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This year, like many others, has carved new paths in my art career. I have two fairs now under my belt, Times of Future Past (a Cos-Play faire) and the Iowa Metaphysical Fair. All thanks to an amazing woman named Lisa, who has taken me under her wing in the affairs of selling your work at a craft fair.

I will also be at the World of Faeries Fair in Illinois this August, having been invited from the Times Faire. AND there is the possibility of doing two more fairs before the end of the year!

I have also committed to submitting my work to three SciFi Fantasy conventions; DemiCon, which was this past May; CONvergence in July, and ICon (Iowa Icon) in October.

It is crazy to think that I would be setting up tables and doing in person selling. I have been selling online for over 10 years because of my fear of small talk. Yet, I found selling in person rewarding in a new way...I got to meet the people, and they got to meet me!

I had a couple customers say they had either seen my work or bought my work online, and now they got to meet me! I would be so excited if I could do that with an artist I admired.

Once the weekend was over, I came home to this, the reality of life in the art studio. I too am a huge fan of looking at artists' studios....so preen and airy. But I fear in real life, it's a bit more like this....more often than not.

This Friday, June 12th, I will be having my second EVER flash sale. How many times until it becomes tradition? Well, I plan to have one every six months to help clear things out. So far, here are some peeks into what I have going up on the site.

What's different about this flash sale is it'll be on my website, www.sarabillustration.com, and everything will be listed at the exact same time. The page will go live at 3pm CST. There will also be special "peek a boo" items that will not be advertised, but available during the sale as well. 

So mark your calendar, set a reminder on your phone, tac up a sticky note, and get ready for a week of sneak peeks, and a fun sale at the end of the week! What a great way to start the weekend. :)

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Michael Buckley's Sisters Grimm series was one of the first books I reviewed when I started my blog in 2008 and four years later, with the publication of the ninth and final book in the series, it remains one of my all-time-favorite reads. If you, or anyone you know, loves fairy tales even the slightest bit, Sisters Grimm is a MUST read. Buckley is also author of another middle grade

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Review by Leydy UNDERTOW Undertow #1by Michael BuckleySeries: UndertowHardcover: 384 pagesPublisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (May 5, 2015)Language: EnglishGoodreads | Amazon First, we feared them. Then we fought them. Now they might be our only hope.

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Anyone who knows me (and a fair few who don't as well) will know that my first YA novel Read Me Like A Book comes out this year. I've been shouting about this for a little while now, and have been super-excited about it for lots of reasons, one of them being the fact that I originally wrote this book fifteen years ago, so it's been a long time in the making.

But the same people might not know about the other book that's coming out this year and which in many ways I am JUST as excited about. This book, Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls, is the latest in my series about a girl who accidentally found out in a school swimming lesson that when she goes in water, she becomes a mermaid.

Emily and I have had lots of adventures together. She has a tendency to get herself into scary, exciting  adventures. [WARNING: Spoilers coming...] Emily has rescued her father from a prison out at sea; she's been nearly squeezed to death by a giant Kraken; she's explored mysterious castles, discovered banished sirens in underwater caves and very nearly been turned to ice by an evil man with too much magic at his disposal.

In August, Emily has her sixth adventure. I can't tell you too much about it yet, as it's still a closely-guarded secret. But what I can tell you is that, in typical Emily style, what starts off as an innocent Geography field trip turns into an adventure involving life and death decisions, a spooky ship and a trip to possibly the most magical place she's ever visited.

For me, one of the most exciting things about this book is that for the first time ever, it's coming out on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time. My UK and US publishers are working together to make this happen, and TODAY, between us, right here, right now, I am very excited to be using the wonderful ABBA blog (thanks ABBA!) to reveal the cover!

