How to use this Page

I haven’t rattled on about other artists whose books I love for some time now (Like H.J. Ford or A.B. Frost). While I’ve been at my desk for the past four months writing the first draft of WondLa III, I’ve still craved artistic inspiration. During this time, I started each day with snapshots of some of my treasured books in my collection that I shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. One that received many a response was by German illustrator, Hermann Vogel.

Unlike previous posts (where I am quite educated on the artist and can show how their work directly influenced me), Vogel is simply one of those that is so grand, so in tune with the art I make, that I mostly just want to share a bunch of hi-res scans with you. Though, I must confess that part of this reasoning is because I honestly don’t know a whole lot about him.

What I can tell you is that I was at San Diego Comic Con a few years back walking the floor with my wife, Angela. Out of the throngs of costumed fans, Charles Vess appears, seizes me by the sleeve, and escorts me over to a used bookseller’s booth. He points to a 1894 German edition of the Grimm Brothers’ Kinder und Hausmärchen (Children’s & Household Tales) and tells me, “This book is expensive ($100+), but you won’t regret purchasing it.”

I picked the book up and leafed through the pages. In one chapter’s worth of illustrations, I closed the book and opened my wallet. Charles was right. (click on each thumbnail to have your mind blown)

Since then, I have managed to find a few more copies of Vogel’s magnificent work. He released four albums of collected art around the turn-of-the-century. The cover alone is a triumph of design.

While I’ve been hunting for his books, more artists have mentioned their mutual love of Vogel’s work. Michael Hague, Barbara McClintock and Brian & Wendy Froud are all fans. For me, its the disciplined draftsmanship that is matched only by his epic imagination.

Here’s some scans from Heldensage Deutsche (German Heroic Sagas) and include illustrations from Beowulf and the Nibelung.

I wish I could tell you that Dover books offered affordable reprints for you to snag and add to your collection. However, as of this writing, none exist. In the meantime, I will scan and post more images here from time to time. If you own/find any of his books let me know, I’d love to share what everybody has and build a wishlist.

Add a Comment

After being trapped on an island in the middle of a hurricane, travel writer Lea Sutter discovers and adopts orphaned 12 year old twins Daniel and Samuel. But Lea’s husband Mark has his doubts about adopting the twins. Doubts that are soon justified when, shortly after Lea and the twins return to their Long Island home, Mark finds himself under suspicion for a brutal murder that occurred in his own front yard.

Back in the 1990’s, R.L. Stine was to teen fiction what J.K. Rowling became in the 2000’s. Every month, without fail, he produced a new Fear Street book for teens and a Goosebumps book for younger readers, and man, did those books sell. For three consecutive years in the ‘90’s, he was America’s best-selling author, and in 2003, the Guiness Book of World Records named him the best-selling children’s book series author of all time. Then, around the time Harry Potter became the “next best thing”, R.L. Stine seemed to vanish.

In the early 2000’s, YA fiction changed. The quality improved, it became respectable and all the monthly teen paperback series that were popular in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s died out. I had always assumed that Goosebumps and Fear Street had gone the way of The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High and that Stine had retired to do whatever he pleased. However, it turns out that, not only is Stine still writing around six Goosebumps books per year, he also has his own TV series (The Haunting Hour) and has recently come out with a new book for adults.

Red Rain is Stine’s fourth book for adults, but the first I would class as a true adult novel. Stine is clearly most comfortable writing for and about kids and teens. His previous three attempts at breaking into the adult market (Superstitious, Eye Candy, and The Sitter) all had protagonists in their early 20’s who acted like over-grown teenagers, so for all intents and purposes, were effectively YA books, just with more swearing, sex and violence that you’d usually find in one of Stine’s books. In Red Rain, however, Lea and Mark Sutter are a married couple in their 30’s, with kids and jobs, who said goodbye to their own childhoods years ago. Of course, Stine, being who he is, had to find some way of getting kids into the mix, which he does by way of 12 year old twins Daniel and Samuel, who turn out to be more than the Sutters bargained for, in the full horror story sense of the phrase (Side note: Why is it that adopted kids are always evil in horror stories? Did all these horror writers hate Annie and Anne of Green Gables that much?). The scenes featuring the twins are where the story really comes to life. Nevertheless, the book never feels like it is actually aimed at 12 year olds.

Red Rain is not great literature, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very entertaining. The writing is bad in parts (“He doesn’t want us to be happy. Pa doesn’t want to give us the things we want. You heard him. You heard every word. We have work to do. We have plans, boyo. We cannot let the new pa stand in our way.”) and some of the twists and turns are ridiculous to say the least, but if you enjoyed reading Stine’s Fear Street books, you’ll love it. That’s essentially what this book is – Fear Street for adults.

