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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Eric Carle Museum, Most Recent at Top [Help]
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1. Eric Carle Museum Hosts Exhibit of Early Disney Artist

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is opening a new exhibition featuring the artwork of Mary Blair, an influential designer and art director for The Walt Disney Company.

“The Magic, Color, Flair: the world of Mary Blair,” which opens on November 10, explores her artistic process and her work through the years. Blair worked on the Disney animated films Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan, as well as a number of attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort. She is best known for the ride “It’s a Small World.”  The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, CA is organizing the exhibit which will take place in Amherst, MA.

The exhibit features several events as well as a book with an essay by exhibition curator and Academy Award-winning animator John Canemaker.

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2. Leonard Marcus – Children’s Literature Interview

I met Leonard Marcus three years ago, shortly after arriving in New York. An author/illustrator friend who gives wonderful kid lit parties in her small New York apartment was gracious enough to invite me to one. Thoroughly new to writing … Continue reading

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3. Eric Carle Museum Receives $2M in Donations

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4. May -- Opening Doors of Wonder, books, kids, dogs and movies

 

    Forbidden ForestCentaurs
   

Opening the doors to a child's imagination...

An 8 year old girl, after reading the first chapter in a manuscript, helped convince her father, the CEO of Bloomsbury, to publish Harry Potter. It had previously been rejected by eight publishers.

HgwrtsWinterThe Harry Potter book series that followed has found an enormous and passionate following around the world. The seven books in the series have been published in sixtyseven languages. The books have taken readers to Hogwarts and beyond, to a world of wizards, flying broomsticks, and magic wands ...a world of the imaginationThere are over 450 million books in print. There are eight movies that have translated the the books into fantasy adventure films with a worldwide gross of over seven and a half billion dollars... there are websites, games, theme parks, as well as a wide variety of merchandise.

The Harry Potter books were the catalyst for the major cross-over phenomenon of adults reading YA books, a change in the book buying  marketplace that continues to this day. 

And it all started with the imagination of J.K. Rowling -- and an 8 year old girl who liked to read, who helped open the doors to a world wonder, a world of fantasy, magic and imagination for millions of children, teenagers, moms and dads around the world.

The centaurs in the Forbidden Forest and the Hogwarts school are from the Harry Potter movies.

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JKRowlingGuardian "Many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are". J.K. Rowling,  Harvard Commencement Speech, 2008

 
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The Courage to Love...

Lev Grossman, journalist, critic, and best selling author -- Warp, Codex, and the Magicians series -- wrote a very personal, insightful and in-depth appreciation of the legacy of J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter series, and the Deathly Hallows. It was published in Time  Here are excerpts...

"Deathly Hallows is of course not merely the tying up of plot-threads, it's the final iteration of Rowling's abiding thematic concern: the overwhelming importance of continuing to love in the face of death....


VoldemortHarrySo we have known for a while that Voldemort cannot love, that he has been spiritually ruined by his parents' deaths, and he will kill anyone to stave off his own death. Harry, though also an orphan, has found the courage to love. "Do not pity the dead, Harry," a wise man tells Harry in Deathly Hallows. "Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love." Characterologically speaking, the greatest question that remains in Hallows might be whether Harry can do this — that is, whether Harry can find it in himself to pity the man who killed his parents..."

Grossman then writes of mixed feelings, including sadness, following the completion of Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series...

HarryThe sadness is more an instant nostalgia for the unironic, whole-hearted unanimity with which readers embraced the story of Harry. We did something very rare for Harry Potter: we lost our cool. There is nothing particularly hip about loving Harry. He's not sexy or dangerous the way, say, Tony Soprano was. He's not an anti-hero, he's just a hero, but we fell for him anyway. It's a small sacrifice to the one that Harry makes, of course, but it's what we, as self-conscious, status-conscious modern readers, have to give, and we gave it. We did and do love Harry. We couldn't help ourselves."

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ArmChairBooks2 Reading... 
"Losing one’s self is, after all, one of the rewards of reading. The opportunity to inhabit another self, to experience another consciousness, is perhaps the most profound trespass a work of literature can allow." - Eula Biss

 

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Opening the Door for Hermione 

"You really are the cleverest witch of your age"  HermioneWand

These are the words of Sirius Black, at the close of the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

In the book, at this same moment, Sirius spoke to Harry, and says,"We'll see each other again. You are -- truly your father's son, Harry."

Seth Lerer, writing about Theaters of Girlhood in his history of Children's Literature, cites this telling movie moment as a "benediction of female accomplishment"... "this movie takes as its telos the authority of girlhood. It makes Hermione the real performer of the story: the stage manager of HermionePotionsLabmagic; the director of its time shifts, costume, and control.The film becomes a girl's film, one in which the female audience can find their affirmation. Yet the book remains, despite Hermione's obvious centrality, a story about men and boys: about Harry's search forfor his relationship to his dead father; about his need to find surrogates in Black, or Dumbledore."

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Harry's Destiny...

"J.K. Rowling never shies away from the great existential mysteries: death and loss, cruelty
and compassion, desire and depression. Harry  is anything but sheltered and protected from the evils of Voldermort. Think of those fiendish Dementors who are experts in making you HarryHermioneHogwartsOminouslose hope...The presence of loss and the threat of death perpetually hover over the boy magician and he becomes heroic precisely because. like his literary predecessors, he is destined for greatness even though he also possesses the weaknesses, failings, and vulnerabilities of all humans." -- 
Maria Tatar, writing about Theaters For The Imagination, in her book, Enchanted Hunters, The Power of Stories in Childhood. 

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YALECCClogoThe Mind of the Dog

Dog lovers find dogs to be quite special. Dogs are forgiving, affectionate, helpful, and unconditionally loyal.

Therapy dogs help people to heal from emotional problems and support people with physical problems. And they enable kids, helping them to learn to read.

Dog owners often feel that their dogs know what they are thinking.

How much of this is instinct, intuition, or conditioning? What is going on in the dog's mind? What are they thinking?

Yale University has established a Canine Cognition Center to better understand the dog's mind.Here is an excerpt from their website: 

YalecccDogBannerHuman"The Canine Cognition Center at Yale is a new research facility in the Psychology Department at Yale University. Our team of Yale scientists studies how dogs think about the world. Our center is devoted to learning more about canine psychology—how dogs perceive their environment, solve problems, and make decisions. Our findings teach us how the dog mind works, which can help us to better develop programs to improve how we train and work with our canine friends."

 Here is a link to an informative CBS documentary news broadcast on the research and goals of the Yale  Canine Center : Studying the Brain of Man's Best Fried. This video includes scenes where the research tests with the dogs is taking place.

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 Castle in the Mist is the second book in the Planet Of The Dogs Series...Here is an excerpt... "The trail became rougher and then, through the trees, CITM-Dogs in a snowy forest-blog sizethey saw the ancient castle of the Black Hawk warriors.  It was an awesome sight.  It had been built as a fortress castle long ago – before the memory of people could recall.  It was later abandoned and lay empty for hundreds of years until the forest people began to use it once again.  It was a large, solid structure with two towers rising above the walls.  The ancient stones rested on granite bedrock, and the back wall rose straight up from the vast waters of the lake.  As they approached, the sun was setting and mist was rising over the waters.  Soon, the mist would move over the land."

To read more, and for sample chapters from all the books in the series,visit our Planet Of The Dogs website.

We have free reader copies of the Planet of The Dogs book series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers...simply send us an email at [email protected]. and we will send you the books,. 

Jordyn castleOur books are available through your favorite independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Powell's and many more...Librarians, teachers, bookstores...You can also order Planet Of The Dogs, Castle In The Mist, and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, through Ingram with a full professional discount.

 
The illustration from Castle In The Mist is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty. The photo is by C.A.Wulff.

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An Alternate Universe... The Harry Potter Legacy

Michiko Kakutani is a highly regarded book critic for the New York Times. Following the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book in the series, she wrote a review of the book and an affirmation of the Harry Potter Legacy.

Here are excerpts:

"It is Ms. Rowling’s achievement in this series that she manages to make Harry both a familiar
HarryHermioneDangeradolescent — coping with the banal frustrations of school and dating — and an epic hero, kin to everyone from the young King Arthur to Spider-Man and Luke Skywalker. This same magpie talent has enabled her to create a narrative that effortlessly mixes up allusions to Homer, Milton, Shakespeare and Kafka, with silly kid jokes about vomit-flavored candies, a narrative that fuses a plethora of genres (from the boarding-school novel to the detective story to the epic quest) into a story that could be Exhibit A in a Joseph Campbell survey of mythic archetypes.

In doing so, J. K. Rowling has created a world as fully detailed as L. Frank Baum’s Oz or J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, a world so minutely imagined in terms of its history and rituals and rules that it qualifies as an alternate universe, which may be one reason the “Potter” books have spawned such a passionate following and such fervent exegesis. 

The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and HarryRonOwlthe surreal coexist. It’s a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people’s innermost desires. It’s also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people’s lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world." 

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Celebrating Reading

 

 

OldLibrarySignLiz Burns, activist librarian, blogger ("its all about story"), book reviewer (YA and chhildren's books), and author (PoP Goes the Library) wrote a post about libraries and reading. Here is an excerpt:

"As libraries, especially public libraries, take a look at programs and resources and books within the context of the Common Core --

GlasgowLibraryManReadsRemember. We are more than the Common Core. We are also about escaping into literature. We are about the joys of getting lost in a book. We are about celebrating the act of reading for the sole reason that some of us like to read. Or, rather, love to read.


And that simple pleasure, well, sometimes, it does get attacked. Is the person reading the
right books? What are they learning from those books? Is it making them a better person? Is it Books3uplifting? Does it have a moral? Is deep reading going on? Is the reading being done the "right" way? Will this make someone a better employee? Is reading too passive? Isn't it better to be making something than reading? Isn't it better to be talking to people? Don't people have better things to do than read? Than read that book?

