Mariam Gates, author of Good Morning Yoga, selected these five family favorites.
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Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Sports, Book Lists, Yoga, featured, Golden Books, Candlewick, Mark Teague, Audrey Wood, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Blue Sky Press, Judy Schachner, Puffin Books, Jon Stone, Michael Smollin, Family Favorites, Kay Thompson, Best Kids Stories, Mariam Gates, Sounds True Books, Sarah Jane Hinder, Mart Crowley, Add a tag
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JacketFlap tags: Lisbeth Zwerger, Family Favorites, John Archambault, Best Kids Stories, Dutton Books for Young Readers, HarperCollins, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Giveaways, Garth Williams, Book Lists, Book Giveaway, featured, Lois Ehlert, Paul O. Zelinsky, Bill Martin Jr., Beverly Cleary, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, E. B. White, Add a tag
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JacketFlap tags: Victoria Aveyard, Viking Books for Young Readers, Terry Fan, The Fan Brothers, HarperCollins, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Sara Pennypacker, Kevin Henkes, featured, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, HarperTeen, Candlewick, Razorbill, Roaring Brook Press, Jarvis, Judith Viorst, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Cale Atkinson, Doreen Cronin, Megan McDonald, David Small, Dan Gutman, Douglas Florian, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Julia Donaldson, Jon Klassen, Peter Reynolds, Balzer + Bray, Greenwillow Books, Lydia Monks, Lee White, Disney-Hyperion, Ruta Sepetys, Marissa Meyer, Laura Dronzek, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, Teens: Young Adults, Julie Falatko, Best Books for Kids, Best Kids Stories, Jessica Khoury, Feiwel & Friends, Jess Keating, Popular Kids Stories, Best New Kids Books, Melissa Landers, Eric Fan, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, Heidi Heilig, little bee books, Rebecca Roher, Tundra Books, Tim Miller, Vikki VanSickle, Sonia Sanchez, Steve Light, Tommy Greenwald, Add a tag
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JacketFlap tags: Mary Pope Osborne, Philip Reeve, Linda Ashman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nicola Davies, Random House Books for Young Readers, Leuyen Pham, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Rosanne Parry, Scholastic Press, Philomel Books, Balzer + Bray, Running Press Kids, Shannon Hitchcock, Salina Yoon, Adele Griffin, Joyce Hesselberth, Chris Grabenstein, Sarah Mcintyre, Sal Murdocca, Elizabeth Rose Stanton, Brooke Boynton Hughes, Paula Wiseman Books, Best Books for Kids, Best Kids Stories, Feiwel & Friends, Mike Curato, HMH Books for Young Readers, Toni Yuly, Henry Holt and Co. books, Best New Kids Books, Dan Gemeinhart, Bloomsbury USA Books, Annabel Wright, Chloe Bonfield, Lois Sepahban, Katrina Nannestad, Susan B. Katz, Eiko Ojala, J.J. Austrian, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Kirby Larson, Book Lists, Oliver Jeffers, Farrar Straus and Giroux, featured, Michelle Markel, Add a tag
Take a look at our selection of hot new releases and popular kids' books and let us know which titles and covers catch your eyes. There are so many amazing new kids books coming in 2016!
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JacketFlap tags: HarperCollins, Neil Gaiman, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction, Book Lists, Chapter Books, Jenny Han, YA Books, The New York Times, featured, Sarah Dessen, Best Sellers, Delacorte Press, Chris Riddell, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Teens: Young Adults, Rainbow Rowell, Best Kids Stories, Best Selling Books, Best YA, St. Martin's Griffin Books, HarperTeen Books, Victoria Aveyard, Viking Books for Young Readers, Nicola Yoon, Add a tag
This month, the best selling young adult titles include books by super-talents Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell, Rainbow Rowell and Sarah Dessen.
