I have taken a short break from the blogging world while getting MARRIED! Yay! But I'm back (there's nothing like a deadline to get you back on track!).
Interview with Brett Helquist:
Good Day Mr. Helquist!
Nicole: It is beyond exciting for me to have the opportunity to interview one of my absolute favorite illustrators in children’s literature, in celebration of the release of Fairy Tale Comics. You are without a doubt one of the most recognizable artists in children’s literature. Hold up a cover with your artwork on it and BAM, we know who’s behind it. I must admit, when it comes to judging a book by its cover, I do if you’re the artist. A book is immediately appealing to me if you’ve done the cover art (and/or interior art). But it makes me wonder…with such a broad range of genres you’ve illustrated, are some types of stories more appealing to you than others when it comes to accepting a job?
Brett: Not really, I enjoy reading many different kinds of stories. I think I’m drawn mostly to the characters. If a book has strong and interesting characters I find it easy to illustrate.
Nicole: And speaking of a broad range of genres, I’m still not sure how I feel about you illustrating the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. Here are my two battling emotions:
#1: The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series was one of my all time favorite series as a kid. So when I see Brett Helquist has illustrated the series I initially get very excited (seeing as I think you’re awesome). And even though I own the whole series for my classroom library, I of course want to buy a new set to get your illustrated versions. So, I guess I feel great about you illustrating the series.
But…
#2: The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series are some of the all time scariest books I have ever read, because of the original illustrations. Those pictures still give me the heebie jeebies. I used to read those scary stories with one hand covering the illustrations of some of those stories, they creeped me out that bad. Your style is not as gruesome and UGH as some of those illustrations. So, I guess I feel like you robbed some kids of being totally and utterly grossed out!
So, what were your reactions to being asked to re-illustrate the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series?
Brett: This is a difficult question for me. I enjoyed this job and I was happy with what I did, but I know I upset some people. I’m not sure what to think.
Is there a series or a classic story that you find intriguing and wish to get your hands on to illustrate? (I love what you did to A Christmas Carol)
Brett: would love to do all of Robert Louis Stevenson’s books.
Nicole: You do a lot of cover art and interior art for novels, which involves a lot of reading and rereading (thank you for taking the time to get it right, the details do matter). Do you see yourself continuing on balancing this type of work with your own picture books, or are you going to steer in one direction or the other? (I suggest you continue doing both!)
Brett: I love doing both.
Nicole: When you were approached to contribute to Fairy Tale Comics were you able to pick your own fairy tale, and if so, what drew you to Rumpelstiltskin?
Brett: The publisher gave me a list of tales to choose from. Rumpelstiltskin seemed like a caharacter that I could have fun with. I seem to have a knack for grumpy old man characters, like Olaf, Scrooge, and Rumpelstiltskin. This was really my first chance at doing a comic. I’ve used comic elements in some of my books, like “Bedtime for Bear”, but never a full comic. I was very nervous about doing it. That might be why I chose Rumpelstiltskin. He’s a type of character I’m very comfortable with.
Nicole: Why are fairy tales so enduring, and why do you think they should continue to be told and retold to our youth?
Brett: That’s hard to say. Maybe they’re like great songs, they just stick in your head. Who knows why?
Nicole: When will you be stopping by Maine to sign our copies of Fairy Tale Comics?
Brett: I’m just waiting for an invitation.
This book is amazing fun, and I highly recommend it for classroom library collections!
Thanks for visiting!
Praise for Fairy Tale Comics
"A quirky and vibrant mix of visually reinterpreted fairy tales compiled by the editor of the Eisner-nominated Nursery Rhyme Comics (2011)." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Nineteen cartoonists re-envision the world of “once upon a time” in this collection of 17 fairy tales . . .These adaptations are sure to enchant devotees of comics and those who like a fresh and distinctive approach to fairy tales." --
School Library Journal ***Taken from Macmillan.com
#48 The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999)
43 points
Also brought me a huge list of new readers – boys and girls and teachers loved to read them out loud to the class. – Cheryl Phillips
I’m a Snicket girl, loving the play with wit and words in this Series of Unfortunate Events. – Pam Coughlan
Unlike other series no one had any desire to nominate a Snicket title other than this, the first. That helped its rating considerably. Previously #71 it now leaps up to the 40s. Not too shabby. My encounters with the book precede my library degree. When I lived in Portland, Oregon after college I started reading children’s books out of the blue (yet never dreamed I’d be a children’s librarian, odd as that may sound). I read the first few Snicket books in Powell’s on a lark and loved them, so after the publication of #4 I went and saw Mr. Snicket speak. He was wonderful, and the crowd was reasonable if not excessive. Later, when he would command entire buildings like the Union Square Barnes & Noble, I missed the early days of Snicketmania. Ah, nostalgic me.
Library Journal described the plot in this manner: “This series chronicles the unfortunate lives of the Baudelaire children: Violet, 14; Klaus, 12; and the infant, Sunny. In Bad Beginning, their parents and possessions perish in a fire, and the orphans must use their talents to survive as their lives move from one disastrous event to another. Surrounded by dim-witted though well-meaning adults, the Baudelaires find themselves in the care of their evil relative, Count Olaf, a disreputable actor whose main concern is getting his hands on the children’s fortune. When Olaf holds Sunny hostage to force Violet to marry him, it takes all of the siblings’ resourcefulness to outwit him. Violet’s inventive genius, Klaus’s forte for research, and Sunny’s gift for biting the bad guys at opportune moments save the day.”
In Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy (edited by Leonard Marcus) an interview was conducted with Daniel Handler, the face behind the Snicket. The son of a man who escaped the Holocaust, Handler’s career as a children’s author began when his editor suggested (after reading an adult manuscript) that he write for kids. The editor was Susan Rich, a woman we will now refer to as “Resident Genius” because I doubt that many editors would have seen the possibilities in Handler’s wordplay. The ideas? Not a problem. “That’s what always happens to me: I have a clear idea for a story right away, and then as I’m writing it I find that it has more twists and corners than I knew.” He told his editor it would be a thirteen book series. She told him he’d be lucky if he could publish four.
The charm of the series is well defined by Sandra Howard in the August 25, 2001 edition of Spectator. “As a child I had an invented other child that I used to enjoy pretending to be; she had a permanently wretched time, always cruelly treated, slaving away. I’m sure Lemony Snicket’s constant exhortations to expect only the direst events to occur will have a happily morbid appeal and I found myself impatient to know how the orphans were going to get out of one scrape to be ready for the next. The tales are straightforward, no foe-defying magic, just companionable sharing of a disastrous state of affairs.”
It’s probably not too surprising that the first book Handler bought with his own money was Edward Gorey’s The Blue Aspic. He was in first or second grade at the time. His other influences
I know, it seems crazy to talk about the holiday season already. But this is also the point where we start putting in book orders for the latest titles and replacing old books as well. So let’s jump in and talk about some of the newest books for the holiday season:
MARY ENGELBREIT’S NUTCRACKER by Mary Engelbreit (On-sale: 11.1.11). Download the memory game
THE HAPPY ELF by Harry Connick Jr., illustrated by Dan Andreasen (On-sale now). Based on the song by Harry Connick Jr., this comes with a CD. You can also watch the video.
A CHRISTMAS GOODNIGHT by Nola Buck, illustrated by Sarah Jane Wright (On-sale now). In its starred review, Publishers Weekly said that this book “serves special status, to be kept off-season with other holiday decorations and then brought out each year at Christmas.”
THE LITTLEST EVERGREEN by Henry Cole (On-sale now). School Library Journal calls this “a fine Christmas choice with an environmental message.”
FANCY NANCY: SPLENDIFEROUS CHRISTMAS by Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser (On-sale now). Download the event guide.
Need to replace books in your collection? Here are some possible titles that you may need to re-order:
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 28, 2010
Winter. A very fun season: Ice skating, skiing, sledding, building snowmen—or snow-ladies—and the perfect excuse for some good-old hibernation. Definition of hibernation: staying inside watching movies, playing board games, and reading books.
From picture books to a young adult novel, check out this uber-cool list …
Picture Books
Bedtime for Bear
by Brett Helquist
Reading level: Ages 2-7
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (December 21, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: Wintertime is here, and that means it is bedtime for Bear. But Bear’s friends don’t think so. They want Bear to come and play outside in the snow. Bear can hear his friends calling. He hears them laughing and playing. Bear can’t sleep. But it’s bedtime! What is a bear to do?
Add this book to your collection: Bedtime for Bear
Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee
by Chris Van Dusen
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 36 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 27, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: One winter morning, Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee, head out bright and early to learn how to ski. But what begins as a pleasant day in the snow quickly goes downhill when a run-in with a curious moose sends them flying through the air and hanging above an abyss! How will Dee and Magee find their way out of this snowy situation? Chris Van Dusen, the creator of Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee and A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee, has crafted yet another fun-filled adventure for Magee fans old and new.
Add this book to your collection: Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee
Ten on the Sled
by Kim Norman (Author), Liza Woodruff (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 3-7
Hardcover: 24 pages
Publisher: Sterling (October 5, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: Author Kim Norman (Crocodaddy) and illustrator Liz
The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, by Jennifer Trafton, art by Brett Helquist, Dial Books, ages 9-11, 336 pages. Feisty 10-year-old Persimmony Smudge dreams of being heroic but to everyone else on the Island at the Center of Everything, she's just a poor, forgettable girl. Then one dark and stormy night, Persimmony strays from a path in the Willow Woods to chase her hat and is pulled into a fantastical adventure to save her island home and find her missing father. That night, after running after the hat, Persimmony discovers she's lost her way and starts to dance off her frustration in the pouring rain. While wildly twirling about, she falls into a willow tree, the home of poison-tongued tortoise, and is chased by the tortoise into the hollow of a log. While inside, Persimmony overhears two Leafeaters plotting to get back at the king for cutting down their woods. They will dig out the king's gold from under the mountain and hold it hostage until the king does what they say. The next day, after crawling out of the log, Persimmony meets a forlorn potato-faced man named Worvil and runs into an elderly potter friend Theodore, and together they agree that the king must be warned. But what's all this talk at the castle of a giant belt buckle being uncovered under the castle?
Rumor has it that their island mountain, Mount Majestic (which has risen and fallen once a day as longs as anyone can remember) is actually a sleeping giant covered with dirt. The king, an indulged, pepper-crazy 12-year-old, will hear nothing of it, but Persimmony is intrigued by the rumors and, after being dispatched to a cave, discovers the giant's enormous sleeping face. But how will she ever convince the island's inhabitants, the Leafeaters, Rumblebumps and especially King Lucas, that he's real? Unless she can get them to stop quarreling, the giant could wake up and cause the whole mountain to tumble down. Fantastic and fun, Trafton's debut is for anyone who loves to let their imagination run loose. (Recommended reading position: on your back with a toy building -- such as a Monopoly hotel -- balanced on your stomach.)
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