I think one of the wonders of libraries is that it is still a place for the person who loves reading. Libraries are more -- we are the sum of our parts, more than any one part of our mission. And part of that more is, and should continue to be, celebrating reading and being there for readers."

 


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Planet Dog Foundation  Has Awarded More than A Million Dollars in Grants to Therapy Dog Organizations...

Chicago's Canine Therapy Corps was one of the recipient organizations.  

CTCPhotoSteveGrubmanCanineTherapyCorpsThe Canine Therapy Corps (CTC), with over 100 volunteers, helps to heal and bring hope to children and adults with a wide range of difficult and painful problems including autism, cancer, PTSD, addiction recovery problems, emotional behavioral problems, rehabilitation and senior issues and more.

The kids and therapy dogs in this excellent CTC  video will touch your heart...the video includes interactions and healing moments with kids, dogs, therapists, parents and volunteers.

Here is their Mission Statement:

The Canine Therapy Corps...

CTC_Keshet_25Empowers and motivates individuals to improve their physical and psychological health and well-being by harnessing the human-animal bond;
Provides goal-directed, interactive animal-assisted therapy services, free of charge, using volunteers and certified therapy dogs;
Advances animal-assisted interventions through research and collaboration.

The group photo of CTC dogs is courtesy of Steve Grubman

 

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Imagine That

An Interview with Jack Zipes, By the Editors of Interstitial Journal, on how media and marketing have reduced the cultural value of Fairy Tales...

Here are excerpts:

..."The nineteenth century, especially in Europe and North America, became the golden age of fairy tale collecting that led to the foundation of folklore societies. By the twentieth century, the fairy tale and other simple folk genres began to thrive not only by word of mouth and through
OlPosterWizardOzMusical2print, as they had for centuries, but were also transformed, adapted, and disseminated through radio, postcards, greeting cards, comics, cinema, fine arts, performing arts, wedding ceremonies, television, dolls, toys, games, theme parks, clothes, the Internet, university courses, and numerous other media and objects. Among the modes of hyped advertising were posters, billboards, interviews, window dressings, department store shows, radio, tv, and Internet interviews, ads in newspapers, magazines, and journals, and all the other kinds of paratexts that accompany a cultural product. As I argued in my book Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre... Hyping is the exact opposite of preservation and involves, as I have argued, conning consumers and selling products that have a meager cultural value and will not last. Some recent fairy tale films produced by the mainstream culture industry reveal how filmmakers and producers hype to sell shallow products geared primarily to make money. They use the mass media to exploit the widespread and constant interest in fairy tales that has actually deepened since the nineteenth century..."

The interview continues with examples of marketing compromises made to achieve financial success that blur or change the integrity of the original tales.  

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 A fairytale doesn’t exist in a fixed form... 

"Like a mother tongue, the stories are acquired, early, to become part of our mental furniture
CoverCottageintheWoodsCatherineCoville(think of the first books you absorbed as a child). The shared language is pictorial as well as verbal, and international, too. Such language – Jung called it archetypal – has been growing into a common vernacular since the romances of classical antiquity and the middle ages – Circe from the Odyssey and Vivienne from Morte d’Arthur are recognisable forerunners of fairy queens and witches, and the sleeping beauty herself first appears in a long medieval chivalric tale, Perceforest. A fairytale doesn’t exist in a fixed form; it’s something like a tune that can migrate from a symphony to a penny whistle."

 This is an excerpt from Marina Warner’s Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale 

 

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The New Edition of Born Without A Tail

In her original book, Born Without a Tail, C.A. Wulff chronicles the true-life adventures of two animal rescuers living with an ever-changing house full of pets. She takes us on a journey from childhood through adulthood, sharing tales, (mis)adventures and insights garnered from a lifetime of encounters with a menagerie of twenty remarkable animals.

BwatcoversThe new edition also has a prologue about Wulff's journey into advocacy; and, it also has several additional photos. Here’s what some readers have said about it:

 “I can’t say too much about this book, it’s more than a ‘dog book’ it’s RocketatOUACStore
a people, animals, life book.
I was hooked from the first page and read it straight through, and have re read it since, enjoying it just as much the second time around.  Anyone who’s ever had a heart dog, a misfit cat, ever been touched by the love of an animal should enjoy this book. It’s a keeper.
 

“A collection of funny and heartwarming tales that shaped the life of a young animal advocate. Inspiring and written from the heart.“ I was touched by this account of love, friendship, responsibility and true selflessness. If you love animals you will not be able to put this book down.“ .

The book covers and the photo of Rocket are by C.A. Wulff.

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LogoBetterLumos is part of J.K. Rowling's effort to make the world a better place. Her focus is on children and poverty. She is the founder of Lumos, one of several charities she supports. Here are excerpts from the Lumos website:

Across the globe 8 million children are living in institutions that deny them individual love and care. More than 80% are not orphans. They are separated from their families because they are poor, disabled or from an ethnic minority. As a result, many suffer lifelong physical and emotional harm. 

Urban slumMeanwhile, the numbers of children in so-called orphanages continues to rise in areas outside Europe. Lumos has now begun work in the Latin American and Caribbean region. We have started in Haiti, where approximately 30,000 children are currently living in almost entirely privately funded orphanages. Once again, we find the familiar ratio of 80% non-orphans, and recognize the driving force of poverty. 

Lumos has a single, simple goal: to end the institutionalization of children worldwide by 2050. This is ambitious, but achievable. It is also essential. Eight million voiceless children are currently suffering globally under a system that, according to all credible research, is indefensible. We owe them far, far better. We owe them families.

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WCDogsLogo

Nancy Hauser's Way Cool Dogs has two new articles with excellent guidelines for people thinking of getting a dog. One article is an overview, dealing primarily with breed and size...Here is an excerpt from the second article:

 "All dogs need a certain amount of affection, attention, grooming, mental stimulation and physical activity. But different dogs need different levels of each, and should match that of their owner. For example, do you want to brush your dog or have the time? Are you going to be at work most of the day, and have a dog sitter rounded up to care for your pet while you are gone? These things all need to be well-thought out at all dogs are different with different needs."
 
Both articles will link you to the very helpful Dog Breed Selector.

Abc-animals-animated
 
Way Cool Dogs also offers: ABC Animals-Animated Flashcards where you can record your own voice or sounds. This is from their site:
 

"It’s finally here – our ABC Animals – Animated Flashcards mobile app for iOS!Image is in WCD folder in Blog Material)

ABC Animals – Animated Flashcards is an animated flashcard app for iPhone and iPod with 52 beautifully illustrated animations of adult and baby animals. Featuring phonics and a slideshow! Record you own voice and sounds and download free coloring pages!"

 

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 The Power of Illustration at the Eric Carle Museum EriccarleMusem-logo

UliShulevitz

If you have an interest in the power of illustration to ignite children's imagination, and you'll be in New England in the coming months, consider visiting the  Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA. where multiple exhibits are taking place.

 
AliceBolamEricCarleMuseumChildren's memories of early books have often been enhanced by
illustrations of worlds of wonder. As an adult, the mind still carries images from these early journeys. Historians attribute much of the great success of Taylor's versions of the Grimm's Tales in early nineteenth century England to the illustrations of George Cruikshank.
 
The Eric Carle Museum is featuring exhibits by four outstanding artist/illustrators: Alice Bolam Preston (1888-1958);  Eric Carle ; Uli Shurevitz; and Gustav Dore. 
 
Many of Dore's illustrations are considered to be pioneering classics. Here is an excerpt from the museum's website regarding Dore and his
influence on modern illustrators:

 
DoreRedRidinghood2"Sleeping Beauty,' 'Little Red Riding Hood,' and 'Beauty and the Beast.'  Doré’s timeless illustrations are presented in this exhibition along with the works of contemporary children’s-book illustrators. Allowing for a side-by-side comparison, the influence of Doré becomes apparent in the works of famous contemporary illustrators like Jerry Pinkney, James Marshall, and Fred Marcellino..." 
 
The Eric Carle catipillar logo is by Eric Carle; the flying boat illustration is by Uli Shurevitz; the fairy in the garden illustration is by Alice Bolam Preston; and the Little Red Riding Hood illustration is by Gustav Dore. They are all part of the Eric Carle Museum exhibits. 

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        AdspringreadsPOD2012  

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       The Planet Of The Dogs series is in China

        HBG

The Chongxianguan Book Company in Beijing has published the
complete Planet Of The Dogs series in China. They have translated the text and produced new illustrations (above) and covers. On the left, are illustrations from the Chinese books. On the right are illustrations from the English version. Deanna Leah of HBG productions introduced the books to our Chinese publishers.You can visit the Chinese web page for Planet Of The Dogs through this link: CHINA 

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  GirlDogWomanBookNew York City R.E.A.D.  Update

Intermountain Therapy Animals have been responsible for developing R.E.A.D. programs and training more than 3000 registered therapy reading dog teams in the USA, Canada, Europe and beyond to South Africa. European countries include Italy, Finland, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Spain. All of  this since 1999.

New York City has a growing and vital program, New York Therapy Dogs R.E.A.D.®, under the direction of Nancy George-Michalson. Here, in her words, is a brief summary of their activities ...

"Our ITA R.E.A.D. teams are being placed in a variety of schools and the NY Public Libraries working with children with Autism, ESL students and developmentally and emotionally challenged children as well as children who are just curious about reading to a therapy dog. The response from the staff and families has been remarkable."

If you have a dog, live in the NYC area, and have considered therapy reading dog work, click the link above. Or, you can write directly to Nancy at [email protected]

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"If you must keep your dog outdoors, construct an excellent dog house and kennel based on considerations of your dog’s breed, age, health status, your climate and environment, and safety and health features. Schedule daily activities so that your dog doesn’t become depressed or frustrated, leading to difficult behaviors. Never chain your dog.