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JacketFlap tags: St. Martin's Griffin Books, Best New Kids Books, Johanna Basford, Lindsay Mattick, Joseph Kuefler, Mark Zug, Shadow Mountain Publishing, HarperCollins, Mo willems, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Angie Sage, Candlewick Press, featured, Sophie Blackall, Rick Riordan, DK Publishing, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Brandon Mull, Patrick McDonnell, Tony DiTerlizzi, Katherine Tegen Books, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Penguin Books, Patrick Ness, John Flanagan, Kenneth Oppel, Jon Klassen, Philomel Books, Balzer + Bray, Sara Raasch, Pamela Zagarenski, James Dean, Stephan Pastis, Jay Kristoff, Philip C. Stead, Erin E. Stead, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, Marie Lu, Teens: Young Adults, Best Books for Kids, Daniel Lipkowitz, Amie Kaufman, Rainbow Rowell, Best Kids Stories, HMH Books for Young Readers, Add a tag
Hot New Releases & Popular Kids Stories We think our list of the best new kids books for October is sensational! It highlights some amazing books from many different genres: non-fiction, reality fiction, and fantasy. Take a gander and let us know which titles and covers catch your eye ... Read the rest of this post
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JacketFlap tags: Books for Boys, Debut Author, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Spencer, Narwhal, Library Donated Books, 6 Stars TOP BOOK, Debut Illustrator, Top 10 of 2015, Night-Night Narwhal, Where Are My Books?, Tenacious Todd, library, Children's Books, Interviews, books, Reading, Picture Book, siblings, Favorites, Add a tag
Where Are My Books? Written & Illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi . Simon & Schuster BYR 5/12/2015 . .978-1-4424-6741-5 . .40 pages Age 4—8 …
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JacketFlap tags: Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction, Book Lists, Chapter Books, Jenny Han, YA Books, The New York Times, featured, Sarah Dessen, Best Sellers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Teens: Young Adults, Rainbow Rowell, Best Kids Stories, Best Selling Books, Best YA, St. Martin's Griffin Books, HarperTeen Books, Victoria Aveyard, Tommy Wallach, Viking Books for Young Readers, Add a tag
Check out our hand-picked list from the Best Selling Young Adult list from The New York Times.
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JacketFlap tags: Best Selling Books For Kids, Speak Books, E. Lockhart, Young Adult Fiction, Book Lists, Chapter Books, John Green, featured, Best Sellers, Delacorte Press, Gary Paulsen, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Dutton Books, Ransom Riggs, Quirk Books, Teens: Young Adults, Best Kids Stories, Best YA, Add a tag
This month, the award-winning classic Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, is The Children’s Book Review’s best selling young adult book.
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JacketFlap tags: Best Books for Kids, Best Kids Stories, Soman Chainani, Best New Kids Books, Tui T. Sutherland, Daniel Miyares, Robert Beatty, HarperCollins, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Dr. Seuss, Book Lists, featured, Random House Books for Young Readers, Disney-Hyperion Books, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Mordicai Gerstein, Scholastic Press, Jacqueline Kelly, Henry Holt and Co., Chris Colfer, Add a tag
If you love books as much as we do, we know you'll love our selection of titles that highlights some of the best new kids books; including a never-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss and some highly anticipated sequels!
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JacketFlap tags: Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Cece Bell, Gift Books, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Disney-Hyperion Books, Clarion Books, Dial books, Teens: Young Adults, Best Books for Kids, Best Kids Stories, Adam Silvera, Best New Kids Books, Cassie Beasley, Christine Hayes, Jennifer Gray Olson, Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, New Kids Book, Soho Teen Books, Mo willems, William Joyce, featured, Roaring Brook Press, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Hot New Releases, Popular Kids Stories, Henry Holt and Co. books, Jessica Lawson, Add a tag
And we thought May was a tough month to select the best new kids books! June has so many awesome books to dive into this summer.
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JacketFlap tags: Best Kids Stories, Natalie Lloyd, Kelly Jones, Robin Stevens, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Chapter Books, featured, Victoria Jamieson, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Middle Grade Books, Varian Johnson, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Scholastic Press, Dial books, Sharon Flake, Add a tag
I'd recommend these middle grade novels to kids who enjoy ... [a] strong voice and humor and who might like a peek into someone else's world.
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JacketFlap tags: Best Kids Stories, Sara O'Leary, Best New Kids Books, Graphix Books, Dutton Books for Young Readers, Jihyeon Lee, The Baby-Sitters Club Series, Viking Books for Young Readers, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Book Lists, Chronicle Books, Gift Books, Sarah Dessen, Cynthia Lord, Kate Messner, John Grisham, Ann M. Martin, Meg Hunt, Tom Lichtenheld, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Tundra Books, Mark Siegel, Scholastic Press, Beach Lane Books, Liz Garton Scanlon, Julie Morstad, Raina Telgemeier, Deborah Underwood, Theodore Boone, Stuart Gibbs, Beth Ferry, Teens: Young Adults, Add a tag
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! The Children's Book Review (call sign TCBR) is declaring a reading emergency. The weather is clear and suitable for reading outside.
