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The Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie (based on Book 6 of the same name) is doing well in the box office, since it opened. It’s doing even better than The Dark Knight; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has had the biggest midnight opening box office gross ever, taking in an estimated $22.2 million. Wow! I love that so many people read the books and cared about it enough to see the movie.

Have you gone to see it yet? Will you?

I went last week. Though I enjoyed it, I didn’t find myself as emotionally engaged as I expected to be. I think the relationship between Harry and Aldous, especially, was stronger in the book; he seemed more of a father figure there. That was important, I thought, for this book. But it was still neat seeing Harry and all the characters. What was your reaction?

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info.

Magyk (Septimus Heap, Book 1), the first book in Angie Sage’s middle-grade series, is going to become an animated movie! David Frankel (Marley & Me) will direct it through Warner Bros., Rob Lieber (Neopets) is adapting the story, and Karen Rosenfelt is producing the picture. AND Angie Sage will be the executive producer. How cool is that–to be the author of a book that becomes a movie and to have input into the movie?

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info.

I love Where the Wild Things Are. It scared me a bit as a kid, but I grew into it, and then found myself loving it. Do you like it?

The movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s picture book Where the Wild Things Are has a new release date. The movie, directed by Spike Jonze, will be released October 16, 2009. The voice cast features stars such as Catherine Keener, Benicio Del Toro, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O’Hara, and James Gandolfini.

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info.

The middle-grade book series Goosebumps by R. L. Stine is going to become a live-action movie produced by Columbia Pictures. According to Cynopsis Kids, the Goosebumps movie will likely feature unknown young actors as the leads, with well-known actors in supporting roles–just as the Harry Potter movies did.

I like hearing about deals like this. The Goosebumps series has been around for a long time, and now it’s being made into a movie–which means to me that a book can still gain attention years after it’s published. (I think the first book appeared in 1992.) So to me, that’s hopeful news for authors–and publishers. I love it.

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info.

According to Cynopsis Kids, two new TV shows are in production based on Budge Wilson’s book Before Green Gables(the prequel to Anne of Green Gables). Japanese publisher Shinchosha is producing an animated version of Before Green Gables, and a new live-action 3-hour TV movie Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning is in production in Canada, to be aired on CTV. The live-action movie sounds appealing to me.

Jason Carter Eaton’s middle-grade book The Facttracker is going to become a live-action movie; MGM purchased the film rights. David Silverman (Monsters Inc., The Simpsons Movie) will direct the movie. I wonder if this will get some kids who haven’t read the book to pick it up?

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info

R.L. Stine’s middle-grade Goosebumps series are going to be made into films. Columbia Pictures has sealed the deal with Scholastic Media; Deborah Forte and Neal Moritz (I Am Legend, Prom Night, Evan Almighty an Fast and Furious) will be producing the film.

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info

According to Cynopsis Kids, who saw this through the LA Times, there are going to be eight Harry Potter movies (there are only seven Harry Potter books) There are seven Harry Potter books, but there will be eight Harry Potter movies; the seventh and last Harry Potter book is going to be produced as a two-part movie–Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1, and Part II, and directed by David Yates. The first part will be released November 2010, and the second part will be released in May 2011. Apparently the reason for this two-part movie is to include details that the time contraints of a single movie would prevent them from including–but it also sounds like a way to extend the Harry Potter ferver and rake in more money…. I also wonder how fans will react to the sixth-month wait between part I and II.

Fans of Bone , a popular graphic novel by Jeff Smith, may be happy to know that Bone is going to be made into a movie. Warner Bros picked up the rights, Jeff Smith will be the executive producer, and the movie will be produced by Dan Lin.

I find it interesting. I know that super-hero comic books have made the transition, quite successfully, from comic book to move screen, but I’m not aware of graphic novels that have done so in North America. Though I haven’t read many graphic novels, so it could just be that I’m not aware of it.

I found this via Cynopsis Kids.

Alexander Key’s Escape to Witch Mountain is being remade as a movie by Disney. The book was released as a movie with the same title by Disney in 1975. I love Key’s book–it’s a wonderful middle-grade paranormal fantasy, beautifully written, with great values in it and so much hope, and it remains one of my favorite books. The original movie was also really enjoyable, though a bit different than the book.

So I’m interested to see what this remake will be like. The remake movie is called “The Race to Witch Mountain,” and will star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Ciaran Hinds, and Alexander Ludwig, and be directed by Andy Fickman. The release date is March 2009.

Alexander Key’s Escape to Witch Mountain is out of print, but it’s one of those books that, if you love paranormal fantasy, I suggest you find a copy.

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info.

Illustration Friday: Open

This is a special Illustration Friday because there will be an exhibition of 25 pieces from this week's entries. Here is some info that I got from the Illustration Friday blog page:

"Open, a bookstore and art gallery in Long Beach, California is sponsoring this week’s topic, “open“, and in a show opening November 3rd — in less than a month — they will display 25 IF entries. Which 25? That’s up to you, the loverly IF community! You get to vote on your favorites to decide which ones go up on the walls".

If you would like to participate and vote for your five favourites, just click here:
Illustration friday gallery show

Here's my entry:

Every Saturday morning come rain or shine, little Alphonse would be there, waiting for the Fromagerie to open.


cardboard tag, acrylic, ink and collage

(That's what he's reading, but its too small to see.)

Polychromo colored pencils on illustration board, what else? (Well, I know I said I might do watercolor on this one, but changed my mind.)

I tend to draw the same furniture over and over. Do you do that? I draw pieces I like, or have, or would like to have.

This is for a story I'm doing about mice and socks. I invented these mice characters last Christmas, and I think they need to tell their stories. I will get to that next. (Well, after I finish about 12 hundred other things on my plate...)

Here is what they were up to last Christmas, in case you missed them: