeding.

That led me to wonder what the oldest book about American Indians in a local library might be. I searched that local library's holdings and that is how I came across Tales of the Nimipoo from the Land of the Nez Perce. They do have it on the shelf, even though it is pretty old. It came out in 1970. When the library opens later today, I'll drive over there and check it out. 

Let's consider the title for a moment.

"Nimipoo" is Hardy's spelling of Nimi'ipuu, which is what the Nez Perce people call themselves. There's a good bit of info about the word on the website for the Nez Perce Tribe. We could say it is cool that Heady included Nimipoo in her title. It shows that she knows the people had their own name for themselves.  It is a bit awkward, though, to have both Nimipoo and Nez Perce in the title. Hopefully there will be a note in the book that explains her use of Nimipoo.

Next, let's consider the word "Tales" in the title. That one is a major problem for me...  Are these "tales" or are they traditional stories? Are they creation stories? If so, the book belongs on the shelf with creation stories of other world religions. What I am pointing to is problems in classification, wherein some people are "folk" and have "quaint" stories while others receive a different treatment in the classification system.

I'll let you know what I find when I get the book.

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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: October 26, 2011

Fairy tales have the power to teach us valuable lessons about love, loyalty and friendship. In these stories, characters are transformed into magical beings, sacrifices are made in their honor and small creatures perform enormous acts of courage and daring. These classic stories have been told for many generations and yet their legend grows richer with each telling.

Michael Hague’s Treasured Classics has the old-fashioned appeal of books my mother once read to me. Reading “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” I fondly remembered my mom growling like the fierce troll under the bridge. With fourteen tales to choose from including “Jack and The Beanstalk” and “The Gingerbread Man,” children will marvel at the intricately detailed illustrations. It seems this book played a magic trick on me by transporting me back in time. (Ages 6-9)

Mouse & Lion is an unusually beautiful retelling of Aesop’s fable. Rand Burkert’s rich language embellishes the familiar story and Nancy Ekholm Burkert’s lush illustrations reflect the magnificence of the African landscape (with its brilliant orange setting sun and ancient baobab tree) in this heartwarming tale.  Burkert has composed and recorded a CD of songs inspired by Aesop, also entitled Mouse & Lion. (Ages 4-8)

Brigette Barrager illustrations in Twelve Dancing Princesses reminded me of classic Disney movies such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, but her version has a decidedly modern spin.  When Pip the clever cobbler discovers why the sleepy princesses’ shoes are worn out each morning, she unveils the mystery with witty dialogue rather than long-winded descriptions of the enchanted forest, boat ride, and ballroom (yawn). Well done, Miss Barrager. A lovely matching game is also available from Chronicle Books. (Ages 5-8)

Bambi by Felix Salten is such a sad story and yet this coming of age tale brings with it hope and resilience. The soft watercolor paintings by Maja Dusikova of the sweet woodland creatures glow in the forest ligh

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The National Education Association (NEA) has teamed up with the NEA Foundation to host “The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse Charity Auction.”

The proceeds derived from the Internet auction will benefit the NEA Foundation’s “Art Inspires Learning, Learning Inspires Art” initiative. This project funds arts education grants for teachers. Follow this link to check out the artwork.

Here’s more from the release: “This initiative was inspired by Eric Carle‘s picture book The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, which celebrates imagination and artistic freedom. Each donated piece of art will feature that artist’s interpretation of a horse and celebrates imagination and the many and varied ways that each artist sees the world around him/her. The auction will include three waves of art: Group 1 will take place October 17th-27th. Group 2 will take place October 31st-November 10th. Group 3 will take place November 14th-24th.”

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For the past six years now the Eric Carle Museum has hosted an annual event in New York City where authors, illustrators, editors, and more have met and mingled with the chance of bidding on great works of art, honored folks in the field, and generally supported the museum and all it entails.  And for at least five of those years I have had the pleasure of attending in 2007 (here and here), 2008, 2009, 2010, and now I have a 2011 notch on my bedpost as well (so to speak).  Each year came with its own memories too. In 2007 I watched the wife of Mo Willems goose her husband (who had to take the freight elevator up to the event because he was wearing jeans) to show how the new Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus stuffed animal would work if you wanted to make it speak.  In 2008 I stumbled into a vast room that was filled from wall to wall with desserts, akin to a Room of Requirement (though I was searching for the loo at the time).  Upon returning to my table I watched Tony DiTerlizzi  (or was it Mo Willems again?) lob spitballs at the adjoining table.  2009 consisted of the Very Hungry Caterpillar cake . . . a cake that returns in my dreams sometimes urging me to eat it (adjust its book to read “And she wasn’t a little librarian anymore. She was a big fat librarian!).  And of course in 2010 I had just returned from a lovely jaunt to Chicago’s SCBWI chapter to discover that I was pregnant.  Immediately after this discovery I ran over to the Carle Honors where I spent the entire time drinking loads of water, staring morosely at the glasses of wine going around.