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JacketFlap tags: Roaring Brook Press, Picasso, Picture Books For Children, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Sharks, Sally Wern Comport, Rick Allen, Princeton Architectural Press, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Picture Books, Book Lists, Non-Fiction, Joyce Sidman, Martin Luther King Jr., Gift Books, featured, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Katherine Applegate, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Gandhi, Mary GrandPré, Jen Bryant, Melissa Sweet, Alexander Calder, Clarion Books, Bethany Hegedus, Bret Witter, Angela Farris Watkins, Barb Rosenstock, Best Books for Kids, Katherine Roy, Best Kids Stories, HMH Books for Young Readers, Patricia Geis, Arun Gandhi, Evan Turk, Luis Carlos Montalván, David Macaulay Studio, Dan Dion, Add a tag
The best non-fiction picture books of 2014, as picked by the editors and contributors of The Children’s Book Review.
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JacketFlap tags: Ages 9-12, Diversity, Historical Fiction, Black History Month, Civil Rights, African American Authors, African American, featured, Books for Boys, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Great Depression, Books for Girls, Adversity, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Segregation, Family Relationships, Sharon M. Draper, African American History Month, Ku Klux Klan, Cultural Wisdom, Books Set in the 1930s, Community Relationships, Add a tag
Stella by Starlight, by esteemed storyteller Sharon M. Draper, is a poignant novel that beautifully captures the depth and complexities within individuals, a community, and society in 1932, an era when segregation and poverty is at the forefront.
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JacketFlap tags: Teens, Young Adult, Book Lists, Chapter Books, John Green, Books For Teens, Best Sellers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Gayle Forman, Dutton Books, Willy Pogany, Padraic Colum, Top Books For Teens, Teens: Young Adults, Best Kids Stories, Best Selling Books, Popular Books For Teens, Speak Books, Add a tag
With so many strong novels on this list, all but one young adult novel, John Green's Paper Towns, remains the same on our hand-picked list from the Best Selling Young Adult list.
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JacketFlap tags: HarperCollins, Ages 0-3, Ages 4-8, Gratitude, Picture Books, Book Lists, Thanksgiving, featured, Shel Silverstein, Nikki Grimes, Kristina Swarner, Jerry Pinkney, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Karma Wilson, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, grateful, Cozbi A. Cabrera, thankfulness, Jane Dyer, Greenwillow Books, Todd Parr, Douglas Wood, Jane Chapman, Anna-Liisa Hakkarainen, John Bucchino, Cultural Wisdom, Social Graces, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Greg Shed, Lynea Gillen, Olivia Rosewood, Stacie Theis, Three Pebble Press, Add a tag
As we begin a season of reflection and celebration, we are pleased to share some of our favorite books on thankfulness and being grateful that will help young readers on their journey to understanding gratitude.
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JacketFlap tags: Dutton Books, Ransom Riggs, Quirk Books, Willy Pogany, Padraic Colum, Teens: Young Adults, Best Kids Stories, Best Selling Books, Best YA, Alfred A. Knopf Books, Speak Books, Young Adult, Book Lists, Chapter Books, John Green, The New York Times, Markus Zusak, Best Sellers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Gayle Forman, Add a tag
This month, everything remains the same on our hand-picked list from the Best Selling Young Adult list—including The Children's Book Review's number one best selling young adult book is The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy.
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JacketFlap tags: Young Adult, Book Lists, Chapter Books, John Green, The New York Times, Gift Books, Markus Zusak, Best Sellers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Gayle Forman, Dutton Books, Ransom Riggs, Quirk Books, Willy Pogany, Padraic Colum, Teens: Young Adults, Rainbow Rowell, Best Kids Stories, Best Selling Books, Best YA, Popular Books For Teens, Alfred A. Knopf Books, St. Martin's Griffin Books, Speak Books, Add a tag
This month, The Children's Book Review's number one best selling young adult book is The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy—a classic must-read for all Greek mythology fans.
