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What was your funniest/most dramatic rainy day ever?
By: Tasha Saecker,
on 2/22/2011
Check out my review on Waking Brain Cells. This blog will stop being updated at the end of the week. Change your bookmarks and RSS feeds!
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By: ARIS,
on 12/5/2010
Continuing my string of autumn-themed paintings, here is yet another:
This illustration is another private commission and installment in the "Little Lost Squirrels" story. Here they are mid-journey taking shelter from the storm. We carried a couple details from previous "Lost Squirrels" illustrations over into this illustration to hint at the continuity - the little green beetle has been observing the unfolding events through several paintings as has the watchful owl. I always think it's fun to find these kinds of extras details in artists' work - kind of like you're in on a little secret!
By: prkcs,
on 11/6/2010
The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the waterspout.
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.
Out came the sun
And Dried up all the rain.
So the itsy bitsy spider
Climvbed up the spout again.
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By: Zoe,
on 10/4/2010
Today is the start of the UK’s Children’s Book Week, a celebration of reading for pleasure for children of primary school age (5-11) with special events taking place all over the country in schools, libraries and bookshops. 79 years old and going from strength to strength, the theme of this year’s Children’s Book Week is “books from around the world“.
Illustration: Shirin Adl for Children's Book Week 2010
As part of Children’s Book Week a special pack has been created (primarily with teachers in mind, but available to anyone to download) including book lists relating to this year’s theme for different age groups, for example:
For younger children:
For emerging readers
Poetry fro
By: Paula Becker,
on 9/22/2010
It’s one of those days. You know them. Days where you don’t have any media stimulation on at all (no radio, tv, music, twitter, etc.). And the clock on the wall, the ticking was too loud so it was removed. All I can hear are the leaves blowing in the breeze and a squirrel in the far background, fussing about something. A dog now barks in the distance. Sometimes you have to create your own peace.
By: John Mark Boling,
on 9/13/2010
Thanks to everyone who braved the rain to come support the Brooklyn Book Festival yesterday! We had a wonderful time manning the Overlook booth (which gave us a front-row seat to some outstanding readings!) and seeing the rest of the festival.
If you missed the festival, NY1 ran this piece highlighting the festival. Notice the books they pan over--those are ours! You can see someone paging through Let's Have a Bite! less than 10 seconds in. Hooray!
Here are a few of the photos we took of our time at the BKBF. Sadly, Kate's point-and-shoot didn't hold up very well in the rain, but if you were there, hopefully these photos bring back some great memories of wonderful books!
Can't wait to see you there next year!
By: Zoe,
on 8/4/2010
Photo: Ctd 2005
Normally it happens here on Playing by the book that we come across a book that we love and then we find a way to “play” the book, but occasionally it happens the other way round. A couple of months back I saw this amazing water wall at Let the children play, and soon after the same idea re-interpreted by Teacher Tom. I knew this project would be a hit with my girls, involving as it does lots of “junk”, “engineering”, water and (as noted in the original water wall post) power tools…
Using an electric drill and a load of bolts and butterfly nuts (also known as wing nuts) we attached various recycled containers to an old fence panel that had been languishing unloved behind our shed. I did let M use the electric drill, but taking a photo of that was a challenge too far!
We connected hosepipe cut offs to some of our bottles. To make a seal we used plasticine to fill the gaps and then our favourite all purpose heavy-duty, fix-it tape – duck tape.
We placed some collecting containers at the bottom of the panel so that we could recycle as much water as possible and then the girls were let loose with their watering cans.
They both absolutely loved making their own “waterfall-water-wall” and soon developed other ways of playing with their creation!
I didn’t manage to get any photos, but another thing we did was to put a 4 Comments on Waterfall-Water-Wall, last added: 8/5/2010
By: Paula Becker,
on 6/7/2010
I feel I need for some cartoon practice so I’m going to start drawing some “snippets” out of my life each day. It should give me the ability to fool around with the style, etc. We’ll see how that goes. These are from yesterday, Sunday. It was a cool and rainy day but we weren’t [...]