The Fear Street books weren’t great books either, but Stine’s formula of cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter and humour mixed with a genuine sense of danger, kept readers turning the pages and buying his books. No matter how much I laughed at the lameness of Red Rain (for example, who really adopts kids without so much as checking to see that their parents are really dead?), I kept reading, I had a lot of fun, and I was even surprised by a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. By that definition, as far as I’m concerned, Red Rain was a good book.

Even though R.L. Stine was once called “the Stephen King of children’s literature”, his writing will never be mistaken for King’s, but it serves a purpose. I loved the Fear Street books and missed them sorely when the series ended. Red Rain provides one more opportunity for fans to journey down Fear Street and for that I am grateful.

Verdict: A laughably bad, good time that Fear Street fans will welcome.

Were you a fan of R.L. Stine? What was your favourite of Stine’s books? Comment below.

Add a Comment

Mrs Locket's boarding school for girls. I figured its a murder mystery with the proper Mrs Locket (who owns the place) and the serious Miss Stand (who actually runs the place).

Add a Comment

Today I have a special treat for you. Author Meradeth Houston is here interviewing Tom from The Chemistry of Fate. Take it away guys!

“They are everywhere, can be anyone, and are always the last person you’d expect.” When Tom stumbles across his grandfather’s journal, he’s convinced the old man was crazier than he thought. The book contains references to beings called the Sary, immortals who are assigned to save humans on the verge of suicide. They certainly aren’t allowed to fall in love with mortals. Which the journal claims Tom’s grandfather did, resulting in his expulsion from the Sary. As strange as the journal seems, Tom can’t get the stories out of his head; especially when he finds the photo of his grandfather’s wings.

Tom’s only distraction is Ari, the girl he studies with for their chemistry class.

Ari has one goal when she arrives in town: see how much Tom knows about the Sary and neutralize the situation. This isn’t a normal job, but protecting the secrecy of the Sary is vital. If Tom is a threat to exposing the Sary to the public, fate has a way of taking care of the situation, usually ending with the mortal’s death. While Ari spends time with Tom, he becomes more than just an assignment, but how far can a relationship go when she can’t tell him who she really is? When she finds out just how much Tom actually knows about the Sary, Ari is forced to choose between her wings, and her heart.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Add a Comment

Author: Deborah Diesen
Illustrator: Dan Hanna
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Books
Genre: Children
ISBN: 0-374-36098-7
Pages: 32
Price: $5.00 at Kohl’s

Author’s website
Buy it at Kohl’s

I’m a pout-pout fish with a pout-pout face, so I spread the dreary-wearies all over the place. At least that’s what Mr. Fish thinks, as he speaks with his friends. As they try to convince him to cheer up, he repeats this dreary refrain, swimming away with a blub, blub, blub.

This adorable rhyming tale has a happy ending when a mischievous lady fish surprises him with a kiss. And suddenly Mr. Fish doesn’t feel so pouty anymore.

Kids will absolutely love The Pout-Pout Fish. And with these cute stuffed characters to accompany it, all for only $5.00 each, this set from Kohl’s Cares for Kids is a real winner. All proceeds go towards kids’ health and education.

Reviewer: Alice Berger

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

 

On her way to speak at her Alma Mater (the wonderful Oberlin College), we were lucky enough to have Tracy Chevalier stop by for the fifth event in our 2013 Winter/Spring Evenings with Authors series. With a full house, Chevalier discussed her latest novel, The Last Runaway.  For her 7^th novel, Chevalier dove into the history Oberlin and its progressive importance in the Underground Railroad. She was able to merge her passion for history and love of Oberlin to paint an authentic picture of Quaker life in the age of slavery and on the brink of revolution. Chevalier spoke candidly about the trials and triumphs that come with writing a piece of historical fiction. Creating any voice that sounds realistic is difficult, but when it comes to creating a voice that is historically known to be in a certain vernacular, it poses a different level of challenges. In preparation, Chevalier reread Huck Finn, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and did an extensive amount of research on Quakers to truly wrap her senses around the language and attitude of the time period. Through the long line of people waiting to get their books signed, Chevalier also gave advice to aspiring authors, told stories of her time at Oberlin, and answered any questions that our guests threw at her.  We hope everyone that made it to the event had as great of a time as we did!

Our season isn’t over quite yet! We still have two more wonderful authors on the way this spring and a whole new line up for our summer Literary Picnics. Don’t miss Jeff Sharra Monday June, 3 or Steve Berry on Monday, June 17.

