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Second batch:
JERBOA PLAYING A JEWS (OR JAW) HARPKOALA PLAYING A KORALION PLAYING A LUTEMOOSE PLAYING MARIMBA
NUMBAT PLAYING A NEY OTTER PLAYING AN OCARINAPINE MARTEN PLAYING A PENNY WHISTLEQUOKKAS PLAYING QUITIPLAS
The folks over at #kidlitart* wanted to help illustrators find their voices as illustrators, so they set up this challenge.
The idea is to draw something every day for the month of February featuring a theme, creature, idea, character, etc. that you LOVE. 'To illustrate things that you are ALL ABOUT – not just as an artist. As a person. What tickles your fancy? What do you geek out about? What stories would you tell if you just had the chance?'
I've had this idea for a while to illustrate the alphabet with animals playing instruments, since I love art, animals and music. I started out innocently enough, then I got to researching both animals and instruments I've never heard of, and it starts to get really exotic! I am having a lot of fun with this!
Here are the first batch:
ALLIGATOR PLAYING AN ACCORDION
BADGER PLAYING BONGOS
CAPYBARA PLAYING CYMBALS
DIK-DIK PLAYING A DJEMBE
ELEPHANT PLAYING AN EUPHONIUM
FERRET PLAYING A FLUGELHORN
GOAT PLAYING A GUITAR
HEDGEHOG PLAYING A HARMONICA
AN INDRI PLAYING AN IYA ILU
* #kidlitart is an hour-long Twitter chat on Thursday nights at 8 pm Central, where children's illustrators talk about anything to do with kidlit art.
Here is a new piece done in my new style.
I love the posts over at Tara Lazar's site every November during PiBoIdMo! Some inspire me by presenting a new way to look at creativity, and some are reminders of things that I already knew, but seem to forget about when trying to create!
It's that time of year again – the leaves are turning, the weather is colder, and it's Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo)!
PiBoIdMo is a writing challenge for picture book writers and illustrators. The idea is to come up with one picture book idea every day in November, so by the end of the month you'll have 30 new ideas to help you throughout the year! I just love the adorable banner for this year, designed by
Vin Vogel!
Don't miss the daily posts on
Tara Lazar's site from authors, illustrators and picture book professionals to help you along on your 30-day idea journey this November.
Participants who register for PiBoIdMo and complete the 30-idea challenge will be eligible for prizes, including signed picture books, original art, critiques, Skype sessions and feedback from one of eleven picture book agents! You have until Nov. 7th to sign up to be eligible for prizes.
Saving the best for the last day of Hug A Book Week.
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak, which won the Caldecott in 1964.
This book has had a profound effect on me. Every time I think of it, I go back to being a kid, and feeling those warm fuzzies it always gave me. There's just something magical about this book!
For more info about Hug a Book Week:
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/hugmachine
Today, we're hugging the graphic novel
Jane, the Fox & Me written by Fanny Britt,
a Quebec playwright, author and translator. She has written a dozen plays (among them Honey Pie, Hôtel Pacifique and Bienveillance) and translated more than fifteen. She has also written and translated several other works of literature. The book is illustrated by one of my current art crushes,
Isabelle Arsenaut.
After reading this book, I realized that I never read
Jane Eye (which is the "Jane" in the title), so I read that, too. So it was a twofor.
For more info about Hug a Book Week:
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/hugmachine
Today, I'm posting my art instead of me - I'm not really a "selfie" type person, so it's a little weird for me to keep posting pictures of myself!
Today, it's all about last year's Newberry winner
Flora & Ulysses written by the wonderful
Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by
KC Campbell. This book is so hilarious, it had me laughing out loud the whole time I read it. I mean, a vacuum attacks a squirrel and gives him super powers – what's not to love? And the illustrations are so quirky and fun. Squeaky the squirrel loves it, too, since there aren't a lot of super-hero-squirrel books out there for him to read.
For more info about Hug a Book Week:
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/hugmachine
Image if Joan Rivers were here to ask:
Who are you hugging?
Today, it's one of last year's Caldecott honor books,
Extra Yarn written by
Mac Barnett and illustrated by
Jon Klassen. I could stare at this book for hours!
For more info about Hug a Book Week:
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/hugmachine
Have you hugged a book today? Simon and Schuster is celebrating the release of the adorable book
Hug Machine by promoting this week as Hug a Book Week! I have actually hugged books in real life, so this is really nothing new to me, other than the act of posting the photos for the world to see.
So, for every day this week as part of
#HugABookWeek, I'm going to post a photo of me hugging a book I love.
I'm playing catch up as the Missouri SCBWI conference had me a little busy this weekend - so today I'm posting two!
First, is me hugging
Kelly Light's new release
Louise Loves Art. I've been following Kelly online for several years and am so happy for her and her debut book as an author/illustrator.
Second, is me hugging
Dan Yaccarino's
Unlovable. This is such a sweet book that is VERY lovable and just begging to be hugged! And I got it autographed this weekend at the conference!