By: Stacy A. Nyikos,
on 5/19/2010
By: Laurel Gaylord,
on 5/7/2010
It's gonna rain this week
But I'm not sure what day
There's too many to choose from
And they all have an equal say
Sunday should be sunny
With Monday humid and hot
Tuesday looks like wind
While Wednesday hits the spot
Thursday it will pour for sure,
Cause that's the day of my big game
I've been waiting for this day all year
And now it's going to rain!
Friday the sky will clear
And Saturday has only sun
Why can't my game be sooner
Or after the rain is done!
So yesterday, whilst doing laundry, or rather, moving laundry from washer to dryer, I walked into a puddle of water. And not just any puddle of water, but a flooded basement. A flooded FINISHED basement. Thankfully all my books are okay, but my stepson's room is not. It's pretty much ruined. Hubby was in New Jersey where he is during the week, and I was home panicking about the amount of water coming into the house. Thankfully my neighbor just happened to be home yesterday and was kind enough to come over and help me out with the disaster. In the pouring rain, he dug ditches to keep the water away from the foundation, but due to the soaking rains, the drainage system couldn't keep up with it, so the water seeped in through the foundation anyway.
Luckily hubby left NJ and came home yesterday to help with the mess, we need to pull up rugs, and hope that no mold grows anywhere. I can't disinfect until the water stops coming in and it's still coming in. Slower than it was yesterday, but we have to keep wet/vacuuming it up about every 10-15 minutes or the water goes right into my stepson's room. (He lost a couple a books that he had lying on the floor, but thankfully he said nothing that can't be replaced.)
For all of you also dealing with this horrible weather, I sympathize with the frustrations of what damage water can do.
Taking Monty Python´s sketch as inspiration, I illustrated an ex-bunny. Oh well.. all is part of the circle of life, some bunny expires in the woods and some plant blossom thanks to him.
Inspirandome en el sketch de Monty Python, illustré un ex-conejo. Bueno… todo es parte del cirulo de la vida, un conejito muere en el bosque y algunas plantas crecen gracias a él.
10 Comments on Illustration Friday ….Expired…., last added: 3/23/2010
By: Paula Pertile,
on 3/4/2010
© Paula Pertile
new rose leaves (I like how they're red at first, then turn green later)
lilac buds
hydrangea blossoms
fig blossoms
a "Phyllo bud"
By: jeff,
on 2/25/2010
For the longest time, I thought that my father was magic. He really only had one power, but it was impressive: he could turn off the rain with a snap of his finger! Another snap, and it turned back on!
For some reason, he didn’t use his powers for the greater good, solving droughts and clearing up the weather at my soccer games, he only exercised this amazing power in two second intervals while driving in the rain at night… and going under overpasses…
Wait a second…
As an adult, you have a distinct intellectual advantage, and it is your right, nay, your DUTY to mystify your children/nephews/granddaughters with your brilliance and superpowers. MJM Books wants to know: how do you put one over on your little ones? If we all share, we can increase our magical powers faster than a whole year of Hogwarts.
Please leave a comment and check out how other parents are fooling their trusting little angels.
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By: Sherrie Petersen,
on 1/18/2010
If you've ever lived in or visited Southern California during a winter storm, you know about the news phenomenon known as StormWatch. I think newscasters here LIVE for StormWatch.
Considering what the rest of the country has been putting up with this month, we really have nothing to talk about. But even before the rain started coming down Sunday afternoon, the reporters were ready with their packages.
As I sat near an open window enjoying the sound of gentle rainfall, someone turned on the news. And seriously, the entire 30 minute newscast was focused on the epic storm that will be hitting the West Coast this week.
"Tides will be high! Don't walk out on jetty's and be careful on the beach!"
"Fifteen to 30 foot swells!" So of course every surfer is reaching for his wet suit.
"People in burn areas should be ready to evacuate immediately in case of mudslides!"
"Visit this location to get your sandbags!"
The thing is, we get so little weather here that heavy sprinkles can cause major traffic accidents. You'll hear people say things like, "I'm going to get to the grocery store before it starts raining." Do they not realize that people in Seattle still manage to shop, eat and sip espresso in the midst of a downpour?
