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Camp Rex

By Molly Idle

 

Parents of campers are just about beginning to get the jump on camp preparations for their young ones this summer. Some may be headed for day camp, sleep away camp or just to the back yard for an overnight with their neighborhood best friend. All of this, of course, begins when schools close for the summer that in case you haven’t checked is almost upon us! And I’ve found a great book to ease into the change.

If you loved Ms. Idle’s tongue-in-dinosaur-cheek treatment called “Tea Rex”, you will enjoy this outing of dinosaurs and kids called “Camp Rex” and perhaps might want to tuck a copy of it into their duffle for reading by flashlight on a mosquito buzz filled night!

Get out your Wilderness Camp Guides and venture forth for this rollicking riff on fresh air, exercise, wildlife, campfire building; all of which, I might add should be proceeded by the Scout Motto – “BE PREPARED!! When dinosaurs are part of the outing of this young miss who tries not to miss much, but does, and a stalwart brother that together pitch tents, try to stick to the trail, all while not disturbing the natural landscape, it’s well, “what’s wrong with this picture funny”!

Take bees for example. These swarming biters did NOT get the non-disturbance memo and are MUCH disturbed by the young camping contingent. And it put me in mind of the time that an errant wasp decided to fly up the leg of my “pedal pushers” (they’re the same as Capri pants), and by the way, a great fashion word, for it defined WHAT you did when you wore them and that was fly like the wind on a bike! It wasn’t the wasp’s fault he didn’t know the way OUT was DOWN, so he kept stinging me till he expired. Luckily for Camp Rex campers, they know how to RUN!!!

The juxtaposition of Ms. Idle’s charming words and illustrations will rate many giggles from the young reader set as in “there’s nothing more refreshing than a dip in a mountain lake or a bit of canoeing” as the illustrations depict a sample of something akin to white water rafting, dinosaur style. Just hold on!

Molly Idle’s two “Rex books” have cornered the market on what it means when gentility and grace meet immovable objects called dinosaurs that are sweetly eager to learn the rules of the rituals. And whether it be a tea party or camping, there is sure to be a bit of a learning curve for BOTH that will have you and your young camper laughing by flashlight! Bring a BIG tent!

 

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Enter to win a copy of Goodnight Songs: A Celebration of the Seasons, by Margaret Wise Brown! Giveaway begins August 4, 2015, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends September 3, 2015, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

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Molly Idle is the Caldecott-honor winning author and illustrator of Flora and the Flamingo. 

She talked about the collaborative work that bookmaking is, and how she uses stage and improvisation techniques to boost her personality.

Keeping an open mind is the key to successful collaboration, she says.

In improv, there's a game called "Yes, and."

The first player kicks out an opening line. For example, "Did you remember to clean out the cat barf from Uncle Billy's car?"

Your job as a player is to accept that and add AND, she says. So you'd reply, "I did remember, and I think the smell is going to linger for quite some time."

"It sounds so simple, but it is so easy to do just the opposite and block," she says. "We are born to 'Yes.' We are born instinctively to be creative. To express our boundaries both real and imaginary."

She uses stage techniques a lot in her work. When she's figuring out how to lay out characters, she thinks about and experiments with many things ... putting characters center stage, even not having them react at all (which is the second-most powerful thing you can do on stage).

She encouraged us to push out of our comfort zones and keep many choices as possibilities. "It's the only way to come up with new ideas."

We have to ask ourselves, "How can I push my creative comfort zone out?"

The answer? You have to know your bit. This means know your lines. To really know a line is to know why you say it. You need to know the line before that. And the line before that. And why you're in the scene in the first place.

"You have to know the whole play to know your bit. If you know the whole play, you can jump in and help," she says. 'You know why you're supposed to be there."

Molly knows the editor's job. She knows the art director's job. She knows the designer's bit too—and the printer's. This means that in the end, the book will be a better book.

