DRUMROLL.....For just a little segueway into next week's big-bang
PBJ Owlkids Book Week (which is sure to be full of fun! thrills! and—yes!—a very nice giveaway, too!), please do meet the latest illustrator-subject of my complete adoration!
Bérengère Delaporte is the masterful artist behind
Owlkids' My Beastly Book of Twisted Tales activity book. I'll go so far as to say I am googley-eyed over her work. Furthermore, I will break the suspense and tell you even before my official review that, yes, this book
is a totally delightful ride of wild mayhem, bewildering humor, and some extremely humorous, crazy-pants creativity.
But without even going there
just yet, please do click on the above screenshot image, and check out Berengere's web site
* yourself to immerse your eyeballs and brain in her work. (I am willing to bet it'll get to your heart and your funny bone, too!)
*The site is in Flash, so if you are on a non-flash-viewable device, check out her work
here through google images instead.
See you next week for Owllkids Book Week, starting Monday!
You know what three things really thrill me?
#1 ... Details.
 |
I love the musical notes! I love the little boy's expression!
There are SO many lovely little details in this book...
And all done in Alicia's signature soft, sweet style. |
#2... Die cuts!
 |
Okay... so any excuse for a die cut is good enough for me.
But you know what's really special and meaningful?
When it's done with thoughtfulness, purpose, and a design
specifically intended for its audience. Functional fun!
|
#3... Spot gloss!
 |
Spot gloss is so great when used effectively. When it's not, you wonder
why it is there art all (at least I do). No worries about that here!
The cover spot gloss is used sparingly but very effectively. The book
cover is a soft, velvety matte finish, which works perfectly with the
spot-glossed title and angels. It's just the little "extra something" that elevates
the cover art and design to the next level of awesome. |
Please comment for a chance to win a copy of Alicia's beautiful new book, Ladybird First Favorite Christmas Book! You have until saturday to comment, and then Ali will be randomly picking a winner on Sunday. So stay tuned! :)
3 Comments on Christmas Book Week Celebration - Day Five, last added: 12/10/2011
This idea might be a little, hm,
unorthodox, but I *love* the 'thinking outside the box' idea! These cute hats are part of a "Potty Party Kit"� a kit to help motivate the young 'uns to get into the habit of using the potty. I think it's a GREAT idea! I mean, why not? :)
Potty Party Kit by
Get Creative Juice on Etsy.
I have been working up some lunch box designs on my own lately, so they are on my mind. Well, I saw these on Etsy and how cute are they? the designs are cute, there's visual variety, and they are empowering and self-esteem building for kids! :D
Lunch Box Love Notes by scenerie on Etsy.
Tonight, I spotted a Little Golden Books spin rack at the front of the diaper aisle. What a perfect place to have the display! Perfect for busy moms trying to shop with a toddler... but good luck to the mom who tries to get out of the store without buying one of the books or toys I spotted...
I love the T. Rex book. LGB are sure feeling quite contempo with this title!
I prefer the classics by and large— the sentimental value always wins out. But it's so nice to see the newer generation of Little Golden Books books as well!
Who can resist the saggy baggy elephant?
Completely adorable bunny!! Oooh, the art--- I love!!
Good mix of the old...
and the new... of course Spongebob. Hello.
You are at the head of the class.
A personal favorite the Poky Little Puppy!
I didn't know Dr. Seuss had any LGB titles. Well, he does!
Here comes the PLUSH!
(Hey moms- NOW try getting out of the store without a toy...)
I spied the coolest book in the bookstore the other day... A big book all about Maurice Sendak and his art. It is a beautiful book!
This picture is from probably my own personal favorite Sendak book, In The Night Kitchen. I love the Laurel & Hardy bakers. I always found them so creepy/cool but entrancing! I'm still entranced. This book makes an impact, a lasting one. That is success right there.
Lovely pencil drawings. I'm such a fan of pencil. Sometimes I enjoy it over a final, finished work of art. It just has that immediacy, the gesture. The moment. It's a magical quality.
This book was published in 2007, but I have only just discovered it, so it's new to me!
Where The Giant Sleeps is basically THE perfect bed time story. It's got a lullaby story in the form of a softly dancing poem, it's got art that could not be more fairytale enchanting or imaginative, and lastly, the quality is there (the hardcover is lovely). I was at my local bookstore tonight which has wonderful vairety and I gravitated toward this book. It will be perfect for my good friend's three-year-old daughter— I can see them getting a lot of use out of this book, reading this story to send her (and, eventually her baby brother) off into sleep, night after night for a very long time. :)
Where The Giant Sleeps is Written by
Mem Fox, Illustrated by
Vladimir Radunsky,
Seeing that I've been posting my pet art all week on my
blog, I thought this was a perfect time to give a shout out to a really fun chapter book series,
Laurie Halse Anderson's
Vet Volunteers. I have only read one of these thus far, but I enjoyed the first one so very much, I want to read every single one,. They are fun to read, but they are not dumbed down at all— they tell serious pet-in-distress stories. We get to experience each "case" from the inside out, and we get to live the story along with the characters.