So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, children and mer-kids, I give you, Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost Souls - the cover. I think it might be my favourite Emily Windsnap cover ever (by the wonderful artist Sarah Gibb). Hope you think it's as beautiful as I do! :) :) :)

PS If you need to catch up with the rest of the series before reading the new one (or you know someone who does) check out the giveaway on my Facebook page. :)

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Have you ever Googled yourself? I do. It might look pretentious, but it really gives an insight to where your name is being used, and for me that includes my art. Thankfully I never find much of anything except for my own posts AND these gorgeous cards!

I license out my images to an online craft store called Crafts and Me based in the UK. She sells digital stamps and some rubber ones too. On her blog they host challenges for those who love to make their own cards and paper crafts.

You can find all of my digital stamps here ☞ http://www.craftsandme.co.uk/-c-218_240.html
Find my rubber stamps here ☞ http://www.craftsandme.co.uk/-c-290_211.html

It always gives me the biggest smile when I see these. Be sure to visit their blogs for more lovelies and inspiration!

Into My Happy Space

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

cre8tively yours

Crafts and Me

Crafty Urchins

In My Quiet Time

In Rosie's Book

Fantasy Stampers Challenge Blog - http://fantasystampers.blogspot.com/
Your Next Stamp - http://yournextstamp.com/blog/
Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog - http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/
Treasured Times Rubber Stamp Challenges - http://treasuredtimesrubberstampschallenges.blogspot.com/
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge Blog - http://stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.com/

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May Contain Spoilers

Review:

I had to wait a long time for the library to get a copy of Deep Betrayal, so there has been a huge time gap since I read Lies Beneath.  When I first started reading this, the plot details were a little fuzzy, but things cleared up relatively quickly.  I really enjoy this series, and I was delighted when Deep Betrayal did NOT end on a cliffhanger!  Win for the reader!  I hate cliffhangers, with only love triangles scoring higher on my list of pet peeves.  There’s no hint of that here, either, with Lily and Calder deeply involved with each other for the entire book.  That’s not to say they didn’t have their disagreements, but another guy was never dangled into the reader’s face in an effort to force some tension into the plot.  Double yay!

Deep Betrayal picks up thirty days after the events in Lies Beneath.  Lily has been exiled to live with Jules’ family, and she’s seething because she hasn’t heard from Calder.  She alternately worries about him, then rages about him.  When he finally turns up, he’s  vague about where he’d been, but Lily forgives him.  I wouldn’t have let him off so easily, but since Lily forces him to go back to the lake house, I guess he got what he deserved.  He’s worried that Maris and Pavati will flip out if they discover that she’s still alive.  He also objects when Lily insists that they tell her father the truth about his heritage.  That probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but I think that even Lily could not have expected the revelation to cost her family so much grief.

In addition to her family crumbling in on itself, someone, or something, is attacking people on the water.  When bodies start turning up, Lily is convinced it’s Calder’s sisters feeding.  Calder protests; he knows they would never be so careless with their prey.  Then Lily has the horrible suspicion that her father is causing all of mayhem in the lake, and she’s determined to put a stop to it.

Lily and Calder follow many false leads before unmasking the killer, and even though the mystery isn’t all that difficult to figure out, I loved this book.  I enjoyed Lily’s narrative, and her courage.  She’s not the kind of girl to stand back and let her man take all the risks – oh no!  Lily wanted to save her family and friends, so she was willing to put herself at risk to stop the killer.  In the process, she discovers more about who she is, and what she is.  She even forges an uneasy  alliance with Calder’s sisters.  I really like them; they are treacherous and can’t be trusted.  They are also incredibly dangerous, so Lily has to stay on her toes to avoid their wrath.

When I stop and think about Lily’s relationship with Calder, I cringe.  He’s, what, 40?  She’s 17?  That’s creepy.  I kept telling myself, “He’s not human.  He’s not human.  He’s not human,” but it’s still kind of creepy.  Stop thinking about it!

Overall, this is an exciting book, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages.  Great characters, great ending – I can’t wait to read the final book in the series.  Hope the library has it!