It is now a well-established fact that dogs are social, pack-oriented animals who thrive on human companionship and are happiest while living indoors as part of the family. When you bring a new dog into your family, the dog learns to view your family members and your other pets as his or her pack.

Everything proceeds well as long as your dog is content with his or her place in the pack. Many behavior problems can be avoided with a little extra effort or training to make the dog comfortable with this position. CITM-Children in he castle-blog size

The most devastating thing the leader of a pack can do is to isolate an individual from the pack to solve a problem; different problem behaviors will likely arise. The dog might become profoundly depressed or anxious. Nuisance barking is common among dogs kept outdoors. Also, a lonely, isolated dog might disassociate from the family pack and cease to be watchful or protective of the family. You must schedule daily play time or take daily walks. Engage in a new activity with your dog such as nose work."

Anna Nirva, editor and prime mover on Sunbear Squad, continues this post with detailed, comprehensive considerations and guidelines for creating a Humane Dog House.

The illustration, from Castle In The Mist, of the children and the dog, is by Stella  Mustanoja Mccarty.

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"Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without doubt the best deal man has ever made." -- Roger Caras
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5. Fuse #8 TV: Eric Carle Museum Tours and Absolutely Lisa Graff

Top of the morning to you, folks!  I’m happy to release my second Fuse #8 TV episode.  This time around I thought it would be a bit of fun to take a trip to the Eric Carle Museum.  Not everyone has ever had a chance to visit and it’s just the loveliest place.  After that, I sit down with the truly delightful Lisa Graff to talk a bit about the slow burn of her career and her latest book Absolutely Almost.  Enjoy!

share save 171 16 Fuse #8 TV: Eric Carle Museum Tours and Absolutely Lisa Graff

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6. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

I’ve been wanting to visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for quite some time. I finally got the chance to go this past weekend. So, with my sister Linda acting as navigator, I drove over 200 miles and 3 1/2 hours along the New York State Thruway to Amherst, Massachusetts. It was a beautiful day Sunday, perfect for a road trip. And though we were on a highway, we passed through some very scenic areas with rolling tree-covered hills and picturesque valleys. We even crossed the Hudson River. 

After many miles, two rest stops, and two toll booths, we finally reached the museum with no trouble. Although, I almost drove right past it until I spotted this gorgeous sign marking the entrance.

The building and grounds are beautiful. But you really have to go inside to experience the wonder of the museum. They have three lovely galleries exhibiting artwork from several picture book artists. For our visit, they showcased the art of Simms Taback, Harriet the Spy (the book turns 50 this year), and What’s Your Favorite Animal (a book featuring art from many well-known illustrators, including Eric Carle himself). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No photography was allowed inside the galleries, of course, but the museum offered other opportunities for picture-taking.

 

The museum also has a wonderful library filled with picture books (they also do story times there), an auditorium (for films, lectures, plays, author/illustrator visits), an art studio (where all ages can be creative and crafty), and a bookshop/gift shop (I was like a kid in a candy store). All that was missing was a full-service cafe, though they do have a vending machine and plenty of places to sit and eat inside and outside (in a lovely orchard) if you choose to bring a picnic lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister and I had such a good time. I hope to visit again sometime in the near future. If you are a picture book lover, I highly recommend it. And while you’re there, don’t forget to use the restroom; you won’t regret it!

Yes, this is a bathroom stall!


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7. News Release: 2014 Carle Honors Honorees from the Eric Carle Museum

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Announces 2014 Carle Honors Honorees

Ninth annual awards celebrate the creative vision and long-term dedication of leaders in the world of picture books

Amherst, MA (May 7, 2014) - The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is pleased to announce the 2014 Carle Honors honorees to be awarded at Guastavino’s in New York City on Thursday, September 18, 2014. The ninth annual gala and fundraiser will fête the talented people who have played an instrumental role in making children’s books a vibrant and influential art and literary form in America. This year, the Carle Honors will award the following: 

Artist: Jerry Pinkney

Celebrated illustrator of over 100 children’s books and winner of numerous awards, including the 2010 Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse.

Angel: Reach Out and Read represented by Brian Gallagher and Dr. Perri Klass

Tireless promoters of early literacy and school readiness, as exemplified through the Reach Out and Read program established in thousands of pediatric exam rooms nationwide.

Mentor: Henrietta Smith

Influential children’s librarian, scholar, and author; leading advocate for quality and diversity in children’s literature.

Bridge: Françoise Mouly

Publisher and editorial director for TOON Books, high-quality comics for young children; art editor of The New Yorker.

The Carle Honors celebrates individuals and organizations who bring creative vision and long-term dedication to children’s books and the many ways they open children’s minds to art and literacy. The awards are selected each year by a committee chaired by children’s literature historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus, who was central to the founding of the Honors. The committee recognizes four distinct awards: Artist, for lifelong innovation in the field; Angel, whose generous financial support is crucial to making illustrated children’s book art exhibitions, education programs, and related projects a reality; Mentor, editors, designers, and educators who champion the art form; and Bridge, individuals who have found inspired ways to bring the art of the picture book to larger audiences through work in other fields.

The Carle Honors is a critical fundraiser for The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, helping to support the Museum’s in its mission to inspire a love of art and reading through picture books. The annual event also includes a silent auction featuring artwork from top illustrators, including Eric Carle.  For ticket and sponsorship information, please contact Rebecca Miller Goggins, Director of Development at 413-658-1118 or [email protected].

About The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art:

The mission for The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, a non-profit organization in Amherst, MA, is to inspire a love of art and reading. The only full-scale museum of its kind in the United States, The Carle collects, preserves, presents, and celebrates picture books and picture book illustrations from around the world. In addition to underscoring the cultural, historical, and artistic significance of picture books and their art form, The Carle offers educational programs that provide a foundation for arts integration and literacy.

See more details at the Museum’s website at www.carlemuseum.org.

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8. “You can’t go broke overestimating the intelligence of children” – Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

CarleHonors1 300x200 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

There comes a time in every woman’s life when she is asked to interview a childhood idol.

Put another way . . .

There comes a time in my life, say every half a year or so, when I am asked to interview one of my own childhood idols.  Most recently, that someone was Carle Honors honoree Chris Van Allsburg.  You may know Mr. Allsburg from such books as Jumanji, Polar Express, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, etc.  For me, my favorite Van Allsburg’s include The Stranger (a perfect book for this time of year, don’t you think?), Bad Day at Riverbend, and most recently Queen of the Falls.  The prospect of interviewing him at the Honors was daunting, to say the least, but I have a marvelous ability to turn off the muscle inhibiting awe-factor in my brain, so I was confident that I could do this thing.  Semi-confident at the very least.

KlassenSheep 300x200 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

The Carle Honors, just to clarify, are a yearly fundraiser for The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.  Now in their Eighth year, the honorees for 2013 included such luminaries as the aforementioned Mr. Van Allsburg (Artist), Lynda Johnson Robb and Carol H. Rasco of Reading is Fundamental (Angel), Phyllis Fogelman Baker (Mentor), and Barbara Bader (Bridge).  If you able to go you are privy to a wonderful array of tiny food, magnificent company, and lots of lovely pieces of art that you could bid on if you happened to have a spare $2000 or so burning a hole in your pocket.  My fantasy art piece that I would bid on if I suddenly won the lottery was a Jon Klassen piece featuring a sheep.  It was a very Klassen-esque sheep.  A dry, witty baa baa that would have made an excellent gift for my mother.  Ah well.  Next time.

Mr. Van Allsburg was not around when I arrived so I busied myself with small talk and some very successful attempts to cram large quantities of tiny food into my gaping maw.  This plan, naturally, had to reach a conclusion when Mr. Van Allsburg entered the room.  I was a bit too intimidated to accost.  Fortunately someone else was perfectly happy to accost at will, and before we knew it we were seated at a small table with my audio recorder sitting between us.  Here is what transpired.  I will take pains to cut out all the times I had to politely refuse the tiny food offered to me by passing waiters.  Apparently I’d set a precedent for myself that evening.  They weren’t about to leave me alone without a fight.

Betsy: Well, first of all thank you so much for meeting with me.  I’m a huge huge fan.  I love The Stranger.  If anybody has a one Chris Van Allsburg book that they choose, The Stranger would actually be mine. Particularly at this time of year it’s my favorite book.

Chris Van Allsburg: Where did you grow up?

BB: I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

CVA: Oh.  Not far from where I grew up.

BB: Where’d you grow up?

CVA: Grand Rapids.

BB: Oh!  Yeah, just around the corner.

CVA: That book usually finds more interest with those who grew up in the northern latitudes.  Because down south the myth of Jack Frost doesn’t exist.  They don’t know who he is.  Never heard of him.

BB: If you’re going to have that picture of him clasping his hand to his head holding a leaf they’re going to say, “And that means what exactly?”

Now these days it looks like they’re rereleasing your books.  I just got in The Wreck of the Zephyr.

CVA: Well they aren’t rereleasing them because fortunately I have not had a single title go OP [out-of-print].

BB: You’ve never had a single title?  Really?

BirdVanAllsburg3 300x200 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

CVA: No, they’ve all just chugged along, year after year.  So the new edition is not bringing it back into print.  It’s a digital reproduction.  So the quality of the pictures is much better because when it was first reproduced it was old analog stuff and it never looked that good to me. The color fidelity is better and it’s sharper.  And there’s just things you can go in and do to fix it that you can’t do the old way.

BB: Now the covers, are they original covers that you’ve made or have they been taken from the book in some way?

CVA: In the case of Jumanji, that originally had a jacket that was an interior image, and so is the new one.  It’s just a different image and it’s bled, which is kind of a less traditional way to jacket a book.  I always had very old-fashioned ideas about taking a picture, putting a little white line around it and then putting a colored frame around it.

