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The Battle for WondLa tour is over, and though I am exhausted from travel, I also feel honored, blessed and inspired.

My tour began in Southern California where I visited the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with WondLa’s audiobook reader and award-winning actress, Teri Hatcher.

From LA, I traveled east visiting bookstores in Phoenix, Kansas City, Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee and even in my town in Western Massachusetts. I spoke at numerous schools and connected with scores of readers. We chatted mostly about stories and some of our favorite books and characters.

In a couple of stops, authors came to support me–like Adam Gidwitz (below, center) posing with Topher Bradfield (left) after my event at Austin’s premier indie shop, BookPeople.

To be honest, travel wears me down and it is tough being away from home, my wife and daughter. But the families who took the time to come and see me speak validated why I do this and inspired me (especially when my public event fell on a school night). I don’t usually stop to ponder how many lives my books touch, so I was often overwhelmed with emotion by the turnouts at my events. I was moved by the kind words and wonderful gifts given to me after readers had waited in a long line to have their book signed.

So, for today’s “Friday Fan Art”, I thought I’d share some of the amazing drawings, and other goodies, that were given to me while on the road. Check out Aeden (above), who delivered a whole mess of artwork from Spiderwick to WondLa.

Them there was Medelyn who brought me this lovely sketch of Eva Nine at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville.

At Little Shop of Stories, near Atlanta, recent art school grad, Katie, gave me this wonderful watercolor of Eva and Rovee.

I love Austin and was blown away by the talent during my visit to BookPeople. This is a Bull Goblin, from The Spiderwick Chronicles, made from felt!

In fact, Tomoko, one of the booksellers at BookPeople created this beautiful image from the climax of A Hero for WondLa.

In Milwaukee, I was given “Christopher the Cupboard Pixie” from Janice who runs an Etsy shop called Sew Sweet Monsters. Christopher now watches over my books in the studio,

Back in Mass, Rob and his son, Ben, are both artist. They gave me drawings of their favorite characters from the WondLa books.

These little tokens of appreciation will all be cherished. It is surreal and inspiring to see others celebrate my characters through their art.

Thank you for coming out and making this tour so memorable for me. I hope to see you again, next time.

Keep dreaming, keep drawing.

Since I am celebrating the 10-year anniversary of The Spiderwick Chronicles this week, today’s Friday Fan Art is appropriately themed. It comes all the way from a small town in Brazil where a young artist turned to the story of Jared, Simon and Mallory for inspiration.

As Pedro patiently waited for his copy of Spiderwick to arrive in the mail his anticipation and enthusiasm for the fantastic grew.  Upon reading the chronicles, he immediately took to the tale and was inspired to create art of his own.

The piece above was directly inspired from Simon and Byron’s epic fight against Mulgarath’s mother Dragon.  Though Pedro has been dabbling in art since he was a toddler, he has only been seriously tending to his craft for the past year.  Currently he is learning how to draw with Photoshop but he also works with pencil and watercolor.

Great palette and movement, Pedro!  You’re Photoshop skills are impressive.  I love the hand drawn quality you have brought to this digital medium.

Keep drawing, keep dreaming.

I’ve been a fan of paperfolding since my mom bought a copy of Robert Harbin’s Secrets of Origami back in the 70′s.

After I would wear out my paper toys of cranes and rabbits, I would pester my mom to make me new ones. Finally, she told me to read the instructions and learn to make them myself. I folded for many years throughout my childhood and found the hobby highly relaxing. I even made some of my own paper (from tissue and tin foil) in high school so that my paper models would hold their form.

So imagine the paper-folding pleasure that greeted me when origami master, Joesph Wu, sent me a note asking about the details of of my 1994 rendition of Planescape’s Lady of Pain.

Joseph’s work is not new to me. I marveled at his manipulation of paper years ago when I saw his origami D&D denizens.

This model utilizes two squares of paper; one for the head another for the body.