Grade:  B+

Review copy provided by publisher

From Amazon:

Fans of Amanda Hocking’s novel, Wake, will dive into this paranormal romance featuring mermaids–the killer kind–and won’t come up for air!

It’s been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she’s counting. And when Calder does return, it’s not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily’s dad monopolizes Calder’s time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.

Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman’s natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn’t know what to believe—only that whoever’s responsible is sure to strike again. . . .

The post Review: Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

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May Contain Spoilers

Review:

I love books about mermaids, and I enjoyed Debbie Herbert’s first novel,  Siren’s Secret, so I was eager to dive into Siren’s Treasure (excuse the bad pun!).  Jet is my least favorite character of the three Borsage mermaids,  though, so it did take me a while to warm up to her.  She made some terrible decisions in her past, and they are about to bite her in the butt.  She has always felt like  an outsider with the merfolk, and her mother’s emotional distance left her desperate for acceptance.  She falls for the wrong man, giving her ex a powerful weapon to blackmail her with.  Regretful that she’s given him so much power over her, Jet fears she will never be rid of him, and that she’s put her race in danger of discovery.

When FBI agent Landry Fields enters her life, Jet is at a low point in her life.  Her shady ex has been released from prison and now he wants to go back into business with her, and he’s not taking no for an answer.  She’s just won a tough competition at the mermaid games, but nobody is excited for her triumph.  She wants to know why she’s treated so poorly by other mermaids, and why her mother insisted she spend so much time on land, but her mom’s not fessing up.  Frustrated and lonely, Landry’s intrusion into her life takes her by surprise.  She’s attracted to him, and even though they are at odds over his latest case, Landry can’t help but feel drawn to Jet as well.

I found the pacing of the story a little uneven, until Perry and his thug friends abduct Jet.  They need her to salvage something for them, and the thought of the millions it will bring them has them desperate to do anything to earn her cooperation.  Perry’s new acquaintances are dangerous, and they think everyone is disposable, even Perry.  They won’t hesitate to use extreme force to get what they want, because they have even more dangerous clients waiting to bid on the salvage, and they won’t take kindly to being disappointed if Jet doesn’t find it.  Failure is not an option!

The abduction/rescue sequence of events kept me rapidly turning the pages.  I loved this part of the book.  I liked how the other mermaids worked with Landry to rescue Jet, and I enjoyed getting to know Jet’s mother better. She’s a great character; even though she and Jet might have had their misunderstandings, nobody is going to stop Adriana from saving Jet from the unsavory criminals that have snatched her away.  I also loved how, ultimately, it was Jet who saved Landry, and his complete faith in her that she would succeed at that endeavor.  

Despite some bumps for me, I enjoyed Siren’s Treasure, and I’m really looking forward to Lily’s book.

Grade:  B-

Review copy provided by Author

From Amazon:

Deep in the bayou, a strange and beautiful world of merfolk exists… 

Mermaid Jet Borsage never fit in with her own kind. Her dark hair and eyes set her apart from the other merfolk. Which was why she fell for the wrong man, and why she is still paying the price. One that has made her unwilling to trust any man. Until she meets Landry Fields… 

Agent Landry Fields is investigating Jet’s former boyfriend, but he knows Jet is hiding something, as well. At first he believed the beauty was involved in her ex-boyfriend’s dangerous undersea excavations. But when he realizes he is falling for a real-live mermaid, Landry’s by-the-book beliefs are rocked. Now can he save Jet and her clan from modern-day pirates to claim a future with the feisty beauty?

The post Review: Siren’s Treasure by Debbie Herbert appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

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Over the last couple of year’s I’ve read quite a lot about how children’s books with a very specific cultural setting are not favoured by publishers because it is hard to sell rights widely; publishers are keen for “universal” stories which translate (literally and figuratively) well across borders and languages.

Whilst I understand publishers’ drive to maximise sales, I think a great deal is lost if we ignore stories boldly and vividly set in specific and identifiable locations and cultures. Indeed, considering the current drive for increasing diversity in children’s books, I would argue that books which are culture specific have a vital role to play.

And of course, a great book will be “universal” whether or not it is set in a specific time, location or country; enduring stories speak to that which we share whatever our differences.

I have been a fan of Mairi Hedderwick’s books for as long as I can remember. She writes and illustrates rural Scottish island life in a magical way. She captures truths like poetry can in her watercolours of Hebridean life, whilst her stories are full of acute observations about family life that’s more or less the same wherever you are in the world, exploring issues such as sibling rivalry and intergenerational relationships.

The Katie Morag Treasury by Mairi Hedderwick is a glorious book, bringing together a mix of the most popular previously published Katie Morag books and new stories and illustrations first heard and seen on episodes of the highly acclaimed BBC Katie Morag TV show. It really is a treasury, with a range of witty and poignant stories, illustrated in ink and watercolour in a way that invisibly and movingly marries romance and realism.

For kids listening to these stories Katie Morag’s tales act as mirrors; yes she may live in a community vastly unlike the one the young reader or listener lives in, but that only makes it more interesting and reassuring to read that Katie Morag has the same sort of worries, plays the same sorts of games and quarrels with her parents just like they do. Thoughtfulness is a consistent thread in all these stories, and Katie Morag herself is a terrific role model; full of strength and imagination she is not afraid to explore, to try new things, or to be kind.

This is a keeper of a book, one which works well both as a read-aloud, or for children who can read themselves. Indeed the lovely hardback binding makes this ideal for older readers who might not want to be seen reading picture books any more.

Last year when we were holiday in Scotland we collected a stash of shells and sea glass and re-reading these fabulous Katie Morag stories inspired us to get our jars of them out of our natural history museum, and play with them using a home-made light box.

I borrowed one of our large plastic boxes which we normally store lego in, lined it with white tissue paper, and then put a load of fairy lights inside it. With the fairy lights turned on, and all the other lights turned off and curtains drawn we entered something of a soothing world where the girls could then make patterns with the shells and sea glass, with soft light shining through.

If you don’t have any sea glass, you could do this activity with florists’ glass (vase) pebbles instead, making light imbued mosaics.

Music which goes really well with Katie Morag stories (though maybe not with the light box activity as much of it will get you up and dancing) includes:

My favourite radio programme – available worldwide online – Travelling Folk. This is BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship folk programme and it’s full of treats each week.

Arrangements of songs like you’ve never heard before from Billy McIntyre and his All Star Ceilidh Band, who I’d love to hear live because they are just WAY out there…. Pop! goes the Ceilidh is a hysterical album with covers of lots of pop classics (eg Living on a Prayer, Robbie William’s Angels, Billy Idol’s White Wedding) redone with fiddle, accordion and more. It will put a crazy smile on your face.

Anything by Skippinish but especially Land below the Waves that always gives me goosebumps:

Other activities which you could try out alongside reading The Katie Morag Treasury include:

Creating a sand imprint roller (!) like we did when I reviewed audiobook versions of the Katie Morag stories.

Making stone soup, as per one of the six folk tales told at Grannie Island’s Ceilidh, and reproduced in The Katie Morag Treasury. If you’ve never made stone soup here’s a recipe to get you started.

Adapting a pair of shoes to make your own tap shoes; Katie Morag learns to tap dance but uses her wellies and a little bit of ingenuity. Here are some ways you can turn your regular shoes into tap shoes.

What are your favourite children’s books which have a very strong sense of location?

Disclosure: I was sent a free review copy of The Katie Morag Treasury by the publisher

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NB This is a random picture downloaded from the internet, not actual Jackie Kay's kitchen after a dinner party.

• Having lie ins.
• Letting the dog on the bed so she won’t nag me for walkies.
• Mooching around the house in my PJs vaguely thinking about getting the vacuum cleaner out. Ha! As if.
• Meeting up with friends for coffees in the morning. In the morning!
• Watching Dragon’s Den recordings with my lunch. With my lunch!!!
• Reading multiple copies of The Bookseller and Practical Photography which have been arriving and being ignored every week for the last three months.
• Wandering around the garden with my new macro lens, taking photos of spiders, wasps and flowers.

