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Happy centennial birthday to Bill Peet (1915-2002) who was born in Grandview, Indiana exactly one hundred years ago today.

As I write this I don’t know what the election results are and I shall refuse to think about them all the livelong day.  Lalalalalala!  No images today, by the way.  I apparently hit my limit and need to beg SLJ for a little more space.  I’m good for it!  Honest!

• So there’s lots of post-Sandy news and ways that you can help the libraries that got hit hard in the gut this past week.  First let’s start with something (relatively) cheery.  PW did a great series of interviews with folks in the publishing industry hit by Sandy.  There you can read how Lois Lowry and Laura Vaccaro Seeger dodged death (fairly literally) and why folks like Eric Berlin and Rebecca Stead are being namechecked in Hoboken.  They also did a piece on how folks like Kate Messner (with Kid Lit Cares) and Urban Librarians Unite have been coming together to collect books and money for hard hit systems.  Author/illustrator Peter Brown alerted me to this fantastic and continually updated list of what the various shelters and organizations in the community need desperately at this time.  Meanwhile I wanted to help out Hoboken in some way but it’s still too soon to find out how.  In the meantime, there’s a good site dedicated to Rebuilding New Jersey’s Libraries for those of you who want to help.

• There are some interesting posts ah-brewing over at the Forum of the American Journal of Education.  Steven Herb, a fellow who has served on more than a few committees during his time looks at Caldecott Awards and Honors past and present with some interesting insights. I never knew the beef folks had with Marcia Brown’s Shadow until now, but I definitely get the grumbles.  Then he goes on to answer all your questions about how the darn Caldecotts are given out anyway.  Thanks to Vic Sensenig for the links!

• One request: When I die, could someone please write a catchy song using my name that sounds as fun as this one made for picture book author/illustrator Bill Peet by the kids at The Calhoun School?  It’s all I’ve ever wanted.  Honest.  Thanks to Karen Walsh for the link.

• Suppose I should mention some of the serious news out there.  This broke just before the hurricane did but even strong winds couldn’t distract us from the fact that Penguin and Random House are set to become as one.  Naturally the response over the blogosphere is to come up with a name for this new company.  The Random Penguin House is the most repeated, so why don’t we just simplify things and just call it Odd Ice Floe instead?  Has a ring to it, it does.

You may have missed it, and you’d be forgiven if you had, but the New York Times Best Illustrated list of 2012 is out and boy is it a doozy!  The winners include:

• Bear Despair written and illustrated by Gaëtan Dorémus (Enchanted Lion)

• The Beetle Book written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Houghton)

• House Held Up by Trees written by Ted Kooser; illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick)

• The Hueys in the New Sweater written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel)

• Infinity and Me written by Kate Hosford; illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska (Carolrhoda)

• Little Bird written by Germano Zullo; illustrated by Albertine (Enchanted Lion)

• One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World written and illustrated by Joe McKendry (Godine)

• Red Knit Cap Girl written and illustrated by Naoko Stoop (Tingley/Little)

• Stephen and the Beetle written by Jorge Luján; illustrated by Chiara Carrer (Groundwood)

• Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad written and illustrated by Henry Cole (Scholastic)

I’ve read each and every last one of these and what strikes me is how international it is this year.  French, Irish, Japanese, Canadian, and more author/illustrators grace the list.  A special shout out to Claudia over at Enchanting Lion Books for getting two titles on there, but it’s just as nice to see little guys like Groundwood and Lerner having their day in the sun.  I haven’t reviewed a single one of these, but now I’m thinking maybe it would be a good idea.  Dunno.  They’re all rather . . . rather tasteful, wouldn’t you say?

• Hobbit to star in the silver screen adaptation of Molly Moon.  Okay . . . that’s not exactly how they’re pitching it, but that’s how I see it.  We would also have accepted “Back-up Driveshaft guitarist” as a description as well.  Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.

• Hey!  Travis Jonker over at 100 Scope Notes went and had a baby on us!  Well, congrats to you, Travis!  Little bugger is one good looking dude.  Woo-hoo!