On top of that, he folded the “Pacific Sea-Maid” from Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide!

Thank you for contacting me, Joseph, and for sharing your fantastic folding talents with us.

Be sure to check out Joseph’s facebook page. You can see more pics of these models in progress as well as an additional, larger version of the Lady of Pain.

Keep drawing. Keep dreaming.

June Gallagher is a New York artist who has had an affinity for the fantastic ever since she was a child.

Like myself, she turned to other artists to fuel her creativity, spending much time in her youth getting lost in fantasy illustrations. She’s also a fan of one of my favorite and most influential artists, Arthur Rackham.

Years later, June’s love for Rackham’s enchanting illustrations led her to Arthur Spiderwick’s findings in The Spiderwick Chronicles.  In fact, she even chose Thimbletack as her inspiration for an awesome polymer clay sculpture.

This wasn’t the first time June had turned to Thimbletack for artistic inspiration, she had sculpted the brownie 10 years prior but lost the original in an accidental fall.  Although the sculpture’s break was a sad loss for her it turned out to be more of a motivator to test her artistic skills and take her craftsmanship to the next level.

“Recently, I had been wondering if my skills had been improving and pushing myself to do better. Out of the blue, Thimbletack for no apparent reason, fell off the bookshelf and broke irreparably. House felt empty with out him, so I sculpted a new one.” June explained.

June’s Thimbletack is a multi-media work of art consisting mainly of Sculpey’s Premo polymer clay, dressed with feathers for his hair, leather for his hat & suspenders, and a man’s dress sock for his pants, all delicately put together and mounted on a wooden base.  It took June about a month to finish her final sculpt with much of that time spent finding the mixed media accents.

Excellent work, June!  I’m glad you took the time to bring another Thimbletack to life.  It really looks like he could walk right off that wooden mount taking Jeffrey and Lemondrop with him.

Keep sculpting. Keep dreaming. Keep creating.

Note from T: Fifteen year-old high school student and artist, Gabe, contacted me sometime back about a summer internship. And, though its crazy nuts here in DiTerlizziland, I obliged. I did this because Gabe has real drive and talent and because I longed to hang out at Brain Froud’s studio when I was Gabe’s age. Wanting to make this a special experience, my assistant and I devised an assignment for Gabe to do while visiting: describe what it is like in my studio with words and pictures (no photos). Read on to see what this little mastermind dreamed up while hanging out with us.

When I picture an illustrator in a studio, the image that comes to mind is that of a pale creature that has never seen the light of day hunched over an immense stack of paper, feverishly attempting to finish his passionless task before the deadline runs him down like a tractor.

Okay, not really.

But, if I did think that, then Tony Diterlizzi’s studio would be a real shock.

The Diterlizzi Studio is bright, inviting, and pleasantly cluttered. Tony works at his desk, cheerfully singing along to 80’s rock music. (Maybe we should all listen to it? Songs that are good enough for the Spiderwick mind are good enough for mine…) After meeting Tony a few years ago (and being a fan for half of my life) I proposed the idea of an internship, and he responded with an invitation to write a guest post on his blog. Jumping at the opportunity, I prepared this portrait of the artist in his habitat (guided by his loyal canine, Mimi.)

The book collection in the studio is fantastic. At one point I mentioned that I didn’t understand how Jon Bauer’s art was the inspiration for Jim Henson’s 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal. Tony immediately grabbed two books off of the shelf and explained how Brian Froud had included a Bauer-inspired scene in his first art book, The Land of Froud, which director Jim Henson had (in turn) been inspired by. A slightly tweaked version of the character in Froud’s painting appears in the film as the peaceful race of Mystics. Wow.

Mimi is a harsh critic.

Another moment that made an impression on me: as I watched Tony draw, a small fly alighted on his drawing board. Where some would smack at the insect or shoo it away, Tony drew my attention to the little fly as it fastidiously cleaned itself. Pausing from his drawing, he leaned forwards and studied the fly. He watched the creature with pure wonder, reminding me of the same wonder I continually find in his words and pictures.

