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When I first became interested in children’s literature I decided that it would be a good idea to teach myself about all the old greats of the picture book world. A good idea, but self-teaching is inherently limited. As such, I’ve missed a lot of folks. For example, until now “Saul Bass” meant nothing to me. Yet after reading the Ward Jenkins post on the Rizzoli reprint of Henri’s Walk to Paris, that is one book I would love to get my sticky digits on. Just gorgeous stuff.
I’ve noticed a couple of folks around the country working to make literary loving hip in the mind of the average consumer with varying degrees of success. One project that has interested me, though, is this Litpunch idea the Twin Cities are engaged in. Basically you get a card, you attend fun free literary events, and if you get your card punched twelve times you get a $15 gift card to a bookstore. I do wish the libraries were involved in some manner but it’s a great notion. Imagine if they did the same thing with children’s literature! I await that happening someday.
This is impressive! Want a fabulous list of in-print books set on every continent of the world? And would you like such a list to also include activities and recipes and the like? Then I think it’s time to take a trip to Read Around the World. It’ll do your old heart good. Promise.
Speaking of recipes, you know that fabulous book Press Here by Herve Tullet? Well, would you fancy trying a mess of Press Here cookies? Children’s Books for Grown-Ups has got the goods. It’s part of a regular “Bookish Bites” series. I’m seriously looking forward to how Natasha will tackle that upcoming Moomin birthday cake. There but for the grace of parental challenges go I . . .
Once in a while at Hark, A Vagrant, Ms. Kate Beaton will reinterpret variousEdwardGoreycovers. Here’s one she may have missed. It appeared recently on the 50 Watt blog and features a Gorey spider. Have you ever seen a Gorey spider? Did you know that you were missing out? That your life contained a gigantic Gorey-spider shaped void?
Well now you know.
Is texting “an ideal sp
6 Comments on Fusenews: Hotsy Totsy, Ducky, Spiffy, Etc., last added: 9/12/2011
Surprisingly, I DO know of a Scottish picture book author! Natalie Russell!
Elizabeth Fama said, on 9/10/2011 6:44:00 AM
That Edward Gorey spider reminds me of the Medieval bestiary drawings, where the artist had never seen the living creature before! “Uh, it has 8 legs. It’s sort of furry up close. Yeah, it’s sort of like a crab, I guess.”
DanMc said, on 9/10/2011 8:21:00 AM
I can understand not knowing he did a kids’ book (certainly came as a shock to me) but how could you be married to Matt and not know Saul Bass?
Back in November I speculated as to whether or not a book containing photography, and just photography, could ever win a Caldecott Award. Today my thoughts turn elsewhere.
Just yesterday I sat in on the Penguin Young Readers Group librarian preview for the May-August 2011 season (round-up to come). The folks there had to go over a wide variety of books and in the course of the discussion we came upon an adorable picture book by the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Yup. John Berendt himself. Normally I don’t truck with adult authors who try to weasel their way into the lucrative children’s market, but that’s usually because all their books sound the same. Either they’re doing a younger version of what they usually write or they place a slight twist on Alice in Wonderland/The Wizard of Oz. Nine times out of ten this is the case. Berendt . . . he’s different. First off, it’s hard to accuse him of the flaws of his fellows when the title of his book is something as innocuous as My Baby Blue Jays.
(By the way, during the last Simon & Schuster preview I took one look at Liz Scanlon’s Noodle & Lou and proclaimed that, “It is my personal opinion, as it has been for years, that blue jays are a seriously unappreciated species of bird. Seriously, name me all the famous blue jay picture book characters you can.” The universe, which has a twisted sense of humor, has now handed me a whole new blue jay product just to watch me squirm under my own words.)
What does any of this have to do with today’s topic of Photography & Fiction? Well, outside Mr. Berendt’s window sat a nest of blue jays, so he figured he’d photograph them and add in his own, as the catalog calls it, “narrative skill”. Skill aside, this book is considered nonfiction. Staring at the book in the catalog got me to thinking. Nonfiction. Most photography in children’s books could be classified as nonfiction in a way. We see a lot of them appear each season. They do not lack. But what about picture books that use photography and are fictional? How common are they? How often does one run across them? Children love photos, after all. So why are they so often relegated to the informative Tana Hoban / baby board book areas of the library?
