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While I’ve been focusing most of my energies on my greeting card lines, I was delighted and privileged to be able to provide illustrations for an article published by Words of Peace Global.org, a site promoting Prem Rawat’s message of inner peace. His message has made a huge, indescribable impact in my life, and it was a fantastic experience for me to use a talent that I have and love to help in this effort. You can click here to view the article online, or you can click here to download the article and see the other articles available.

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Post tags: 2009, article, colored pencil, figure, Illustrations, pdf, red, rose, words of peace, words of peace global

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Well I'm really excited because ImaginOn just picked up a new Comic Book Series to carry and man is it fun!!!! I just got finishing reading the first issue we received, so I thought I would write about it:

Marvel Adventures Superheroes #12 "Featuring" Captain America by Scott Gray, Matted Lolli, Roger Langridge and Craig Rousseau - This issue features Captain America in both the past and present. In the first story we find Cap trying to find his way in the modern world after he has been rescued from being frozen in time sense the end of World War II (1945). His friend and government assigned liaison Rick Jones is trying to explain modern computers and the internet to him when a terrorist organization known as HYDRA strikes. Cap and Rick are sucked into HYDRA's Web Page and find themselves fighting for their lives in a virtual world that is to strange to describe. The second story takes place during World War II and stars Cap and his teenage sidekick Bucky. While on leave from the War, they run into a sadistic German killing machine right here in the good old U.S. of A. Two fun stories that I really enjoyed. If you can get ahold of this comic at a library or comic book store, I highly recommend it.




Another thing I'm excited about is another Bone book by Jeff Smith that has just been put out by Scholastic.


Rose by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess - I thought the series was over with Volume 9 Crown of Horns, but Jeff Smith wrote a prequel to the series with Charles Vess doing the art work entitled "Rose." Now if the name Rose does not sound familiar how about Gran'ma Ben (Rose is Gran'ma Ben's name). The story basically focuses on Rose and her sister Briar. They are both in this story training to master the ways of the Veni-Yan who are seers into the Dreaming. Rose proves to be more adept in learning their ways much to the displeasure of Briar. The Veni-Vang have felt through the Dreaming the coming of an emancipator of "The Lord of Locust" and fear that Rose or Briar may be this entity. Through the story we learn who the emancipator is and the events that lead up to the first Bone GN Out from Boneville. What is really special about this story is we get more insight into Gran'ma Ben's relationship with her sister Briar and we see the mistakes Gran'ma Ben makes that lead to her becoming the heroic figure we know from the Bone Series. We also get to see some familiar characters in The Red Dragon, a young Lucius and the Rat Creatures along with meeting some new ones in Cleo and Euclid (Rose's two hounds that she can talk to) and the evil River Dragon Balsaad. I highly recommend this book for both Bone fans and those who are not yet.

Well that's all I have for now all you hepcats so peace,

Bill

How did I ever miss out on this one?! First of all, I love Dav Pilkey's picture books, and having made a point to read all of them, I thought that I had. Secondly, Kat Kong looks just like my cat, Richie, famous for having traveled over from England with us and being the most talkative, daftest, lovable cat I know (I also have a nine lives/reincarnation theory about him, but I won't go into that here.) Kat Kong is a "faithful" adaptation of the King Kong story--about as faithful as you can be using manipulated photo collage and telling the story with mice and a black cat. The book has been rated, just like a film (TS for "terribly silly".) Forget 'terribly' silly--it's wonderfully silly! There are some truly ghastly puns, both in the text and in the pictures. So if you like to groan while you giggle, this is the book for you. Dav Pilkey's website has some fantastic "behind the scenes" info about this book, including the storyboards he drew for Kat Kong and it's companion volume Dogzilla, on-line puzzles and printables from the book, and insider tips about how he managed to get his cat, Blueberry, to make such menacingly goofy expressions. In fact, the site in general is quite cool. Stay awhile and play!

