personal
March 27, 2008
Just a quick note to say that I’m back. I was away for a little while there — in San Francisco and Maui of all places!!!! How nice is that? It was lovely.
While I was away my info@jeremytankard.com address seemed to have an “issue” and, as a result, I did not receive any emails for the time that I was away. So… if you’re reading this and if you tried emailing me and I never responded PLEASE TRY AGAIN because I probably never received it. More soon.
January 28, 2008
I don’t have too much to report at the moment. The appearances last week went very, very well though, and both in cities I’d not been to before which made it even more fun. The kids in Hamilton were great — all excellent listeners. Thanks for having me there!
And London was terrific. The event was well organized and the attendance seemed good. I gave my presentation in a new lecture theatre and did much of it from my computer (something I’ve never done before). I still did lots of drawing though.
Otherwise I got my first advance copy of ME HUNGRY! last week. The book looks amazing and I’m really excited about seeing it “out there”. Only three more months to go.
If you’re a librarian in Ontario I’ll be signing at the big OLA conference on Thursday, January 31st. I’ll be signing Grumpy Bird in the Scholastic area at 11:00 and ME HUNGRY! posters at the Penguin Canada booth at 2:30. Please drop by and say “hello” if you get a chance.
January 16, 2008
A belated Happy New Year to all of you. Sorry for the long silence on this blog. I can’t even say I’ve been busy for a change. I went to Calgary to visit my family and friends for a couple of weeks. The vacation was more relaxing than I’d expected, not that I expected otherwise mind you, as we made few plans while there. We lazed about, slept, walked my parents dog and drank copious amounts of hot tea. Lovely!
Now I’m home and getting slowly back into the swing of things. There are about a million things to do. Boo Hoo Bird is almost finished (awaiting revisions from Scholastic); Me Hungry will be in stores in about three months; and I’m beginning work on future projects and reorganizing my studio.
And I’ll start this new year with a link to another great blog review for Grumpy Bird courtesy of Storytime Kids.
I’ll be back with a new sketch very soon. I promise. It’s been too long.
Welcome back.
November 23, 2007
I’m home!!!!! It feels like I’ve been gone for a million years. The trip was a spectacular success though. I haven’t got any photos from Montreal but if I get any I’ll be sure to post them here. The Salon du Livre was a lot of fun though. I only speak a little French but managed to get by on what I know and had a good laugh while I massacring what I tried to say. Luckily the kids (and adults) were very patient with me. I had to sign about a million posters and bits of paper. At one point one child asked Laure (a Scholastic employee who was assisting me), “Is he mute?” She laughed and told her that in fact I was “just concentrating”. Funny. I’ve learned not to talk too much when I’m signing or I make mistakes.
Calgary was fantastic as well and all my events went smoothly. The photos below are from my signing/reading at Monkeyshines. We had a GREAT turnout and sold all but 3 of the books the store had in stock. The lecture at ULS went well and all the school presentations were successful. I came home last night exhausted but happy. HUGE thanks to everyone who came out to say hello and support the events. Thanks also to James Jensen of Atom Graphics and G. Gerald Garcia for taking some photos at Monkeyshines.
Me reading Grumpy Bird. Photo by G. Gerald Garcia
A slice of the crowd. Photo by James Jensen
Me drawing Bird for someone. Photo by James Jensen
October 23, 2007
The Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibit in New York City is now open. I attended the opening last Thursday night and really enjoyed it. There are some really incredible illustrations on display. My personal favourites are the pieces from Valeri Gorbachev (Red, Red, Red ), David Gordon (Hansel and Diesel — very funny), G. Brian Karas (Today and Today), William Low (Old Penn Station), Greg Manchess (Megellan’s World) and Taeeun Yoo (The Little Red Fish). Taeeun also won the Founders Award. Congratulations Taeeun! It’s a beautiful book. The art will be on display until November 21st along with the books that the art appears in. And it’s FREE. So if you’re in New York go and see it. Now. Go!
I also had the good fortune of meeting Betsy Bird (whose very nice review I linked to last week). She gave me a tour of the Donnell Children’s Room at the New York Public Library — an amazing resource of children’s books for all ages. And it’s FREE. Go!
October 3, 2007
Thanks to everyone who showed up for Toronto’s Word on the Street on Sunday morning. I was worried that no one would be there for my reading as I was the first person of the day to present in the children’s tent. As it turned out I drew a good little crowd and we had a great time. With only fifteen minutes to talk I chose to read Grumpy Bird and answer questions. Since there weren’t any questions I showed some old drawings of mine (from when I was about seven years old). They got a good laugh from everyone and ended the reading on a high note.