BB: The Polar Express . . .

CVA: Oh no, almost all my books were like that.  The Widow’s Broom is actually different.  But, for the most part, the jacket was laid out a lot like the inside with the addition of a little color.  But these new jackets that they’ve placed on The Polar Express. . . . well that didn’t go bleed but Jumanji looks a little more modern and same with The Wreck of the Zephyr.

BB: Are there plans to do it for other titles in the series?

CVA: Well, I don’t know. It is hard to justify because there is some expense going back and doing all the production.  And the rational, or at least, the sort of excuse for doing it. . . these last two books, Jumanji and The Wreck and the Zephyr, it’s because of their longevity.  They’ve been in print that long and so they had birthdays.

BB:  Now are they making a new Jumanji movie?  There was a rumor about that at one point.

CVA: Well, they actually did make what I thought of as a new Jumanji movie.  It’s called Zathura.

BB:  *laughs* Well, yes.

CVA: Sony actually commissioned some market research to see what the kind of residual interest in Jumanji might be and, of course, years ago the residual interest in a 20-year-old film would be really tiny.  But because of the way people consume entertainment now you can actually have a strong fan base for films that are long gone and that’s what they discovered.  That there’s a lot of people out there who would be willing to buy a ticket to a new Jumanji.

BB:  I would.  It’s absolutely true.

CVA: It can be so many different things.  It can be a remake, it can be a sequel, it can be a prequel.  So Sony still plays around with that idea but they haven’t committed themselves to anything.

BB:  One of my favorite recent books you’ve done was Queen of the Falls.  Are you going to be doing any more nonfiction in the future or was that sort of a one-off?

CVA: Well, I’d actually set on the idea of doing nonfiction before I set on the idea of Annie Taylor.  Just as a way to create new challenges and do something different.  So I decided the specific kind of nonfiction book I wanted to do was inspired by the old biographies I read when I was a child.  The biography of Babe Ruth, etc. So I was casting around for what I thought was a worthy subject.  You know, someone’s whose life would be filled with events that would be interesting to children.  There are a lot of, I suppose, characters that might apply.  Lion tamers and things like that.  Magicians.  But I read about Annie Taylor and I didn’t remember her name, but I read about her probably in the early 70s. I can remember, I worked in a little factory and they had a lunchroom where there were stacks of old Sports Illustrateds and I would read them at lunch.  And I remember one lunch hour reading this piece called “Daredevils of Niagara Falls”, and I read about a number of characters but when I read about her I was amazed because she was the first person to go over the falls . . . and she was a she!

BirdVanAllsburg1 300x200 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

BB:  And she wasn’t young!

CVA: And she was over 60. So I thought, that’s such a peculiar thing.  Such a peculiar event in American history.  I mean it’s not an epic event that changed the course of the world but it’s still so strange to me.  I thought it was odd that it wasn’t more widely known.  Because if you asked people no one could have named her.

BB:  No.  No one can name the first person to go over Niagara Falls, which seems a little strange!

CVA:  So I was bewildered right from the beginning because I could remember reading about this character but I couldn’t remember anything else about it besides from that. And I thought that was such an obscure piece of knowledge, not having heard about it for 30 or 40 years, I thought it was still buried somewhere and I would have to do some really deep research.  I’d really have to work hard.  And I thought maybe I would even have to, y’know, contact Time-Life and ask if I could go into their archive.

BB:  Had an adult biography ever been made of her?

CVA: Nothing. I didn’t even know her name so I didn’t even know exactly how to search. But I was contemplating maybe, as I say, calling Time-Life and asking if there was a microfilm library of old Sports Illustrateds and I’d find it out that way.  But then it occurred to me, because this was only a few years ago, I could just go Google “woman”, “Niagara Falls”, “barrel”.  Which is all I had to do.  So I went in and there was a fair amount of information about her but I was pleased to discover that no one had written a picture book biography and the closest thing to a biography was actually a monograph.  It was a very kind of limited publication available only in a handful of libraries.  There was a long lyrical poem about her.

BB: Well I don’t want to keep you too long.  I know you’re the star of the evening here.

CVA: No, I’m not.  There’s other people here.  Jon Scieszka’s here.

BB: *laughs – sorry Jon*  Can you say what you’re working on next?

CVA: Sure!

BB: What are you working on next?

CVA: Well, sort of in the spirit of trying to work outside of what I think of as my strike zone, which is fantasy, I’ve written a book which does have some improbable action in it but not fantastic.  It is inspired by events in my own family’s life.  It’s the moment in time almost all parents face when their children beg and plead to bring into the home a small furry creature which lives in a cage and which they will shower with affection and attention.  And so we did that, but the outcome wasn’t what they promised. Even though, I think in my family, we actually sort of emphasized the need to live up to that idea of nurturing this little creature, it didn’t work out that way and the creature had various places it went to after it left our home. So I’ve written a story about the misadventures of a small furry creature who lives in a cage and has a succession of owners.

BB:  Picture book?

CVA: Oh yes.

BirdVanAllsburg2 300x200 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

BB:  I wasn’t sure.  Maybe you’re suddenly doing chapter books.

CVA: Well it’s interesting.  When I sort of figured out that was what I wanted to work on, it occurred to me that usually when you write a book for kids that has a tiny animal in it, the tiny animal is a surrogate for a child. Is a proxy for a child because, children (small, powerless, not masters of their destiny) when they see little animals that are vulnerable like that, they always identify with the animal.  I’m the animal.  I’m Peter Rabbit.  But the interesting thing about this is that there is a little animal and it has the kinds of misfortunes that a child would be inclined to identify with but the characters who are visiting some of those misfortunes are children, which is another character in the book we don’t usually identify with: the children. So I’ve kind of cast the children, not as villains, but I suppose to a degree as a kind of antagonists.

BB:  Yes.  I remember in Queen of the Falls that it was straight up nonfiction but people still said, “Oh there’s a mysterious shot of the barrel in the water.”  They really wanted that mystery.

CVA: Well there was a postscript in there where I mention the fact that for most of my career as a writer I’ve been attracted to fantasy and thought I’d do something different but as I learned more about Annie and learned more about the Falls which I visited a few times I really discovered that there’s truly kind of fantastic and surreal about things like that when human beings want to seize the golden ring, when they’re sort of untethered from reason and logic and do something big.

BB:  It’s a truly American book.  No one else would think, “I know how I can make money!  I’ll throw my body over the waterfall.”

CVA: She would be an early example of too of somebody.  There wasn’t a media that would make that happen.  But there were enough newspapers that she believed that she could make it big.

BB:  And then the manager hired another woman, was it, to pretend to be her?

QueenofFalls 207x300 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013CVA: That was her second manager.  Because the problem was, as revealed in the book, people had fixed in their mind what a woman daredevil would look like . . .

BB: . . . and it wouldn’t look like their grandmother.  Did they ever find the original barrel?  I know that the original barrel just got taken and they never found it?  That’s a pity. For all you know there’d be Annie Taylor Societies around.

CVA: Well when I went on my tour that’s who they set me up with. I spoke in the library on the Canadian side and then an auditorium space on the American side and there was a woman who evidently works the close precincts of the falls dressed as Annie Taylor.

BB:  Really!

CVA:  And she came to lunch.

BB:  Well, I think that’s pretty much all I had.  Oh.  Just one last question I suppose.  Is there any one of your books that you feel should get more attention?  It’s one of your favorites and you’ve always really loved it and it’s never been one of the ones that people constantly talk about.  Is there any one of your books that’s closer to your heart than any other?  I know, it’s like choosing amongst your children.  Which one do you love best?

CVA: You know, it’s always the same answer from me.  It’s posed differently as “What’s your favorite book.”  And I’ll say it’s the one I’m working on.  For an artist you’re almost required to feel that way because if you thought it wasn’t quite as good as the one you did years ago, you wouldn’t keep working on it.

BB:  Or they’ll say their first book because it was their first.

CVA:  No, I don’t feel that way.  But you asked  . . .

BB:  Which one do you feel just doesn’t get enough attention?

CVA: I suppose if I could take all attention I’ve gotten a redistribute it amongst my books I might take a little attention from The Polar Express and sprinkle a little of that on A Bad Day at Riverbend.

BB:  I love A Bad Day at Riverbend!  All right.  Well so much for meeting with me!

So that was that.  Fun stuff.  After that it was back to the tiny food (round two) as well as the actual dinner.  I found myself at a truly lovely table with Ted and Betsy Lewin alongside Jennifer and Richard Michelson. Here are some photos taken of the event that might amuse.

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Roger Sutton, Jon Scieszka, and Alix Kennedy just playing it cool. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

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Jon Scieszka and Carol Rasco. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

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Proof positive that Eric Carle himself was actually there. And bidding at that! You’d have to be a pretty cold fish to bid against him. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

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The host-ests with the most-ests – Tony and Angela DiTerlizzi with some bloke between them. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

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I won’t go into how easy it would have been to lift this little sculpture and place it in my bad. It comes with its own built-in handle, for crying out loud! Photo by Johnny Wolf.

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Got to the event and then realized I’d forgotten all my make-up. True story. Seen here with Vicki Cobb. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

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Aww. Barbara Bader and Roger Sutton. Photo by Johnny Wolf.

Then the bells rang and we were shuffled upstairs to the actual awarding of the awards.  Since Jennifer had to leave before the speeches, Rich was nice enough to let me borrow her seat upstairs!  Awfully nice of him.

Our hosts for the evening were Angela and Tony DiTerlizzi.

Diterlizzis 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf.

And we were off!  Barbara Bader, if you do not know, was a longtime contributor to the Horn Book and wrote the seminal scholarly book, American Picturebooks from Noah’s Ark to The Beast Within.  She was quick and to the point.  Usually folks at these awards are.