Plenty more where this came from. If you want to see them, just ask.

• And yes, just to make sure I feel I’ve achieved something this week, replying to at least two thirds of the emails that have been patiently waiting for me whilst I was busy getting my half-girl half-mermaid heroine out of trouble.

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Filed under: children's illustration, finding norway, journeys, poetry

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This morning I have an excerpt from Kissed by the Wave to share with you.  If you enjoy it, please enter for a chance to win a digital copy.  You know you want it – it has mermaids! 

KISSED BY THE WAVE by Serena Gilley (August 5, 2014; Forever Yours E-Book; $2.99)

Beyond the limits of sight, magical beings live in the Forbidden Realm. The two worlds were once connected, but the desires of man forced their separation. Now, desire may bring them back together…

Aliya is a mermaid with an obsession. Though contact with humans is strictly forbidden, she can’t seem to stay away from the incredibly handsome Devin, who visits her lake night after night. Her body and soul have never been drawn to anyone like this before. Deciding that her longing for Devin is worth the risk, she goes to him. As their lust for each other deepens, Aliya grows to need his touch as much as she needs water.

Devin believed Aliya was a perfect fantasy his mind created-until the breathtaking mermaid swims to shore. Courtesy of a magical wish, Aliya is newly human, and she and Devin give in to their passion again and again. But Aliya’s mortal form is only temporary. If they don’t have the strength to part ways when the time comes, their illicit love could rock the balance between the realms forever . . .

Buy Links:

B&N

iTunes

Books a Million

Kobo

Amazon

About the author:

Serena Gilley grew up reading fantasy and fairy tales, and believing there was a distinct possibility that both of them were real. Somewhere. Even all these years later, Serena’s belief in magic and mystery hasn’t diminished. In fact, She is living out her own happily-ever-after with a handsome prince in a beautiful castle, taming dragons and granting wishes every day.  Okay, so the prince is a regular guy, the dragons are really just teenagers, and the wishes she grants are as spectacular as frozen pizza on Friday night, but it’s a fantasy world just the same.

Social Media Links:

Website

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Goodreads

Excerpt:

Raea made another pass over the boat. Yes, the human had returned to the lake just as on so many evenings before. The sun shone as a huge, fiery ball resting on the horizon. The man’s wishes filled the air around Raea and she knew he was in the full throes of his lustful fixation.

He wanted that mermaid. But where was she? Had Raea gambled too much? Maybe she shouldn’t have let the girl swim away, to go off and think of things all day. It had only given her time to forget her desire, to remember who she was and what she was. Now Raea was left with a sex-crazed human and a wager that was nowhere near being won. How was she going to locate another virgin in the short time their arrangement allowed for?

But wait…what was that in the water? By the Skies, it was Aliya. So, the mermaid had shown up, after all. Raea darted down toward the glinting surface of the water to greet her.

“I was afraid you might not show up,” she said as Aliya burst through the surface.

“I very nearly didn’t. I kept thinking how my actions would dishonor my people.”

“So you aren’t going to make your wish? You can see the human is here, and I assure you, he hasn’t forgotten.”

“No, I can feel that. He…he is making his desires very well known.”

“His desire for you,” Raea added. “He’s been sending up wishes all day long.”

“And you haven’t granted them?”

“He’s wishing for you. And he didn’t bring a female with him tonight.”

“He didn’t?”

“No. As we worried, he’s truly obsessed. I don’t know what else to do, if you won’t help him through this…”

“I will help him! That’s why I’m here.”

Raea tried not to look smug. Things had gone her way, after all. She would win her bet and Kyne would give up his suspicions of her. She’d be doing a good deed for her friend, too. Aliya really seemed to care about this human. It would be a great relief to know that he would give up his silly obsession. Yes, all the way around she was pleased with her accomplishment.

