Riding on the Number 5 Bus

For the past couple of weeks, I've been bouncing emails back and forth with Philip and Erin Stead for their author and illustrator discussion series called The Number 5 Bus. It has been a tremendous amount of fun talking about books and art (past and present) and many things that fall in between.

Topics covered include (not limited to):

-unfortunate coincidences in one's plot and another found elsewhere in the world
-John Burningham
-William Steig
-virtual tour of my very messy studio
-nibs and bamboo pens
-watercolor
-previous art lives
-sneak peeks at a couple of my 2015 picture book offerings (WISH, my next author/illustrator, and SPECIAL DELIVERY, a book I illustrated by Phil)
-etc.

I hope you will take a few minutes and check out this piece and other great ones from the series. Ok, you will need more than a few minutes, probably. They are pretty stretched out in comparison to a lot of other content found on the web. Which is also what I love about these discussions. They have a nice ramble-y, not so edited, Richard Linklater-esque vibe to them that I love. I just saw Boyhood yesterday with the missus (so good) and I'm thinking Linklater a lot right now.

Check out my piece on No. 5 Bus right here:

http://numberfivebus.com/2014/03/27/season-1-episode-10-matthew-cordell-coming-soon/

Thanks for having me, Phil and Erin.

First Grade Dropout

This just in! A set of F+G's for my picture book collaboration with the awesome Audrey Vernick from our friends at Clarion Books. First Grade Dropout! This one will be dropping in on you in July of 2015. Mark your calendars! (Dang, that seems so LONG from now.)

Make Yer Dot

Last year, first time ever, I jumped into this fun idea of making a "dot" as part of the International Dot Day event. Make a mark (or anything that may/may not be dot-like) and see where it takes you. See how a story unravels or another picture, etc. (If you weren't already aware, the idea started from Peter Reynold's lovely picture book The Dot.) These dots we make and share get shared and shared with kids and educators and parents all over and it's this wonderful creative lovefest. Dot Day this year is September 15.

Last year, I came up with this all-kinds-of-heads dot:

And this year, I came up with this red-gray-black-squirrel-ball dot:

As an illustrator, and sometime author, my dots were added to the ongoing blog/website called "celebri-dots" which can be found here. MANY others have done this and for a long list of up-to-date contributors, check that out here.

Take a scroll and click through to find a whole bunch of fun interpretations of dots from days, months, years past. And if you are an author, illustrator, or someone in the public eye, I encourage you to participate too, to get in on the fun and spark a whole bunch of kid imaginations. Here's the page that tells you how to submit. You'll be in touch with and befriend of the sweetest and most positive guys out there, Terry Shay. It's win-win, folks. Make a dot!