BarbaraBader 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf.

Next up, the daughter of Lyndon Johnson.  I honestly had no idea that Lynda Johnson Robb, Reading Is Fundamental’s Founding Board Member and Chairman Emeritus, held that distinction.  She was introduced by Paul O. Zelinsky and then proceeded to inform me of a variety of facts, none of which I had known.

LadyBirdKid 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf.

Carol Rasco, President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental, is someone I knew far better.  Check out that awesome necklace while you’re at it.  Good stuff!

CarolRasco 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf.

Next up, Rosemary Wells.  *check program*  Rosemary Wells?  Well, yes.  She was introducing Phyllis Fogelman Baker, editor and publisher, and someone who apparently had a thing for high high heels.

RosemaryWells 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

Unfortunately, Ms. Baker couldn’t make it.  Fortunately, it was decided that Julius Lester would do the honors.  Unfortunately (this is turning into a Remy Charlip book here) he couldn’t make it either.  Fortunately, Jerry Pinkney was on hand to read Mr. Lester’s own tribute to Ms. Baker.  And I must say, he did it like a pro.  Yes, the words “pubic hair” did consist of part of the speech, but Pinkney read on like it didn’t even matter.

JerryPinkney You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

Fun Fact: Do not read the words “pubic hair” aloud if your next presenter is Jon Scieszka because by GUM he’s going to find a way to incorporate it into his introduction.  Indeed, Scieszka was there to introduce Van Allsburg.  His decision then was to construct a false narrative of Mr. Van Allsburg’s past (in keeping with the tone of his books), incorporating all the various oddities folks had mentioned about the previous honorees.  It was mildly brilliant.

JonScieszka 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

You will notice that I have a penchant for picking the photos where folks spread their hands.  I cannot lie.  I really prefer them.  Here is Mr. Van Allsburg doing the deed.  By the way, doesn’t he look EXACTLY the way you’d expect Chris Van Allsburg to look?  I don’t know why but somehow, this is perfect.  And in the course of his speech he included the line I’ve made the title of today’s post.  I’m still turning it over in my mind.

ChrisVanAllsburg You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

Ah, but the night was not done!  A final award was to be bestowed by our hosts and it was none other than the golden bow tie award.  These went, I believe, to Roger Sutton and Mr. Van Allsburg (one must assume in lieu of Timothy Travaglini, who was not present at the time).

GoldenBowTie 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

Then on to desserts . . .

Dessert 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

. . . and goodie bags . . .

CarleGiftBasket 500x333 You cant go broke overestimating the intelligence of children   Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013

Photo by Johnny Wolf

And the night was done.  For the record, that little Stinky Cheese Man puppet is a blast.  When you stick your fingers down his legs to make him run, his head bobs in all possible directions like crazy.  It’s incredibly amusing.  As for the bow tie, I know a nice pit bull who appreciated it.  This is true.

Many thanks to the folks at the Carle who made all of this possible.  I believe they wanted me to mention on their behalf, “We thank everyone who came out to support The Carle in its 10th anniversary year!”  And for my part, thanks too to Alexandra Pearson for setting up the Van Allsburg interview.

For more info on the 2013 Honors be sure to check out this website as well.

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4 Comments on “You can’t go broke overestimating the intelligence of children” – Chris Van Allsburg and the Eric Carle Honors of 2013, last added: 10/27/2013
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9. Fusenews: This is what a librarian looks like

NYPLalternative 300x225 Fusenews: This is what a librarian looks likeOh me, oh my, where does the time go?  Here we are, it’s Monday yet again, and I’m running about like a chicken with my head cut off.  This Friday I head off to Barcelona for a full week (weep for me), then back I come to promote my picture book (Giant Dance Party, or haven’t I mentioned it before?), but not before I’ve finished the promotional videos and my very first website.  *pant pant pant*

With that in mind, let’s get through these mighty quick.  Not that they don’t all deserve time and attention.  And tender loving care.  Mwah!  Big kisses all around!  And yes, I did consider doing an April Fool’s post today but thought better of it.  If you’d like to see some of the greatest April Fool’s posts of the children’s literary world, however, please be so good as to head over to Collecting Children’s Books and read the ones that Peter Sieruta came up with. There was 2012′s post (“Selznick syndrome” is just shy of brilliant),  2011′s Charlie Sheen Lands Children’s Book Deal (still feels real), 2009′s Graveyard Book to Be Stripped of Newbery, and his 2008 Ramona piece de resistance.  This is the first year he won’t have one up.  Miss you, Peter.

  • So I had a crazy idea for a Children’s Literary Salon panel at NYPL.  Heck, I didn’t even know if anyone would show up, but I invited four different children’s librarians from four very different alternative children’s libraries.  Don’t know what an alternative children’s library is?  Then read this SLJ write-up NYPL Panelists Explore Alternatives to Traditional Librarianship.  The happy ending is that lots of people attended and the conversation was scintillating.  And timely.  A nice combination.
  • Another good combination?  Me and my husband.  And it seems the resident husband recently wrote a blog piece that could be of use to you writer types out there.  How To Write Every Day, Conclusion: Is Your Goal to Keep Writing or Stop Writing? should give you enough fodder to chew on for the next year or so.  Then I’ll tell you about another one of his posts.  Trust me when I say they’re all this good.
  • Did your stomach lurch a little when you found out that Amazon bought Goodreads?  Well, how much should you care?  Dan Blank has some answers.  In Short: Don’t you worry ’bout nothing (he says it nicer than that).
  • A contact recently mentioned that they would like to give a little attention to the children’s book art auction at Book Expo, a yearly event that actually isn’t particularly well known.  Said they (take note!):

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is an organization that fights book censorship. We mostly work with booksellers, however, in Our Kids Right To Read Project, we advocate for kids when people try to ban books in libraries or classrooms.  Our position is that parents have the right to decide what their own children read but they do not have the right to decide for others.  Proceeds from the auction will go to our programming. Our website is www.abffe.org and for the auction we have set up a separate page where people can buy tickets and artists can donate art. It is: http://abffesilentauction.wordpress.com/.

  • More me stuff.  Over at Tor.com I answer the great ponderable facing the world of children’s literature today: Why are dinosaurs so darn popular?  The answer may surprise you.  Okay . . . that’s a lie.  You know why.  But at the very least I’m able to draw some conclusions you may not have necessarily come up with before.  It all comes down to Freud, baby.
  • I’ve a friend who passes along Common Core oddities she picks up on in the news.  This week it was a tough call.  Which was better?  The article that said, “Alabama cannot retain its education sovereignty under Common Core” or Glenn Beck’s even nuttier-than-usual screed against CCS saying that they’ll result in 1984-type changes to the educational system?  Honestly, do we even have to choose?

Saenz Fusenews: This is what a librarian looks likeOn the flipside, how cool is this?  The Eric Carle Museum has a simply lovely exhibit up right now called Latino Folk Tales: Cuentos Populares-Art by Latino Artists.  As if you needed an excuse to visit. But just in case you did . . .

I haven’t gotten much from Cynopsis Kids lately for the old blog, but there was this little tidbit I almost missed the other day: “Montreal-based Sardine Productions will develop a children’s television show based on The Mammoth Academy, a book series by British author and illustrator Neal Layton, with TVOKids, a division of Ontario’s public educational media organization TVO.”

Meanwhile, from PW Children’s Bookshelf, this little nugget of very cool news: “Anne Hoppe at Clarion Books has acquired North American rights to a nonfiction picture book by Katherine Applegate about Ivan the gorilla, the subject of her Newbery Medal-winning The One and Only Ivan. Elena Mechlin at Pippin Properties represented Applegate. In a separate deal, Mechlin sold North American rights to two middle-grade novels by Applegate, to Jean Feiwel and Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends.”  Well that’s 12 kinds of brilliant.  And how clever of Hoppe to get Applegate for Clarion.  She’ll do well there.  Nonfiction always does.

I don’t know about you but I was thrilled to see The New York Times write a piece on Rachel Renee Russell.  When we talk about bestselling children’s books it seems odd to me that no one ever points out that the top series in children’s literature (rather than YA) right now that is written by a woman is also written by an African-American woman.  Now I just want to know who the famous author was that discouraged her from writing when she was in college!

Daily Image:

Flavorwire always has such good ideas.  Example: 20 Bookish Murals From Around the World.  A taste:

Mural1 Fusenews: This is what a librarian looks like

 

Mural2 Fusenews: This is what a librarian looks like

Thanks to AL Direct for the link.

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10. The 2012 Carle Honors: The Sweet and Low Down

Photo: Johnny Wolf

I’m sure that by now you’ve already ready the PW recap of the 2012 Carle Honors called, so fittingly, Wit, Wisdom and One Very Drunk Puppet.  Steeped as I am in edits for a book, I have not been as timely with my posts as I would like.  As a result, the darn “drunk puppet” line has already been taken.  Shazbot!  That is okay.  I make do.

Now this would be the seventh Eric Carle Honors to take place and if I’m doing the math correctly then I have been to six of them.  As you may recall they are held once a year and are bestowed by the Eric Carle Museum.  I was there in the early days when Mo Willems had to take a freight elevator to the Honors because he was wearing jeans.  I was there when they made a ginormous cake in the shape of a caterpillar  . . .  and then did not proceed to chop him into delicious bits (I would’ve killed to gnaw on one of his eyes).  I was there when it moved to Guastavino’s for the very first time, which also happened to be the very DAY I discovered I was pregnant with my first child, and I was there this time around in the same location.