Thank you, Tony

Thank you, Gabe. Keep dreaming. Keep drawing.

This week we received some Wondlaful drawings inspired by the WondLa trilogy from magnificent Maine.  Neil is an aspiring writer and artist who gains much inspiration from reading books and looking at other artist’s illustrations (I definitely know what he means by that). Check out this awesome profile series Neil has created featuring some of our favorite Orbonian residents.

Nice work, Neil.  You’ve done a great job capturing some of our most beloved friends (and foe).  I love how you’ve included Eva’s messy hairstyle, Rovender’s furrowed brow, and Besteel’s sinister grin!

Though it is important to draw inspiration from artist’s one admires, it is equally important to develop your own ideas.  Here, Neil has rendered his own illustration – depicting a girl in front of a large mysterious house.  Is she just arriving at the house or has she just left in a hurry?  Is there anyone or anything else in the house?  Is she frightened and if so why?  One intriguing picture has the potential for so many different stories and here Neil has tactfully given us just enough information to get those storyboard gears rolling.  When you look at Neil’s drawing what do you see?

Keep writing, keep drawing, keep dreaming.

11 year-old Abby from Clapham, England is quite a fan of The Spider & The Fly. “How big of a fan?” you ask. She’s such an awesome fan that she penned an awesome sequel. Check it out.

The Spider and the Fly 2

By Abby, age 11

“Hoorah! My plan has finally worked,”

Thought the spider in his head.

“I have eaten up that poor fly now and she is long dead!”

The spider laughed and laughed with glee.

He then set off for a snack,

But he heard an unwelcome knock on the door

That stopped him in his tracks.

The spider went to open the door

When the visitor barged inside

He could not run, he could not flee,

He could not even hide.

“You have the right to remain silent,”

Said the very angry police pest.

“We think you are a murderer

And you are hereby under arrest.”

The spider met his lawyer,

A cunning, clever man.

The odds were not good at all,

But at least they had a plan.

The opening speech was made,

A story of his knighthood.

The jury seemed to lap it up,

Things were looking good.

The ghostly fly was called to the stand,

An oath is what she swore,

She then began a gory tale

Of what happened two nights before.

Next to be questioned were two ghost bugs

“We warned her but she didn’t listen!”

They pleaded to the judge.

“Aha! At last! It’s my time to shine!”

Thought the spider.

“Now I shall be questioned and I’ll give answers sublime!”

The spider was questioned,

He gave tales that were tall.

“I’m a kind hearted fellow, but ne’er a fool.”

“The spider and the fly?

What a tale of great height.

Why I haven’t seen old Tony

Since…that terrible fight.”

A surprise was in store

For the spider, aghast

As his ex-friend Mr DiTerlizzi

Had arrived at last.

“Objection!”

Yelled the spider

“Objection I say!”

I have not forgiven Tony to this very day!”

“Objection not granted,”

Said the judge

“Question on.”

And the spider did not draw breath until he had gone.

“The jury will now pass their verdict.”

Said the judge to the court.

They left

And the spider’s throat was rather taut.

The jury came back, then came the judge.

The spider was ready,

Prepared for the worst.

He knew it was coming,

His tears were well rehearsed.

But the spider was met

With a pleasant surprise.

He didn’t need to prepare his eyes.

Haha! He was free

Of a burden so chilling.

Now he could go back

And do some more killing.

…Here’s what I love: Abby uses the meter of the original poem AND creates a twist ending. Delicious! Perhaps you’ll enjoy the 10th Anniversary edition of S&F that will be creeping its way to bookstores later this year…more on that next time.

Keep writing, keep drawing, keep dreaming.

This week’s Friday Fan Art is from Paige, an artist whom I met on tour that found creative inspiration from the WondLa series. 

