2009 RI Festival of Children’s Books and Authors

Also known as one of THE BEST book festivals you can go to, and lucky, us, it’s right here in RI!

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Every year, the Lincoln School in Providence opens up and we get treated to the best writers and illustrators currently working. That is no exaggeration! To wit:

Here’s Brian Selznick explaining some of the windy journey that led him to create The Invention of Hugo Cabret. What’s fun about this festival is that the speakers have to be ready to talk to a mixed audience of kids and adults. I find that a lot more engaging, and it seems like they feel that way too! Brian is at the top of his game- a wonderful author/illustrator, and a contemporary of ours from RISD (he graduated in ’88, Eric and I in ’89). Go Brian!

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Here’s the amazing Lois Lowry, signing our festival poster. Our kids have read a bunch of her books, so it was a treat to see her in person.

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Jerry Pinkney. What can you say about him? I’d say he’s in the Liz Top Ten of Living Illustrators. Oh, yeah- and add to that he’s a totally genuine guy who really cares about people. You can see this in person for sure, but I think it comes out in his art, too.

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That’s his childhood home in the slide.

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Look- there’s betty Brown getting her book signed!

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Here’s Mary Ann Hoberman:

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With a few fans!

Chris Van Allsburg: My old teacher from RISD!

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A very popular presenter at the festival each year!

Christopher Paul Curtis gave a great talk, also geared for the mixed kid/adult audience, that had the place in stitches. Here he is coercing a boy to declare his love of reading, after which he gave him a cash “bookmark.” Ha! Hearing him describe his ascent from Detroit auto worker to Newbery and Coretta Scott King Award winner was purely inspirational.

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Paul O. Zelinsky was there too…add another name to the Top Illustrator List! He’s prolific, and also seems to be able to bend his style to match a story, sometimes in very surprising ways. What an array of work…very inspiring. And very dapper to boot!

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AS IF that weren’t enough, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was there, too!

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I simply had to add to my signed book collection. Wouldn’t you? My only regrets are that we couldn’t see everyone there and hear all the talks. It’s pretty much impossible to do…but for however long you are there, it’s a top-notch treat and a wonderful experience. If you’re anywhere near RI next year, be sure you come to the Festival!

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Brimfield…Brimming With Style!

Yes! I finally managed to get up to Brimfield for the fall show. If you’re not from these parts, it’s a simply gigantic antique show that sets up 3 times a year. Sprawling. Hundreds and hundreds of dealers. If you’re into vintage, retro, etc. you WILL find something interesting here. I did not come home empty-handed!

I saw this cute guy on patrol in his owner’s booth at the beginning of the day. Sure enough, he was still there when we headed to our car at the end of the day!

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First thing I found was this wooden/paper litho target game. LOVE it. Vintage games from this era are a big favorite of mine.

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Hot Off the Press!

I love seeing where my designs turn up. Here are some neat new places to find a couple of my items!

Crazy Books, the Food edition is coming out in October in Germany from Edition Braus. The publisher is debuting it at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. My Calf and Half creamer is in it- keep your eyes open when in Germany (drat, I was just there a few weeks ago)!

Crazy Books-Food

Here is the current Fall ’09 MOMA (Metropolitan Museum of Art) catalog, with another of my glass items, the Half-Pint Creamer. Every purchase made thru the catalog supports the museum. Sweet!

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The Birds!

Finally got a few more things up in my Etsy shop, Recycle Rabbit!

Sewing this kind of stuff is really a hobby. I like doing it as a change from drawing. I’m hoping to have more time for sewing now that it’s Fall (more or less) and I can actually stand to be in my upstairs sewing room (which gets to be 100 degrees in the summer). Hope I’ll have a little time, too!

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Scandinavian Joy!

I’m loving the line quality and colors found on these cute little tray/dishes from Norway.
They are marked “Stavangerflint” on the back.
Graphic happiness!

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Socially Accepted Rabbits

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I thought this was interesting/funny.
My bunny book, What Kind of Rabbit Are You? came up in a title search at the Chicago Public Library. I’m happy to know it’s there!

What’s interesting are the many subjects under which it falls, all of which are searchable in their database:

Rabbits Juvenile fiction.
Social acceptance Juvenile fiction.
Conduct of life Juvenile fiction.
Perception Juvenile fiction.
Toy and movable books Specimens.
Rabbits Fiction.
Social acceptance Fiction.
Conduct of life Fiction.
Perception Fiction.
Stories in rhyme.
Pop-up books.
Toy and movable books.

I wonder what else is in the “conduct of life” section!

New Book! Christopher Columbus

I have a new book coming out juuuussst about now, in time for Columbus Day 2009. It’s Christopher Columbus, written by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by me!
It’s published by Scholastic and will appear in their school book club mailings.

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There’s nothing more fun than seeing a book in print and receiving a box of ’em!

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This is a new line for Scholastic: biographies for the very young/preschoolers. The text takes you from Christopher as a young boy through his many attempts at securing ships for exploration, to when he finally lands in San Salvador.

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Let me know if you see it in on your book order form!

Sweet Ceramics

I love hunting around at thrift stores, yard sales, and places like Savers because you never know what will turn up. Here are a couple of pieces that I think are particularly nice.

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This chick jar, made in West Germany, has a great simplicity in design and color. Love it!

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The mug with the houses comes from England. Great graphics, Batman! Not afraid of color, are they?
I keep these two pieces near each other because I think they have a similar (awesome) vibe!

The Trip, Part 2: The Black Forest

We drove from Alsace over the German border, and into the Black Forest region. It was there that we joined up with a bushel of family members for a birthday party/reunion of sorts. While much of our time was spent with the family at large, with 4 languages represented, we all managed to see some of the countryside, too.

We stayed in Kalberbronn, at a great place called the Schwanen (The Swan).

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The main building was fairly luxurious, but we stayed in a smaller outbuilding that was closer to the working farm. Very nice!

It was fun being able to see the critters every day!

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There were plenty of farm cats- this one reminded us of Flo.

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The Trip, Part One: Alsace

We were lucky enough to do some traveling this summer, both visiting with far-flung family and your usual sightseeing. We spent 5 days in Alsace, the grapey part of France bordering Germany, then went for 6 days to the Black Forest in Germany, then another 6 days in Bavaria. Needless to say these are visually stunning areas, and I took waaaay too many pictures. But hey, the blog has been ignored for quite a while, so here we go!

First things first. We flew into Frankfurt and stayed there for a night before driving to Alsace. You should know something about Germany. In Germany, the eggs wear hats!

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Driving down to Alsace, we stopped in the town of Wissembourg. They have an unfinished cathedral there.

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Complete with delightfully macabre medieval graves.

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Alsatian towns are unbelievably beautiful. Nearly every town we passed through was picturesque.

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