For more info about Hug a Book Week:
http://pages.simonandschuster.com/hugmachine
I've been experimenting with a new style that incorporates my pencil sketches into the final illustration, instead of creating it all digitally. This is a new piece done in that style, based on this quote from Mo Willems:
"A lot of people think of ideas as objects or animals that you hunt. You go into the woods, you find an idea, you capture it, and you bring it home. And ideas really are more like gardens. And every day, you're planting lots and lots of ideas. Some of them get eaten by birds, and never go anywhere. Some of them grow up to be really horrible things. Some wither and die. Every now and then, over time, some idea grows up to be big and beautiful and filled with fruit."
I have having so much fun at this rhyming stuff, I can't stop! Like Gloria Estefan says, "the rhythm is gonna get you!" It got me, all right!
I wrote a poem to enter the poetry contest that The Children's Book Academy is having. The theme is "Why Do Kids Love Poetry?"
Why Kids Love Poetry
by Lynn Alpert
Poems are pretty things to hear –
a sweet song from a wren.
They make me want to dance and sing,
and do it all again!
When I read a poem out loud,
I feel I’m in a trance.
It’s like my tongue and words
come out and do a little dance.
Clap and sing and read along,
it’s hard to not join in!
The rhyming party has begun –
try not to tap and grin!
Why do kids love rhyming texts?
I’ll speak for all us kids –
it’s fun to hear and say the sounds –
that’s it, that’s all there is!
Books I read this past week:
A bittersweet ending to a wonderful month learning tons of stuff about poetry. I'm sad it's over, but I got great news this morning: I received an honorable mention for my poem
Please Don't Make Me Eat Those Peas AND I randomly won one of the daily prizes! Yay!
There were some really good entries in the contest – check them out
here!
I am now a graduate of the first annual RhyPiBoMo and I will proudly display this here:
I have been exposed to a lot of new writers during the last month, and I want to share a book that I just fell in love with! It's not really a rhyming book, since it has only 2 words in the whole thing, but Boy, Howdy! is it adorable!
It's called Mine! by Shutta Crum. First, you gotta love her name (and it's her real name, too!) and second, Patrice Barton is an illustration genius! The story she tells in the images are priceless! And that dog it so stinking cute! If you want a good does of charming, read this book!
Here are the books I read this week:
I love looking at these little squares of awesomeness! It just makes me happy!
I also have a poem to share with you – the poem I entered into the
Golden Quill Poetry Contest. Angie said she had over 40 entries! I'm excited to see the finalists!
Please Don’t Make Me Eat Those Peas
Please don’t make me eat those peas –
they stink and make me gag and wheeze.
I have a strong aversion to
those squishy globes of greenish goo!
I try to feed them to our puppy,
the hamster, and the family guppy.
They try a pea and spit it out –
they hate them, too, without a doubt!
I wish you would respect my wishes–
I promise I will do the dishes
if you don’t force me to consume
that evil, little green legume!
I’ll clean my room and make my bed
and make sure that the pets are fed.
If you love me, I’m beggin’ please,
Please don’t make me eat those peas!
Still plugging away on RhyPiBoMo and learning A LOT! I don't have any poems to post, but I'm almost finished with one that I'm going to enter into the
Golden Quill Poetry Contest. In the meantime, here are the books I've read in the last 2 weeks.
One of the rules of RhyPiBoMo is to read a rhyming picture book every day. Here are the books I read in the fist week.
One week down and 3 to go! Today, we learned about the different quatrains and the different rhyming patterns they can have. Here is one with the ABAB pattern:
Buddy Buddy is a crazy boy!
He jumps on everyone around,
because he can’t contain his joy.
He’s such a crazy, happy hound!
Today, we learned about Haiku and Limericks. Here is a fitting Haiku for today since a tornado touched down about 2 blocks from my house this morning and I didn't even wake up!!!
Tornado
Wind bursts barrel though,
So strong and powerful, then,
Earily quiet.
April Fool
They say don’t write your book in rhyme,
but I still do it all the time.
I don’t set out to do it –
The editors will boo-hoo it!
I guess I’m just a foolish fool
who thinks that’s such a ghoulish rule!
If I can make a kid laugh –
with a rhyming paragraph –
Then a fool, I guess, I’ll be
along with Seuss, and company!
I'm a dork, and I love cats and silly poetry. Here's a poem/song that I wrote about my cat Squeaky:
Squeaky, Squeaky, she runs around the house
squeakin', squeakin', just like a mouse.
Squeaky, Squeaky, she's sweet as can be,
but she'll turn around and bite you if you touch her belly.
Squeaky, Squeaky, her tail's a ball of fur,
I really like to cuddle her and listen to her purr.
Squeaky, Squeaky, it really does seem
that we make a pretty darn good cat and mommy team.
Silly poem for day 1 of RhyPiBoMo:
Scanson, anapest, iamb, oh my!
Will I understand all this before I die?
This is the start of a month full of learning
To become an expert of something I’ve been yearning
to be
Wow that rhyme sucks,
But not to fear,
Because Angie Karcher
and RhPiBoMo are here!
Here are some character sketches (step 3). Still working through the storyboards (Step 4).
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Here's a quote from the great Chuck Jones about creating art: