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Yea, movies! I would be such fun to watch someone watch a much-loved movie for the first time. You could program a First-timers Movie Festival for kids: Singin' in the Rain, King Kong, Captains Courageous, Mary Poppins, and more and more and more!

We were inspired by you and watched Mulan as a family (all four of us plus dog on the couch) tonight! It's my favorite of the newer Disney movies (all the dressing and undressing!) but...maybe a little scary. And sad. I don't know what Milly would make of Match Girl--she's very sensitive to sadness--but thank you so much for enbedding the video, so I can see it first. I love that story.

Lori: I am reminded of when Lucia had Mike Mulligan read to her for the first time. It was a book I liked well enough, but hadn't loved. However, Lucia was smitten by it, and I read the story with new eyes. I like the idea of a First-Timer's Film festival.

Anamaria: I've never seen Mulan, but I've been curious. In that vein, I tried to watch "Pocahontas" but after 10 minutes, I turned it off. I suppose I should watch it just so I know what it's actually like, but I'm bothered that Disney skewed the history of the Powhatan Nation beyond recognition despite having access to veritable sources.
[end rant].

I went back and reread "The Little Match-Seller" after we watched the film, and was struck by how vivid Andersen's language was. I think it's time for a rereading of Andersen's stories... though bit by bit is best, as they do tend to pull my mood down.

Wasn't it an angel in the Andersen story who took the child in the end? I'll have to go look that up.

Hi Alice. I just looked up the "Good Egg" book and it looks adorable. Out of curiosity -- this book looks like it's a bit of a technological challenge to make (well, at least to people like me who are really impressed by flaps and tabs and moving things). Would a book like that still be proposed by a writer, or would the ideas for a pop-up features come first, and then then a story made to fit it?

Thank you for bringing this very special day to our attention!

Thanks for the reminder! I feel like every day is Children's Book day in kindergarten. Even with my rowdy, rowdy class this year- they ALWAYS quiet down and are riveted when I read them a book. I love it....

What a wonderful book for the holidays!

Just found your site via Vodkamom, will be reading that book this week , thanks for pointing out the holiday !

Eric, this is magnificent!! Everything about it is wonderful ~ Dawn

Thank you so much, Dawn! I'm pretty happy with it.

This is great!
The textures and characters are awesome.
I kinda miss the lighter areas that you had in your value drawing though.
What happened to them?

Thanks Manelle!

I think it scanned a bit dark, but you're right, I did lose some of the contrasts. That's one of the difficulties gouache, it's hard to have strong values like you have in pencil or water colour.

Oh! I love the mouse! He's got a real twinkle in his eye...
Julie

Thanks Julie!

Gouache cool. I have hardly used it. I really liked it though because it is like acrylic and water color mixed. I hate using acrylic and love watercolor so yeah anyway. I'll have to keep that in mind about the contrast if I ever try it again.
It is a great painting.

Thanks Manelle, looking at it again, I think it is a pretty dark scan.

Love her rich red hair Eric! It does look like it took a lot of time. It's very beautiful. I do miss the lighting like the other one had though.. but I know gouache is not as easy to do this as other mediums.. well at least for me.

Thanks Alicia.

I forgot to mention that I love the texture of the hair on the rat. It's amazing... I can't wait to see your piece on Jack and the beanstalk!

Thanks! I'm tempted to rescan it, butI think I'll leave it for now.

It is nice to see this one finished. I would like to see the whole thing.
I can realate to the differences in value from the drawing to the painting. Sometimes you need to exaggerate values in black and white that you can approach differently with color. I like the saturated colors and I think that children will too. If you stuck to the values in the drawing it would be more washed out.

Whew! Thanks Frank! It's nice to hear from someone who shares my thoughts on this one. I'll post a photo of it in a few days so you can see the whole thing.

Oooh lovely...... this will be a killer portfolio!

Thank you so much, Viviane!

It turned out excellent! It's so dark and mysterious Eric, one of your best! You make me love rodents!

Thanks Ambera!

Hi Eric
It's great to see the original pencil work and then the final illustration. This one is lovely.

I really, really love your pencil work, even some of your quick sketches are lovely - so full of life and feeling.

Goodluck with all this new portfolio work.

Thanks Gail!

very nice work! your art has such a timeless feel to it, something I wish to achieve someday! I really like the books actually, especially the design on the binding. Sorry it's taken so long for me to write back. Nope, I have no bboks yet...but SOONER or LATER!! I;ll keep you posted! cheers my friend.

Thanks Albert!
When your first book comes out I'll be first in line!

Eric have you been tagged yet? If not you have been now. Tell us five interesting things about you and then tag five new people.

Hi Manelle! I've already been tagged with that one!

Thanks Frank! I think if there's one thing that I'm always trying to improve it's the over all design or composition of the piece. Ever since I read Ruskin's Elements Of Drawing and he defined composition as the way every element relates to every other element I've been trying to make my pictures more cohesive.

I totally agree with Frank! Yes to all that he said.. :o)
Plus we do get the sense of place in your pieces.. all of them have it, every time.

Good luck with Josephine Pebbles and I do hope you choose to work the illustrations on pencil that would make it one magnificent book!

Thanks Alicia! I'm relying more and more on "real" places and trying to make them magical, in this case my book shelf with my actual books. I love the idea of children looking at a painting full of magic and wonder and recognizing something that looks like their living room or back yard.

How great that it is your bookcase, I love that!!

Maybe one of these nights when you are up because you can't sleep and decided to pick The Book of Birds from your shelf, you'll hear a tiny giggle... Then you'll know ... they turned out to be magical places after all :o)

What a wonderful thought Alicia!

My father in law has been sending me these great early 20th century books with tipped in plates of intricate birds or flowers, great books to have.

How Beautiful, Eric!! Your paintings tell the story all by themselves, sometimes I don't even think they need words! Can't wait to see how this painting will look, it's an amazing drawing.

Thanks Ambera!

You may need a translator...
http://www.contesafricains.com/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=18
Here is a huuuuge collection of african tales.
And i really enjoy your sketch of Thumbelina (can't wait to see the colors !)

This is a great drawing. I can't get over how great all you stuff is. The values, composition and textures are so cool.

Hi Eric, thinking about your portfolio, I believe that you must decide what type of works you really want to do and which ones you would like that they call for it.
I believe that your work has such a good level and you will do beautiful books. Exitos!!!

Wow! Thanks a million, Anais! I really appreciate it! I can read a little bit of French and my wife is fluent. And thanks for the kind words.

Thank you so much, Manelle!


Thanks a lot Claudia! That's really good advice.

I'll get you a list of some.

Your paintings are just beautiful and I like Frank's word..."appealing". I am glad I found your site quite by accident looking up info for ET folk tales :)

Thank you so much Nancy! I'm really glad you found my site too!

Stunning I say! This sketch is remarkable. The textures are what really makes it.

Thanks Sherry!

What was up with that comment by "Mogul?"
Virus perhaps?

That's it, I've been having problems with that, chasing around fake comments.

This is gorgeous Eric!

Thanks Paige!

oh, this is beautiful, Eric.

Thanks Andrea! The final painting is almost done.

Hi Eric, I've been away for a few days and what a treat to come back to see this wonderful drawing! I love the way you create the sense of wonder and mystery by using 'ordinary' objects like books, very inventive.

Thanks Jess! And especially thanks for recognizing what I'm trying to do, it's so great when someone can see the philosophy behind your art work.

Beautiful drawing : )

Thank you so much, Lisa!

As a 5th and 6th grade teacher in Washington, D.C., I have been struggling with how to teach my students about recycling. My challenge is that it is common for my students to see older kids throwing trash wherever they roam. This book sounds like it could raise interesting discussions about what happens to trash and how what we think is trash could be reused. Giving them the idea that they can be creative may give them ownership over the trash they would otherwise throw away.

I am a second grade teacher in Washington, DC and I have had several conversations with my students about recycling. We looked out of the class room window and talked about several items that could be recycled. There is a pool just outside the window and we counted how much trash was inside and if it looked like a good place to swim. We also talked about what the trash could be used for. This book would be great for next year because we have a project where students could collect trash with their parents and make thing out of them.

Without reading the book, I found the references made to events that take place in the book clever. In my 5th grade class we discuss several “curent event” issues and I think this book would offer great discussion to the understanding of how to make better use of the items we consider trash. I appreciate how this story offers and encourages students to think outside of the box when it comes to trash- providing them with creative options. This book would also be a great segway to discuss other earth conscience topics such as global warming.

The Dumpster Diver sounds interesting and worth reading considering its approach to recycling. I am currently doing my practicum at an elementary school in Washington, DC. I am with 1st grade students and we recycle in our classroom. Everyone participates but I believe a book like this would bring insight to the issue of recycling. It sounds like with the creative language and illustrations used within this book, interesting discussions about recycling would surface. I definitely plan to look into this book. Thank You

Andy Spann :)

What a lovely conversation about my book! You really DO “get it”–thanks so much for your insightful and entertaining comments! (I didn’t fully realize the child-appeal of “Rule Number TWO!”)