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JacketFlap tags: Chapter Books, Farrar Straus and Giroux, featured, Razorbill, Delacorte Press, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Lauren Miller, Jessica Brody, Disney-Hyperion, Jessi Kirby, Tamara Ireland Stone, Teens: Young Adults, Best Kids Stories, Jessica Khoury, Best YA, HarperTeen Books, E. Lockhart, Young Adult, Book Lists, Add a tag
Lauren Miller is the author of Parallel and FREE TO FALL, both published by HarperTeen. She is an entertainment lawyer and television writer. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two kids.
Add a CommentBlog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Eric Simonoff, Kristin Ostby, London 2012, Alex Morgan, Children's Books, Deals, olympics, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster, Add a tag
Fresh from winning a gold medal at London 2012, Olympian Alex Morgan has landed a 3-book deal with Simon & Schuster’s Books for Young Readers (SBYR). The American soccer star will be penning her debut middle-grade series, The Kicks.
The not-yet-titled first book will be released in Summer 2013. SBYR editor Kristin Ostby negotiated the deal with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment literary agent Eric Simonoff. Ostby, who will edit the manuscript, secured both world English and audio rights.
Morgan (pictured, via) had this statement in the release: “It seems like only yesterday, I was a kid myself, getting my first taste of the joys of teamwork, good sportsmanship, acceptance. Playing team sports is one of the best ways I can think of to develop strong values, good work ethics, and a health-focused lifestyle. This series will no doubt widen the appeal of soccer and bring an appreciation of the sport to readers who might not otherwise have that opportunity.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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JacketFlap tags: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Philippa Gregory, Kresley Cole, Robin Rue, Poison Princess, Young Adult Books, Authors, romance, Deals, Add a tag
Romance author Kresley Cole has landed a deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for her first young adult novel.
Entitled Poison Princess, the first book will launch The Arcana Chronicles series. Publication is set for October 12th. Writers House literary agent Robin Rue represented Cole on this deal.
Here’s more from the release: “Poison Princess centers on sixteen-year-old Evangeline “Evie” Greene, a privileged teenager from Louisiana. When an apocalyptic event decimates her hometown, killing everyone she loves, Evie realizes the hallucinations she’d been having for the past year were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux. As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call.” (Photo Credit: Deanna Meredith Studios)
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JacketFlap tags: Children's book illustration, Austin SCBWI, children's picture book, Kate Greenaway Medal, Emily Gravett, " "Monkey and Me", "London Telegraph", "Wolves, draftsmanship, Macmillan Prize for Illustration, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Society of Childrens' Books Writers and Illustrators, Add a tag
Award winning children’s book author-illustrator Emily Gravett of Brighton, England was in Austin, Texas Friday with her editor (and vice president and editorial director of Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers) David Gale.
She read her wonderful picture book Monkey and Me to a crowd of delighted, bouncing younger children in the backyard of the home of Simon and Schuster sales rep Gillian Redfearn.
The children were bouncing because they were imitating kangaroos, which is what the child in the story and her toy monkey sidekick are also doing. (They imitate the body motions of each group of animals they’re about to see at the zoo, and so the reader gets a chance to guess what the animals will be before he turns the page.
Monkey and Me is so kinesthetic and so cute and you will recognize every three or four year old child you know in the exuberant little girl character who pretends she is every animal.
The next day Gravett and Gale were scheduled to appear at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference in San Antonio.
Members of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) had also been invited to the backyard party. A few of them would also be doing “author duty” at the NCTE conference (Jennifer Zeigler, whose recent work How Not To Be Popular was just named to the Texas Lone Star Reading List by the Texas Library Association, P.J. Hoover and Brian Anderson.)
This was Gravett’s first trip to the United States – and she said she was dealing with a touch of culture shock. She had found it difficult to understand some of the American English that was spoken to her in Miami. Texas was a little easier, she said, but not much. She had done readings at Austin area schools during the day Friday, and when she wasn’t doing readings at the evening party, she was signing books for children who just kept quietly approaching her throughout the evening craddling their books. She treated all of them as friends.
Her books are audacious, surprising, hilarious – ballets of expression. One reviewer called them ’anthems to drawing.” They are that, but they include bits and pieces of computer art collage/ Photoshop tinkering — just enough to keep things feeling modern and a tad homemade at the same time.