This is my current life story, but without the benefit of it taking place in Paris! Adele collects her brother Simon from school, and on the way home he manages to lose the drawing of a cat he made in school, his books, his scarf, his gloves (one at a time,) his hat, his crayons, his knapsack, his jacket, and his sweater. All this despite the conscientious Adele's constant scolding and hand-wringing. As my daughter and I made our way through the book--for each page is actually a picture puzzle, with the missing item hidden for little hawk-eyes to find--I was reminded of a day when I dropped her off at school and then followed a trail of hats, gloves, and scarves, all left behind by my little one like a trail of breadcrumbs from her classroom to the front entrance. While I prefer Dahlia as a story, Adele and Simon is an absolutely gorgeous book, with maps of Paris for end pages, and detailed pen and ink and watercolor drawings of early twentieth-century Paris. An absolute feast for the eyes.

Illustrator Jim LaMarche visited my daughter's school last year, and I wish I had been familiar with this book then, because I would love an autographed copy! This book encapsulates what readers already know: that although reading is generally a private occupation, there is an immensely rewarding bond that develops when a story is shared. That why readers tend to gush about books they like, or even dislike. You just can't keep a story to yourself. Similar ground is covered in Sandy Asher's Too Many Frogs! (one of my all time favorite story time books) but with more laughs--and frogs. A Story for Bear is a gentler book, contemplative and peaceful and well suited to the woodland setting. It starts with a flame-colored bear, softly glorious in watercolor and acrylic, who finds a piece of paper in the woods. There are words on the paper, although the bear has no idea what they say, or even what they are. But he treasures it and wonders over it. One day he happens upon a woman reading to herself. When she takes a break and goes into her cabin, the bear investigates her abandoned book, noticing the marks so like those on his paper. The next day he ventures back, and so starts a ritual where the woman reads to the bear, all through the summer. This book walks a fine line between anthropomorphizing and reality. But like music soothing the savage beast, there is no denying the spell that the woman's reading casts upon the bear. The woman shared her story with bear, and now I share their story with you.

This is a crowd pleaser all around: great for story time, great as a birthday gift, great for bedtime (evidenced by the fact that my daughter asked to hear it twice this evening.) That big happy panda from Dinner at the Panda Palace is back, and he's hosting birthday parties now. He's got all his friends round to celebrate Mouse's birthday. The story is told in smooth, easy to read rhymes, with a few speech bubbles thrown in towards the end to fill in the back story. And once it's time for the gifts, the text sets up a page turner with ample opportunity for little listeners to shout out the answer. This is such a cheerful, happy book. And to be honest, with a child's birthday party to host fast approaching, I could sure use some of Panda's expertise and panache!

Just about any child can identify with losing a beloved toy. But what if you had made the toy yourself? And it was lost at sea? And what if the toy had already wondered about setting off on its own, into the world, only to realize that there's no place like home? Randall De Seve's gentle book, Toy Boat explores these questions. Soft-hearted children will feel for the lost toy, as well as for the little master who has lost her. Tender illustrations, such as a mournful moon--which looks suspiciously like the little boy--watching over the boat, adrift at sea, and a clearly composed text combine to lift this story above the level of 'feel-good-message-book'. In a world where sunshine follows the rain, and the kindness of passing strangers completely compensates for previous slights, then a little boy and his boat can still find each other, even across the vast, unforgiving sea.

Barbara Samuels brings us the further adventures of Dolores and her beloved cat Duncan. Dolores's enthusiasm for Duncan is unparalleled, and that's saying a lot, because Dolores is nothing if not enthusiastic. When new girl Hillary and her uber-Siamese Harold arrive, Dolores feels not just threatened as the elementary school cat supremo, but she fears that Duncan's status as cat extraordinaire is in danger. Fortunately, Dolores's ever wise and patient big sister Faye provides a steady hand. And Dolores and Hillary realise that cooperation is preferable to competition. This is a good natured story with comic illustrations that showcase a motivated Dolores and a stoic Duncan. They remain matchless.