Which brings us up to speed.  Here we are in 2011 and things have changed a little.  I’m less intimidated by the big names.  I know a nifty spot near this year’s event space (the restaurant Guastavino’s) where I could change from comfy shoes to high heeled bits of painful ridiculousness.  I’m no longer pregnant.  And . . .

Okay, so I lied to you just now.  Fact of the matter is that I’m still intimidated by the big names.  Take Lois Ehlert.  She was amongst the various folks being honored alongside Karen Nelson Hoyle, Jeanne Steig and Michael di Capua.  If her name rings no bells then surely old Chicka Chicka Boom Boom does.  She created the art for that one, amongst her many other titles.  So when it was suggested that I hop on over and give her a howdy, I clung to my security blanket/best buddy Lori Ess of Scholastic Book Group and made my way over. And yes, I was terrified.

Cleverly checking my bag that evening I managed to also check my camera, so it is to Leah Goodman that I thank for many of the images shown in t

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In my experience of parenthood so far Eric Carle and the birth of babies go hand in hand.

If a newborn is going to receive a book or two as a welcome-to-the-world gift, it’s a nigh-on certainty that there’ll be stories or illustrations from Carle included. I know when M was born we were sent multiple copies of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the first book I specifically bought for M, when she was still in utero, was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

Next week sees the publication of the first new picture book by Eric Carle since I last had a newborn of my own: four years after Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? (which co-incidentally was the first book I bought specifically for J), The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse is about to start making its journey into homes, hands and childhoods.

“I am an artist and I paint…” not quite what you might expect.

Although the book follows a pattern that mirrors Brown Bear, Brown Bear and its partner books, with a single boldly coloured animal in instantly recognisable Carle style on each double page spread, there is something of a surprise thrown in. Not one of the animals is the colour they “should” be; there’s a blue horse, a yellow cow and a green lion, for starters.

Children will enjoy the humour in these “mismatches”, but the book also contains a powerful message about creativity, imagination and being encouraged to explore beyond what is expected of you. The artist who paints these “wrongly” coloured animals is described as “a good artist“.

Although I suspect this book will be bought primarily for the preschool crowd because of its simple text (most pages have just 4 words on them), I actually think this is a great picture book for slightly older children, in their first years of schooling. Inspired by the work of the Expressionist painter Franz Marc (the book includes examples of Marc’s paintings and a short biography inside the back cover) it’s a great catalyst for discussing “What IS art?” and how we decide whether we think an artist is any good or not.

Thus my advice would have to be, next time you’re buying a gift for a new baby, choose The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse for the baby’s older sibling and treat the new arrival to Brown Bear, Brown Bear – toge

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The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse is the title of Eric's latest book. Just look at him here, working and speaking about the book. He is so adorable!!!!

:o)

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We can BEAR-ly contain ourselves! Celebrate Eric Carle's 82nd birthday this weekend (on Saturday!) with your favorite ursine books. For all you fans of Eric Carle’s timeless illustrations, here’s a rundown of his best and brightest. Which is your favorite?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
By Bill Martin Jr, Illustrated by Eric Carle

Also available in Big Book, Board Book, Slide & Find, My First Reader, Spanish HC and Board Book

 

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It’s not everyday that you get the chance to hear an acclaimed children’s writer/illustrator speak about his craft. So, sit down, relax and let the education begin:

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To continue celebrating the International Postcard Swap for Families (there are still a few days left in which you can sign up for it – see here for details) I’ve another great and very appropriate giveaway today.

The kind folk at none other than The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art have provided two sets of Eric Carle postcards to giveaway to readers of this blog. There is one set of Eric Carle favourites and one set of Eric Carle Animals and Plants up for grabs. Each set contains 35 assorted postcards, all featuring Eric Carle’s art.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post.

If you want extra chances to win an Eric Carle postcard set you can:

Tweet about this giveaway

Mention this giveaway on your blog

Link to this giveaway from your Facebook page

For any of the extra entries to count you must leave a separate comment here on this post saying what extra chance you’ve gone for (eg tweeted about the giveaway etc).

This giveaway:

is open worldwide

is open until 6am (UK time) 19th May 2011

The winner will be selected randomly with the help of random.org, and announced here on Playing by the book sometime during the day on 19th May. Good Luck!

In addition, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is offering Playing by the book readers a 15% discount on one entire purchase from their online store. Just use coupon code PLAY2011 at checkout. Offer expires May 19, 2011.

The online shop is full of gorgeous items! I particularly like their exhibition posters, the Very Books fabric line and the Animals carpet.

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Last summer we drove miles and miles and refilled the gas tank so we could drive miles and miles more (and this was after traveling by train and Greyhound bus) to go see The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. This museum has been on my list of things to do for years, and [...]

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