This was followed by a long signing at an author’s signing tent. No big line ups or anything but there was a steady stream of people coming by and buying books and asking for signatures. Curiously I was mistaken for a member of Our Lady Peace by one curious on-looker. How weird is that? Do I look like a rock star? I don’t think so. I dunno, you be the judge.
The signing ended on a high note as well when Marie Louise-Gay, of all people, flagged me down to say hello! A very pleasant surprise. She’s one of my favourite children’s book illustrators. Period. She loves Grumpy Bird! How nice is that? Very. Nice to be admired by someone whose work is so respected and admired.
September 10, 2007
I’ve been reading a book called Alexander and the Magic Mouse to Hermione a lot lately. It’s a book I’ve had since I was a small child. I suspect my parents bought it sometime after we moved to the USA — it’s a fairly American book in many respects. I LOVED this book when I was younger. The funny thing is I didn’t remember the story as well as the art. The illustrations, by Philippe Fix, are stunning and magical. I could spend hours looking at them. The book was written in 1969 by Martha Sanders and the copy I own was published by American Heritage Press (it was part of something called the Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club).
It’s interesting to go back and read a much loved children’s book as an adult — and as an author/illustrator myself. The story is long and wordy and the illustrations luxurious and splendid in their attention to detail. There’s a lot of love in the drawings, a fond nostalgia for a time long gone. The story itself revolves around an old lady who lives in an old Victorian mansion atop a hill on the prairies. She lives with an alligator (Alexander), a yak, a Brindle London Squatting Cat, and a magical mouse. When the Magical Mouse tells the friends that “It is going to rain for thirty days and thirty nights!” the old lady and the animals get ready for a long, wet month ahead. When the old lady realizes that the nearby town, beside a river, doesn’t know about the quantity of rain she decides that she needs to inform the mayor. Eventually it falls to Alexander to get the message to the town as he’s the only one who can cross the river (the bridge has fallen down). After a long struggle Alexander arrives home tired and very sick and his “family” must care for him. It’s a story about love and friendship and unselfishly doing the right thing.
It reminds me of Miss Rumphius in many ways. The protagonist in both books is an old lady. Miss Rumphius deals with bigger themes (like the meaning of life, it doesn’t get much bigger than that). But Alexander is lovely in its own right. The characters of very real, my favourite being the Brindle London Squatting Cat who is forever trying to catch and eat the magic mouse. He’s lazy and unhelpful when it comes to preparing for the impending disaster, never letting the old lady forget about “tea time”. Moreover the story is full of its own magic, especially in the extraordinary illustrations.
We don’t see too many books like this published these days. It runs thousands of words and is 44 pages long. Current picture books tend to come in around 32 pages and under a thousand words. I’m not complaining, there are tons of amazing books being produced these days. Perhaps some of the nostalgia in Alexander is also for a publishing format not often seen anymore. It’s almost like a novella condensed into a picture book format. It’s almost like a Pre-Raphaelite painting compared with the Impressionism that followed. But it’s lovely. And it’s nice to be pleasantly surprised by an old favourite and to not be disappointed seeing it through my jaded adult eyes.
September 6, 2007
Not too much to report on right now. I’m very busy. I’m getting started on final art for Boo Hoo Bird. This is a lot of fun and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the project. I’ve had a nice break and can now come back to it with fresh eyes. I’ve got until January to produce the art so I’ve got to mentally prepare myself for a long haul — a few months of being “on”. Other than that I’m trying to figure out what project to tackle after Boo Hoo Bird. There are so many stories and characters and ideas it’s hard to know where to start! I’ve also been spending a lot of time teaching myself some new painting and colouring techniques. I’ve learned a lot in the last couple of years through producing Grumpy Bird and Me Hungry. Working with some extraordinary editors and art directors has helped a lot too. I think Boo Hoo Bird will be produced a little differently than Grumpy Bird. You, dear reader, will hopefully not notice the difference (except that my drawings of the characters are a little more solid — nothing like redrawing them hundreds of times to help develop one’s style). It’s gonna look great. Just you wait and see!
August 27, 2007
I’m not usually one to post images by (or of) my family here. Don’t worry, I won’t make a habit of it. But this drawing cracks me up. Hermione, my daughter, drew this recently while we were waiting for food to arrive at a restaurant. According to her, “It’s a self portrait of daddy.” So, just in case any of you were wondering what I looked like up close… wonder no more. Behold me in all my glory! She gave me a huge mouth with piles of teeth, not sure what that says about me. Hmmm.
August 9, 2007
Another lovely review of Grumpy Bird for you to read. Thanks for the kind words Fairrosa! And if you have some spare time, check out the rest of her blog.
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©2007