Molly Idle's website
Follow Molly on Twitter

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Wow! This is a great month for picture books—amazing picture book authors and sensational illustrators star in this month's new release kids books. Plus, The Penderwicks in Spring is here!

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As an author and zoologist, Jess Keating has tickled a shark, lost a staring contest against an octopus, and been a victim to the dreaded paper cut. She lives in Ontario, Canada, where she spends most of her time writing books for adventurous and funny kids.

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Having mastered ballet in Flora and the Flamingo, Flora takes to the ice and forms an unexpected friendship with a penguin in Molly Idle's Flora and the Penguin.

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Flora and the Penguin
by Molly Idle; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Chronicle    48 pp.
9/14    978-1-4521-2891-7    $16.99

Having mastered the art of the dahhnce in Flora and the Flamingo (rev. 7/13), the same little-girl protagonist takes up figure skating. While lacing up her skates, she spies an orange beak peeking out of a hole in the ice. It’s a penguin, and Flora reaches out her hand in friendship. At first there’s no friction; the two glide across the ice, Torvill and Dean–style, skating backwards and on one foot and performing synchronized leaps. When her partner plunges back down under the ice, though, Flora is disappointed and a little put out. The penguin produces a fish for her, but Flora, still feeling miffed, throws the fish back…then thinks of a creative way to make amends. Just as in the previous wordless book, dynamic flaps (this time they’re horizontal and two-sided) help set a graceful, rhythmic pace. The limited color palette, too, recalls Flamingo, though here — befitting the wintry scene — the pictures are all in pale blues, with yellow pops of color (Flora’s hat looks like her Flamingo bathing cap but with a puffball tassel on top), some pink (her peaches-and-cream complexion), and the white of the page. The main action is on land, but underwater there’s another playful story starring those sleek little fish. A gatefold near the end provides the tale’s acrobatic climax before the warm-hearted pair skates off the copyright page.

From the November/December 2014 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

The post Review of Flora and the Penguin appeared first on The Horn Book.

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by Molly Idle

It has been said that an infinite well of creativity springs within each and every one of us.

Well, I wasted a lot of time trying to draw inspiration from mine with a bucket that was already full. At least, that’s what I came to realize after years of worrying that my well had run dry.

Before I came to that realization however, this is the conversation I had with myself every time I was working on a book…

Me 1: I like the way this idea is shaping up. It’s all good right?

Me 2: Are you kidding me? Sure, this idea is ok, but what if I can’t think of an idea for the next book? Or the one after that? What if I’ve used up all my good ideas?!

Me 1: Um…I don’t have an answer to that.

Me 2: See! I’m out of answers just like I’m out of ideas!

Me 1: Oh. No.

*head/desk in a schlump of despair*

Thus I spent my time working on every project thinking that it would be my last.

Then, one day, as I boxed up a finished book, sent it off, and thought… “Well, that’s it then, I’m finished, this is the end…”

*Plink!*

A new idea sprang up in my mind.

And this mental conversation ensued…

Me 1: I have a great new idea!

Me 2: Wow, that’s lucky! I thought we were all out of new ideas…

Oprah: Luck is the moment when preparation meets opportunity. 

Me1: Oprah, how did you get in here?

Oprah: (smiles mysteriously, then vanishes in a mist of chai tea)

Me 2: Okaaayyy…

When I finished up the next project it happened again (sans Oprah and chai). Another new idea came to me within days!

Mental conversation…

Me 1: Coincidence?

Me 2 : I think not.

Me 1: Alrirght then, prove it…

Me 2: Alright then, I will!

So, I started consciously keeping track of how and when I came up with new ideas, and what I discovered was this… It wasn’t luck. That is to say, it wasn’t random.

I discovered that my brain seemed to have a finite number of ideas it could hold as I worked on them. When my brain was full, I could try to pull up ideas from the wellspring of creativity all I wanted, and not be able to draw up so much a drop of inspiration. But, through preparing one idea, drawing it out—I simultaneously created the space, or opportunity, to draw up another.