There’s a trick to getting to Guastavino’s looking your best.  You can either take a cab and arrived looking coiffed and composed and like a million bucks.  Or, you can slip on your sneakers, listen to Gangnam Style on the radio, walk all the way over to the bridge the restaurant resides beneath, and then change from your sneakers into cute shoes at the outdoor seating area half a block away.  Guess which one I opted for.  The nice folks working the door didn’t even blink as I whipped out what must be the world grossest hairbrush (seriously, it could win its own not-under-a-bridge awards) to tap down the frizziest of frizzy hair for the scant 15 seconds before it would make its sterling recovery.

I had an ulterior motive to my visit to the honors this year.  Not that I didn’t want to see the honorees.  Each one was a delight.  And not that I didn’t want to eat copious amounts of tiny food (it’s the only time I get to remember what caviar actually tastes like).  And not that I don’t enjoy the fellow attendees and the art on auction and the ambiance and all of that.  But my real intent this time around was to break in my matron of honor outfit.  You see, this upcoming weekend I’ll be in the bridal party (my first) for my l’il sis (she of the previously mentioned mohawk).  And l’il sis requested that her ladies wear 40s style black dresses and red shoes.  Hence the black dress seen here:

Hence the red shoes, captured for posterity, by the quick pen of Paul O. Zelinsky (who drew them, if I’m going to be honest, because someone asked him about them and he was trying to show them what they were like).

Fun Fact: Standing for several hours in these shoes is less than entirely fun.  The more you know.

The mingling that occurred before the Honors was much with the fun.  I usually like to meet at least one new author or illustrator when I attend, but it’s tricky because you never quite know how to approach.  Usually the best method is to get someone to say, “Oh, you don’t know [blank]?  Come on over and I’ll introduce you!”  That’s how I got Lois Ehlert last year.  Imagine my life as a large unending Bingo card that will never be finished.  That’s what it’s like trying to meet everyone.  This year I met Kate Feiffer officially and then managed to have a singularly awkward talk with Lane Smith that was entirely my own fault.  Sweet man that he is, he saw me peering at the auctioned art and struck up a conversation.  Reader, I blanked.  I almost never do this but he caught me off-guard and somehow I managed to do an utter talk-fail.  You should have seen me.  My lips, they were two pieces of fried baloney just jibber-jabbering away about nothing at all.  The minute he turned to other folks with his lovely wife (with whom I was also equally mum) I realized that I should have complimented his new Abraham Lincoln picture book, which I actually like very much.  I could have also brought up that subversive children’s literature blog he did with Bob Staake and which Roger Sutton had been asking me about a day or two before.  ARG!!  I went to drown my sorrows in very very tiny hamburgers.  Seriously, it would take four of those things to make even a slider.

The art auction where I lost my composure was, as ever, a stunner.  I am but a poor humble librarian.  I have no money.  So like most folks I stare in silent awe and envy at works of art that would look damned BRILLIANT on the walls of my home.  I mean, just look at this Gabi Swiatkowska piece.

Photo: Johnny Wolf

And then there was this Lucy Cousins:

Photo: Johnny Wolf

If you listened very closely you could actually hear her squeak, “Betsy!  Why won’t you put me on your child’s bedroom walls?  Why?”

I’m also a big fan of seeing who DOES actually bid on the works.  This year I saw Suzanne Collins’ name (though I think it was by proxy since the woman herself was not in evidence) and a guy by the name of Christopher B. Milne.  I’ve seen Mr. Milne’s name before (I should considering he’s the museum’s chair) and like every other time I’ve seen it I couldn’t help but wonder . . . any relation to Christopher Robin Milne?  Any at all?

Then we were all persuaded to go upstairs, sit in a room bathed in cool green light, and watch smart people bestow awards on smart people.  The Carle Honors are very fulfilling awards in this way.  There’s never a time someone receives an award and you think to yourself, “Why did they get an honor?”  They know how to pick ‘em.  Can’t help but think it would be a fun award to help select folks for.

Photo: Johnny Wolf

To introduce Mr. Eric Carle himself, up to the stage came Jules Feiffer and Norton Juster.  Jules was smart, Norton acerbic.  The location of Guastavino’s provided last year’s honoree David Macaulay to wax rhapsodic about the very structure above us.  This year Mr. Juster noted that this event meant that at least one dire prediction his parents proclaimed when he became an author had come true: They knew he’d end up under a bridge someday.

So it was that Eric Carle took to the stage and was his usual charming self.  He’s Eric Carle.  He is not going to breathe fire or lambast the attendees.  He is going to be a sweet and good presence in this cold cruel world.  That is who is is.  That is what he does.  Nuff said.

Photo: Johnny Wolf

Which brings us to the drunk puppet.  I had glanced at the program that evening but had not registered the special guest, one Joey Mazzarino.  Even if I had I don’t think his resume would have stood out to me.  So up onto the stage leaped Mo Willems to present Bridge (“individuals who have found inspired ways to bring the art of the picture book to larger audiences through work in other fields”) award recipient Christopher Cerf.  I met Mr. Cerf years ago when I attended a Street Gang book signing.  Nice fella.  Since Mo used to do work for Sesame Street before he went the picture book route he was a natural presenter for Mr. Cerf.  Alas, he was interrupted midway through by a sock puppet named (and spellings vary on this but I think I’m correct in calling him) Saki.  The minute Saki opened his big sock mouth I could tell we had a professional puppeteer on our hands.  You can just sorta tell.  A guy doesn’t spend his entire life with his arm above his head without coming across as better than the average sock puppeteer.  This was the Joey Mazzarino I referred to earlier and I enjoyed him very much.  Though, truth be told, I like any awards event that involves Muppeteers at some point (National Books Awards, etc.).

Photo: Johnny Wolf

After Mr. Cerf spoke it was Floyd Cooper who stepped up to introduce Angel (“whose generous financial support is crucial to making picture book art exhibitions, education programs, and related projects a reality”) Kent L. Brown, Jr.  Now Cooper is definitely a guy I should have taken time to speak to since his work on this year’s Brick by Brick by Charles L. Smith is superb.  Some of his finest stuff.  Alas, no Cooper time did I receive, though I would be seeing quite a lot of Mr. Kent L. Brown in a couple weeks.  You see, he’s the executive director of the Highlights Foundation and I had the pleasure of speaking at one of their events just this past weekend with the likes of Leonard Marcus, Linda Sue Park, Deborah Heiligman, and Patti Lee Gauch.  So I am very pleased to see the man get big awards.  Though, to be frank, I’d be pleased even if his Highlights folks didn’t ask me to come and talk.

Photo: Johnny Wolf

It was an evening of buddies when Barbara McClintock and Natalie Merchant (yup, THAT Natalie Merchant) took the stage to sing the praises (not literally) of legendary editor Frances Foster.  Frances was receiving the Mentor (“editors, designers, and educators who champion the art form”) award and the two were downright giggly as they quoted extensive quotes from Frances lovers the world over.  She was, as you might imagine, class incarnate.  It’s not like I’m even an editor, but I still want to be her someday.  When I grow up anyway.

It was Anita Silvey who introduced the Artist (I’m not going to quote the description on this one . . . it’s fairly obvious, no?) of the evening. Yup.  Mr. Lane Smith.  Having survived my onslaught of awkwardness he gave a lovely talk.  One might have been a bit surprised that Ms. Silvey was introducing Mr. Smith and not . . . *sigh*  Ah well.

Then it was time to go downstairs and attempt to eat lots and lots of tiny desserts without appearing to be a complete and total barbarian.  Tiny puddings.  Tiny slices of cake.  Tiny little fudgey brownie things.  After stumbling out of the place with my comfy shoes reattached and Gangham Style still, inexplicably, blaring from the radio, it was time to go on home.  Another year, another great event.

Special thanks to the Carle folks for allowing me to lurk amongst the heavies.  And mighty congrats to those honorees.  Even those I do my darndest to baffle.  Thanks too to Sandy Soderberg, Jane Curley, and all the good folks at The Eric Carle Museum for yet another wonderful year.

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11. New England SCBWI Conference 2012 - thanks for the votes!

What a great conference! SCBWI New England really pulled it out of the bag this time.

3 great days at Springfield, MA. Over 500 attended and the faculty line up was amazing! Highlights included Harry Bliss, Dan Yaccarino, Harold Underdown, Kate Messner, Jane Yolen, Cynthia Lord, Brian Lies, Heidi Stemple, Jo Knowles ... on and on ... you can check out just what the line up was at http://www.nescbwi.org/.

If you are hoping to write or illustrate for children - you can't do better than attend an SCBWI conference and New England is one of the best. In the three years I have been a member it's given me invaluable information, education, contacts and networking opportunities. And best of all - friends who relate to my goals and frustrations. So I say thank you to the organizers and volunteers!

I travelled with Russ Cox (friend and fellow illustrator) from Maine on Friday and it was straight into the deep end with a great 'meet and greet' with top-hole artists and writers at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst. (My first visit and a beautiful venue.)

Before we knew it Sunday rolled around ... and it was time to say goodbye. Russ and I returned to Maine in triumph ... Russ swept the board with two first prizes and the emerging artist award read his take ont he conference and his success here ... and not to be left out I won second prize in the People's Choice category!! Yippee for 'Boy and World '.

SO A BIG SMACKEROONEY TO ALL THOSE WHO VOTED FOR ME.

Right now my drawing board is overflowing with projects so I had better get my *** in gear.

I'll leave you with a few photos from the weekend and hope to meet you at a conference soon!

 Back in the studio today.

 With a great group of illustrators.
 
