"What are you working on?" Perhaps you have asked. Maybe (probably) not. But what I am working on is my second written and illustrated picture book titled, tentatively (?), ANOTHER BROTHER. I haven't talked much about it, but I did talk a little about it here, at my recent interview with Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes. Dare I say more?
I'm about 98% done with a picture book written by Lauren Thompson titled, newly (?), LEAP BACK HOME TO ME. A lovely story about a mama frog and a baby frog. I'm just finishing one last jacket illustration now. Very cool.
In the meantime, here are two random sketches I found to post. I kinda (used to) have a thing for elephants.
To anyone who may have bought copies of any of my books to be signed at the Anderson's kids book Breakfast (always fun--great people, great speakers): My apologies, but we had to leave early. Our 15mth old's Grandma (our babysitter) was a last minute cancellation due to being sick and we had to bring Romy with. By around 11 am, she was being crazy cranky/tired and we had to leave early.
If you wanted/needed something signed by me, please just contact me and we could maybe work something out?
Please take a moment to head on over to the awesome children's lit blog, 100 Scope Notes, and check out this interview I just did with Travis Jonker. Travis found this weird website, Twiddla, that acts like a collaborative computer sketch pad. We did some interview-style mouse doodling together (alongside the more traditional q/a interview questions), and the results are something else. A cool idea, Trav. Drop a comment and let him know you stopped by!
Travis also just redesigned the blog and it looks great. The new home page, here.
Thanks for having me at 100 Scope Notes, Travis. Lots of fun.
That time again. My favorite things from the month previous.
1. BOB DYLAN: BEHIND THE SHADES REVISITED. From what I can tell this is the most comprehensive and accurate bio on the man who is well-known to not like to be well-known. It's very dense (long) but was quite the page turner. I mean, you gotta like you some Dylan to want to turn these pages, and I really liked it. As my pal and fellow Dylanologist, James Preller said, "it helps connect the dots." My favorite period remains the controversial "going electric" one. Coming to a loud, loud crash with the world tour of '66.
While I'm on topic, I just discovered this nasty, nasty performance from the '02 Grammy Awards. Circa Love and Theft. Freakin amazing.
2. LATE NIGHT WARS. I'm not much on Late Night TV these days. And I'm not much on bickering matches (especially in this political climate). But I have to say I was entertained by what went on this past month. I think it peaked when Jimmy Kimmel soundly eviscerated Leno at his own table. Oomph.
3. SESAME STREET: A CELEBRATION OF 40 YEARS OF LIFE ON THE STREET. This book was one that I got for xmas but had not yet cracked til a week or so ago. They did an AMAZING job with this. The amount of detail, history, behind-the-scenes info is incredible. Ever wonder how Big Bird is brought to life? You'd be amazed. Anybody who grew up with SESAME would find it hard not to get a little misty when thumbing through this beautifully illustrated document. Especially in the Mr. Hooper section. Sniff.
4. THE DAY AFTER RECOVERING FROM STOMACH FLU. Act I: day of getting hammered in the stomach for hours accompanied by unspeakable acts of purging. Act II: it abruptly ends and you discover what it is to "have your health" again. Being of sound health the very day after being ill--It is a beautiful reminder that even the worst days of some (stomach flu) will never be as bad as the best days of others (serious illness, poverty, famine...). As the late great Mr. Rogers used to say, "It's such a good feeling to know you're alive." Straight truth.
5. MOON MAN. Phaidon is reprinting a lot of classic Tomi Ungerer picture books. I say they're classic cause this one is from 1966. Not that I'd ever heard of them or him. But I have now, and I've started with MOON MAN, and I am impressed. I don't know if it's any relation, but it has that whole Yellow Submarine vibe to the art. Loose pen and ink line and wash. Very nice.
7. MUPPET WHAT NOT. I am, it seems, some kinda Henson nut. I mean, somewhat yes. But mostly, there's just been a lot of it going around with Sesame's 40th. But a while back, Julie discovered that FAO Schwarz offers a build-your-own Muppet program (much like the more commercial Bear Workshop out there). How amazing is this? If you can't get to NYC to do it in person (which, by the way, looks awesome!), you can assemble and order the whole thing online. For Romy's Xmas/Hanukkah gift, we got her one of these. Well, it's supposed to be for her.
8. 100 SCOPE NOTES. This blog, by Travis Jonker, is one of a handful of kidlit blogs that are constant abuzz. I really like the tone of it and Trav always finds new and creative ways to present himself (e.g., he sometimes reviews in the form of a comic strip). I actually met Travis at an ALA Conference (he's also a librarian) not too long ago in Chicago. A very nice guy.
9. GIBBY from iCARLY. Now that we have cable television, I've become a bit of a connoisseur of the tween comedy. I don't like much of what Disney has to offer, except Wizards of Waverly Place is pretty funny despite it's shameless hopping on of bandwagon. iCarly trumps them all. There's this old jaded codger side of me that cringes from time to time when they get all tweeny but I'm not exactly the intended audience. Anyways, the best part of the show is this kid Gibby, a secondary player. He is positively built for physical comedy (no offense, Gibbs). Man, that dude is funny.
10. MAN V. FOOD. Another recent cable TV fascination. This time from the Travel Channel. A dude goes around the country taking up local restaurants on insane eating challenges. Like, "eat this gigantic steak in under an hour and you get a free t-shirt." Or, "eat this disturbingly spicy sandwich (made with "ghost" peppers...?!) and you get a free t-shirt." If it sounds ridiculous, it is. And it is also both disgusting and appetizing at the same time. Weird.
Just got wind of this. TROUBLE GUM is gonna get a Korean edition, from one of their publishers, Forever Books! How awesome is that? I think it's especially cool since not too long ago, one of my earlier pic books, RIGHTY AND LEFTY (written by Ms. Rachel Vail) also got a pick-up from a Korean pub. Cool, cool.
(I did a quick online translation of TROUBLE GUM from English to Korean. Below. I doubt it's an accurate trans, seeing as TROUBLE GUM is my made up thing, and those online translators usually end up being wack. Hopefully this ain't nothing too vulgar, at least.)
I'm a children's book author and illustrator who lives and works in the burbs of Chicago. I dwell in a home with my wife, picture book author and YA novelist, Julie Halpern and our two lovely children. Life is great, man.
