HELLO! HELLO! art exchange, SLJ, school visits, oh my!

As I'm preparing final art for a picture book, I thought I'd pop in and update on a few things.

First, I'm nearly finished collecting and finishing up art for an amazing amount of takers on my "buy a copy--or copies--of HELLO! HELLO! and I will give you some art for free" deal! I'm so thrilled with how many people have taken me up on this offer in its first week. If you haven't read about this, please check out my blog post here. Buy 1 book gets you a signed book plate and art post cards. Buy 2 books gets you a signed proof of one of the spreads from the book. Buy 3 books and I give you a hand watercolored drawing (the drawing is printed, the watercolor is not) of Lydia riding atop her horse! I ain't even playing. If you partake, I just need to see receipts for book purchases at mattthew@matthewcordell.com. And act now, because this offer is only good until the end of November! Get your holiday shopping done here!

A whopping stack of stuff getting ready to pack up and ship out. Thanks SO much, everyone! Keep 'em coming!!

Secondly, a great new review just came in for HELLO! HELLO! from School Library Journal:

.K-Gr 6—Bored with her electronic equipment, a girl finds a new world to explore in this nearly wordless picture book. Cordell uses pen-and-ink and watercolor snapshots in a sea of white space to great effect, along with text in an old, impersonal computer typeface, to show the distance between the child and her parents and baby brother, all of whom are absorbed in their own devices. A colorful leaf blows through the door inviting the child outside where she encounters the sunny natural world in a spread that bursts with color. The limited text is now warm and handwritten. The girl says hello to a ladybug, a flower, and a horse. Her imagination soars as she rides the horse through this bright expanse and meets many animals-until her cell phone rings. The text goes back to the bland computer font and the page turns white as the horse stops suddenly, bringing the whole experience crashing to a halt. The girl rushes back to frantic, worried parents and the gray, electronic home she left behind. She gives her mother the gift of the leaf in exchange for the laptop, her father a flower in exchange for his phone, and introduces her brother to the ladybug. Together the family enjoys the outdoors. In fewer words than the standard tweet, Cordell shows how members of a family can reconnect. This is a must-have for starting a conversation about what can be experienced and shared with others once the electronic devices are turned off and the imagination is turned on.—Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY

Thirdly, I just did my first school visit where I read and discussed HELLO! HELLO! with the kiddos, teachers, librarians, and parents at a k-2 school in Glencoe, IL. It went ever-so-swimmingly. The school's lovely librarian, Julia Eidelman, was kind enough to provide the following pictures.

My first school visit reading HELLO! HELLO! was 11/13/12 in Glencoe, IL! Here I wow the kids with my tales of epic character development.

Ok then, Let's Draw!

Cracking myself up with this weird on-the-fly drawing-on-demand mustachioed basketball playing horse. Um, yeah.

It was so much fun reading HELLO! HELLO! to the kids and teachers. I also picked up a few new tricks I can do while reading it. And hey, lookit, my arm makes a shadow!

One more drawing-on-demand. I ask the kids to give me a favorite animal. Then I ask the kids to tell me what their mom or dad does for work, if it's something cool. This is a moose who engineers airplanes. His name is, of course, Mark.

If you would like to have me come speak at your school, please get in touch (matthew@matthewcordell.com) and let's discuss my availability, fees, and presentation. I am all about spreading the gospel of this book and I'd love to meet your school's students and teachers and librarians!

hello! hello!