Click here for more information about those events and others to come. 

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

       A few days ago E.J. Van Lanen, of the newly founded Frisch & Co., posted a piece explaining Why I Publish Ebooks, or the Future of Literary Translation, suggesting that the e-format might be a promising approach to dealing with some of the issues that plague getting books in translation published in English. It's a quite detailed post, and well worth your attention, both for its discussion for the traditional US (print) model of publishing translations -- often necessitating reliance on outside funding, which comes with its own set of issues (boy, does it ever) -- as well as in considering the possible advantages (and disadvantages) of e-publishing. (Among the interesting/amusing points: his sums as to the costs of e-publishing a book differ ... shall we say: markedly from those of traditional print publishers, who have been moaning for years (in explaining their pricing) that it's not (much) cheaper to do it that way than it is in print.)

       Frisch & Co. aren't the only experimenters; Le French Book, for example, is:

a digital-first publisher that brings France's best crime fiction, thrillers, novels, short stories, and non-fiction to new readers across the English-speaking world. If we love it, we'll translate it.

       I'm not sure that 'best' is the right word for the books in their (initial) selection, but 52 serial shorts-concept -- which involves authors with some name-recognition, such as Yann Queffélec, Tatiana De Rosnay, Didier Van Cauwelaert -- sounds like a good lead title and sampler.

       Meanwhile, mega-bestselling French author Marc Levy has never really caught on English (see my review of All Those Things We Never Said), but e-publisher Versilio have now brought out a whole batch of his books in translation, almost all just in e-formats.

       A few weeks ago, Gabe Habash and Jim Milliot wrote about how International Titles Finding New Ways into the U.S., which is also worth a closer look. E-books are one part of it; another interesting approach is foreign publishers not looking to sell foreign rights, but rather publishing translations themselves -- mainly in e-formats. But even some English-language publishers are having a go at foreign markets -- Australian Text is apparently bringing the wonderful-sounding Text Classics stateside -- damn, I want to see those books !

       (I take this opportunity also to remind you of longtime local favorite, the African Books Collective, which basically takes advantage of print-on-demand to make a wide variety of African publications readily available abroad.)

       Frisch & Co. kindly sent me their first offering, the good-looking Anatomy of a Night by Anna Kim -- see their publicity page -- but I have to admit I still have the damnedest time reading e-books, much preferring to pick up the printed books scattered and piled all around me. I can see the appeal of the format (and the reading devices), but I haven't been won over yet -- in fact, I can still barely stand them.

Add a Comment

The May session of Fairy Online School starts on Friday. There are several classes to choose from and if you are interested in a class, now is the time to sign up, because in July I will only be offering a few classes leaving time for the Animal Communication Mentorships. Since I am in the middle of lots of business transformational changes and lots of weeding out, the next classes will not be available until later in the Fall and they may be limited. Head on over to the catalog and pick out a class!

Add a Comment

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - P S BE ELEVEN -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> With her new book, P.S. Be Eleven, Rita Williams-Garcia picks up where  her multiple-award winning One Crazy Summer, began and ended - with the Gaither sisters,

Add a Comment

Here's a a little video I made about making your own great textures in Photoshop. This is how I make the textures I use for my illustrations to make them look like natural paintings.  Let me know what you think!

Display Comments Add a Comment

I’ve had the pleasure of presenting the illustrator’s craft at school visits and have more booked on the horizon, but Springfield Elementary in Midlothian, Illinois, knows how to do it right!  I realized this as soon as I walked in and saw their Welcome Bulletin Showcase with a Rambling theme, to honor my latest illustrated picture book “One Day I Went Rambling” (author, Kelly Bennett, Bright Sky Press 2012).

I was doubly surprised to see their cute version of the story’s main character Zane with a wagon-full of found treasures and a “cowpoke’s twirling rope!”

Both authors and illustrators are interested in the same thing, telling a good story! The children learned that a good picture book story leaves room for an illustrator's interpretation, and an author does not need to say everything in words.  Kids were able to answer questions like “How did I use color to show the character's emotion?  Or “How does this character’s body language give hints as to what a viper is?”

Certainly the best part of the illustration presentation is the live demo.  Here I show my black and white technique, an involved process some of which I created in the studio.  I save the most magical part for the demo. The pre-prepped board is painted black, takes a bath, and a line-drawn image appears and is projected on the jumbo screen!

Demo for grades 3rd & 4th:

To the delight of many!