So, Oprah, with her mysterious mental chai mist, was right! “Luck is the moment when preparation meets opportunity.”

Ergo, Luck = Work

Now, that’s not to say that every idea I draw up gets poured out into a picture book.

Sheesh, no!

Some ideas are forgotten (just like that two day old cuppa chai tea left sitting on my desk).

Some ideas get poured straight down the drain.

Some ideas may simmer for a bit, then get poured down the drain, only to be replaced by another idea that may not work out either, and another… and another!

But, as long as I keep working, sometimes, sometimes, I get lucky. Sometimes, I draw up an idea from the well, and it pours it out, through pencil and paper, into a picture book.

Molly Idle has been drawing ever since she could wield a pencil. But while she started scribbling before she could walk, her professional career as an artist began slightly later…

It was upon her graduation from Arizona State University, with a BFA in Drawing, that Molly accepted an offer to work for DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios.  After five years, a number of film credits, and an incredibly good time, she left the studio and leapt with gusto into the world of children’s book illustration!

Molly now lives in Arizona with her brilliant husband, two wonderfully mischievous sons, and two snugly cats. When not making mischief with her boys or watching old Technicolor musicals, she can be found at her desk scribbling away, with a pencil in one hand and a cup of espresso in the other- creating a plethora of profoundly whimsical picture books!

www.idleillustration.com
Twitter: @mollyidle
Facebook: Idle Illustration
Instagram: @mollyidle

Molly is giving away a signed FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO poster!

This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:

1. You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
2. You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
3. You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)

Good luck, everyone!

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Me and Kelly Light

Me and Molly Idle

I have some great friends I've never met. Let me clarify, I've never met them in person. We Skype, Hangout, text, tweet, & message, but have never met face to face. This year has been great for finally meeting some of them in real life. The wonderful thing is, the online friendships flow right into real life seamlessly. I feel like I've known, really known, some of these friends for ages. We just click. I feel so lucky!

Tracy Bishop, Sue Rankin-Pollard, Joy Steuerwald, Me, Kelly Light

I also want to thank Hicklebees for bringing some of these friends to my area so we can spend time together. They've been acting as my social secretary this year.

I also got to meet Mary Engelbreit this summer. You can read about it here.

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SALINA YOON is the award-winning author/illustrator of nearly 200 books for children. Check out which picture books are her family's favorites!

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Flora and the Penguin

Written and illustrated by Molly Idle
Published by Chronicle Books 2014
978-1-4521-2891-7
Age 4 to 8 (+) 32 pages
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“Flora is back and this time she partners with a penguin. Twirling, leaping, and gliding on skates and flippers, the duo mirror each other in an exuberant ice dance. But when Flora gives the penguin the cold shoulder, the pair must figure out a way to work together for uplifting results.”

Opening

As Flora ties her right skate, she notices something poke out of a hole in the ice. What could it be?

Review

Flora is back at the ice rink, getting ready to glide and twirl when she sees something odd in the hole across from where she sits lacing her skate. Flora extends her hand, offering it to Penguin. He accepts (I am assuming Penguin is a he, I really do not know). Flipper in hand, the pair glide in perfect harmony. Left foot glide to the right; turn and right foot glide to the left. In absolute harmony, Flora and Penguin take off and then LEAP into a perfect twirl.

Oh, NO! Penguin misses his landing, falling onto his rotund rear. Flora glides away . . . laughing. Penguin belly slides to her with a twinkle in his eye. This is not Flora and the Flamingo. The grace and style are present. The harmonious duet is there. The serious business of skating is not. Penguin brings the smiles and laughs out of Flora. He also spoils his partner, or, rather, he tries. Flora rejects Penguin’s gift. Sure, it is a small fish he has brought her; a snack Penguin chased below the ice—in synchronicity with Flora’s skating. Flora flips the fish over her head. Penguin looks mortified as his gift somehow lands into the hole in the ice and swims away.

The beautiful illustrations once again capture the elegant characters gliding, twirling, and leaping. At quick glance, one might believe this is the Caldecott Honor Book Flora and the Flamingo, only with a penguin. That person would be wrong, terribly wrong. In Flora and the Flamingo, Flora is the student learning from Flamingo, the teacher. In Flora and the Penguin, Flora is no longer the student, nor is she the teacher. She and Penguin are friends skating together and having fun. When Penguin misses his landing, no one turns away in admonition. No, Flora happily laughs and Penguin giggles as they join back together. These two are playmates.

 

Playmates have fights, as you are sure to remember. Flora turns away in a pout, checking on Penguin when he looks away. Penguin is also pouting in anger and keeping an eye on Flora. These two friends need to find their way back and Ms. Idle does this in grand style. A four-page grand spread. Flora and the Penguin is a gorgeous, wordless picture book that will wow anyone lucky enough to turn the pages. Some pages contain flip-up, -down, or –sideways, always changing the scene and promoting a smile.

Flora and the Penguin is an easy choice for anyone who loves ballet. Yet this gorgeous, should-win-lots-of-awards picture book will attract a wider audience. Like her throngs of admirers, I cannot wait for her next release, though I am secretly hoping for new characters in a new story. Whatever direction she takes, parents and young children will love the finished product. Ms. Idle has perfected the art of wordless storytelling.

FLORA AND THE PENGUIN. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by Molly Idle. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

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Buy Flora and the Penguin at Amazon—iTunes—B&N—Book Depository—Chronicle Books—your favorite bookstore.

Learn more about Flora and the Penguin HERE

Meet the author/illustrator, Molly Idle, at her website:  http://idleillustration.com/

Find more picture books at the Chronicle Books’ website:   http://www.chroniclebooks.com/

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Also by Molly Idle

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Copyright © 2014 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews

Filed under: 6 Stars TOP BOOK, Children's Books, Favorites, Library Donated Books, Picture Book, Series, Top 10 of 2014 Tagged: ballet, children's book reviews, Chronicle Books, Flora and the Penguin, gorgeous illustrations, ice skating, Molly Idle, penguins, picture books, wordless stories

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Flora and the Flamingo

by Molly Idle
Chronicle Books        2013
978-1-4521-1006-6                             CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK
Age 4 to 8       32 pages
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“Friendship is a beautiful dance. In this innovative wordless book, a tentative partnership blooms into an unlikely friendship between a girl named Flora and a graceful flamingo. With a twist, a turn, and even a flop, these unlikely friends learn at last how to dance together in perfect harmony. Artist Molly Idle has created a story full of humor and heart, with emotions that leap off the page, and memorable characters who are worthy of countless standing ovations.”

Opening

A flamingo, peacefully standing one-legged in the water, turns its head to look behind it and eyes one little girl, named Flora, standing one-legged in the water, imitating the flamingo, who then turns her head to look behind her.

Review

Do you remember repeating everything your older sibling said or mimicking every movement, just because you could? Flora mimics the flamingo, but not to get the flamingo’s goat. The little girl, in her pink one-piece swimsuit and pink flowered swim cap, takes on the flamingo’s graceful movements and the two begin a beautiful duet.

Words would undeniably be a distraction in the story of Flora and the Flamingo. Movement flows from a variety of flip pages attached atop Flora or the flamingo on several of the pages. For example, Flora imitates the flamingo’s stance:  standing on one leg, head tucked under a wing. Flip down the flaps and the stances change. Both dancers remain on one leg, but now each twists her head toward the other, possibly checking to ensure the other is still there.

