My friend and I have started a new tradition. We are now meeting up about once a month or so and sharing our favorite illustrated books! A lot of the time they are illustrated picture books. It’s delightful to oooo and ahhh WITH someone in person over a great book. Not many of us have book clubs where we read children’s books, but I encourage you to throw in a YA or picture book book now and again. It’s fun!
I just had to share with all of you a couple of great finds. So in no particular order here are 2 AMAZING recently published picture books:
Life is grand for the two dogs: Boot & Shoe until one day a pesky squirrel shows up and causes trouble. This book is laugh out loud funny and has a sweet, tender ending too. 2 thumbs up.
Carin’s collages have a poetic folk art feel. Plainly stated: they are magical. The simple text allows your eyes to slowly take in all the details in her collage compositions and the paper collage material too. Anyone who likes to paper collage should pick up this book.
These copies were borrowed from my local library, but I love both books so very much that I plan on adding them to my personal collection. OH and speaking of my personal collection. I forgot to tell you what my all time favorite picture is book on Tuesday. Drum roll please….my FAVORITE picture books is: Brave Irene by William Steig. It’s a classic. It’s even better when you’re Mom reads it out loud and really animates the wind’s voice. (Thanks Mom!)
So, while you are looking up these 2 new pictures you should look up Brave Irene too!
Yesterday around noon EST the 2013 Caldecott Medals were announced at the midwinter American Library Association in Seattle. Drum roll pleeeeeaaase….
CALDECOTT MEDAL The Caldecott Medal goes to This Is Not My Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen. This book is the follow up to I Want My Hat Back published in 2011. In This Is Not My Hat, a small fish steals the hat from a bigger fish while he’s sleeping. The little fish has a plan to get away with it, but his subtle peaks backward might tell another ending. Check out this great book trailer:
Jon Klassen also received a Caldecott Honor for illustrating the picture book Extra Yarn written by Mac Barnett.
2013 is the 75th anniversary of the Caldecott awards. NPR gives a great description of the history of this award that includes comments from 2-time Caldecott winning author/illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg. You can listen to this story here.
This book tells the story of the artistic gorilla, Ivan, who lives in a cage in a shopping center. He hardly misses the jungle, but his world is shaken up when he is joined by a baby elephant.
I know I’m heading over to my local bookstore to check out these books in person. Are you?
You know I love to design picture books! And here’s the latest book that published this week: Red Kite, Blue Kite by Disney-Hyperion.
Red Kite, Blue, Kite is a poignant picture book, written by Ji-li Jiang and illustrated by Greg Ruth, about a little boy and his father during the Cultural Revolution in China. Both father and son keep their connection through chaotic events by flying their kites. It’s a wonderful story of the love between father and son.
MORE CHILDREN’S BOOKS NEWS
The 2013 Newbery and Caldecott medals will be announced this coming Monday January 28th! Every year these awards are given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. An author is awarded the Newbery medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. An illustrator is awarded the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
To receive a call from one of these award committees can be a life changing moment. PW has pulled together an interesting collection of interviews from several recent Newbery and Caldecott recipients describing the moment of the very big phone call.
Are you curious about who is predicted to win the 2013 Caldecott and Newbery medals? You can go here and here to see a few ideas.
What’s your or your child’s favorite newly published children’s or YA book?
On Tuesday, I announced that I published my first picture book and the response and support for my Old MacDonald Had A Farm paperback book has been so wonderful! Thank you to everyone for your kind words and for purchasing my book.
AND what’s even more great is that LULU even seems to be supporting me too. TODAY ONLY Lulu is cutting it’s GROUND SHIPPING COSTS BY 75%! No coupon necessary. The savings automatically kick in as you check out. Add that HUGE savings to my special book price of $12 and you are one savvy shopper! I wouldn’t pass this moment up, a deal like this doesn’t happen too often. Start your holiday shopping!
And speaking of Holidays, I also want to announce that for those of you in the Rochester area, AbbyDora Design will be at the RIT Winter Craft Fair on Friday December 14th from 10am-4pm. I’ll have additional copies of Old MacDonald for sale and will be signing books too. If you decide to buy your book today (AND SAVE BIG!) feel free to bring it to the fair to be signed.
It is my absolute joy to announce that I have published my first children’s picture book, Old MacDonald Had A Farm! During this past summer’s art festivals I witnessed many young children connect with my animal portraits. Parents and children engaged in conversations to name the animal and what sound they made. For me it was a thrill to see this connection with my art.
I wanted to continue this engagement with my illustrations, so I collected the animal artwork and assembled it into an adorable early reader book using the Old MacDonald song. Little ones with parents will again enjoy sharing time with each other while naming the large, brightly colored farm animals and mimicking their sounds in this paperback book.
Creating this book allowed me the unique opportunity to use both my art and design skills. I painted the artwork, designed the book layout, and set the typography! After several years of working with other people’s artwork in books, it felt amazing to be working with my own illustrations. I think of this book as a stepping stone to venturing into more of my own illustrated books.
Now for the good stuff! Since you are the first to know about this Old MacDonald picture book you are able to purchase my book at the special $12 price for this week only! After next Tuesday October 23rd, the book will be released to the public and the retail price will increase. Perhaps this is the moment to start your holiday shopping? I do hope you enjoy this book as much as I did creating it!
Do you have a little one in your life who loves animals?
And the winner is…A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka! Hooray! On Monday Chris received a call of a life time—he won the prestigious Caldecott award for his book. He was so shocked at the call he asked the committee to repeat the announcement to him! Read more about his reaction here in a PW interview.
Although I didn’t guess correctly, this book is a wonderful choice. It’s a book that focuses completely on visual storytelling as there isn’t any typeset text to read. Instead, Chris’s fluid and simple watercolor illustrations take you on a fun journey with Daisy, the dog, and her ball. You can feel the energy of this little Dog through Chris’s “squiggly” brush strokes. Daisy’s expression and movements made me laugh out loud on several pages. I highly recommend, next time you are in a bookstore take a moment to read this book. Better yet, read it to your child or grandchild!