I was just in Seattle where a bookstore called All for Kids sponsored a contest where kids submitted items crafted out of junk. Photos of the winning creations will be posted soon at www.allforkidsbooks.com. One of my favorites was a very simple project: a wind chime made out of miscellaneous metal items (I think I remember an old faucet, a spoon, etc.).

I really do hope that parents and teachers can use this book to inspire the children in their lives to be creative with “junk”–goodness knows, we all have so much of it!

[…] Our greatest challenge and responsibility is reaching the thousands of people who want to support literacy needs in their own communities - to inform and engage this massive universe of literacy change agents who then organize local literacy programs, and sponsor the needs of teachers and other literacy agents. We are able to achieve great success in magazine delivery by leveraging many advanced social networking and other Web 2.0 technologies. For example, in addition to our online content management systems, blogs, and online forms, we leverage the Flickr photo sharing site to spotlight wonderful literacy events. We have begun a MySpace page to broaden our audience. We are exploring the value of digital versions of print magazines in terms of increased access and literacy. We’ve been invited to speak on podcasts and will continue to reach out to these and other web media outlets to grow awareness and participation in our community based literacy efforts. We also leverage online, community fundraising tools, such as ChipIn, Fundable, and Network for Good, so that groups can join together to pool their support for literacy needs. Our Kids Magazine Airlift program is a first-ever program where consumers can purchase magazine gifts online at publisher web sites for at-risk children and families in their community or across the country. MagazineLiteracy.org supplies the mailing addresses of early learning and after-school mentoring programs, foster group homes, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and other literacy programs. All of this work is made possible by the volunteers who connect to MagazineLiteracy.org via VolunteerMatch, Craigslist, and other web tools. […]

[…] Mark speaks with Janet Wong about the concept behind her book The Dumpster Diver, how she incorporates her own life in her books, and her participating in the meet the author series of books. As a treat, Janet reads one of her poems. […]

I’m still listening and LOVING the show. ;)

-Charles

Even though we got your occupation wrong as part of our PAB discussion?

THANKS!! We love you being part of this!

Andrea

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What an important book! Wouldn’t it be great if we could all do this? Thanks for putting info about this one out there. I will get it for the recess attender in my life.

Maryann,

I agree completely.

Thanks so much for listening and for taking the time to share your thoughts with the rest of us.

I hope your recess-attender loves it.
Andrea

I wonder if this book came out before or after the movie “Mean Girls” because there seems to be a similar plot. There is also a book called “Queen Bees and Wannabees” which examines the intricacies of girlhood relationships. This book sounds like a great way to begin a discussion with children, especially girls, about bullies and what lies behind the bullying. It would also lead well into a discussion of how to respond to bullying. This is something all children deal with in some way or another and an analysis of the reaction of all the characters in the book and how those reactions feed or starve the status quo that seems to be present at the start of the book.

The title was interesting to me, which is why I picked this podcast. I was totally intrigued by Mean Jean the Recess Queen and little Katie Sue. I thought from the title that it would have something to do with bullying, but I was more interested in the life lessons I could share with my students in the character of Katie Sue. As people sometimes do, they allow the status quo to be uninterrupted. Such was the case with playground according to Jean. It was her way or the highway and nobody dared rock the boat. That is until little pint-sized Katie Sue showed up. She was a free thinker and saw no reason to abide by some of the craziness Jean dished out on a daily basis. She didn’t make a big deal of it, she just respectfully did her own thing. That’s all I want for some of my girls, to be free thinkers and NOT to go along with the crowd. Not to try to overthrow the bully and thereby become the new queen bee, but to live your life unapologetically and with purpose. It was a great discussion.

I am a second grade teacher in Washington, DC I was really interested in this book because we have had a recent episode at my school where students were being bullied into misbehaving. This occurred during lunch and not recess but I am sure my student will connect the two. The students were being bullied into throwing food. We talked about what it means to be a leader and what we can do to show others how strong leaders have to be. Anyone can misbehave when bullied to do so but it takes a special person to stand up for what is right.

I really liked the discussion of this book. Bullying is an important issue to expose all children to because you never know who might be experiencing bullying or be a bully themselves. It is sometimes like a secret life children lead that adults are blind to. A book like “The Recess Queen” really gets to the heart of the matter without making anyone the bad guy or anyone the hero. It is simply a situation that needs to be resolved in order for everyone to be happy. I think this is important because it is easy to cast the roles as completely black and white. In reality it isn’t that simple and bullying is sometimes the result of problems a child is having.

Leslie Jones
Washington DC