The flamingo is Flora’s mirror, or maybe Flora is the flamingo’s mirror. Each bend, each stretch, each turn, and each look magically appear on both characters at the same time. Flora and the Flamingo will make you giggle and grin. Young girls will love the mystical dance between these two unlikeliest of friends. Before a friendship can be established, the flamingo LETS Flora have it! The shock of flamingo’s sharp bleat flips Flora over and up, landing her on her rear, unhappy. Flora turns her back, refusing to play any longer, but the flamingo finds this worse than being shadowed. It offers Flora a wing, which Flora thinks about before allowing flamingo to help her to her feet.  (Are these two friends or siblings?)

At the moment of friendship, when Flora and the flamingo become dancing partners instead of solo acts, the spread takes on a drastic change. The two begin together on one page. They had begun their awkward dance with the flamingo firmly staying on the left page and Flora on the opposing right page of the spread. Now both are on the right page, figuratively and physically. Their movements become wider, and joyous. The two fly across the spread, smiling as they float, as if on ice. Then there is a big finale, as all great ballets should have. The finale is a wonderful dance only Flora and her flamingo can perform, together in the same spotlight, four pages in length. BRAVO!

Girls will love this graceful dance between friends, especially those little girls starting their first ballet lessons, wearing their pink tutus, and pink leotards, and some with pink ballet shoes, while others still will have pink ribbons in their hair. Flora is at her first class and flamingo is the instructor. This makes a wonderful baby-shower gift, when the parents-to-be know they have a girl on the way.  Flora and the Flamingo is a beautiful book, with brilliant illustrations that float across the pages. It is no surprise Flora and the Flamingo became a Caldecott Honor Book. The medal winner must have been an amazingly illustrated picture book to beat out these two graceful dancers.

FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO. Story and Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Molly Idle. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

Purchase  Flora and the Flamingo at Amazon—B&N—Book Depository—iTunes—Chronicle Books—your favorite bookstore.

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Learn more about Flora and the Flamingo HERE.

Meet the author / illustrator, Molly Idle, at her website:      http://idleillustration.com/

Find more books that are luscious at the Chronicle Books website:    http://www.chroniclebooks.com/

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Also by Molly Idle

FLORA AND THE PENGUIN     2014

 

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Filed under: 6 Stars TOP BOOK, Children's Books, Favorites, Library Donated Books, Picture Book, Top 10 of 2014 Tagged: ballet, birds, Caldecott Honnor Book, children's book reviews, Chronicle Books, dance, flamingo, girl's picture book, Molly Idle, penguins, picture book, poetry in motion

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Camp Rex

By Molly Idle

 

Parents of campers are just about beginning to get the jump on camp preparations for their young ones this summer. Some may be headed for day camp, sleep away camp or just to the back yard for an overnight with their neighborhood best friend. All of this, of course, begins when schools close for the summer that in case you haven’t checked is almost upon us! And I’ve found a great book to ease into the change.

If you loved Ms. Idle’s tongue-in-dinosaur-cheek treatment called “Tea Rex”, you will enjoy this outing of dinosaurs and kids called “Camp Rex” and perhaps might want to tuck a copy of it into their duffle for reading by flashlight on a mosquito buzz filled night!

Get out your Wilderness Camp Guides and venture forth for this rollicking riff on fresh air, exercise, wildlife, campfire building; all of which, I might add should be proceeded by the Scout Motto – “BE PREPARED!! When dinosaurs are part of the outing of this young miss who tries not to miss much, but does, and a stalwart brother that together pitch tents, try to stick to the trail, all while not disturbing the natural landscape, it’s well, “what’s wrong with this picture funny”!

Take bees for example. These swarming biters did NOT get the non-disturbance memo and are MUCH disturbed by the young camping contingent. And it put me in mind of the time that an errant wasp decided to fly up the leg of my “pedal pushers” (they’re the same as Capri pants), and by the way, a great fashion word, for it defined WHAT you did when you wore them and that was fly like the wind on a bike! It wasn’t the wasp’s fault he didn’t know the way OUT was DOWN, so he kept stinging me till he expired. Luckily for Camp Rex campers, they know how to RUN!!!

