The trailer for WHITE WATER is finally finished!

Thanks to Southern Peach Production for the great work~

Today is the earth shaking release of WHITE WATER!

Run to your local bookseller and grab a copy!

Check out a great review of WW from The Happy Nappy Bookseller, where she says:

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed White Water. Many times historical picture books are so focused on teaching, there’s little room for anything else. White Water is the best of both worlds. From the seating on the bus to the two water fountains its a good look at the segregated South. With Micheal’s imagination from his army men who cover him to daydreaming in class, the story is also fun.

Thanks Doret!

 The first review of WHITE WATER is in! PW says:

Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, illus. by Shadra Strickland. Candlewick, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-3678-4
First-time authors Bandy and Stein draw on one of Bandy’s childhood memories in this resonant story about a boy awakening to the injustices around him. In town with his grandmother, Michael drinks from the “colored” fountain, whose water “taste[s] like nasty, muddy, gritty yuck.” Yet next to him, a boy at the whites-only fountain eagerly drinks, igniting Michael’s curiosity (“Suddenly I just had to know what that white water tasted like”). Even ordinary things, when forbidden, can grip a child’s imagination, and so it is with Michael, his obsession with “white water” producing several fantasy scenarios and eventually compelling him to sneak back to town, where he discovers that the water in both fountains tastes the same. Michael’s determination and imaginativeness are evident in Strickland’s (A Place Where Hurricanes Happen) pale mixed-media paintings, which make excellent use of outlines to portray the boy’s imaginings, such as a snow-capped mountain range seen under the arc of water in the “white” fountain. If the all-consuming nature of Michael’s fascination occasionally feels excessive, the strength of the book’s imagery, as well as Michael’s epiphany, amply compensate. Ages 5–8. (Aug.)
Reviewed on: 06/13/2011

Happy am I!

Look for my new title, WHITE WATER this August in stores and online. Books are currently available for preordering.  WHITE WATER is written by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein and is published by Candlewick Press. You can find out more about the authors here. I’m pleased to see that this title will be distributed by Random House and Walker Books in Australia and New Zealand. It is one of my dreams to see New Zealand. Feel free to contact me for school visits New Zealand and Australia! 

For a young boy growing up in the segregated south, a town drinking fountain becomes the source of an epiphany.

 “White Water is a wonderful way to give children an American history lesson proving that racism is a waste of time.”
 –Bill Cosby“

…Michael’s discoveries remind us that we are interconnected and help us to believe in the possibilities for a better future. I can’t wait to share White Water with the children in my life…and come to think of it, I’ll be sharing it with the adults too.”
 –Melissa Harris-Perry
    Princeton Professor
    MSNBC Contributor and Columnist for The Nation

It’s been a steady push down here in Atlanta to get my next book finished. I can’t give anything away, but I will say that the book takes place down south which means I get to draw and paint, wait for it…..

KUDZU!!!!

a.k.a. the vine that ate the south

(that might actually make a fun picturebook). The story itself isn’t about kudzu, but when I am working on books, I try to pick out visual elements that I can repeat and play with throughout. It keeps things fun for me. So, without further ado….here is the tiny sample from my next book, WHITE WATER.

For more kudzu info, check out this fun link! And don’t miss the Kud-Zoo with interesting kudzu shaped animals!

To learn even more about kudzu, here’s a short youtube clip for ya!

My etching class ended last night. I was able to pull one more print that I’m almost happy with, but will now be renting space at the Atlanta Printmaker’s Studio in order to study the craft and practice more. In the meantime, here is last night’s progress on the hummingbird piece. The drawing looks a little labored due to my having to redraw through the hard ground and having to reapply and redraw the soft ground details as well, and in this printing, I left a fair amount of ink on the plate for more plate tone….

My instructor, Kathy Garrou, brought in a book done completely in engraving! How crazy that? It’s a GORGEOUS book called TRICK OF THE TALE, written by John and Caitlin Matthews and illustrated by Tomislav Tomic. This book is published by Candlewick Press, who is ironically the publisher of my next book, WHITE WATER~ I can’t wait to add this book to my collection.

From the publisher: Enter (carefully) the world of the tricksters, those wily creatures who lie their way out of trouble, cheat when they get a chance, and devise elaborate tricks to get what they want — with delightfully unpredictable results. This truly diverse, elegantly illustrated collection follows such clever characters as Anansi, Coyote, Brer Rabbit, and others who play a role in a multicultural array of storytelling traditions, from African to Inuit to European, Tibetan to Native American to Japanese. Celebrate the slyest trickster tales from around the world in a lavish volume that gives a well-loved story tradition its rightful due.

Speaking of WHITE WATER…back to work~