• You know how college kids are always creating elaborate, relatively clever pranks in their Senior years?  Well, when I attended Earlham College back in the day I walked into our cafeteria (called, like every other cafeteria in the nation, Saga) to find that someone had managed to paint a huge image on the ceiling .  We’re talking a good 40 feet off the ground, there were some beloved character’s from the school newspaper, Plato’s Republic, as penned by Alexis Fajardo.  They were reenacting Michelangelo’s God touching Adam’s finger moment.  It was beautiful.  Fast forward some 20 odd years later (doing the math . . . not quite right but close enough) and that same Alexis Fajardo has started a Kickstarter page for his graphic novel series Kid Beowulf.  Seems that his publisher up and died on him as he was producing the third volume, so he needs a bit of a kick.  Check out the site and see what you think.  I guarantee you won’t find another comic starring Beowulf and his twin brother Grendel having adventures.

• Finally, the following notice was sent by author Kathi Appelt.  I met Laura myself, so I know how important this can be.  In lieu of a Daily Image today, please read the following:

Who needs the Disney Company! We’ve already got the movie poster for a biopic about Walt Disney so we may as well go ahead and cast the movie. That’s what Cartoon Brew reader Ron did in the comments section yesterday. Below are his novel casting choices for the likes of Roy Disney, Ub Iwerks, Margaret Winkler, Fred Moore, Bill Tytla, Art Babbitt, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and others. Share your dream cast in the comments.

Roy O. Disney :: Joel David Moore

Ub Iwerks :: Tarran Killam

Charles Mintz :: Jeremy Piven

Margaret Winkler :: Samantha Morton

Fred Moore :: Sam Huntington

Ward Kimball :: Chris Diamantopoulos

Bill Tytla :: Kevin Dillon

Art Babbitt :: Don Swayze (Apparently, Swayze has already committed to this non-existent film. Ron wrote in the comments, “I’ve met him in person and he looks just like a young Art Babbitt. I told him that in fact and said he should try to play Art Babbitt in a biopic. He seemed open to the idea once I explained who Art Babbitt was and his contribution to history.”)

Marc Davis :: David Cross

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston :: Jason Bateman and Jon Cryer

Shamus Culhane :: Kevin Connolly

Bill Peet :: Topher Grace

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Art Babbitt, Bill Peet, Bill Tytla, Charles Mintz, Frank Thomas, Fred Moore, Marc Davis, Margaret Winkler, Ollie Johnston, Roy O. Disney,

Though Bill Peet's professional accomplishments included author, illustrator, and animator/filmmaker, drawing was his most cherished hobby - from as far back as he can remember. He said,

"I drew for hours at a time just for the fun of it, and yet I was hoping to find some practical reason to draw for the rest of my life."

Two exciting, new exhibits for children's book lovers who happen to find themselves in the Chicago area in the next few months:

1. Artifacts of Childhood: 700 Years of Children's Books
   Newberry Library, September 28, 2008—January 17, 2009
   Co-curated by Jenny of Jenny's Wonderland of Books, this collection of 65 works created for and by children promises to be fascinating. After the horn book bit on Collecting Children's Books, I'm eager to see the abecedaria dating from 1544.
2. The Bill Peet Storybook Menagerie
   The Art Institute of Chicago, August 23, 2008—May 24, 2009
   Bill Peet was one of my favorite author/illustrators when I was in elementary school. I repeatedly checked out The Whingdingdilly and was also fond of Fly, Homer, Fly!, The Wump World, and Chester the Worldly Pig. I wanted to write and draw like him. I could give you proof of this from my elementary school notebooks.

I somehow missed until Fuse #8's post last week Peet's career as a "storyman" for Disney. Not that it was all giggles; there's a fascinating—and scathing—interview at Hogan's Alley about his time as a continually unrecognized creative mastermind. The exhibit promises examples of Peet's Disney art as well as original art from many of his picture books.