The juxtaposition of Ms. Idle’s charming words and illustrations will rate many giggles from the young reader set as in “there’s nothing more refreshing than a dip in a mountain lake or a bit of canoeing” as the illustrations depict a sample of something akin to white water rafting, dinosaur style. Just hold on!

Molly Idle’s two “Rex books” have cornered the market on what it means when gentility and grace meet immovable objects called dinosaurs that are sweetly eager to learn the rules of the rituals. And whether it be a tea party or camping, there is sure to be a bit of a learning curve for BOTH that will have you and your young camper laughing by flashlight! Bring a BIG tent!

 

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The Studio of Molly Idle

 2014 Caldecott Honor Book

My favorite color changes all the time, depending on what I’m working on. Right now I’m deeply enamored of a lovely retro shade of sea-foam green. 

How many pencils did it take to complete Camp Rex? (It’s okay if you guess!) 
No comment. (I’ll be hosting a book giveaway soon that will address this very question…)
Film.

What’s the favorite thing about your studio?
The people I share it with.

Thank you Molly for being so good at sharing!

Want to learn more about Molly?
You'll find some more fun interviews at the following links.
Teen Penguin
Sharpread 
Nerdy Book Club

You can see a great trailer for Camp Rex at this link.
Watch. Connect. Read.

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Flora and the Flamingo, a 2013 Caldecott Honor Book by Molly Idle (Chronicle Books), arrived at my home yesterday—and how happy was I to see it. Like all truly outstanding picture books, this story about a flouncy girl and an elegant bird needs no words. On bright expanses of white, these two mostly pinkish creatures posture and pose, pursue and retreat, provoke and mimic—which is to say, they forge a friendship.

The flamingo stands on a single webbed foot. Flora does too. The flamingo rearranges its skinny leg. Flora flexes her own rather less skinny one. The flamingo stretches its wings, and look, Flora has wings as well. But soon things get complicated—the flamingo so happy to be looked at, so unto itself, that Flora (trying too hard to emulate the bird's strutting configurations) takes a tumble. Feelings get hurt. The flamingo turns, Flora turns. The you-do-as-I-do changes to a let-us-do-together. The two dance now, face to face.

What is remarkable about this book is how emotional it all becomes. How everything is said without the expenditure of a single letter. But also: how much like dance this really does become—graceful, exuberant, joyous, each character bigger by far within the wingspan of the other.

A better Beth would take this book to the nearest child as a gift. But I'm just going to have to buy a copy for the next little one in my life (and I know precisely who that is). I'm keeping this copy for me, for when I want to be reminded of the power of friendship and the necessary glory of dance.

For those who wonder, that is Scott Lazarov and Magdalena Piekarz, as I photographed them back in 2009 at DanceSport Academy in Ardmore.

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Flora and the Flamingo
By Molly Idle
Chronicle Books
$16.99
ISBN: 978-1-4521-1006-6
Ages 3-7
On shelves February 3rd

Did you know that flamingos are pink because of their diet of plankton? Did you know that the flamingo is the national bird of the Bahamas? And did you know that when it comes to a pas de chat or a particularly fine jetée, no bird exceeds the flamingo in terms of balletic prowess? No? Then you’re clearly not reading the right literature these days. Now, before you get to thinking too hard about it, let me assure you that when I discuss a book like Flora and the Flamingo I should right off the bat say that this is NOT a book about a bird that wants to be a ballerina and must overcomes obstacles to achieve that goal. That is, without a doubt, the most common storyline in ballet picture books today. I would not review such a book as that. No, Flora and the Flamingo is notable because it is a perfect amalgamation of wordless storytelling, likable (or at least understandable) characters, and an artistic sensibility that will make you forget its unique formatting and remind you only of the classic picture book days of yore. So forget what flamingos eat. Are you getting enough flamingo picture books in YOUR diet? If not, time to start.