 
 Signing Casey Girard's Sketchbook Project

 At the Eric Carle Museum

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12. The Eric Carle Honors 2011

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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13. Fusenews: Now with more earthquaky goodness

The fabulous Colleen Mondor and Jackie Parker-Robinson have come up with a clever notion.  Kidlitcon, the yearly conference for bloggers of child and teen literature, fast approacheth and this year, things are getting a bit switched.  As Colleen says on her blog, “What we decided was to shift things just a bit, both by moving away from publisher donated ARCs as raffle prizes and also toward a long term partnership with one organization. Ultimately what we came up with made sense in so many ways that in retrospect it was one of the easiest things we decided. I am delighted to announce that KidLit Con is now entering into a partnership with Reading Is Fundamental which we hope will extend for many years into the future and make a powerful difference in the lives of many.”  There’s more information to be found here, including info on how to donate to RIF yourself.  So far the fund has reached $1,056, which is fantastic though more is needed.  And a cheer is going out to Carol Rasco for her mention of me in a recent thank you.

  • And now let’s raise a glass and toast my profession.  Isn’t it nice to have a profession that can, without so much as a stray drop of guilt, be toasted?  Lucky that.  In any case, the I Love My Librarian awards are starting up again and that means you need to get out there and vote for your beloved holders of MLIS degrees.  You may nominate a school, public, and academic librarian if you like.  Doesn’t cost you a thing and maybe your one true library love will get the credit they so richly deserve. Stranger things have happened, no?
  • Speaking of honoring folks, the Eric Carle Museum Honors have been announced.  Each year four categories are filled with folks who have done some good in the name of children’s literature.  This year the recipients include:

Lois Ehlert ▪ Artist
Jeanne Steig ▪ Angel
Michael di Capua ▪ Mentor
Karen Nelson Hoyle ▪ Bridge

On Thursday, September 22nd the Honors will be at Guastavino’s here in town.  The usual auction that takes place at that time is seeing a bit of a shake-up as well.  According to the website, “Our fourth annual art auction will feature original works of art donated by some of the industry’s most celebrated artists. This year also offers the opportunity to bid on ‘experiences’ with authors and artists.”  If one of those “experiences” can include a chance to go pubbing with Tomi Ungerer I am in!  At last year’s event I discovered that I was pregnant mere hours before attending.  This year will have to top that, right?

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14. NESCBWI Recap




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15. NESCBWI Event


A great day out at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.

The event was an NESCBWI panel, organized by the fantastic Melissa Stewart: Overcoming Challenges: A Program for Writers and Illustrators.



(l to r) Jo Knowles, Brian Lies, me, Mary Newell DePalma



Me and Jo Knowles (right)


This is the Eric Carle Museum scrapbook that is signed by all the authors and illustrators who visit. I wanted to steal it.





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16. “I’m really what they call in the States ‘outsider art.’” : The Work of Etienne Delessert

Last August I had some fun highlighting The Creative Company’s series of short stories published as individual books.  You know.  The Monkey’s PawThe LotteryThe Most Dangerous Game.  That kind of stuff.  While looking at their covers I couldn’t help but notice that quite a few were done by the artist Etienne Delessert.  Delessert’s one of those creative types you see around and about but perhaps never get a firm grasp on.  You may have seen the Seven Impossible Things post on Delessert in January of 2010.  You may even have come across some of his better known books, like Moon Theater or The Big and Bad.  But until now you’ve just had a vague sense of him.  You know he’s cool, but what do you really know about the guy?

Well recently I discovered that the illustrious Eric Carle Museum (located in scenic and snowy Amherst, MA) is now hosting a one-of-a-kind Etienne Delessert exhibition.  Yep.  Tis true.  Now part of what I love about this, aside from the obvious, is the fact that the exhibit was created in part with the help of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.  I’m a fan of any presentation that constitutes a worldwide effort. And here’s a challenge for you Americans out there: Name me all the Swiss-born authors or illustrators of children’s books you can.  Tough, eh?

The exhibit is described in this way:

This retrospective of Delessert surveys his distinguished career that comprises more than eighty books collectively translated into fourteen languages. From his early collaboration with Eugene Ionesco to surreal and politically-charged interpretations of Big and Bad and Humpty Dumpty, Delessert intrigues his readers, young and old, with his imaginary creatures and landscapes.

Ionesco?  Really?  In that case I think this is the first time I’ve heard of the children’s literature/Ionesco connection.  It’s funny which authors and playwrights choose to write for kids (in a perfect universe I’d love to see something like The Edward Albee Counting Book).  And in case you didn’t believe me:

Not that the exhibit is the only Delessert thing to see at the museum.  There will be showings of the man’s animation as well.  Actually, you can get a taste of it yourself, if you like.  Travel to his website and you’ll find a variety of different videos of Delessert pieces (much of it made for Swiss television).  Some of it looks to me like nothing so much as Terry Gillian’s Monty Python animation if you classed it up and gave it some style.  Observe:

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17. “I’m really what they call in the States ‘outsider art.’” : The Work of Etienne Delessert

Last August I had some fun highlighting The Creative Company’s series of short stories published as individual books.  You know.  The Monkey’s PawThe LotteryThe Most Dangerous Game.  That kind of stuff.  While looking at their covers I couldn’t help but notice that quite a few were done by the artist Etienne Delessert.  Delessert’s one of those creative types you see around and about but perhaps never get a firm grasp on.  You may have seen the Seven Impossible Things post on Delessert in January of 2010.  You may even have come across some of his better known books, like Moon Theater or The Big and Bad.  But until now you’ve just had a vague sense of him.  You know he’s cool, but what do you really know about the guy?

Well recently I discovered that the illustrious Eric Carle Museum (located in scenic and snowy Amherst, MA) is now hosting a one-of-a-kind Etienne Delessert exhibition.  Yep.  Tis true.  Now part of what I love about this, aside from the obvious, is the fact that the exhibit was created in part with the help of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.  I’m a fan of any presentation that constitutes a worldwide effort. And here’s a challenge for you Americans out there: Name me all the Swiss-born authors or illustrators of children’s books you can.  Tough, eh?

The exhibit is described in this way:

This retrospective of Delessert surveys his distinguished career that comprises more than eighty books collectively translated into fourteen languages. From his early collaboration with Eugene Ionesco to surreal and politically-charged interpretations of Big and Bad and Humpty Dumpty, Delessert intrigues his readers, young and old, with his imaginary creatures and landscapes.

Ionesco?  Really?  In that case I think this is the first time I’ve heard of the children’s literature/Ionesco connection.  It’s funny which authors and playwrights choose to write for kids (in a perfect universe I’d love to see something like The Edward Albee Counting Book).  And in case you didn’t believe me:

Not that the exhibit is the only Delessert thing to see at the museum.  There will be showings of the man’s animation as well.  Actually, you can get a taste of it yourself, if you like.  Travel to his website and you’ll find a variety of different videos of Delessert pieces (much of it made for Swiss television).  Some of it looks to me like nothing so much as Terry Gillian’s Monty Python animation if you classed it up and gave it some style.  Observe:

8 Comments on “I’m really what they call in the States ‘outsider art.’” : The Work of Etienne Delessert, last added: 2/25/2011
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18. Overcoming Challenges

What: Overcoming Challenges: A Program for Writers and Illustrators (sponsored by New England SCBWI)

Who: Jo Knowles, Brian Lies, Mary Newell DePalma, and Barbara O'Connor

Where: The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA

When: Saturday, March 19; 10-3:30

More info here.

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19. November 2010 Events

(Click on event name for more information)

American Indian Heritage Month~ USA

November Events for  Kids  at Dar el Shorouk Stores~ Cairo, Egypt

Govenor General’s Literary Award Winners Announced~ Montreal, QC, Canada

SCBWI Write-ins to Celebrate National Novel Writing Month~ France

Sharjah International Book Fair and Announcement of the Etisalat Prize for Arabic Children’s Literature Winner~ ongoing until Nov 6, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

30th Santiago International Book Fair~ ongoing until Nov 14, Santiago, Chile

Nambook-010: The 5th Nami Island International Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until  Nov 14, Nami, Korea

Entries Accepted for the 2011 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Nov 15, Philippines

The Children’s Bookshow: Stories From Around The World~ ongoing until Nov 17, United Kingdom

2010 Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration~ ongoing until Nov 24, New York, NY, USA

Scholastic Asian Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2011~ entries accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

An Exquisite Vision: The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger~ ongoing until Jan 9, Hannover, Germany

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ ongoing until Jan 23, Amherst, MA, USA

Drawn in Brooklyn Exhibit of Original Picture Book Art by Brooklyn Illustrators~ ongoing until Jan 23, Brooklyn, NY, USA

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Presents From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick~ ongoing until Jan 29, Abilene, TX, USA

International Youth Library Exhibit: The World in Miniature. The Family in Historic Picture Books and Children’s Literature~ ongoing until Aug 31, Munich, Germany

EXEtreme Imagination: A Festival of Literature for Children and Young People~ Nov 1 – 7, Devon and Exeter, United Kingdom

Exclusive Screening: Library of the Early Mind~ Nov 2, New York, NY, USA

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20. Eric Carle Honors 2010 (Also Known as More Party Party)

Yeah, this week is party week, baby!  First I recap a Robert Forbes party alongside Cynthia von Buhler’s event of the year.  Now I turn my attention to a party beneath a bridge.  The 59th Street Bridge, if you’re going to be technical about it.  Picture, if you will, a glassed enclosure nestled sweetly beneath one of the city’s smaller bridges.  The place was Guastavino’s and the event The Eric Carle Honors of 2010.

You see, each year my favorite Museum (The Eric Carle Museum) honors folks in the children’s literary community that have made a contribution in some manner.  These honors are split into four parts.  You have your “Bridge”, your “Mentor”, your “Angel” and your “Artist”.  More on those later.

On this particular day I was flying in from Chicago, desperately hoping to get an early flight so that I’d make it to the Honors on time.  In point of fact I did finagle a flight and even managed to get home, dress up, and run hell-for-leather in the direction of the subway with enough time.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t walk limping and dripping sweat into the restaurant.  But I was a limping, sweaty, ON TIME individual and really, isn’t that what truly matters?

