Final Front Cover
Final Back Cover
NERDS 4 Cover Art Preview
Shelf-employed: Minette's Feast - an interview with Chad Beckerman...
Shelf-employed: Minette's Feast - an interview with Chad Beckerman...: Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Chad Beckerman . He is here in his capacity as Creative Director for Abrams Books for Young Readers ,...
Fall 2012 Amulet Books Cover Preview
Spring 2012 Amulet Covers
Spring 2012 Picture Books
Another day at ABRAMS
Robyn Ng (Asst. Designer), Erin Vandeveer (Production Associate), Cecily Kaiser (Publishing Director, Abrams Appleseed), Alison Gervais (Senior Production Manager), Erica Finkel, (Junior Editor) and me
Interview Adventure series—Jed Henry • 7
Jed Henry is a fresh, new picture book talent and the illustrator of Pick a Pup, by Marsha Wilson Chall, and Can’t Wait till Christmas, by Mike Huckabee. He lives in Utah with his wife and daughter.
CW: Where did you learn to speak dinosaur? And by dinosaur I mean where did you learn your craft. What courses or training were helpful in beginning a career in illustration?
JH: I've always wanted to be an artist of one kind or another. In college, I didn't major in illustration, but in computer animation. Here (KITES) is a link to a film I directed, just as proof. As my senior year approached, my career in animation seemed inevitable – I was winning national awards, and landed an enviable internship in LA. But for some reason, things didn't work out as planned. I couldn't find work at any of the animation studios, and recruiters seemed distant. My dream of working in the animation industry was off to a disappointing start.
Around that time, I began to investigate the publishing community here in Utah. There is a bizarre concentration of career writers and illustrators living out here. Rick Walton is one such veteran, and he kindly allowed me to audit his class three semesters in a row. Will Terry and Guy Francis are two local illustrators who also took me under their wing. Lastly, Carol Lynch Williams helped kick-start my career by introducing me to editors who visited from New York. Without the guidance of these people, I never would have found my way. I can't thank them enough.
CW: Besides becoming an illustrator, what are other jobs you have had?
JH: I worked a lot of menial jobs growing up: factory work, gas stations, that kind of thing. But one job stands out in my memory. One summer between college semesters, I got a job in Las Vegas as a Japanese speaking tour guide. (I learned Japanese while living in Tokyo. That's another story!) My job was to pick Japanese tourists up a the airport, take them to their hotel on the Strip, and show them around the town. I helped them gamble (a terrible idea, since I have NO experience with cards), and translated. I also took them on long road trips to the National Parks – The Grand Canyon, Zion, etc. All sorts of mayhem happened on those trips. I got barfed on, proposed to, lost in the desert, and accused of running a con. (An accusation which I deny. Japanese people don't tip, so creative means were required to encourage their generosity.) All in all, it was a fun experience.
CW: Every illustrator finds inspiration from somewhere. I for example look always go on walkabouts to focus and be inspired by exploration. What inspires you?
JH: My two cute daughters are an endless inspiration to me. I don't necessarily steal their ideas for books, but they always encourage me to see the world differently. I'm also heavily inspired by other art – performance, music, movies, books. I devour books (in audio format, thank you audible.com) to bring in fresh ideas.
CW: When I first saw I Speak Dinosaur I knew this was the book for me. What was the process you went through before you started to shop around your dummy?
JH: I speak dinosaur came to me like a flash in 2008. At first, I imagined the main character as an important ambassador between the human and dinosaur worlds, but that led to stuffy grown-up humor. So I reworked it into its present format, giving the protagonist a more obnoxious angle.
CW: What is your working process?
JH: During the writing phase, I take lots and lots of walks, where I talk to myself about the problems and solutions in developing the story. My poor neighbors must think I'm a wandering schizophrenic. I scribble down ideas in a notepad, and rush home to flesh them out in writing. After i'm satisfied with the story's flow, I draw sketches, reworking them over and over until the dummy book is genuinely entertaining. If I'm having a good time writing, it means my audience will enjoy reading, too.
CW: How has the book changed from the dummy stage to the final book?
JH: The original dummy book was very close to the final, in terms of theme. However, its plot wandered a little too much, and the ending lacked clarity. Chad and Tamar helped me reign in the story's flow with a few pagination changes, and we tightened the ending up too. I'm very happy with how the story turned out. It feels like thousands of conversations I've had with my three-year-old, who has her own streak of Dinosaur.
CW: You both wrote and illustrated I Speak Dinosaur. How is being the sole author different that just illustrating?
JH: I definitely prefer to take full ownership of a book, both in writing and illustrating. It allows me to craft the story as a unique art form. When working as a freelance illustrator, my challenge is to catch up with, and enhance the author's vision. That process has its own fun challenges, but I prefer to write and illustrate my own stories.
CW: What was the hardest part making I Speak Dinosaur?