It is a huge compliment for me to receive artwork from artists (at any technical level) who have been inspired by my work. Especially to strengthen technical ability. I learned so much copying artists that I admire. In fact, I still continue to do so as an exercise in style and technique.

The piece above is from a young up-and-coming artist, Paige, whom I met while on tour. Paige likes to work with digital media as well as more traditional methods such as drawing and painting. She told me she was inspired to draw a scene not illustrated in The Search for WondLa:

The cerulean creature with backward-bending legs held up his palm. “I am Rovender Kitt, an old creature in a new world.”

“I am Eva… Eva Nine,” said Eva with a smile, mimicking his gesture. “I am a new creature in an old world.”

- Pg. 102, Chapter 10, The Search for Wondla

Well done, Paige. There is some beautiful line work here (I especially like the Art Nouveau design motif).  I wish the best of luck to you and hope that you continue to create.  Whether you are an old creature or new, my message is the same:

Keep drawing, keep dreaming.

It’s been an art-filled week here in DiTerlizziland reviewing entries for the Wonders of the Future WondLa Giveaway; so for this weeks FFA I’d like to come back from the future to take a look at the fantastic.

Like me, French art student, Joelle, has a love for faeries, hobgoblins, and other denizens of the Invisible World.  For inspiration, Joelle to turn to her copy of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You for her school assignment: “sculpte-moi une histoire” or “to carve me a story”.

And Joelle did just that!  Here, she has sculpted and hand-painted characters from the Field Guide, each striking poses of personality.  I love the ogre! You did an awesome job, Joelle…

Keep Sculpting, Keep Dreaming!

(*Parents, teachers: This week’s FFA involves a naturalistic depiction of a mermaid. Thus, she wears no seashell-bikini.)

I’ve seen lots of wonderful submissions for Friday Fan Art over the years. Each time a drawing, painting or sculpture arrives in my studio inbox, I am over the moon with joy that my work has inspired others. However, every once and awhile something comes in that completely BLOWS MY MIND.

Gilberto Magno is a CG artist working in São Paulo, Brazil. His portfolio exhibits many artistic styles, but what he excels at is digital 3D rendering.

This is the detail of a CG model of a Caribbean Mermaid from Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide.  Think that’s amazing? take a look at the rest of it.

…and here is the model painted.

Gilbert even placed the model in an undersea setting, creating a convincing lifelike illustration.

Having seen the CG models used for the Spiderwick film, I can tell you that Gilbert’s work is right up there with the best in the business. His attention to detail and understanding of various shapes and forms has created a stunning interpretation of the mermaid. If these jpegs weren’t enough, check out this little video he created:

Keep up the fabulous work, Gilberto. I can’t wait to see your name in the credits of the next blockbuster film.

Keep dreaming, keep drawing.

As many of you know, the second installment of The Search for WondLa trilogy is about to hit shelves in May, but here is your chance to read the book and see the art before everybody else – announcing the “Wonders of the Future” Wondla Giveaway Contest!

The contest is simple: What is your vision of the future?

My vision of Eva Nine’s futuristic world contains many artifacts that are still daydreams in our real world – Hovercars, robots and holography are an integral part of her day-to-day life. So what do you think our future holds?

Here is what I am looking for:

1. A full color image of your vision of the future rendered in any medium you like (including sculptures or even animation). This vision of yours can be an item that has yet to be invented, an undiscovered creature, a new form of transportation…if you think it will (or should) exist tomorrow, then I want to see it!

2. A quick (4-5 lines) description of what your vision is and how it may impact our lives.

What I really want you to do is USE YOUR IMAGINATION.

“Wah! I’m not a good artist!” you say. That doesn’t matter.

I will be judging on originality, innovation, and creativity. It doesn’t matter if you are a good drawer or not. It doesn’t matter if you are a two-year old kid, or an eighty two-year old kid…all entries will be accepted.

And those entries have to be in front of my bespectacled eyes by APRIL 20th, 2012

You can send them to me at: [email protected]
*Please title your email “Wonders of the Future Contest Entry” and include your name, age and jpeg file of your entry.