Finally, MY last delight was this sea of aqua shirts with the “Are You Ready to Ramble?” theme  logo.  I lunched with these dedicated teachers who inspire their students to read, write, problem solve and create, while making learning fun!  Thank you Springfield Elementary staff.  You are true ramblers….finding the strengths and passion in your students, and encouraging them to flower!

You can find out more about booking my picture book illustrator program here.

 

 

 

 

 

Add a Comment

Conferences can help move your writing career along, but make sure you keep your expectations in check. 

http://yamuses.blogspot.com/2013/05/managing-your-conference-expectations.html

Add a Comment

Lovers of fractured fairy tales are bound to eat up this one. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf are angry that Little Wolf isn’t big and bad like they are. They send her out to gather ingredients for dinner and she stumbles upon Red Riding Hood in the forest. Little Wolf doesn’t know what to do. Perhaps the unlikely duo can find a solution to Little Wolf’s problem.

This is a fabulous book! It’s a neat twist having the wolf parents being the bad ones, while Little Wolf has no desire to eat little girls. Instead, she likes fairy tales and playing dress up. It’s also funny and unique how Red Riding Hood is reading some familiar fairy tales as she makes her way to grandma’s house.  You simply can’t help but love this story. It’s so clever.

I knew Liz Pichon provided the artwork for this story without even looking. In addition to being the author of her own fractured fairy tale, her distinctive style adds beauty and humor to Red Riding Hood and the Sweet Little Wolf.

Children will love this one. Highly recommended.

Rating:

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tiger Tales (March 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1589251172
ISBN-13: 978-1589251175

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

Add a Comment

Today started out as a typical day in the office, but by mid-morning we were in rescue mode.

On Wednesday mamma mallard and ten baby ducklings were wandering around the grass outside the Sylvan Dell office building. With a small pond nearby and a downpour of rain the day before it is not uncommon to see waterfowl outside our windows on occasion.  Baby ducklings however, were too cute in a line behind their mother that we couldn’t help but watch as they waddled around.

When our editor and Buddy the office dog went outside this morning, she found  that mamma duck was no longer with her babies and there were only four still quacking, six were no longer living. Stuck in the landscaping, and unable to get out of the well around a tree, the staff decided to help.

Mamma duck was quacking away in the nearby pond and so we tried a ramp, but they were afraid and the ramp was steep. Next we worked together to herd the babies into a box so that we could deliver them to safety. After several tries and many strategies the three of us were able to get three of the babies into the box and one baby was actually able to make it out of the well and ran all the way to the pond to quickly jump in. Mom swam over to her ducklings as they all hopped into the water.

It was a successful reuniting, and we were very happy to bring the family back together. We must  thank Jennifer Keats Curtis for writing the books Baby Owl’s Rescue, and Animal Helpers: Wildlife Rehabilitators, she gave us the inspiration and knowledge to save these babies from harm.

 

Add a Comment

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Bernard Turle's Diplomat, Actor, Translator, Spy, yet another beautiful little volume in the Cahiers Series.

Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

My district has been all over Participatory Learning for several years now and when I first saw Makerspaces I thought, oh, yes, perfect. Our libraries already have a rudimentary beginning for this and what’s not to like about a DIY space?

“Makerspaces come in all shapes and sizes, but they all serve as a gathering point for tools, projects, mentors and expertise. A collection of tools does not define a Makerspace. Rather, we define it by what it enables: making.” From Makerspace Playbook

Makerspace as in create, build, design bring to life an idea. Not digital 21^st or web 3.0 tools, but real tools like my dad had in his workroom.

Not sure what to do or how to start? Download the Makerspace Playbook and get started!

With our new STEAM Academy, makerspace-like areas will be the norm, but why can’t an area in our libraries become a niche space for collaborative hands-on projects?  We need places where the 8 or 18-year-old student can teach not only classmates but also the teacher.

This is a pivotal time for our libraries to stand up and reshape the old notions of what can or cannot be done while in the library. I say, bring on the tools…my dad would be proud!

Add a Comment

Back in March, sj tweeted to me about this new informal club that Becoming Cliché was starting:  the From the Bowels of Obscurity Children’s Book Club [pause while we wait for our inner 12-year-olds to stop giggling at “bowels.”  Hee!] Y’all may remember some of my previous posts on nostalgic Juv/YA books (see the “nostalgia” […]

Add a Comment

Welcome to my writing for children's blog. Here are some of my books that I have written so far.

Add a Comment

As of November 20, 2012 (that is, Midnight Eastern Time tonight) I am closed to queries. I will reopen to queries January 7, 2013.