JH: During the writing phase, I often doubted the book, thinking it was too didactic. Everybody hates being preached to. But then our first daughter turned one, and all of a sudden, we were constantly asking her to be polite. Being kind and playing nice just don't come naturally to people, I think. After that experience, I embraced the protagonist's journey to becoming a more considerate person.
CW: I was drawn to this book from one image before I even read the text. ( I'll show the image of the boy on the swings with the dinosaurs behind him) I love dinosaurs and I loved how much fun you where having with painting the dinosaurs. What is/was your favorite piece from the book.
JH: That's a hard one, but I think my favorite is the spread where the boy is in dinosaur form, playing in the yard with his other dino friends. To me, there's a real sense of wonder in that image. It's definitely a dream I had as a small child (and maybe still as a grown man).
CW: Do you also have time to do your own personal work? If so what is it all about?
JH: Books and other commercial works are my main focus. I don't claim to have any aspirations as a fine artist. I love that thousands of people can enjoy my stories, snuggled up with their children at bedtime.
CW: What is your favorite Dinosaur?
Trim Size: 9 x 9
Page Count: 32
Cover: Hardcover
Illustrations: Full-color illustrations
For more interviews about other children's book illustrators click here
My niece Lily reads HUFF & PUFF
Huff and Puff
A little over two years ago a small yellow package landed on my desk from Claudia Rueda containing a small and simple dummy book with the title of BLOW. ( We later changed the title to Huff & Puff ) What I discovered was a sweet, funny and interactive retelling of the Three Little Pigs story. The interactivity really caught my eye. The dummy allowed the reader to play the part of the big bad wolf. Three interior die-cut holes invite readers to huff, puff, and blow the pigs’ houses down! Resulting in a sad pig. This fractured fairy tale ends sweetly when, rather than blowing down the third pig’s brick home, the wolf/reader blows out the candles on a cake baked by the pigs!
Huff & Puff was the first book I officially acquired along with the editorial genius of Tamar Brazis. We both thought this book was enormously special for its unique take on the 3 little pigs story. Claudia took the story down to its simplest form and by adding the interactivity, allowed the reader to participate in the story, bring a new interest to an old tale.
Claudia Rueda’s work was twice selected for the New York City Society of Illustrators Original Art Show and for the sixth 3x3 magazine Children’s Show. Her picture books have been published in the United States, Spain, and Mexico and have been translated into French, Danish, Portuguese, Korean, and Chinese. She lives in Miami.
Original Dummy by Claudia Rueda
Interiors of Claudia's original dummy
Interiors from the final book
Original Cover Sketch.
The trick with this cover was to show that the book had interactivity to it in the design with out having to say the interactive on the cover. Our solution to make a giant die-cut cover
Final Interiors with die-cut hole for Huffing and Puffing!
Huff & Puff
Can You Blow Down the Houses of the Three Little Pigs?
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Authors: By Claudia Rueda
Imprint: Abrams Appleseed
ISBN: 1-4197-0170-3
EAN: 9781419701702
Availability: Prepublication
Publishing Date: 3/1/2012
Trim Size: 9 x 9
Page Count: 32
Cover: Hardcover
Illustrations: Full-color illustrations
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Let the excitement for the third Origami Yoda book begin!
Let the excitement for the third Origami Yoda book begin!
Can you guess the new Star Wars characters on the Origami Yoda Book?
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at the bottom of the poll page: http://origamiyoda.wordpress.com/poll/.
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AbramsComic Arts Spring 2012
Under my role as Creative Director, in addition to overseeing the design of the ABRAMS Children's list (which includes Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books and the new imprint Abrams Appleseed), I also oversee the design of the Abrams ComicArts list headed up my none other than Charles Kochman, Editorial Director. Here are some of the books we have been working on for Spring 2012
Huge interview on Gweek podcast on Boingboing (700,000 UVM)
This interview is their biggest ever, garnering 25,000 downloads so far.
The editor predicts there will be 30,000 by the end of the week!
The editor predicts there will be 30,000 by the end of the week!
Gweek interview was reposted on Sci-tech-watch.com
GREAT interview with Comicbook Resources
Nice review on Comicstripoftheday.com
Nice review on Weeklystorybook.com
Nice review in March 1 issue of Fangoria
Fake Mustache
There is Nothing Like a Real Book
Hopeful Monsters: Chad Beckerman, Design Wunderkid
Hopeful Monsters: Chad Beckerman, Design Wunderkid: Chad and I worked together on a totally rad book cover. Here is Chad's post in which he describes the process!
My Aunt's Chicken Coop
Fake Mustache type
LAUREN MYRACLE’S WILD RIDE
For some folks, life is a straight and steady line, pushing on toward the horizon. For others–and one must surely count author Lauren Myracle in this latter group–it’s a roller coaster ride of dizzying heights and dramatic lows. Never more so than in the past ten days. Last Monday the 10th, Lauren got a phone call that authors dream of: her most recent book, Shine, had been nominated for a National Book Award. She was ecstatic, but was told to keep the news secret until the formal announcement on the 12th. Sure enough, at the live press conference, Shine was held up and extolled as one of the best books of the year for young people. Lauren heard her name read off in a list that included such great writers as Albert Marrin, Gary D. Schmidt, Thanhha Lai, and Debbie Dahl Edwardson. Then, shortly after the press conference, another book was hastily added to the list, the similar sounding Chime, by Franny Billingsley. The National Book Foundation explained the late addition by saying there had been a “mistake” and a “miscommunication.” Soon the internet was alight with speculation that the wrong book had been announced, that Shine was meant to be Chime.The roller coaster was plummeting to earth.