Once you enter, you’ll receive a link and password that will allow you to sneak a peek at a secret online gallery displaying the art for A Hero for Wondla! Yes, you read that right. It’s right here on this very site! Hidden away from prying eyes except for those who enter…

The winning entry will be sent a signed Advanced Reader’s Copy of A Hero for WondLa, a signed copy of the limited “Hunger Games Edition” of The Search for WondLa (given away at select theaters at the opening of The Hunger Games film), a signed limited edition sketchbook as well as a signed and numbered limited edition print!

Winners will be chosen by myself, my loverly wife Angela, and my trusty assistant Ashley. We will announce and post the winning entry on my site April 23, 2012 and I will FedEx your winning package to you that day!

…sound cool? Then get drawing and GOOD LUCK!

PS – with apologies to all my international fans, this contest is for US residents only.

On this fantastic February Friday we are featuring a video book review from the very talented Sarah Laties.  Sarah is the Special Projects Assistant at the Children’s Book Council (known as the CBC). This book review is one of many that CBC features for Children’s and Young Adult titles they love in a segment titled “Book Stop”.  In this video Sarah is both the featured reviewer and film editor for her review of The Search for WondLa!  Check it out and let me know what you think…

Question: Um…when are you getting your own TV segment, Sarah? Seriously, I hope you continue to produce more sophisticated and fun book reviews.  You did a phenomenal job and thank you for your compliments (I can’t wait to hear what you think of A Hero for WondLa).

Keep reading, keep creating…

I have always been a fan of classic board games, so when I came across this Friday’s Fan Art I knew I had found a gem.  Take a look at 9 year-old Liam’s beautiful rendition of The Search for WondLa BOARD GAME!!!  He went above and beyond by choosing an original project idea for his 4th grade monthly book report project. “The Search for WondLa would make a great game!”  Liam had exclaimed to his (totally cool) mom before he began to design his own journey through Orbona.

Here you see Liam hard at work with the beginning planning stages of the game.  To his left is the cover of the book and a handmade Omnipod, which houses the game’s spinner in the center.  He crafted the spinner by surrounding an old LIFE game piece with modeling clay.  The player needs the spinner to see where to go next just as Eva relied on her Omnipod for direction.

Check out the final product! Liam designed a path from Eva Nine’s Sanctuary all the way to The Ancient Ruins! There are stops along Lacus, Solas, the Campsite and the Oasis on the way.  You can see he even included Lake Concors and the Bliek Mountains on the board to add to the Orbona landscape.  The game board journey aligns with Eva’s actual travel events and all is rendered perfectly with Liam’s awesome painting and drawing skills.  There are also action cards on the board that players can pick up, like:

Cool, right? Pick one of these up and you could be shot forward in the game for a fast win or made to fall back and loose your lead.  He made multiple cards with different player directions on each one.

And here is the inventor himself!  I am so happy to know you are such a big fan, Liam.  Thank you for sharing all of your hard work.

Keep creating, and keep dreaming!

Happy lucky Friday my fantastic friends!  For this week’s post, we’ve got a special Friday Fan Art delight from a very talented fan, Ray.  Ray has sent us an image all the way from Peru! He has been inspired by some of the artwork found in Arthur Spiderwick’s Guide to the Fantastical World Around You and has presented us with a unique rendition and character design of a “Baby Mandrake.”

The Mandrake species is a favorite of Ray’s and he has interpreted this deadly member of nightshade family with youthful features and a fateful bite. Ray has chosen Gouache as his medium for his Mandrake creation (and has done an awesome job using it!)  As I mentioned, Mandrakes members of the Nightshade family and is a root-like plant with strange bifurcations that often resemble human forms.  Perhaps this is where Ray got some of his inspiration.

Love your work Ray, thanks for sending it along.  Keep drawing, keep dreaming!