If I already have your work, you should hear from me by January 7. (That's the point of taking the break, I have to catch up!)

Display Comments Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Anna Olswanger has agreed to be our Guest Critiquer for June’s First Page. Deadline will be June 18th, so I wanted to give you an early heads up. For those who like the picture prompt, you will find it at the bottom of this post.

Anna Olswanger is a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates in New York. Anna has been a literary agent since 2005 and has sold to Boyds Mills Press, Marshall Cavendish, Dutton, HarperCollins, McElderry, Pomegranate, and Random House Children’s Books, among other publishers. Specializing in: middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, some adult fiction and nonfiction, children’s illustrated books, and Judaica.

Anna is particularly interested in working with author-illustrators.Anna enjoys discovering new authors and illustrators. She is looking for “voice,” the sound and rhythm of an author that could be no one else’s, and has a special interest in children’s picture books (author-illustrators only), adult nonfiction, Judaica, animal stories, and ghost stories. Contact her at queryanna@LizaDawsonAssociates.com.

Ms. Olswanger has a background in editing and has worked with the author Mary Ann Schaffer on the adult novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which became an international bestseller.

She represents Jim Carroll’s THE BOY AND THE MOON (Sleeping Bear Press), Nell Dickerson’s GONE (BelleBooks), Luli Gray’s ANT & GRASSHOPPER (McElderry), Michael Hall’s MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO and PERFECT SQUARE (Greenwillow), Zack Miller’s TRADESTREAM YOUR WAY TO PROFITS: Building a Killer Portfolio in the Age of Social Media (Wiley), Margaret Peot’s INKBLOT (Boyds Mills Press) and THE SUCCESSFUL ARTIST’S CAREER GUIDE (North Light Books/F+W) Barry Rothstein’s EYE-POPPING 3-D BUGS (Chronicle), Jennifer Sattler’s SYLVIE (Random House Children’s Books), CHICK ‘N’ PUG and PIG KAHUNA (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), and upcoming books by Allida Black (Penguin Classics), Cathy Fishman (Cavendish), Brett Hartman (Cinco Puntos), Michelle Markel (Balzer & Bray, Eerdmans, and Chronicle), Patricia Hruby Powell (Chronicle), Alan Rabinowitz (Houghton Mifflin), Vince Vawter (Delacorte) and composer Marvin Hamlisch (Dial).

In addition to being an agent, she is the author of the picture book Shlemiel Crooks, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist.

You may have attended some of her workshops, like Why Was My Manuscript Rejected? 3 Agents, 3 Opinions, with two other agents (see www.3LiteraryAgents.com). Writers in the Northeast may also know Anna, because she coorinated the Jewish Children’s Book Writers’ Conference at the 92nd Street Y for many years. In addition, she founded the website http://www.Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com

Anna’s own website is www.olswanger.com.

Anna Olswanger, Literary Agent

Liza Dawson Associates 350 Seventh Avenue,  Ste. 2003 New York, NY 10001 Direct tel.: +1-201-791-4699

www.olswanger.com www.shlemielcrooks.com www.host-a-jewish-book-author.com

Submission Guidelines for Anna Olswanger:

I only accept email queries (no snail mail queries, please.)

Please insert (cut and paste) the first five pages of your manuscript into the body of your email.  (I’m leery of opening attachments from addresses I don’t know.)

Queries to: queryanna@LizaDawsonAssociates.com

Lisa Dawson Associates says:

• We understand the priorities and passions that motivate editors, publicists, sales directors, and marketing directors.
• We consider each of our books to be an exciting kernel that can grow – into an international bestseller, into a movie, into a calendar, into a career. That’s the power of a thrillingly told story, and that’s what people expect from our submissions.

Liza Dawson Associates

350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2003

New York, NY 10001

www.LizaDawsonAssicates,com

June’s Picture Prompt illustration was created by Shawna JC Tenney. She was recently featured on Illustrators Saturday. http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/illustrator-saturday-shawna-jc-tenney/

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: Agent, Editor & Agent Info, opportunity, Places to sumit Tagged: Anna Olswanger, Critique, Free Fall Friday, June Guest Critiquer, Liza Dawson Associates Literary Agency, Shawna JC Tenney

Add a Comment

I'm enrolled in Katie Davis's Video Idiot Boot Camp. And while I haven't had time to dive into a larger project, I've had a little fun with some quick and easy tools introduced in her class.

Here's a little Animoto gem created in about 15 minutes for FREE.

For more information on Katie's fabulous online Video Idiot Boot Camp, check out
http://videoidiotbootcamp.com/

Add a Comment