I made my mama a card for Mother’s Day. The card doesn’t really say so, but she is an amazing, witty, kind, generous, and strong person, the kind of person who can handle just about anything you throw at her. I admire the heck out of her. And thankfully, she has a wicked sense of humor, to boot. I hope she likes this when I give it to her tomorrow! And, for all you mamas out there, thank you for all you do.
OK. Most of you know my good news, which is, wonder of wonders, Rabbit & Robot received a Geisel Honor on Monday. Holy cow. I am stunned but grateful. Very grateful — especially to all of you who have been so supportive through the years, and to the committee who considered it a contender in the first place. Definitely take the time to check out all the folks whose hard work was rewarded by the ALA Youth Media Awards – I am a big fan of a lot of them!
Tom was there to hear the announcement. I knew the night before, but didn’t tell him. It was worth keeping it a secret! You can hear a distinct yell (or at least I think I can) when you watch the webcast! That yell made me very happy.
But someone was NOT happy. And that someone is your friend and mine, Sock Monkey. He’s here today to point out something very important, that often gets overlooked: Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie received the International Disco Ball Hall of Fame and Fortune and Dance Award. And he’s got the picture to prove it:
S.M.: A bad loser, or a good winner? You make the call.
Sock Monkey thinks the nice flowers that came for — ahem — someone else (and thank you Madge and Candlewick Press, very much) — actually came for him. And I’m letting him think that, because a moody monkey makes for a very difficult housemate. Here is the kitchen version of S.M. with his flowers:
Fleurs from Madge and her family…
…and fleurs from Candlewick Press. Featuring Thing from the Addams Family!
Anyway, thanks to EVERYONE everywhere who has made this such an exciting time for all of us. Just, wowza wow wow, is all that can really be said.
My mom found a notebook that I used when I went to a writers’ camp at UVa back in 1985 or so. I was 14. And clearly unhappy: “I want to go home. Only 4 more days left!” Hmmm.
The writing is just absolutely atrocious, including this bizarro poem:
A Day at Kroger’s
My eye caught a jar of pig’s tongue
And Alex the Kroger Man noted with cynicism
That the tongue over pastrami would enhance
Your taste buds like Crispy Cereal Snacks. I
Hunted for the suggested cereal but found Mr. Bubble
The bath salts that leave one feeling sagordantly.
Still hunting for the cereal, I found these incredible
Pickles among the Kroger Graffiti Candy.
Forever hunting, a man from Zen Folks’
Circular Church asked me for a donation.
“Listen,” I said, “This place is Kroger’s. It’s
no place to ask for moo-la.” He left & Mrs. Terwilliger
The crazy woman from the Toy Shop approached
and offered me a peppermint candy.
I hate peppermint, but politeness forced me
To accept with charrin.
Sagordantly? What? Charrin? What what?
There’s much, much more. All of it rotten!
The school librarian of Eagle Rock Elementary School in Eagle Rock, VA, sent me a copy of their school newspaper. Eagle Rock is a great little school and we had a great big time. The students wrote a story about my visit. The best part of the article says that “Her walls, her cabinets, her bathroom, her door, and her whole house is made out of sock monkeys.” That is probably why everything feels so damp lately. The monkeys have absorbed so much of this rain we’ve been getting. Anyway, here’s the article!
BUG PATROL (Clarion Books), a rollicking picture book that I illustrated for Denise Dowling Mortensen, comes out in February!
I got the rare chance to do up a wrap-around book jacket, one of my favorite things out there. Just picture the book’s spine in the in-between space of the cover and the back that I scanned in, and you’ve got a good idea of what the whole book jacket looks like when opened all the way.
This was my first experience illustrating a book that someone else wrote, and I quite liked doing it! Especially since the writing (and heck, the drawing part, too) of my latest project has been so, well, daunting. It’s always a treat to see the fruits of your hard work while you’re toiling in the fields of a different project.
Onwards and upwards!
Lookee! Crankee Doodle stickers are here! I’m gonna take a bagging job at Kroger so I can pass these out to all the wee Kroger kiddie customers! And the book comes out in June!
Meanwhile…first one to respond to this post via Twitter gets a couple of sheets of these beauties!
Here’s a very late post featuring artwork by the cool kids at Eagle Rock Elementary School in Eagle Rock, VA. These kids were so much fun to visit back in November, and boy, can they DRAW!!! Thanks for the cool artwork!
dear cece,
my kindergarten sister loves reading itty bitty almost every night.
she checked the book out at the library and now wants to buy it!!!!
she wants me to tell you that she is 5 and her birthday is in february and that she completely loves and adores itty bitty.
thank you for making it. attached is a picture of her holding the book. she made my dad look up your email so we can sen you this. thank you!
all the best,
two cool kids!
Wow! Tom won a contest held by wunderkind author/illustrator Adam Rex, and Adam sent us this drawing:
It’s Yoda! And–eek–Adam also included Robot from my book Rabbit & Robot. Amazing, eh? Make sure you check out all of Adam’s cool books. He is astonishingly good.
It’s not every day that I am mentioned in the same post as my friend and amazing author/illustrator Matthew Cordell, whose beautiful new book, hello! hello!, has just now been released to the masses. But, today is that lucky day! Check out this post from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, and you can read more about Matt, and more about the Top Secret Super-duper Rabbit & Robot Never-Before-Seen Conglomerate of Glory! (Actually just a rejected chapter from Rabbit & Robot.)
On another note, I hope everyone is recovering quickly from Sandy and her aftermath. I was very fortunate to be one of those on the East Coast who was spared most of her fury.
Be good, everybody!