I 'discovered' Halse Anderson way after she'd become an hugely successful, award winning, and established author of bestselling young adult literature such as
Twisted and
Wintergirls. I saw her speak at the 2008 NESCBWI conference, and that was the first time I'd heard of her. (Surprising to me now!) WHAT a Keynote she gave. Someday, I'll have to tell you about it. Amazing, and she brought down the house.
Check out ALL of Laurie Halse Anderson's books,
here and on
Amazon.
Gina touched on this cool new blog in her post the other day: today my mission is to give you a little bit of a deeper look into the
Uncovered Cover Art blog and also into this new sub-genre of the art community submission blog that is singularly focused on children's literature. I love this idea for a blog/project, and this one is centered in on reinterpreting the covers of your favorite children's books and offers a deep, dark (and, well...
chocolatey LOL) well to explore. Check it out! If you'd like to contribute, submissions guidelines can be found
here.
In the recent past, I have been aware of a couple of other similar blogs worth checking out. Both are now completed/ened projects, but lucky for us, the blogs are still available, and the art posts are still on display.
Terrible Yellow Eyes was focused on art created as an homage to
Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. This finite project had a gallery exhibition at it's culmination (TBE was live from May 2009 to January 2010). The art on the TBE blog site, is at the very least inventive and imaginative, but, usually it's somewhere in the vicinity of stunning or breathtaking. So if you have not seen the blog, it's definitely worth a peruse.
The other children's book art with fresh interpretations blog is (or was)
The Picture Book Report. This blog project was created by artist
Meg Hunt and featured several contributing artists, all of which were invited to become contributors at the start of the project. This one also has some really amazing work.
Meg's blog was juried,
Cory Godbey's (
Terrible Yellow Eyes) was not, as far as I know. So there are a few different ways people have test-driven this model, and I'm sure there will be many more. Lucky for us, I'm sure there will be many more blogs of this genre in the future. Looking forward to it!
I am so impressed with the way the contemporary accessory company company
Loungefly reinterprets our classic friend
Hello Kitty. They do a truly amazing job at containing and preserving the essence and the sentiment of classic HK in the products they create with the license. But they take it to a whole other level— they succeed at elevating the brand. Fantastic modern design integrating fresh new concepts and often bright ideas, an excellent attention to detail, and to top it all off, really high quality products. I should know— I have two Loungefly HK bags which I use on a daily basis, and I will gleefully purchase more when they hit all these marks. To see a company do such a wonderful job with one of my favorite character brands is a revelation. Big props to Loungefly for such outstanding execution with the HK/Sanrio license — they always leave me wanting more!
Here is a cool kids' company that I really like.
Oopsy Daisy creates beautiful
wall art,
lighting,
jewelry, and more. Their offerings are perfectly crafted with kids in mind, to inspire and ignite the imagination, but are also funky, sophisticated and contemporary enough for moms and dads to enjoy seeing every day. Much of their offerings support educating and learning time together (check out the
growth charts,
mural banners, and
stretched art), active play (
peel and place), and special occasion (check out the
birthday and
halloween placemats, for example). I'm nuts about the Oopsy Daisy aesthetic - much of the art they choose to use for their products is busy, fun, and very exciting to explore repeatedly—perfect for kids and adults alike! they also have "
art for grown-ups", which is cool to note! Each time I revisit the
online shop, it seems they have something new and unique.
Check out Oopsy Daisy!
Have you heard about this novelty book? I think I'm late to the party. It's called "Go The F--k To Sleep". You can imagine what the story is about, just from the title. There have been books like this before but I do not remember one getting as much hype as this one.
If you have not heard about it, you can read about it in the links below.
>
Guardian UK story>
Huffington Post>
Wikipedia>
Amazon>
Outside The BeltwayFull disclosure, this is not even remotely a children's book. It is a PARODY of a children's book. Please keep that in mind... and if you happen to click on a You Tube link within one of the stories above to listen to Samuel Jackson read it, please, please do keep in mind that it's not safe for work (NSFW). There is a lot of swearing in it.
My brother in law received it for Father's Day, and I was able to check the book out this weekend. I will keep my personal appraisal of the book off this blog, but I wanted to simply chime in on the book, if for no other reason than just to keep you "in-the-know" if you happen upon a water cooler discussion about it.. Of course, YOU, Dear Reader, probably already know ALL about it. Like I said, I am late to the party on this one. ;)
Ok, so maybe not EXACTLY... Well, actually, YES, EXACTLY!
Check out this thirty-minute video presentation by Sunni Brown, self-proclaimed leader of the Doodle Revolution. It makes a truly excellent case for doodling as a powerful tool for creative brainstorming.
It really does not require 100% watching attention... so you can have it playing on one monitor while you work... and just glance up when the powerpoint screen changes.
Even listening alone would be helpful. It really is that interesting!
Enjoy!
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SUPER ADORABLE! :D
Thank you Mai!!