For this week’s Friday Fan Art addition, where we have some lovely drawings by the very talented Elly from Canada.  Besides being a gifted artist, Elly has ambitions to be an aspiring young author and has been plugging away writing books.  Oh, and did I mention that this creative machine is just 8 years old?  Yep that’s right, check out this variety pack of drawings from some of Elly’s favorite books:  The Search for WondLa, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Kenny and the Dragon, and Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guided to the Fantastical World Around You.  Thanks for being such a big fan Elly, you rock! 

Here’s our beloved friend Rovender Kitt from The Search for WondLa.  Look’s like he’s ready to travel…

Check out this rendition of Grahame, the brainy dragon from Kenny & the Dragon.  Is he reading one of your books Elly?

Elly mentioned that she chose to be Jared Grace from The Spiderwick Chronicles for her school’s “Book Character Dress-up Day.” I wanna come!

Knock out drawing of Knocker Elly.  Definitely would NOT mess with this guy….

Keep up the hard work Elly, at this rate I’m certain you’ll succeed with your creative talents.  Keep drawing, keep dreaming!

Isabella from Ohio sent in an awesome drawing inspired by Kenny & the Dragon for this week’s Friday Fan Art.  She mentioned in her letter how much she loved how Grahame (the dragon) and Kenny Rabbit became such good friends, which I think she conveyed nicely here.  Check out Grahame’s giant grin…

Nice work on Kenny’s penny-farthing, that thing is fun to draw, isn’t it? You are quite the budding artist, Isabella! Keep drawing, keep dreaming…

This week we received some wonderful drawings from Allie who lives near us in Massachusetts.  Allie is a fan of The Spiderwick Chronicles as well as The Search for WondLa. In fact, she tells us that she looks just like Eva Nine!!!  What do you think?

Check out Mallory fighting Red Cap!!  I think Mallory is going to win…

…and here’s a “Hoglin”.   I’m guessing it’s a type of hot-dog-goblin.  Any thoughts? It sort of looks delicious…

Great drawings Allie!  Keep drawing, keep dreaming…

Gabby sent us some cool pics of a Spiderwick goblin that she created in her sculpting and ceramics class. Check it out:

She says: I made him have a gnawed off hand to show him in battle and scary eyeballs. The back was the funnest part to do (if funnest is a word…) and he was colored with watercolors.

I think this goblin is one of the funnest renditions we’ve seen, Gabby. Keep dreaming. Keep creating.

Thirteen-year old Tobias from Argentina sent us a new batch of art a couple of weeks ago. Amongst his drawings of carnivorous plants and alien designs were several photos integrating creatures of his own imagination.

Tobias tells me he used Photoshop to merge in his drawings with a realistic background. I LOVE THIS.

Not only is he using major planning skills at the photographic stage of these images, he is designing creatures (like the Pomegranate Apple Gnome above) and posing them to fit properly in their appropriate setting. At 13!? That’s AWESOME!

This is good stuff, Tobias. You’ve inspired me. Keep dreaming, keep drawing.

Earlier this year, I posted some stupendous Spiderwick soft sculptures by artist, Manuela Schulz. Manuela’s craftsmanship and ability to capture the natural form of an animal in mohair and fur reminded me of the great German toymaker, Steiff.  My daughter, Sophia, was so taken by Manuela’s rendition of the Spiderwick unicorn that I commissioned one for her upcoming birthday (and thankfully Soph can’t read my blog:)

Manuela’s creation reverberates the same essence of the unicorn that I was after in my illustrations.

In fact, the unicorn scene in book three of Spiderwick was one of my favorites. I liked the interaction of old mythology confronting modern-day kids. Holly’s words expressed the feeling of awe mixed with anxiety that you would imagine experiencing were you in the Grace kid’s shoes. I remember explaining to Holly that this scene was like the meeting with the kirin in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. You knew there was a ancient power confronting the hero, cloaked in majestic wonder. I loved that moment in that film and I love our moment in the books.

