Hope Anita Smith

My friend Hope, recently won the Coretta Scott King Honor award for her book Keeping the Night Watch. An incredible follow up of her first book, The Way A Door Closes, for which she won the Coretta Scott King New Talent Award, (and many other awards I can't all list here.) Needles to say, Hope is a master at what she does. Both books are a series of powerful poems that tell the tale of a family trying to stay together after the father leaves. The second book deals with the same family trying to accept the father back into their lives after he decides to come home. Not only is Hope an amazing writer and an amazing poet, but then she decides to illustrate her next book, Mother Poems, herself. (This beautiful book is coming out on march 31st.) And illustrate she did. On a recent visit to NY, she showed me her master piece. The ripped paper collages are wonderful, expressive, and full of emotion. I am in awe. Hope Anita Smith is full of surprises and definitely one to watch!

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More Bella and Bean

This was the shelf at the Union Square Barnes and Noble last week. The pink book in the middle at the top is Bella and Bean. Two shelves down, in the middle is Hugging Hour. Happy, Happy!

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Back to the matter at hand. Bella and Bean, is a book about two friends. Bella wants to write poetry, Bean wants wants to play. Bella gets grumpy about being interrupted all the time, Bean tries to coax her to come out. They end up having a very fun and productive day.
Here is the first page of the book, (the one Esme Codell wants to rip out!)

Most of the story takes place outside the window of Bella's tree cottage. One location and a lot of dialogue. For an illustrator, that's not the easiest kind of manuscript to visualize. I was fortunate though, Rebecca interweaves the dialogue with inspiring poetic words that take the reader into Bella's creative little mouse head, a whole new and infinite location to explore.

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BELLA AND BEAN by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

I haven't even remotely recovered from Hugging Hour being out, and BAM, out comes Bella and Bean, written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich. As soon as I was sent the manuscript, I knew I wanted to illustrate this book. I did the illustrations partly in pencil partly digital. We are getting great reviews! Read A Year of Reading: BELLA AND BEAN by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Also read Planet Esme. This is fun! (Wait until you catch me after a bad review).

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Pictures of the Hugging Hour party

It was great, many people showed up and the juice and 300 waffles were gone in no time.

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What comes first, Story or Character?

Sometimes one, sometimes the other. I recently bought a sewing machine. When I finally set it up and gathered some old left-over pieces of fabric, this character came out. I guess when you wing it without a pattern or clear plan, weird things happen. Luckily in my world weird is good. In fact the weirder the better and more inspiring. Who knows, maybe this guy will end up in a new story some time soon.

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SCBWI Winter Conference

Another children's book conference came and went. As always, I'm inspired. Inspired and excited that I am part of this industry. The key note speakers were great. It was more than a treat to see and hear Richard Peck again. He is our giant, our very own children's book giant. the agents panel was very informative and the agents featured, came over as very human and accessible, (not at all like Ari Gold from Entourange)

But, the ending key note speaker was the absolute highlight for me. Jack Gantos was replacing Julius Lester, who couldn't be there. I had never heard him speak before. He was eloquent, inspiring, very new england, and very very funny.

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A plea for better book design

Why are there so few well designed book covers to be found? Even if the illustration is good, the placement of the title, font, color, and overall look of the book, in too many cases, is completely uninspired. I am speaking predominantly about young adult novels. Unfortunately, as the author, or even as the jacket illustrator of a novel, you have no power over the design of your book, (that is, in 99% of the cases). There are hordes of good graphic designers out there. Are none of them interested in working on Children's Books? Or, (and that's probably it) aren't they paid/appreciated  enough? Maybe, if there would be an award for best jacket design, as well respected as say, the Newbery. This would change. I won't list the books I don't like here, but I will list a few fine pieces of work. As you maybe noticed, almost all of these books won big awards. Maybe the jacket design had a teensy bit to do with that, maybe not. But can we send a plea out in the universe?

A plea for better design?

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Book Covers shown: The Tale of Desperaux, by Kate Dicamillo, Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, Fly Solo, by Teresa Rodriguez Williamson, Rules, by Cynthia Lord, The Rules of Survival, by Nancy Werlin.

Up and Down

I walked into a book store in NY and there it was, face-out, on the shelf. I had been waiting about this moment for a long time. But this moment was bitter sweet. Half an hour earlier when I walked into my favorite Manhattan Children's Bookstore, Hugging Hour was no where to be found. When inquiring at the desk, I was informed that they didn't carry the book. What happened? I had shown the owner of the store, a pre-release copy a while before, and he told me he wanted to organize a book signing. "Have your people call my people," he said.

I am telling you, it's a roller coaster. Up and down. No hands on the wheel. No control. Maybe this will all feel different next time. Next time is coming up though. On the 10th of February I have another book coming out, Bella & Bean, written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, and illustrated by me. Stay tuned.

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My book, Hugging Hour, is out!

Today is the day, even though a couple of friends spotted and bought it last night at a local bookstore. (That was very nice of them.)

Now, what do I do? I guess I'll bundle up and go soap-boxing in Central Park. I'll set up next to the Alice in Wonderland statue, maybe she'll bring me luck. Or, maybe I should stay put in case my new waffle iron arrives in the mail. First things first, I need to get out of these pajamas and into the shower. Yes, I know it is afternoon here, and yes, I know it's a school day. But, it's a special day today, it's freezing in New York, and I have been sending out emails all morning. So, give me a break, and if you happen to walk into a bookstore today, don't forget to ask about Hugging Hour! 

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Book Reviews

I just came across a picture book I had never seen before, (even though it's been out for more than a year.) Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, by Emily Gravett. This book is exquisite. The illustrations/collages are tasteful, well thought out, and little flap-up extra's are sprinkled throughout the book.Another one of my favorite books, and out for a while, is Mini Grey's, The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon. This book is also a combination of illustration and collage. Grey's sense of humor is infectious, the abundance of detail very well placed, and the color palette is stylish. Story time will be fun tonight.

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