A single flamingo lands and perches on one leg beneath the falling pink blossoms. It does not notice the single flippered foot that appears behind it nor, at first, the bathing suited little girl that mimics his stance. But when he starts to stretch (or is he dancing?) he can’t help but see how she tries to imitate him, wing for wing. In a moment of cussidness he bleats at her, causing her to tumble head over heel into the water. Chastened, the flamingo offers a wing and the two embark on a fantastic dance, culminating in a joyous leap into the water and an elegant bow and curtsey.

Idle has the mark of the animator all over her. It’s a style of drawing you’ll find in the works of folks like Tony Fucile or Carter Goodrich. You can recognize an animator pretty easily right from the start. They tend to have very expressive protagonists. Take Flora, for example. Though at first she attempts to keep her face relatively placid, as the book goes on, a variety of emotions flit across her punim. From a miserable (mouthless) hurt glare to a skeptical raised eyebrow, to gentle trust, and, finally, pure pleasure. The white background sort of clinches it. Kirkus, in their review, said that there is a “courageous use of white space” in this book, and I have to agree. Yet for all that she has an animator’s heart, Idle avoids the pitfalls that have felled many from her field that have come before her. I’m talking about storyboarding. The laziest kind of picture book is the kind that feels like it began life as a serious of quick sketches tacked up on a wall somewhere. Storyboarding has its place in the world, but it is not an effective way to map out a picture book. There has to be a flow and a relationship between the pages. You have to know that by turning one you’re advancing the story right there. Idle achieves that feeling, and the reward is a tale that is as emotional as it is visual.

Idle does something particularly striking with the book that many an early 21st century reader might notice. Flora is certainly an everygirl, and in no way is that more evident than her weight. I am sorry to report that in the children’s book world, if a character is plus sized or larger than average, that will usually be the sole focus of their tale. The everyday adventures of kids that don’t look like walking popsicle sticks are nigh unto impossible to find sometimes. The nice thing about this book is that unless you want to interpret it as an exercise book (don’t) it isn’t about Flora’s pear-shaped body. Now if one were feeling somewhat cynical they might suspect that Idle is using her heroine’s weight to make her comical. I don’t think that’s really the case. Certainly the contrast between her and the flamingo is set off by their different appearances (more on that soon), but you could also argue that by giving her heroine a little more meat on her bones, Idle makes Flora easier to identify with. There are lots of overweight kids in America right now. Seems to me it shouldn’t be too hard to give them a happy dancing kid hero. Remember the “No Rain” by Blind Melon music video? It’s like that.

The unspoken (ha ha – there are no words in this book) irony here is the fact that flamingos are not usually considered unusually graceful birds. There’s a skinny gawkiness about them, and Idle makes use of that gawkiness to contrast her feathered hero with the very different awkwardness of the girl. Where he is all knobby knees and thin curled neck, she is circles and smiles. His elegant pink feet bear nothing in common with her ginormous brown flippers. This dichotomy is the striking difference that gives the book its visual kick in the pants. The white background and pink apple blossom-like flowers that frame the edges of the pages are perfectly suited to focus your attention on the bird and the girl. The flaps are just the icing on the cake.

I probably should have mentioned it before, but Flora and the Flamingo is actually a lift-the-flap picture book. If you want a fun exercise in clever book design, read just the pages with the flaps. You’ll see that at first Flora’s flap and the flamingo’s are on opposite pages with the flamingo directly in the center of his page and Flora’s flap slightly closer to the flamingo’s page. Skip ahead and you’ll see that Flora has traversed the gutter (the area found between pages) and suddenly her flap is touching the flamingo’s (no wonder he gets tetchy!). After he hurts her feelings the flaps are as far from one another as they can be. The flamingo makes good and for the first time the two characters share a single, large flap. They dance and it all builds up to a gatefold in the book that can be opened to reveal the two cannonballing happily into the water. Beautifully done.

