Don’t you hate it when you’ve saved oodles of links for a Fusenews only to find your computer apparently ate them without informing you? Fun times. So if I promised some of you that I’d post something and then I didn’t, remind me of the fact. Clearly me brain is running on fumes.
- Stop. Before you go any farther I will show you something that will make you laugh. It is this post by my sister on making a particularly unique gingerbread creation. If nothing else the photos at the end will make you snort in a distinctly unladylike manner.
- Please remind me the next time I wish to garner outrage to simply tap Philip Pullman. The man has sway. Big time sway.
The SCBWI is proud to announce the winner and honor recipients of the 2013 Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Award. Congratulations to winner Eve Feldman, author of such works asBilly and Milly Short and Silly (Putnam) and Dog Crazy (Tambourine). Eve has been a children’s book author and SCBWI member for over twenty years. To learn more about Eve visit www.evebfeldman.com.
Two Honor Grants were also awarded to authors Verla Kay and Deborah Lynn Jacobs. Verla Kay is the author of Civil War Drummer Boy (Putnam) and Hornbooks and Inkwells(Putnam) among others. Learn more at www.verlakay.com. Deborah Lynn Jacobs is the author of the young adult novels Choices (Roaring Brook Press) and Powers (Square Fish). Learn more at www.deborahlynnjacobs.com.
- Gift giving to a young ‘un when you yourself are without young ‘uns? Well, this post A Message to Those Without Children is dead on. She doesn’t mention alternatives but I can: What about books instead? Board books! Give it a whirl, prospective gift givers.
- The most amusing part of this Harry Potter Swimsuit Line to my mind isn’t the content so much as it is the models they got to wear the outfits. Most of them don’t seem to have any clue what they’re wearing. However, #2 in the Snape dress model appears to have been cast solely for the part and #3 has the decency to look slightly embarrassed to be there at all. Thanks to Liz Burns for the link.
- Speaking of HP, we all knew that the covers of the Harry Potter books were being re-illustrated here in the States. But how many of us knew that the Brits were planning on releasing full-color illustrated books with art by Jim Kay? Does the name Jim Kay ring a bell for you, by the way? You might be thinking of the art he did for A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. That was a far cry from that cutesy Harry picture included in the article. Suddenly I can’t wait to see what the man can do with Dementors. Thanks to Ben Collinsworth for the link.
Doggone it. Yet again I delayed posting my Fusenews a day and failed to mention Jarrett Krosoczka’s Joe and Shirl Scholarship Auction in time. Sorry Jarrett! Fortunately, the man is no stranger to auctions of every stripe. This past Sunday there was a big fundraiser for First Book Manhattan at Symphony Space. The actors involved were HUGE and Jarrett was the lucky guy who got to host (he even played Glowworm to Paul Giamatti’s Centipede).
As part of the fun, Jarrett created this cool art. The Dahl estate then signed off on it to be auctioned off to continue to benefit First Book. Like what you see? Then buy here!
Bidding ends on Friday at 5 p.m.
The jolly gift of the season, for me, is to have friends with oodles, sheer oodles, of talent just ah-flowing out of their gills (so to speak). Last year I posted about how some buddies and I got together to make Shrinky-Dink Christmas ornaments (which, in turn, led to Shrinky-Dink Caldecott jewelry later in the year). This year we upped the ante, so to speak.
So I was sitting in my office, minding my own business, when the mail arrived. And not just any mail either. Big mail. Big flat mail. Big flat mail that had a very prominent bakery sticker on the outside. I got very excited when I saw that. Tis the season for chocolate goodies, yes?
No chocolate awaited me inside (well, maybe a little chocolate). What I found instead was a remarkable little gingerbread house kit, complete with a copy of the latest Scaredy Squirrel title Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Christmas. Inside was a handy dandy builder’s permit (made out to me!), pre-made frosting, gingerbread, the works!
Knowing that I had a Christmas party in my home coming up I schlepped it to my apartment and waited until this past weekend to start construction. Not that I constructed a darn thing. Nope. Say hello to the foreman in charge of this project, Josh Ess.
Some of you may remember Josh as the husband of the illustrious Lori Ess and the man who single-handedly saved an Eric Carle Museum program that featured Anita Silvey (amongst others) when its computer went on the fritz. Turns out, the man does a mean edible arrangement. This may have something to do with the fact that he is a professionally trained chef. Perhaps.
The first problem we had with the house turned out to be the biggest. At some point in its travels, the body of the house had cracked.
So yes. We were dealing with a crack house. Josh put the crack house together as best he could and you can see the clever patching job done with frosting. Still, things were looking dire. Particularly when it was discovered that the roof didn’t really fit either. This called for creativity!! Step #1: Place gumdrops where the house would normally connect.
Step #2: Stick everything in place with copious frosting.
Step #3: Place other portion of roof on top without toppling everything like a house of cards.
Ta dah! With some effort the house started to perk up a bit. Josh even arranged the faux M&Ms on the top in a rainbow pattern.
Now it was time to decorate. And who better to help with that feature than graphic novelist Gareth Hinds? You may remember him from such graphic novel Shakespearan adaptations as King Lear, or his work on The Odyssey and Beowulf. He’s got a killer Romeo & Juliet out in the future, and a very fine hand on hiding the cracked doorway of the house going on here.
Not that Josh wasn’t a remarkable piper when it came to the frosting.
That is the advantage of doing a house like this. When you make a mistake, you eat the cement.
Ta dah!! A happy home for all to see.
But what really sealed the deal for me was Josh’s attention to fine details that would have gone unnoticed had someone not pointed them out. When we weren’t looking he took the Tootsie Rolls that came with the house, some frosting and some toothpicks and made . . . a reindeer!!
Then later in the evening, that same reindeer morphed into Rudolph.
That is what happens when you separate the gingerbread men from the gingerbread boys, son. Josh, you are the undeniable gingerbread king.
Others have received this same house in the mail. If you want to see the full roster you can see them on the Scaredy Squirrel Facebook Page. The blog Pickle Me This actually put the darn thing together using the instructions and ALL the ingredients. Other blogs followed suit. Go here or here if you want to see what it was supposed to look like.
After that there was nothing for it but to make a couple Christmas ornaments with whatever picture book characters I happened to have hanging around my living room. This year the winners included:
Me Want Pet by Bob Shea – ornament created using markers (!!!!) by Alison Morris
Flora’s Very Windy Day by Jeanne Birdsall, illustrated by Matt Phelan – ornament created by Lori Ess using only colored pencils
Humpty Dumpty from the Will Moses Mother Goose – ornament created by Josh Ess
Dick Tracy by my very own resident husband Matt.
And a Sumo wrestler – ornament created just off the top of his head on a spur of the moment whim by Gareth Hinds. It was not traced.
If you do not have a tiny Sumo wrestler on YOUR tree, I pity you.
I cannot thank my guests enough for such a fantastic party. Thanks to Alison Morris, Gareth Hinds, Lori Ess, John Ess, and Matt for helping to make this the bestest Christmas ever. Special thanks to Alison for the bulk of these fabulous pictures.
And thanks to the folks at Kids Can Press for allowing me the chance to make a house of my very own with absolutely zero effort on my own part.
Finally, my own offspring. Suited up to fit the holidays.
