November 17, 2008

Sea Monster

From my sketchbook, and for a change I didn’t do anything to it before uploading. I was planning to colour it, but I think it looks kinda nice just the way it is. I love sea monsters.

November 17, 2008

TINARS for TOTS

Well, my TINARS for TOTS event was apparently a raging success. For the most part the festivities went without a hitch, but there were a few moments of almost complete pandemonium. Toddlers stormed the stage at one point so as to be closer to the huge screen my images were being projected upon; a few of them tried to play with the end of the screen that was within reach; and small people interrupted my presentation to talk with me. But for the most part it all ran smoothly. And really, disruptions from toddlers are kinda fun. One young man bought a copy of ME HUNGRY but wouldn’t let me sign it or draw any pictures in the front. I guess his mama taught him to respect books. Anyway, it was great. You should have been there.

November 6, 2008

Truck

This is one of a handful of pieces that I created for an illustration pitch. I didn’t get the job in the end, which is too bad, really, since it would have been very cool. Oh well, you win some you lose some. Since I’m not sure what the etiquette is in these kinds of situations I’ll keep quiet about what the job was. I own the illustrations though so I guess I can share them. And, since a child recently asked why there weren’t any trucks in any of my books, here’s a drawing of one! Never say never. I hope he’s looking at my website right now. Pencil and Corel Painter were used. Then cleaned up with Photoshop.

November 6, 2008

Another good question

I forgot to mention the last hilarious question from a Coledale student. This came from a grade two boy, “How do you stay so thin?” HA! I told him exercise and a good diet was the key to staying thin. Kids say the darndest things.

November 4, 2008

In School Today

I spent today in Coledale Public School in Markham Ontario. It was one of the nicest school visits I’ve had in ages (not that I’ve had any bad ones — this one was just particularly good). I’ve been reading my F and G’s of Boo Hoo Bird recently. Overwhelming consensus is that it’s the best of the three books. I can’t wait to share it with the world!

Often the best part of any school visit are the questions from the kids at the end of my presentation. There were some truly excellent questions today. My favourites:

“Why do you look like a rock star?”

“Why didn’t you show us any pictures of your mom and dad?”

“Why aren’t there any trucks in your books?”

And, this one made me laugh out loud, “Can I have a haircut?” (this was from a child in kindergarten). Too funny!

October 28, 2008

recent and upcoming

I don’t really have too much to report right now, but it’s been ages since I last posted, so I’m feeling guilty! I’ve not been idle though. I just returned from a trip to Victoria BC where I attended the BC Teacher Librarians Association conference. The conference was good and I enjoyed meeting the other writers, including Alex Flinn, Susan Juby (who I’ve met briefly before) and Sarah Ellis. I love meeting other children’s writers — they’re some of the nicest people I know. I managed to attend an excellent workshop given by Barbara Greenwood that made me want to sit down and write RIGHT NOW! Unfortunately I couldn’t sit and write as there were lots of conference things to do.

I also spent an afternoon in Vancouver at Vancouver Kidsbooks. If you’re ever in Vancouver you should definitely check them out — beautiful space, lots of books and a lovely staff who really know their products. They also had a mountain of Me Hungry! ’s to sign, which makes me love them all the more.

Upcoming, and there will hopefully be more about this soon, I’ll be doing some signings in Montreal on November 19th and 20th at the annual Salon du Livre de Montreal. Then off to San Antonio for some events at NCTE on the 22nd. Also, on November 15th I’ll be doing something at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto for TINARS for Tots. Phew!

I’ll try and post again soon.

October 9, 2008

First Boo Hoo Bird review

Actually, this isn’t so much a review as it is a recommendation for the book. Still, it’s the first mention I’ve seen online. That’s good! I guess it means there’s some anticipation for the new book.

And on Tuesday night I was at a Scholastic event and saw Ken Setterington (he being the Children and Youth Advocate for the Toronto Public Library and an authority on contemporary children’s literature), who gave the book a glowing review as well (verbal, not written, review so you’ll have to just take my word for it). He thinks the book is better than Grumpy Bird! It’s good to hear. I’m tremendously proud of Boo Hoo Bird and can’t wait to see it in stores.

September 27, 2008

The Word on the Street

This is kind of last minute, sort of, although I did mention The Word on the Street in an earlier blog. I’ll be doing a couple of events at Toronto’s Word on the Street Festival tomorrow at Queen’s Park. You’ll be able to find me doing a reading and some drawing at 11:30 in the Kid’s Activity Tent. Then I’ll be sitting on a Graphic Novel panel at 12:30. I think there will be a short signing after these events as well. Should be a good time, so come on out!

September 19, 2008

Waiter, there's poo on my head!

I didn’t spend very much time outdoors today, but when I did step out this morning someone pooed on my head! How rude. It must have happened while walking Hermione to school. I only noticed the offending material this evening though and promptly jumped into the shower and washed my hair vigorously. I suspect a bird is at the bottom of this incident. It’s a good thing cows don’t fly.

September 19, 2008

Girl With Dark Sky

I drew this a couple of weeks ago. I tried painting a nice, bright orange and yellow background but the whole image just looked kind of sloppy and garish. So I applied a simple gradient map to the background and voila! It worked! Suddenly the girl “popped” against the dark background and there was real tension in the image. Funny how that can happen sometimes.