I could get a lot of good out of this book with kids, I can see it now. First up, it would pair amusingly with another make-a-flamingo-your-buddy book, You WILL Be My Friend! by Peter Brown. As a ballet book, this title is also rather excellent. You can actually name the steps from time to time. I suppose if you absolutely had to you could even argue for this as an exercise book, but that’s pushing it. At its heart, Flora and the Flamingo is just an unassuming little story about making a friend. There’s nothing very complicated about that idea. It’s just all in how you present it, baby. Consider this one book that’s not afraid to let clever (yet essentially simple) design and good art do the heavy lifting.

On shelves March 1st.

Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.

Like This? Then Try:

• You WILL Be My Friend by Peter Brown

• Ballerina Swan by Allegra Kent, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

• Color Dance by Ann Jonas

Professional Reviews:

• A star from Publishers Weekly
• Kirkus

Misc:

• Look inside the book yourself!

Videos:

Lest you doubt me when I proclaim Idle’s Dreamworks cred . . .

Now see the flaps in action!

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Illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal has a series of four interviews planned this month on her blog. The series is well under way with two interviews having been conducted already. Juana promises the interviews will be very informative with topics on technique, the industry, books, likes, dislikes and everything related to being a children's illustrator. For more information about the interviews click here...


To read the interview with children’s book author and illustrator, Molly Idle, click here...


To read the interview with children’s book author and illustrator, Mikela Prevost, click here...

To find out how to submit your news to Illustration Pages click here.

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On this journey to get published it seems the road has been nothing short of long and winding, yet just one little turn can send you down an unexpected path. I've always believed in fate. I've always believed things happen for a reason. The last couple of years I'm having a hard time figuring out what that reason might be, but I'm hoping one day it will all make perfect sense. So when a simple chain events leads me smack-dab in the hands of "my" new agent, I have to think there just might be something to this fate business after all.

Here's how the story goes.

It's the middle of the month and I'm in the middle of a rut. I'm going to work each day, trying to figure out when I'll have time to work on new stories, feeling a little low, needing a little inspiration. I haven't been out for awhile, when some people at work plan a Happy Hour get-together. Perfect I think. It's been weeks, maybe months since I went out. I'm ready to go! So I accept. Then wouldn't you know it, the very next day I get an email invite from my local illustrators group for a meeting. On the same day! At the same time! We hadn't had a meeting for months, maybe six or seven months, and now we're getting together on the same day I already made a commitment for. I'm thinking what bad luck I have, wishing they were on different days.

So I go the the Happy Hour. It's close to work, which is close to home. We get done earlier than I expect. Now, I'm the type of person who doesn't like to miss out things. My Mom says I'm always trying to fit 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound bag. (Actually I don't think she uses the word potatoes.) I'm on my way home believing that's where I'm heading when I approach the freeway on-ramp sign, next thing I know I'm making a quick call to a friend to find out how far into the meeting they are. Twenty minutes later I'm walking into the meeting. Late, but walking in, ready to hear what every one's been up to. I knew Molly would be there sharing her portfolio and her recent experiences in New York City, I just didn't know I'd be there too. Molly Idle won the SCBWI portfolio award grand prize back in August. As part of her grand prize she won a trip to New York to meet with a few Art Directors from major houses and tonight she had stories to tell! Lynne Avril was there too, which always makes the meetings a hoot and a half! She had some original art to show. Part of her Amelia Bedelia books. I'm always amazed at the amount of work she can do in a short amount of time.

As the meeting is wrapping up I'm having a discussion with Molly, who is also querying agents. She mentions an agent that I had queried awhile back but never heard from. I decide the next day that I should query that agent again, maybe she never got the initial query? Within hours I have a reply. She looked at my website, calls my work beautiful, but passes. Again, I hear my work is too realistic. I send her a thank you. (I normally don't do this. I figu

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A team of judges (including Loren Long, Justin Chanda, Mac McCool, Steve Bjorkman, and Alice Pope) spent two hours perusing dozens and dozens of portfolios and picked one grand prize winner and two honor recipients.

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