This question doesn’t come entirely out of the blue. Recently I met for lunch with an author/illustrator who told me that he was seeking out fictional picture books of this sort. They are rare. Sometimes it seems as though Nina Crews is the only person who’ll touch the genre with so much as a ten foot p
11 Comments on Photography and Fiction, last added: 3/4/2011
Yup. I do that pretty regularly. Mental block. Latin is not my friend.
Linda Ravin Loddding said, on 3/2/2011 5:46:00 AM
Growing up I adored Jill Krementz’s A Very young Dancer was a non-fictiony look at a real dancer’s daily life told through text and photos. (She went on to write and photograph many more in that series). I was drawn to the immediacy of the images and would linger on those images studying every detail.
It would be great to see a fictional picture book use photographs of real kids (rather than, say, photos of clay/food models). I’m wondering if the lack of this pairing is because this sort of project would have to be delivered to the editor/agent as a complete packag. When a writer/illustrator subs text with illustrations there is always room to edit both text and illustrations. This would be less so for a project delivered with already shot photos. Just wondering, here. But I do love this idea and think I may just explore it myself!
I’d have to agree, there really aren’t that many fictional picture books/early readers that use photography. I do have one set that uses photography (Real Kids Readers by Marcia Leonard), but I’ve noticed that when the kids look at these they tend to assume the book is nonfiction.
Phil Rink said, on 3/2/2011 8:57:00 AM
Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
I would think that books including photographs of people would be too specific for fiction, especially if faces are shown. You can generalize a watercolor or cartoon to “stand-in” for your friends and family, but a photo only represents the person in the photo. That’s why we see animal stand-in in the first place, they can be very specific characters but still apply broadly.
Usually, I don’t like illustrations in word books. The details in the pictures are almost always wrong for me, and the dissonance is distracting. The pictures remove a level of intimacy.
Jean Reidy said, on 3/2/2011 8:49:00 PM
Oh my goodness, Betsy. My 45-year-old original copy of EDITH AND MR. BEAR (A Lonely Doll Story) still sits on my shelf. The photography enchanted me then as it does still today.
Susan J Steward said, on 3/3/2011 5:31:00 AM
I was so interested to see this post, just when I was thinking about this topic. I’ve been trying to convince my lovely artist/photographer sister (http://ann-mariehensleyphotography.blogspot.com/) to pursue illustration–and then I realized I was probably setting her up to do the impossible. Or at least the Pretty Darn Near.
My daughter, age 10, is the kind of kid who will always take photography over illustration. I was never like that, so it fascinates me to watch her choose books. I think she’d love fiction with artistic photo illustrations as much as she loves those “I Spy” books and wildlife field guides she reads.
Mia Cabana said, on 3/3/2011 8:32:00 AM
I have been following this conversation with great interest because my talented photographer boyfriend and I have been collaborating on book-photography art projects (http://oliverscottphotography.tumblr.com/post/968875153/now-on-display)and we are dying to take it one step further and write/illustrate a children’s book. Know anyone who wants to give us a book deal? I’m sure I’m biased because of my involvement with the field, but I really believe that photography and video will be coming to the forefront of the illustrating world in the 21st century as technology keeps expanding. (Don’t get me wrong, I love all illustration!) At any rate, thanks for keeping this topic fresh in people’s minds!
Beth said, on 3/3/2011 11:32:00 AM
Wiggle Giggle Tickle Train by Nora Hilb and Sharon Jennings is a combination of photography and illustration. The photographs are by Marcela Cabezas Hilb with a few from iStockphoto. We have a few preschool children that are absolutely fascinated by it.
Beth said, on 3/3/2011 12:00:00 PM
Just thought of another one – The Handiest Things in the World by Andrew Clements (of Frindle fame, of course). It is all photographs (by Raquel Jaramillo), lots of real children (and a dog and a snowman). Its an honest-to-goodness picture book – and it rhymes!
No. Wait. Scratch that. But I have been to a couple of marvelous parties as of late. Under normal circumstances I don’t mention them all that often, but this week I’ll make an exception. [Note: If you don’t like party posts, avoid this one at all costs. Even if it does involve Lemony Snicket on a merry-go-round built for two . . .).