“You’re ready now?” she clarified.

“Yes. I’m ready. I can’t leave him in his obsession, Raea. It’s my fault for letting him see me, so it’s my responsibility to help him now. You will grant me my wish, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course. As long as you understand the terms.”

“I do. Twenty-four hours, then everything is back to the way it should be. He is released and he won’t die.”

“Not from that stupid Old Revenge, at least. Go ahead; make your wish.”

Aliya beamed. She held herself up very straight in the water and met Raea’s eyes with a huge, confident smile.

“I wish to become human for one day and spend it with Devin so he can have enough of me and forget all about that terrible obsession and be safe from the Old Revenge.”

Raea smiled. Ah, easy as cake. The wager was hers for the winning. Kyne was an idiot.

“Okay, sweetheart. Now, hold on to your gills because this is kind of a biggie. I don’t think I’ve ever done a mermaid before!”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Spotlight and Giveaway: Kissed by the Wave by Serena Gilley appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

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The Mermaid and the Shoe
By K.G. Campbell
Kids Can Press
$16.95
ISBN: 978-1554537716
Ages 3-7
On shelves now

Why are magical creatures so hard to write? I’m a children’s librarian. That means that a goodly portion of my day can consist of small starry-eyed children asking for an array of otherworldly cuties. “Do you have any unicorn books?” “Any fairies?” “Any mermaids?” Actually, more often than not it’s their parents asking and you can read between the lines when they request such books. What they’re really saying is, “Do you have any books about a fairy that isn’t going to make me want to tear out my eyebrows when I end up reading it for the 4,000th time?” Over the years I’ve collected the names of picture books that fulfill those needs. Like fairies? The Dollhouse Fairy by Jane Ray is for you. Unicorns? You can’t go wrong with Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea. But mermaids . . . mermaids posed a problem. It isn’t that they don’t have books. They simply don’t have that many. For whatever reason, writers don’t like doing mermaid books. Easy to understand why. What is a mermaid known for aside from brushing their hair or luring young sailors to a watery grave? Add in the fact that most kids associate mermaids with a certain red-haired Disney vixen and you’ve got yourself a topic that’s avoided like the plague. It takes a bit of originality, spark, and verve to overcome these obstacles. Having read his picture book Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters I knew that K.G. Campbell was a bit of a witty wordsmith. What I didn’t know was that he was capable of creating wholly new storylines that are as satisfying to adult readers as they will be to children. You want a mermaid book? The Mermaid and the Shoe is officially my latest recommendation.

Mermaids are talented creatures. Just ask King Neptune. The merman has fifty (count ‘em) fifty daughters and every single one of them has a talent. Every single one . . . except perhaps Minnow. The youngest daughter, Minnow can’t garden or train fish or sing particularly well. Instead, she asks questions. Questions that nobody seems to know the answers to. One day, a strange red object falls from above. No one, not even Minnow’s stuck up sister Calypso, can say what it is or what it does. Inspired, Minnow goes up to the surface to discover its use. What she finds shocks her, but also gives her a true purpose. She’s not just the youngest daughter in her family any more. No, Minnow is an explorer through and through.

My three-year-old daughter has a laser-like ability to hone in on any new picture book that appears in my bag when I come home from work. I hadn’t necessarily meant to try out The Mermaid and the Shoe on her, but once she zeroed in on it there was no stopping her. At this point in time she doesn’t have much of a magical creature frame of reference so it was interesting trying to explain the rudimentary basics of your everyday merman or mermaid in the context of Campbell’s book. She had a bit of a hard time understanding why Minnow didn’t know what a shoe was. I explained that mermaids don’t have feet. “Why don’t they have feet?” Not much of an answer to be given to that one. Happily she enjoyed the book thoroughly, but with its emphasis on cruel older siblings and the importance of making your own path, this is going to be best enjoyed by a slightly older readership.

