Switzerland Day 2-3-4-5-6

Wow, I had a blast snowboarding! I am still not able to sit properly because of a big bruise on my b-hind, and all my muscles are sore. You can imagine that the plane ride home was not exactly comfortable. Thumbling down a icy slope is a whole new experience at 40. I now own a tail protector (similar to a fat-suit for the hips, buns and thigh area... very flattering as you can imagine.) I rented a helmet and will soon get something to protect my knees as well. You might ask if it's worth it? It is! The mountains, the snow, the freedom, the beauty, it was completely worth hitting the back of my head quite a few times. I still have to make an appointment with my doctor to gage the extent of the brain damage inflicted... 

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Switzerland Day 1

Oh, the snow is so beautiful. The sun is coming up shining on the golden mountain tops. Little Chalets with thick stacks of snow on the roof are all around. It's nice to be back in Switzerland.

Maybe I'll write a book that takes place here, right after I finish the ones that take place in China, Japan, Indonesia, Danmark, Finland, Iceland, and all the other places I really want to visit. It's all about research, right?

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Belgium Day 5

We went to Gent. I lived in Gent for 5 years before I moved to Paris. I was an animation film student at the Koninklijke Academie, and lived the life art students live, which took place mostly at night. Gent looked very different strolling through it with a husband and a child. 

After being in the states for 18 years, the cobblestones, the Churches and Castles, the whole city, looked like fairy tale. My daughter kept asking where the princesses were that lived in the castles. Unfortunately all the princes and princesses were at school. We took the boat trip on the river and learned a whole lot of new things about the city. The reason we chose to visit Gent, was that my very dear friend Silvia Defrance, lives there. Silvia just finished a new animated film called Candy Darling. The film won two awards so far, and as soon as she gets it on Youtube, I will post a link. 

Anyway, I urgently need to get on with day 6 here in Belgium, it's after 10:00AM and the princess is waiting for me at the playground.

Belgium Day 3

It's overcast, but not raining. Yesterday I went to the Baptism on my nephew Victor-Jan. My first time at a Baptism in a Catholic church, or any church for that matter. The church was beautiful and the priest surprisingly entertaining. Even though the ceremony was long, I wasn't bored for a second. The priest even threw in an english sentence here and there for my American husband.

Anyway, afterwards we ate a lot of great food, some very traditional Flemish items in which I couldn't partake because I do not eat meat any more. The dessert was fabulous. Tiramisu, but made with Speculoos, one of the most traditional Belgian cookies. Oh man, I am in for it again. I have to eat all the things I can't find in the States. I hope I still fit in my chair on the plane back to New York.

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My daughter is just coming into her Princess phase. She was king for a while, monster for a bit, but now, she is starting to catch on that princesses have the most fun. So, after checking out some of the dress-up clothes out there in this crazy world, I decided that it would be more fun if I made some myself. 

We started with a princess skirt, made from leftover materials. It took time, it was fun and I liked what we came up with, but the your highness rejected it. It was the wrong color. The skirt is awaiting a second chance in a box next to the sewing machine. For now, the princess is wearing a pillowcase in just the right color.

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Rebecca Dautremer

I have to share this amazing author-illustrator with you! A while ago, just before a trip to Paris, I looked for and found all the names and addresses of every possible children's book store in that beautiful city. I lived there for a while in 1991-1992, so I was familiar with the names of the streets and quartiers I found. For about a week, I explored the stores, and found some amazing books. One of the books I purchased was L'Amoureux, by Rebecca Dautremer. I immediately fell in love with the illustrations and with the story. Every time I went to Europe I'd look for more of her books. Many she wrote and illustrated, other she just illustrated. All of them are little gems.I've been waiting for Rebecca to be picked up by an American publisher, but so far nothing.

So, I wanted to show some of her illustrations here for you to enjoy, on a snowy day in March.

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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