But the NBF said they would go forward with six nominations instead of their usual five, and Lauren decided to put a good face on it and try to enjoy the next four weeks leading up to the awards gala. Then the gears of the ride began to move again. Another phone call from the NBF on Thursday, the 13th, this time saying that some folks felt Shine should come off this list. Then the phone rang again on Friday–yep, it needed to come off one way or another.
Over the weekend Lauren decided to withdraw but asked the NBF for a favor, to make a donation to theMatthew Shepard Foundation, an organization named for the victim of a hate crime that sponsors pro-diversity youth programs. Shine is about such a crime and the bullying of gay teens, and in what had seemed like a meaningful bit of synchronicity, the official announcement of the finalists took place on the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death. The donation seemed like a way to hold onto that synchronicity and to make sure something good came of the whole mess. The NBF graciously agreed.
Monday morning, a week after her thrilling first phone call, Lauren officially–and sadly–withdrew. But then, something amazing happened. The roller coaster began a crazy climb upward again. Suddenly, the e-mails, phone calls, posts, article, and tweets were FLYING in. Two campaigns were spontaneously launched on Twitter, #IsupportShine and #BuyShine. Libba Bray, a fellow young adult author with a popular blog, posted a shame-on-the-NBF rant that was retweeted hundreds of times. The young adult community had been galvanized, and they rallied around Lauren and Shine. The AP ran with the story, which was picked up by the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Gawker, Gothamist, Salon, Entertainment Weekly, the BBC, the NBC Nightly News, and outlets around the world! Lauren was interviewed by Vanity Fair and NPR, asked to blog for the Huffington Post. The outpouring of interest and support keeps coming, and has been nothing short of extraordinary, and so heartening to Lauren. You can follow links to some of the many articles and posts below.
And as for Shine. It had enjoyed a nice bump in sales after the original award announcement, and is now flying off the shelves. We have shipped our existing stock and have a rush reprint on the way.
What a crazy, crazy ride.
—Susan Van Metre, Publisher
Shine in the Media:
Twitter is still buzzing with book fans and literary supporters using the hash tags #ISupportShine and#BuyShine
Novels
So that happened . . .
News about Lauren Myracle’s Withdrawal from The National Book Award Continues to Garner National Media Attention.
Amulet; $16.95; May 2011; 9780810984172
When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice. Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author.
About the book
On Wednesday, October 19th, NPR’s “All Things Considered” will be interviewing Lauren Myracle during the program, which airs on WNYC-AM at 7:00pm.
Also, Lauren Myracle will have an *exclusive* blog post on
The Huffington Post on
October 19th.
On Tuesday, October 18th, VanityFair.com interviewed Myracle, which will be featured on their homepage on October 19th:
Twitter is still buzzing with book fans and literary supporters using the hash tags
#ISupportShine and #BuyShine
The news has also appeared in the following media, within the last 48 hours alone,
and continues to grow:
· PUBLISHERS LUNCH
· PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
· SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
· YALSA
· THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
· REUTERS
· YAHOO NEWS
· TIME
· HUFFINGTON POST
· SALON
· MSN
· BUSINESS WEEK
· CBS MONEYWATCH
· NY TIMES
· WASHINGTON POST
· LA TIMES
· NPR-Monkey See
· ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
· NY MAGAZINE
· THE NEW YORKER
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/10/in-the-news-book-award-breakdown-think-fast.html
· NY OBSERVER
· GAWKER
· BLACKBOOK
· GOTHAMIST
· FLAVORWIRE
· PR NEWSWIRE
· WBUR
· OREGON LIVE
· NEWSDAY
· MEDIA BISTRO
· SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
· BALTIMORE EXAMINER
· SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
· ASBURY PARK PRESS
· MIAMI HERALD
· FRESNO BEE
· THE REPUBLIC
· BANGOR DAILY NEWS
· KING 5 TV SEATTLE
· WW2 NEWS SAN DIEGO
· KPTV
· 1310 NEWS
· CF NEWS 13
· NWCN
· WCNC
· WFAA
· WNEM
· HYPABLE
· IBT TIMES
· NOTES IN THE MARGIN
· FIGMENT
· THE CELEBRITY CAFE
· KT LITERARY
· RYAN FIELD
· HILLARY HOMZIE
http://hillaryhomzie.com/2011/10/the-myracle-mistake-did-the-national-book-award-do-the-right-thing/
· LIL RED WRITING HOOD
· STEPHEN L DUNCAN