As I may have mentioned before, Disney ruined us for mermaids. There will therefore be kids who read this book and then complain that it’s not a cookie cutter Ariel mass media affair. Still, I like to think those kids will be few and far between. First off, the book does have some similarities to the Ariel storyline. King Neptune/Triton is still the buff and shirtless father of a bunch of mermaid sisters and he still has his customary crown, flowy white beard (beards just look so keen underwater, don’t you think?), and triton. The story focuses yet again on his youngest daughter who longs to know more about the world up above. She’s accompanied by an adorable underwater sea creature. But once you get past the peripheral similarities, Campbell strikes out into uncharted territory, so to speak.

With this book Campbell strikes a storytelling tone. It’s a bit more classic than that found in some other contemporary picture books, but it fits the subject and the art. When you read that Calypso called her little sister “useless” the text says, “for sisters can be mean that way.” There’s an art to the storytelling. I loved that Minnow considers the shoe important because “This thing . . . was made with care. It has a purpose, and I will discover it!” As for the plot itself, I’ve never seen a book do this particular storyline before. Maybe it’s because authors are afraid of incurring the litigious wrath of Disney, but shouldn’t more mermaids be curious about our world? The fact that they’d be horrified by our feet just makes complete and utter sense. If you didn’t know they weren’t hands then of course you’d consider them knobby, gnarled and smelly (though how they know about that last bit is up for contention). Campbell knows how to follow a plotline to its logical conclusion.

I also love the core message of the book. Minnow’s talent lies in not just her brain (which I would have settled for) but also in how she sets about getting answers to her questions. At the end of the tale her father proclaims that her talent is being an explorer but I’m not so sure. I think Minnow’s a reporter. She not only asks the right questions but she sets out to find answers, no matter where they lead her. Then she comes back and shares information with her fellow mermaids, reporting her findings and sticking to the facts. You could also call her a storyteller, but to my mind Minnow is out there chasing down leads, satisfying her own curiosity over and over again. You might even say she comes close to the scientific method (though she never sets up a hypothesis so that would be a bit of a stretch).

There’s been a lot of talk over the years as to whether or not the greatest picture books out there are always written and illustrated by the same person (just look at the most recent Caldecott winners if you doubt me). You could argue both ways, but there is little doubt in my mind that Campbell just happened to be the best possible artist for this book . . . which he also just happened to write. I hate the term “dreamlike” but doggone it, it’s sort of the best possible term for this title. Notice how beautifully Campbell frames his images. In some pages he will surround a round image like a window with aspects of the scene (seaweed, fronds, or in the case of the world above, wildflowers). Consider too his use of color. The single red shoe is the only object of that particular bright hue in the otherwise grey and gloomy underwater lands. The mermaids themselves are all white-haired, a fact that makes a lot of sense when you consider that sunlight never touches them. They’re like lovely little half-human cavefish. And then there’s the man’s scope. I was reminded of a similarly aquatic picture book, David Soman’s Three Bears in a Boat in terms of the use of impressive two-page spreads. There’s an image of Minnow confronting a whale that could well take your breath away if you let it. The man knows how to pull back sometimes and then go in for the close-up. I have heard some objections to the mermaids’ teeny tiny seashells that seemingly float over their nonexistent breasts. And true, you notice it for about half a second. Then you get into the book itself and all is well.

With its can do mermaid who seeks answers in spite of her age and size, its beautiful watercolor and pencil crayon imagery, and writing that makes the reader feel like they’re indulging in a contemporary classic, there is no question in my mind that The Mermaid and the Shoe is the best little mermaid related picture book of all time. Utterly charming and unique, I can only hope it inspires other artists and authors to attempt to write more quality works of picture book fiction about magical creatures for the kiddos. It’s not an easy task, but when it works boy HOWDY does it work! Beguiling and bewitching, there’s only one true word to describe this book. Beautiful.

On shelves now.

Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.