Like many of the creatures in Spiderwick, I attempted a return to the less glamorized, more natural form for the unicorn. I examined the old tapestries depicting the unicorn hunt for my initial inspiration. However, I also studied early horses, especially Eohippus, where the multiple toes had yet to evolve into the single hoof (early horses were quite small compared to their modern descendants as well).

My hope was that this direction would project a sense of antiquity (and accuracy) to this fabulous beast.

Manuela’s interpretation holds that quality of wonder and wildness that I really like…hmmm…maybe Soph wants a Barbie instead for her birthday…

If I haven’t said so before, I absolutely LOVE getting all the art that fans and friends have sent to me over the years to share here on the site. Whether it is a reinterpretation of one of my own designs, or an original piece inspired by a young imagination, I am always thrilled to see creativity alive and well.

Sometimes, though, I get bowled over. Blown away. Blasted by volumes of sheer awesomeness.

And this happened when I received and ENTIRE disc of artwork from the fifth grade class at Meroby Elementary School in Mexico (yes, Mexico), Maine.

As part of my book touring, I have the privilege of visiting many elementary schools all over the country. I have seen art classrooms that would make college professors jealous, and I have seen teachers reduced to pushing around an “art cart” full of nothing more than dried-up markers and old construction paper from class to class. I was fortunate in that I had amazing art teachers all through my life that encouraged creativity regardless of whether I had oil paints and canvas at my disposal or simply a #2 pencil and paper.

Because really its all just a matter of encouraging imagination and expanding out-of-the-box thinking. And whether you’re a wiz with watercolors or can barely draw a stick man, its good to let your mind wander and explore. And we need to encourage and cultivate children to do this all throughout their childhood – not just in elementary school.

Thank you Meroby Elementary, your amazing instructors and talented students have inspired me. Keep drawing. Keep dreaming.

Beth Hanlon, a fifth grade teacher at Tropic Isles Elementary in Fort Meyers, Florida, sent us some pics of this awesome sculpt of Grahame from Kenny and the Dragon.

The sculpture was created by one of her gifted students, Ashley, and was done as a visual for her Book Share project.

“…Ashley’s Dragon has inspired others in our class to read “Kenny and the Dragon”. Ashley’s Dragon is currently on display in our Media Center.”

How cool is that?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have Kenny nominated for several state book awards including Florida’s Sunshine State Young Readers Award. What I like about state book awards is that students are encouraged to read independently based on individual interests rather than for assignments. Discovering a favorite story genre at a young age is big step in evolving into a passionate reader.

Thanks for sharing this with me, Beth, and please tell Ashley that Grahame said, “Nice sculpting young bantling.”

Our Florida neighbors dropped off a lovely sketch of my favorite space elf, done by a friend of their daughter’s.

I showed it to Meno and this was his response:

“I love color picture of Meno!

Thank you Earthling of name Diana.

I also work on pretty picture.

Please to enjoy Betty White!

Was to be in book the 2. But editor want The Hoff.

(Oh well. Win some and lose.)

Now Betty White everywhere. Who laugh now?”

This week we have some lovely pen and ink renditions of a nixie and a mermaid from Mason.

Both images are inspired from the Spiderwick sequel, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles.

I really enjoyed coming up with the designs for the aquatic denizens of Spiderwick. As I’ve mentioned before, growing in South Florida had a tremendous impact on my imagination, especially the tropical wildlife, as you can see in these characters.

Hey, I went through the old BtSC files and found a sketch for one of the covers that never came to pass.

For those who read the books, this is the mermaid with the fish from Laurie’s aquarium. By the way, this pose and composition mimic the cover to book 3 of the original series (you know, the one with Simon receiving the fairy fruit). There was a tentative book titled scribbled underneath the sketch, The Mermaid’s Gift. I might have to find a new story for that title, I rather like it…

Great work Mason! Keep drawing. Keep dreaming.

YES!!!!

…doing a happy dance around the studio…