Gravett’s works keep snapping up prizes and recognitions in the UK — the Nestle Children’s Book Prize short list for Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears, and the Neslte Children’s Prize Bronze Award for Wolves. If she lived in the United States, she’d be in the running for Caldecott medals and honors, her fans say. She received her first Kate Greenaway Medal for her first book Wolves, which she completed as a school project. The second Kate Greenaway Medal was for Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears in 2008.
The Kate Greenaway Medal is England’s equivalent of the Caldecott Medal, since it is awarded by librarians to the children’s book with the most distinguished illustrations each year.
Wolves also won the Macmillan Prize for Illustration, which is awarded by British publisher Pan Macmillan to books for children up to five years old. Gravett has won it twice – for Wolves in 2005 and Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears in 2008.
Wolves launched her. It’s a book about a little rabbit who checks out a book about wolves at his neighborhood library and begins to read about them with great interest….and I will not tell you what happens.. .
It began in her last year at Brighton University. She was hanging out a lot in the art school’s Bookbinding department. “I loved it down there. So few people ever came there. But I’d made a little book of 6 or 7 pages. It was like a filligree of paper made to resemble a forest. Each page was flat, with no words, and a wood cutter was cutting it down. When you looked at individual pages, the forest took the form of a wolf,” she said.
“I sketched that forest for different projects and I drew a little rabbit in my sketchbook and I thought could this be combined for a fairy story?
“I thought it would be fun if the rabbit was reading. Then I thought it would be more fun if he was reading this nonfiction book.
“So I did a little thumbnail and a little dummy book, very quick. And that’s how I made it, as a dummy, with book binding with red cloth.
“I originally thought the rabbit was going to escape somehow. But I got the to the page where it shows the [chewed up book cover] and just said ‘rabbits.’ I couldn’t figure out how to rescue him so I just left it. It was funny.
“Then I panicked and wrote the happy ending. It was funny, too. So I left it in, also.”
Gravett has a sensational command of the picture book form and its possibilities.
Could it be from all of those years of reading to her little daughter (now age 9) when nothing else seemed to work to keep her (the daughter– well maybe both of them) content and calm?
“I think the more you steep yourself in picture books the better off you are,” she said.
Reviewers repeatedly comment on Gravett’s ”skillfull drawings.” Done in simple Faber-Castell Pitt oil-based pencil, they’re typically of cartoonish animal characters in action, against backdrops of minimal or no detail, which gives her pages a choreographed quality.
Even the stuffed toy animals feel anatomically right and that they’re moving correctly, somehow. I asked her if she researched and sketched a lot of animals. “Not particularly, although I have animals, you know.
“But I imagine myself as the animal when I’m drawing. I think about, ‘what would my legs be doing’ if I tried to do …this….and ‘how would my arms be?’”
(”My aim is to combine interesting use of words with quality drawing,” she once told an interviewer with the London Telegraph, citing the “looseness of Quentin Blake’s drawings” as one of her inspirations.)
Her draftsmanship probably owes more to her lifelong practice of keeping sketchbooks than academic training, she told How To Be A Children’s Book Illustrator.
“Brighton [University] has a very good reputation as an art college. I chose it because it’s my home town, I’d have family to help out, and since Brighton is one of the larger cities, my partner would be able to find work. But they didn’t teach drawing except once every two weeks we’d have a class in it. A lot of students couldn’t draw very well; They did photography. There was a lot of photography, a lot of conceptual curriculum. ..I’d wanted something more traditional.”
For their class projects (Wolves was one of these), students broke into teams, met regularly and taught each other within their ‘Crit groups.’ These did not always work out because of personalities and temperments in some of the groups. But she did enjoy the bookbinding department, where she spent a lot of time. She also appreciated an eight session-module she was able to get into that focused on picture book structure.
Gravett thumbnails her books first in her sketchbook. And in these thumbnails the words count as much as the pictures, she said. ”I have to do both at the same time or it doesn’t work out so well. So I write a little bit, draw a little bit…
“The finished pictures [in the published books] look very much like my thumbnail sketches,” she said.
Just like her books, her website is a joy that sneaks up on you. It features her drawings of her characters popping in and out of the West Bucks Public Burrowing Library and Emily herself as the librarian behind the counter. If you go in there, though, make sure you don’t check out any books about dangerous carnivores.
From Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)