The two parties were very different, but of great interest to all parties involved. The first I will mention was the party held last week to which all Kidlit Drink Night attendees were invited. Mr. Robert Forbes (yes, THAT Mr. Forbes) was kind enough to invite us to attend a little soiree at The Forbes Gallery here in New York City. Why would he want grimy children’s literature people mucking up his space? Well, Mr. Forbes recently published a book of children’s poetry called Let’s Have a Bite, illustrated by the illustrious Ronald Searle.
Now, I had never been to the Forbes Galleries. Truth be told, I had no idea that they were (A) open to the public and (B) awesome. In point of fact, they are both. And if you happen to be interested in visiting (which I highly recommend) I would suggest that you do so before November 22nd. You see, until that moment in time the galleries have a magnificent selection of toy soldiers, toy boats, and old Monopoly games on display. And what a display! There is an art to their presentation. A skill to the little hidden rooms in which you will locate them. To top it all off, there was a retrospective of Searle’s from the last 40-50 odd years. Should you be nowhere near New York right now, much of that same work is visible in this recent interview he conducted:
And what of the book itself? Well, a special side room exists in the Galleries of the work Searle did for Mr. Forbes’s newest. The two collaborated back in 2007 on a similar book called Beastly Feasts. Both books contain poems with accompanying illustrations. In what I imagine must be very much the spirit in which Mr. Searle works, Mr. Forbes served us lots of tiny food made out of the very animals featured in the poems. Grilled octopus, turtle of some sort, as well as a little cheese fondue that was liable to tempt you into thinking that you’d never had anything quite so good ever before (a little mouse appears in each of the paintings in Mr. Forbes’s book).
As for Mr. Forbes himself I was rather expecting him to look like his portrait here:
I am weeping copiously right now with sheer envy. What a night, you lucky lucky girl!
Cynthia von Buhler said, on 10/11/2010 11:38:00 PM
Hi Betsy, Daniel/Lemony was on the guestlist because I’m friends with his wife Lisa Brown and Adele Griffin (Picture the Dead). Lisa couldn’t make the party because she had a book event elsewhere. I introduced you to Adele, remember? I’m connected to Neil and Amanda because I illustrated the Evelyn Evelyn graphic novel which will be out next Spring. I’m glad that you enjoyed yourself. May I use a couple of these pictures for my upcoming blog post? Cheers, CvB
Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/12/2010 5:59:00 AM
But of course! Use any and all pictures you prefer, though I wish they were of better quality.
I think I knew the Lisa Brown/Adele Griffin connection, but I was baffled by the Snicket/Gaiman link. Good to know!
JMyersbook said, on 10/12/2010 7:45:00 AM
Oh! Oh! Oh! Dare I hope that the title of today’s blog truly is the opening from the Noel Coward poem of the same name? (“I have been to a marvelous party/With Noonoo and Nada and Nell./It was in the fresh air and we came as we were/And we STAYED as we were, which was hell…”)
JMyersbook said, on 10/12/2010 7:50:00 AM
Well, DANG! I was so enchanted/distracted by all of your glorious photos that I skipped right OVER the opening line of today’s blog, which would have assured me that YES, you know you some classic Noel Coward (and isn’t some of his stuff just ducky, even today?) Happy sigh of contentment….
Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/12/2010 1:07:00 PM
I’m just pleased that someone got the Noel Coward reference at all. I thought about sneaking in more lines, but then decided that I’d be overplaying my hand. I do love me my Noel Coward, though I admit to knowing this particular work of his best because of the group Divine Comedy.
jone said, on 10/12/2010 2:29:00 PM
Oh lucky, lucky you on both accounts. This was just so much fun to read. Thanks.
MH said, on 10/13/2010 7:33:00 AM
Just so you know, the male half of the awesome couple to your left is Franz Nicolay, former keyboardist/accordionist for the Hold Steady, World/Inferno Friendship Society, Against Me!, and other such bands.
Amazing party.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 10/13/2010 9:57:00 AM
Oh so? Well that just goes to prove that only the undeserving ever get to stand next to the big musicians. I’ve heard of Hold Steady and . . . . yeah, that’s about it.