The party was hopping by the time I arrived anyway.  Lots of tiny food and, as readers all know, tiny food = excellent party.  Particularly when that tiny food involves prosciutto in some way.  Prosciutto is the cupcake of the meat world.  It’s like salty meat-flavored gum.  Delicious.

Each Carle Honor event tends to auction off original art by the luminaries in the children’s literary field.  I do not usually participate since auctions suggest disposable income and children’s librarianship suggests nothing of the sort.  Still, it’s a lot of fun to look and see what other folks are bidding on.  As I circled (and stared with great longing at my personal favorite, an Art Spiegelman work shown here) I thought about original art and where it belongs.  It has occurred to me that if I were an artist, a big time children’s illustrator of some sort, and I wanted to donate my life’s work to someone, I would probably want to give it to an organization like The Carle.  Giving my work to a big library or museum is all well and good, but I’d prefer to hand it over to a group that cares entirely about children’s art for the good of the whole and not as a side venture.

These thoughts swam in my head in part because I learned tha

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21. Fusenews: Prehistoric Security Guards = Instant Awe

I must say, I was more than impressed by the sheer wealth of great children’s poets weighing in on yesterday’s post about the conspicuous lack of an ALSC poetry award.  Today, we shall switch gears and instead start off the day with a fine little . . .

  • New Blog Alert: I’ve decided that I want to work at the Eric Carle Museum.  This is a long-term plan.  I’m not in a particular rush.  If 50 years down the line they have an opening in their little library (I like their little library quite a lot) I’ll apply then.  Until that time I’ll just read their brand new blog instead. The blog in question is called Shop Talk and has all sorts of goodies in it.  Visits from illustrators like Lisbeth Zwerger (she’s so young!).  Communist interpretations of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Even a first sentence quiz that stumped me (is Madame Louise Bodot from Crictor?).  They tell me that they’ll be doing an endpaper quiz soon too.  Better add it to the old blogroll.
  • New Italian Blog Alert: I don’t get to write that nearly as often as I’d like to.  In a perfect universe we Americans would be able to hear not just about the cool new children’s books from our own American blogs, but the cool new worldwide children’s books via blogs from other countries.  I know of a couple Aussie children’s literary bloggers.  At least one Brit.  A Canadian or two.  But where are the Welsh, the French, the Chinese, or the Indian children’s literary bloggers?  At least we’ve got a rep from Italy, eh?  The Tea Box recently came to my attention, and thanks to the wonders of translation you can read it in only mildly maligned English.  There are interviews and looks at new books.  And check out this image from this post on the picture book La Governante by Edouard Osmont.

Gorgeous!  I could spend all day exploring through the site’s blogroll too.  Bella bella!

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22. Susan’s remarkable illustration field trip

Talented California artist and illustrator Susan Sorrell Hill reports to us today about a recent pilgrimage she made across the country to meet an artist she admires very much. When she learned that Austrian children’s book illustrator Lisbeth Zwerger
would be at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, Ma. for the opening of a retrospective of her work, she knew she’d  have to go. It was as simple as that.

Lisbeth Zwerger's cover for "The Nutcracker

Susan agreed even before she made the trip  to cover the event for us.  After you read her account,  I’m sure you’ll want to visit her own rich blog and see her paintings on her online gallery.

We’ve  been hitting the children’s book art illustration museums pretty hard, lately.  In the last post (scroll down) we featured the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature and the gorgeous SCBWI “Golden Kite Golden Dreams” show.  Both  facilities perform an outstanding service in their celebration and exploration of children’s book illustration as fine art.

Enjoy her report on meeting one of the world’s beloved illustrators — and spending those couple of magical days at the extraordinary Eric Carle Museum.


Last week I wrote about my impending trip to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for the Lisbeth Zwerger exhibition. This 40,000 square-foot museum “is the first full-scale museum in this country devoted to national and international picture book art, conceived and built with the aim of celebrating the art that we are first exposed to as children.” Now that I am on the other side of my four-day, whirlwind cross-country visit, I can hardly believe it happened�

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23. Kids’ Books

This year I worked with Learning Leaders to visit NY classrooms and share my work with kids. I did 8 visits between two classes over the course of 4 consecutive months. For the activity portion of my visit we made single sheet books where the kids had to tell a story with pictures only! It was a challenge in the beginning, but the kids got into the mode of thinking very quickly and made some really impressive books. Most kept their books for themselves, but a couple of the students gave theirs to me!

This is a super confidence building activity for children who struggle with writing. It also helps sharpen their ordering skills.

Here is one of the finished products. Enjoy! (click on the pages to enlarge)

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The Plant Helpers by Camille Kirby, Age 9
Synopsis: A bad man comes along, chops down a tree and takes it away. The children go to the community garden to buy seeds. They plant the seeds and one week later flowers, trees, and pumpkins grow, everyone is happy.

Sarah Stewart and David Small’s The Gardener and Peter Brown’s The Curious Garden would be great additions to Camille’s library!

*Also of note*
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has offered me a complimentary membership to the museum as a token of congratulations! How cool is that?!?! I can’t wait to go, who’s comin’ with me?

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24. The Whole Book Approach of sharing picture books

The Children’s Literature Council of Southern California held their annual Spring Workshop yesterday at the Glendale Public Library (that's their nifty picture book area). Called “I Can Read It by Myself…But Do I Want To? Inspiring Emergent Readers,” it featured Megan Lambert as keynote speaker. Megan is Instructor of Children’s Literature Programs at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and as such she has helped develop the Whole Book Approach, a “critical framework and pedagogical method aimed at evaluating and using the picture book as an art form.” For more information on this method, please see the Museum’s short but informative explanation.

The CLC of SC is composed of librarians, teachers, authors and illustrators, parents, and in fact anyone who has a passion for children’s literature. However, I’d say most audience members at yesterday’s workshop were librarians, and the program focused on how Megan uses the Whole Book Approach during storytimes at the Museum and in classrooms.

This approach does not involve the usual storytime approach of reading a picture all the way through. It doesn’t even mean stopping throughout the story to talk about the illustrations and text with the kids. No, it’s much more radical than that – imagine taking one hour to go through Bill Martin’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear with a group of 5-year-olds!

In a nutshell, the Whole Book Approach draws inspiration from Dialogic Reading methods, the Reggio Emilia philosophy, and Visual Thinking Strategies. The adult sharing the picture book acts as a guide to the book, but allows the children to make their own observations, find their own meaning, draw their own conclusions. It’s a learner-centered method that is also a great way for kids to have a shared literature experience.

As Megan explained to us, she uses three main open-ended questions to draw out children’s responses to the art in picture books:
What’s going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can we find?
Facilitators draw children’s attention to certain aspects of the picture book, such as the jacket, gutter, endpapers, and so on, paraphrase children’s responses in order to sneak in some good art and literature terms, and point to parts of the illustrations that children are commenting on, but essentially the discussion is child-initiated and child-directed.

In order to encourage kids to really take the time to observe closely and make responses, Megan says that slowing down is essential. The reason it can take an hour to get through a “reading” of Brown Bear, Brown Bear is that she can take 5 to 10 minutes on a page, talking about the illustrations, design elements, and how the pictures work with the text. Megan gave us many examples of insights about books that she gained from kids, who come to the books with fresh and curious eyes.

I think most of us in the audience were fascinated and intrigued by this method, but when we broke out into smaller groups to practice this method for ourselves, we ran into problems (that's a fuzzy photo of my group, with Megan in the center with bangs, trying to figure it all out). First of all, it quickly became clear that a lengthy perusal of a book is essential in order to figure out how to “make meaning out of the artistic and design choices present in each element.” Also, not every picture book lends itself to this method. We felt that we would need a LOT more training in order to present the Whole Book Approach and really make it work.

We librarians in the group also wondered how the method would work in a public library storytime setting. None of us could imagine spending an entire storytime on one or two books, although I think this might be really exciting to try with a class. Teachers and even picture book authors in our group commented that they’ve used variations of this technique many times, which bolsters my feeling that this method is sort of “teachy,” to use the technical term.

This does seem to be a great way to get kids thinking and learning about picture books and in particular the art of picture books. However, I’m not convinced of the automatic link between the Whole Book Approach and the title of this workshop, the subtitle of which was “Inspiring Emergent Readers.” Yes, visual and even kinesthetic learners would get a lot out of approaching picture books this way – and it might give everyone a new appreciation and way of looking at picture books. But does it actually inspire readers?

Megan commented that sometimes kids, especially girls who are good at sitting still, will sigh in exasperation and say “Can’t you just READ the book?” Megan says she responds to this by saying, “We are reading the book. We’re reading the pictures.” Fair enough, but I think there are a lot of kids who, although they might enjoy delving into the meaning and complexities of the illustrations, would be likelier to gain a love of stories by hearing them all the way through, by being transported by the story. As a German Literature major, I took numerous lit courses in college. Although often I enjoyed dissecting the books we were studying, my keenest pleasure came from just plunging into the story and reading it without having to dwell on this or that element. It’s important to be able to examine and discuss a book – for students of any age – but perhaps simple pleasure in a story ought to come first.

The Whole Book Approach is obviously useful and valuable – Megan’s many anecdotes and experiences all point to this – and I would love to see it demonstrated with a group of kids so that I can understand better how it works. I would also love a longer, more hands-on workshop so that I gain some experience and comfort with the method. However, judging from the conversations I had with fellow participants after the workshop, our wheels are all turning and we will be looking at ways we can use elements of the Whole Book Approach to enhance kids’ love of literature and reading. And that’s the whole point.

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25. Different Like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews

Matthews, Elizabeth. Different Like Coco.  Candlewick Press, 2007. 32 pp.  ISBN 978-0-7636-2548-1. $16.99More than anything, Coco Chanel's life story is a tale about using what you've got and and building on your strengths and resou

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