Like This? Then Try:

• The Mermaid’s Shoes by Sanne te Loo

• Mermaid Dreams by Mark Sperring

• The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

Other Blog Reviews:

• The Book Wars
• Waking Brain Cells
• Children’s Atheneum
• Kiss the Book
• Isa Lavinia

Professional Reviews:

• A star from Kirkus
• The New York Times
• Publishers Weekly

Other Reviews: Hooray for Books,

Videos: And here’s a lovely little book trailer to round us all out.

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Yep, that really was me. And yes, Mum and Dad, I really am smoking. Sorry!

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Just finished up these Ocean themed critters! My fave is the whale. 

They’re available now in the Etsy Store!

get them now at:
Etsy    or     TpT

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This year I am creating original sketches on all of my orders going out through Etsy. If even just an ACEO (2.5x3.5 inch print) is purchased, the customer will receive an original sketch on the envelope.

With a new baby I don't get a lot of time to just sketch, this has been a great way to get some sketching in while at the same time treating my customers with something special.

My customers mean a lot to me and this is one way I can show them. 

These sketches are not scanned in and saved, or reproduced. They are sketched, photographed for my own documentation, and then mailed off. Who knows, maybe one of them will become a painting some day. Now wouldn't that be fun! :)

 Visit my Facebook Page for a current album of envelope art!
Album here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152367583837472.1073741828.50735862471&type=3

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“What is it?”

“It looks like a Disney princess movie!”

“It sounds like a Planet Earth episode.”

Well, not exactly, but not far off the mark, either.

Disney and author Jennifer Donnelly (A Northern Light, Revolution) are collaborating on a multimedia fantasy project set to debut in early May. The WaterFire saga is projected to include four novels, an enhanced e-book, a theme song, and an extensive website with video clips — in short, a franchise on a Disney-sized scale.

What we actually received, inspiring oohing and ahhing as well as the comments above, is a nifty little gadget created by PIM, or Printings in Motion.

Imagine a BLAD with marketing specs on the back — and inside, an embedded screen about the size of an iPhone’s. Open the cover and video begins playing: Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live a people of the water…

Buttons allow you to select between a book trailer and a “making of” short. It even came with a USB cord to charge it and/or play the videos on your computer screen.

Series-opener Deep Blue begins with Mediterranean Sea mermaid princess Serafina’s prophetic nightmares on the eve of her wedding. As the books go on, several mermaid princesses from other regions will be introduced as they fight together to protect merfolk from an “ancient evil” and impending war. In the making-of video, Donnelly says that Disney sent her a “comprehensive mermaid bible” about the characters and their cultures; she expanded upon their sketches and outlines as she wrote. It’s a bit disconcerting to think of well-respected author Donnelly taking so much direction from Disney.

PIM’s other clients include Yahoo!, HP, and Heineken. Will publishers — and presumably film studios, app developers, etc. — without The Mouse’s or Mercedes-Benz’s global reach be able to afford this technology to market their products? (As Roger exclaimed, “Good lord, how much did this cost?”) Is PIM the Next Big Thing in marketing, or a flash-in-the-pan fad?

Perhaps more importantly: is this PIM marketing ploy a little too much? And will the WaterFire books — with their clear Disney stamp — live up to it? Only time will tell.

The post The wave of the future? appeared first on The Horn Book.

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Yes, ok, all right, I know it’s not the most original thing.  I’m not the first, second, or even 33,333rd person to go to DisneyWorld.  But it was my first time, and it was a Juv/YA lit-and-folklore/fairytale-related experience, so by gosh, I will record it! Being the dedicated blogger on Juv/YA stuff and folklore/fairytale-related things that I […]

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by David Lucas Candlewick Press 2012 The unbeaten Skeleton Pirate who refuses to accept defeat is beaten not once but twice in this quirky picture book. The Skeleton Pirate knows one thing: that he will never be beaten, and will fight to the, uh, death to prove it. But when a band of pirates chains him up and throws him over board... he still will not accept defeat. rescued by a Mermaid he is

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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” […]

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