Eric Carle Honors 2010 (Also Known as More Party P said, on 10/13/2010 9:02:00 PM
Things that I have difficulty understanding: The rules of soccer. How to work an f-stop on a camera (or what it even means). The French language. The fact that actors Patton Oswalt and Tunde Adebimpe appear to be in a movie that is filming right now and is going by the title . . . The Seven Chinese Brothers. That brings to mind the Margaret Mahy version, not to mention the controversial Claire Huchet Bishop one (though that story had only five brothers in it). Actually, Ms. Bishop used to work in my children’s room (though when folks ask we usually mention the fact that Marcia Brown worked here first). The internet is curiously mum about this Patton/Adebimpe project so . . . we’ll just assume that it’s another picture book to screen adaptation. It gives my existence just the right dose of insanity I crave on a daily basis.
By the way, if you’re still a little fuzzy on who that Patton Oswalt fellow is, (A) He was the voice of Ratatouille and (B) I just stumbled on his commencement speech given when he returned to his high school and it is precisely what I needed to read right now.
New Blog Alert: Hardly counts if they’re famous, right? Aw, heck. Even famous editors need their plugs! Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure to inform you that the great Arthur A. Levine, editor of the very Harry Potter books themselves and the man who helped to add the term Muggle to the American lexicon, is blogging. Granted, he has only a single solitary post up at the moment, but I anticipate great things for young Mr. Levine. Not that he doesn’t have a tough act to follow. His right hand, Cheryl Klein, has been mastering the form for years (there’s a new The Year of Secret Assignments cover?!!!)
Hey! When I reviewed The Strange Case of Origami Yoda the other day I had no idea that it owed its birth to a BoingBoing piece. BoingBoing apparently just got alerted to that fact too. They seem grateful (though a BoingBoing review wouldn’t be out of place as well).
I love it when a plan comes together. Or, to be more precise, I love it when folks I like decide to make books together. Folks that I like include author Laini Taylor and editor Alvina Ling. I have liked Laini’s work ever since I read her fantastic The Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer (now known merely as Blackbringer). I have liked Alvina’s work ever since I read The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin. I have liked the two of them from
7 Comments on Fusenews: King Friday the XIII gave the rehearsal dinner speech, last added: 6/24/2010
I started to work my way through the Top 100 Children’s Novels Poll too, and read the Watsons Go to Birmingham and two others. I will probably continue at some point but there were already so many books on my floor that needed attention! Still, it would make me and many others happy if you read Ballet Shoes…
Diandra (Dee) Mae said, on 6/23/2010 5:16:00 AM
Mrs. Mimi, teacher and authoress extraordinaire, is also working her way through your top 100 picture books, the Top 100 novels and the Top 50 multicultural books. She’s calling it her 2010 Reading Extravaganza. She’s pretty witty! (http://itsnotallflowersandsausages.blogspot.com/)
I’m really curious how the heck Patton Oswalt could possibly fit in with the Seven Chinese Brothers.
Cynthia von Buhler said, on 6/23/2010 9:06:00 AM
You are one of the most interesting people I know too.
These are adorable. I have made characters like this from cat fur and lint. I have plenty of cat fur (on couches, clothing and under beds) to work with.
Cheers, Cynthia
Heidi Rahlmann Plumb said, on 6/23/2010 3:13:00 PM
I stumbled upon your blog a couple months back looking for Graphic Novel reviews so that I could find more to feed my nine year old son’s voracious appetite for them. What a find you are!! Thank you thank you thank you. The Fadeeva photos made me think of The Saga of Gray and Nameless which I thought you might enjoy.
Surprisingly, I DO know of a Scottish picture book author! Natalie Russell!
That Edward Gorey spider reminds me of the Medieval bestiary drawings, where the artist had never seen the living creature before! “Uh, it has 8 legs. It’s sort of furry up close. Yeah, it’s sort of like a crab, I guess.”
I can understand not knowing he did a kids’ book (certainly came as a shock to me) but how could you be married to Matt and not know Saul Bass?
http://notcoming.com/saulbass/index2.php
This is a pretty good case of my blithely blogging something without consulting the resident husband. Good call, Dan. Matt definitely knows who he is.
Now we know why the itsy-bitsy spider was looking for a water spout.
Wow. Thanks for filling the gigantic Gorey-spider shaped void in my life. Creepy cover.