Christmas is here, and I present to you one of my favorite Christmas picture books. It's fairly recent, and I think it has probably flown under many radars. But that's okay, because that fits the message of the book. It's Eve Bunting's We Were There, and it tells the Nativity story from the point of view of the lowliest, ugliest, creatures of the dark--the scorpion, the snake, the bat, the toad, the spider, and (my personal favorite) the rat. While the beautiful sheep and cow and donkey stood by the glow of the Christ child, the forgotten creatures watch from the shadows. But they, too, followed the star, and they too worship. And of course, they are as precious to Him as the beautiful animals. The story is told in prose and is illustrated with outstanding paintings by Wendell Minor. This is a handsome, thoughtful reminder of why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

This is a favorite, and whenever we see it on the library's shelf, it eventually ends up on ours. And in light of recent buzz about the Kindle leading to a new and improved literary experience, this is a timely selection.

At one time, the Little Skyscraper is the tallest building in the city. His grace and beauty fills everyone with pride and inspiration. But as time moves on, taller, more modern buildings spring up around the Little Skyscraper, and our friend is overshadowed and redundant. Fortunately for the Little Skyscraper, this is a picture book with a message, and he is saved from a dreadful fate because one person remembers the building's glory and treasures it. Sweetly illustrated and concisely told, this is a lovely book, and it will enjoy repeat readings in this house until the day it is due back at the library.

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, this week's book of the week is a Turkey Day book with no turkey. The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz starts as a Halloween trick and finishes as a Thanksgiving treat. It's a sweet and funny ugly duckling story--told in clever rhyme, no less!

Not since William Steig's Pete's a Pizza has a rainy day been so much fun. Barbara Lehman's Rainstorm tells the story of a little boy, alone in his tidy nursery in his big old house, and the adventure he discovers when he finds a key under a chair. This is yet another wordless picture book, a genre which is rapidly becoming my favorite in children's literature (and the third featured as a Book of the Week.) And cliche though this might sound, words here are unnecessary. The images work so well on their own, that even the title is one word too many. The combination of full page pictures and comic style blocks advance the story perfectly. 1000 words? These pictures speak volumes.

In honor of the fact that the Red Sox are in the World Series for the second time in four years, this week's book of the week is Zachary's Ball, by Matt Tavares. Everyone wants a souvenir when they visit the ballpark, and in this picture book a young Zachary is transported to the game of his dreams when his dad hands him a snared foul ball. Perhaps it is the ball itself, or maybe it is the act of passing the ball from one generation to the next--in any case, it is a magic that must be shared. And it all takes place within the shadow of Fenway's Green Monster--reason enough to read any book!

I have not intentionally chosen another picture book as Book of the Week. Nor, to be more specific, have I chosen another wordless picture book to be Book of the Week. That was just a fluke. Peter Collington's The Tooth Fairy was selected last week to commemorate the loss of my daughter's first tooth. It just so happens that ever since we snatched Bow Wow Bugs a Bug (Newgarden, Mark and Megan Montague Cash) from our local library's stacks, my daughter has insisted on "reading" it every night. I have tried wordless picture books on her before, with little success. I don't know if she feels ripped off because there are no words or what, but for whatever reason, the illustrations were never enough to spark her imagination. Not so with Bow Wow--and she's not even a dog person! Each night we have taken turns making up the story to go along with the--truly daft--illustrations. The story is simple enough--a terrier is perturbed by a speck of a bug and follows him around town. My favorite bit is when the terrier comes face to face with an identical terrier sniffing down an identical speck of a bug. The two dogs take part in a mirroring montage straight out of Duck Soup. It's a sly bit of cultural knowledge slipped into a children's book: funny for the kids, a wonderful tip-of-the-hat for Marx Brothers buffs. See? Not just for kids!