This was a two-minute drive from my house yesterday. God, I love L.A.! (Those are the San Gabriel Mountains, by the way).
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By: Candace Ryan,
on 2/21/2011
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By: Candace Ryan,
on 11/27/2010
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Are you in a school, a library, or even at home? Are you eager to make your very own "furnimals" based on Nathan Hale's amazing Animal House illustrations? Then look no further than your nearest recycling bin or trash can.
Chances are that you have everything you need to turn the above pile of reusable materials into...
...these adorable and loving literary companions.
The toucan of soda, cowch, and refrigergator were made by 3-5 year olds in Victoria Howard's incredible "Art & Stories" class at Barnsdall Junior Art Center last winter.
Mix a Pringles-like container with some stray buttons, construction paper scraps, and a piece of cardboard, and presto-change-o........you get a toucan of soda.
Shake together some loose buttons, a sheet of styrofoam, an empty soap bar-like box, felt scraps, construction paper pieces, and four corks to get a ....................... brand new cowch!
Don't forget to add the udder underneath. You need some way to be able to milk your cowch.
By: Candace Ryan,
on 8/28/2010
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Dr. Seuss's first picture book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, showcases the visual imagination of Marco, the story's protagonist. What follows is a consideration of what Marco might have experienced had he indulged his aural imagination to the same extent.
What if the brass band on Mulberry Street had played Maurice Ravel's Bolero?
The entirety of this conjecture is based on an apparent convergence of forms in Dr. Seuss's Mulberry Street and Ravel's Bolero. Apropos of much, it all begins with rhythm.
Many of us in the kidlit community are familiar with the apocryphal-seeming, but true, story of Ted Geisel writing And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street to the chug of a ship's engine. In poetic lingo, Dr. Seuss interprets this seafaring sonic experience into a predominantly anapestic meter when crafting Marco's fantastic imaginings.
In the case of Ravel, he begins with the rhythm of the bolero, a Spanish dance form. From it, he spins a fifteen-minute long crescendo, sustained only by a masterful orchestration and the use of dynamics. The entire piece is anchored by the relentless rhythm of a basso ostinato, Ravel's equivalent of a chugging ship engine.
Interestingly enough, NPR music commentator Miles Hoffman notes in "Bolero's Industrious Nature" that, "Ravel said the pulsing, rhythmic composition was inspired by one of the factories he had visited with his father, who was an engineer."
Whether the inspiration springs from the mechanical music of a ship's engine, or that of an industrial factory, these two works rely on repetitive rhythmic structures as a foundation for their respective fireworks shows.
Formally, Mulberry Street can be seen as a visual crescendo. What Marco actually sees, a dull horse and cart, is transformed time and again into increasingly more exciting possibilities. From a zebra to a charioteer, to a reindeer, a sleigh, an elephant, a rajah, and so on, the images become "louder" and "louder," climaxing into a visual cacophony only Seuss could create.
In Dr. Seuss: An American Icon, kidlit scholar Philip Nel has this to say about the rhythm of Seuss's verse, "It aids in building up suspense, amplifying the outrageousness of the tall tale as it grows taller and taller."
And here's what composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein had to say about Ravel's Bolero on a Young People's Concert episode:
"It's just one long tune repeated over and over, with the orchestration changing on each repeat, gradually getting bigger and louder and richer, adding to itself, growing and growing until it finally ends in the biggest orchestral scream you ever heard."
When comparing Mulberry Street and Bolero in the most basic formal terms, both would appear to begin as whispers and end as roars. In works like these, tension and excitement are created by "amplifying the outrageousness." And before these works conclude, in the words of Leonard Bernstein again, "...you'll have heard all kinds of strange sounds, colors and combinations."
Bolero's "strange sounds" include, among others, a French horn, celesta, two piccolos, and a flute playing together to create a completely new instrumental timbre. Indeed, Ravel's innovative orchestration and his command of tonal color shine through as the crowning achievements of Bolero.
Mul
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By: Candace Ryan,
on 7/20/2010
Blog: Book, Booker, Bookest (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture Books, Books Are Fun, Funtastic, Add a tag
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What more can I say? I'm speechless................
Please join the Animal House wordplay antics going on right now at illustrator Nathan Hale's blog.
Visit the "My Books" page on my website to get your very own copy and to read reviews of the book. I'd especially love and appreciate your efforts to support independent bookstores when you support me. Thanks!!
Plus, you can have a chance at winning an autographed copy of Animal House on Goodreads by clicking here. The giveaway will run through the month of August. Good luck!!
2 Comments on Happy Birthday to My First Picture Book, ANIMAL HOUSE!!!!, last added: 7/21/2010
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By: Candace Ryan,
on 3/19/2010
Blog: Book, Booker, Bookest (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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In the vendor room of a recent children's literature conference, I happened upon Lynn Klopfer's repurposed book business, Brown Bag Books. Taking discarded books and "gutting them like fish," Lynn transforms them into wonderfully humorous, ironic, and whimsical writing journals. (They remind me of the literal "book bags" I've seen at the L.A. Central Library Store, made by Suzanne Keolker of Mugwump.)
I picked up the journal on the far left for my ship-loving hubby, and I grabbed the other two for myself. The Biography of a Buzzard reminded me of my dear ol' dad, and Breaking the Sound Barrier: A Phonics Handbook called to me like a bowler hat to Magritte.
Let's take a closer look. This journal begs me to rewrite the book. Here's one little thing I've written in it so far: "Ahhh," sighed the mannequin, "To be a man again." I have high hopes that this journal will rocket me to the next quantum level in my quest to BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER!!! Stay tuned...
1 Comments on Inspired and Inspiring Writing Journals, last added: 3/22/2010
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CONGRATULATIONS CANDACE!!!! So proud of you and all your hard work and patience for delivering this "baby" is finally here! Can't wait to get a copy for the kids, they'll be so excited!
Thanks so much, Risa!!!! I appreciate the shout-out and can't wait to get you guys a copy!