Don't get me wrong: rain can wreak havoc here, especially in areas ravaged by wild fires in the summer. But do the newspeople really need to have cameras set up 24/7 to capture the disasters they're hoping to win an Emmy for covering? Do we really need to interview those intrepid shoppers in Santa Barbara who were brave enough to face the elements in search of a pair of Lucky jeans? Puh-leeze.
Frankly, most of us are thankful for the rain and glad for the change. My parents are just hoping to get enough precipitation in Los Angeles County to lift the rationing so they can water the lawn without fear of the neighbors reporting them to the authorities.
So while the weather girls are shouting into their mikes and warning us not to leave the house without raincoats and umbrellas, I'll be by my fireplace reading and writing.
Some things never change, regardless of the weather.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The winner of the Jordan Sonnenblick novel, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie is:
By: Paula Pertile,
on 10/13/2009
Finished my building rendering job. Sorry I didn't follow through with the step-by-step thing - I had to burrow in and just get it done and didn't feel like stopping to scan and all that. Maybe the next one. I did like doing the different crop, and putting in a little Fall foliage. Sometimes I get pictures to work from that are covered with snow, and have to fake in the 'growie bits', but this one was easier to capture.
~~~~~~~~
Other news - I did my art show / fair this weekend, and think I've recovered. It was OK, the people running the show were lovely and the restaurants and businesses involved get an A for support, and for handing out samples of Orange Chicken and other delectables for all of us artists.
But I have to say, the flip side was that I've confirmed my feeling that art shows are not my thing. I don't particularly like sitting behind a white cloth draped table with framed and matted samples of my art, watching people slow down and smile and look, or maybe make a nice comment, then move on enthusiastically to the booth next to me with the guy selling little glass turtles he makes out of marbles.
There was one other guy there who is also an illustrator, and a really good one. He's been around a while, doing architectural illustration (the real kind, for architects and builders, of new buildings) and has had to branch out some because of the economy, and the fact that no one is building anything nowadays. It was kind of sobering to think that he and I were both trying a venue like this, just to see what would happen, when I know that in the not too distant past neither of us would even remotely consider this as a viable option for selling /getting work.
I may - no, make that will - be paring down my 6 holiday shows to, oh, one or two more that I've committed to, and that will showcase my knitting as well as art. They're both a little bit different environment, and may be more rewarding.
~~~~~~~
Found this today:
I'm amazed that these people spend all day doing this, knowing that it will all be washed away at the end of the day. Not only could I not bear that thought, I couldn't sit all cramped up like that on a hard sidewalk for hours. So my hat (if I wore one) is off to them.)
~~~~~~~
I also really enjoyed this article by Bruce Handy in the NYTimes about Where the Wild Things Are (the book, not the new movie).
(Illustration © Christian Northeast)
I never read the book until I was an adult, so I don't have the 'kid perspective' on it he speaks of. Interesting to think about. I only looked at it as a budding illustrator who dissected his rendering technique, more than as a good or not-so-good children's story.
I also love Maurice Sendak's recent comment telling parents who think the movie is too scary to "go to hell". How refreshing! Especially in the 'nicey-nice' children's book world, where you don't generally hear that kind of thing.
Just saying.
~~~~~~
Its raining cats and dogs here, wow. It went from way too hot to this in no time flat. What happened to Fall? I see one of my too-tall rose bushes has already succumbed to the wind, and has a large branch broken and hanging sadly lawn-wise. I had planned to go out today for a little R&R, but maybe I'll rethink that. This is one of those days where people who have good sense just hunker down and stay inside until it passes. I am worried about my little wild kitty friend who comes to eat every day and is usually waiting on the back porch for the cat door to open in the morning. He's a no show today, and I wonder where he's tucked in - hopefully somewhere dry and warm. He'll be hungry when he does make an appearance, I'm sure!
By: ARIS,
on 9/14/2009
By: Paula Pertile,
on 9/12/2009
Yay! Yesterday it was 100 degrees, and today its raining. CrAzY! But I love it.
Its been a funny week. Not 'ha ha' funny, just all over the place. Plumbing troubles (which got fixed, thanks to some nice guys ~ thanks Nice Guys!). Started some new art, which isn't showable yet. Found out I will be included in a sort of trunk show in October, and am expected to have a lot of knitting to show, so that's what I'm back into today.
SewingKat2 included me in her etsy Treasury today. Look at all that gorgeous knitting!
Thanks Chantal! (I'm in the top row, center ~ my Garden Court scarf).
The cats are all squirrelly because of the rain. They go out, then come right back in, and want to be entertained, but I'm not in the mood. Ahh, kids. I wish I could give them crayons or something. ha
OK, so that's it for today. Nothing too exciting, just wanted to check in. Knitting a "Gingerbread and Fog" scarf which may go into the shop this weekend, depending on the lighting for taking pics, and a few other things. Some hunter green tweed wool is up next, and I think I'll do something really complicated with that. We'll see.
Happy weekend!
By: Kirsty,
on 8/19/2009
With it no longer being ‘odds on’ for a barbecue summer in the UK this year, it’s time for the British to get back to talking about their favourite subject: the rain. OUP UK Publicity Manager Juliet Evans has been speaking to Jeremy Butterfield, author of Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare, about different ways we talk about rain, in English as well as in other languages.
Language expert Jeremy Butterfield has been examining our fascination with the weather using the Oxford English Corpus, Oxford University Press’s database of over 2 billion words. ‘The Eskimos are commonly supposed to have dozens of words for snow (they haven’t, but it’s one of the most enduring language myths around),’ says Jeremy. ‘But even supposing it were true, English speakers could play them at their own game when it comes to rain.’
Describing your average British Bank Holiday weather:
• It’s pouring
• It’s pelting down
• It’s raining cats and dogs
• It’s bucketing it down
• It’s raining pitchforks
‘People have come up with several explanations for the cats and dogs image,’ comments Jeremy. ‘One suggestion is that it is a corruption of the obsolete French word catad(o)upe, meaning ‘waterfall’; another peddles the idea that cats and dogs sheltering in the thatch of houses were washed out by heavy storms; another that because of poor drains dead cats and dogs could be seen floating down the streets during rainstorms, making it look as if they had fallen from the sky.’
‘However, if it can pitchforks, why not cats and dogs? Many other languages use animal imagery too. And the Welsh language even goes one step further, by bringing in humans: Bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn (‘It’s raining old women and sticks’)!’
How to talk about the rain in other languages:
Spanish
Caen chuzos de punta
It’s raining sticks tip downwards (literally, ‘sticks are falling tip downwards’)
French
Il pleut des crapauds et des chats
It’s raining toads and cats
Il pleut des vaches
It’s raining cows
Il pleut des clous
It’s raining nails
Brazilian Portuguese
Chove pra cachorro
It’s raining ‘for the dog’
German
Es regnet Bindfäden
It’s raining pieces of string
Welsh
Bwrw cyllyll a ffyrc
It’s raining knives and forks
Bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn
It’s raining old women and sticks
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 8/18/2009
Several friends have sent links to this wonderful video of the song AFRICA. It starts with creating the sound effects of a rain storm. Click here or on the sidebar. I can just see doing this with a whole group of kids! Music teachers?
The rock band Toto scored their biggest hit with this song in 1982.
But it has been reinvented. Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. Group members simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands.
Turn up the volume to high …. and close your eyes! Be patient as it starts softly before the vol really picks up. Enjoy!
Ciao!
Shutta
Click here for some great thunder sound effects!
(*Clip art by: http://www.designedtoat.com)
Still, the author/illustrator is great to know about – thanks!
4 Comments on Sun and stuff, last added: 3/5/2010
Una delicia este dibujo, es tan tierno y tan dulce. Besitos.
Grazie Pepi, besitos :)
Bellissima e sempre molto tenera la tua bambina.
Buona settimana
Gabriella
Grazie Gabriella :) buona settimana anche a te!!!