He started out reciting several poems that he’s written.
He shared his new book, Hallowilloween.
He’s got a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor.
Kid drawings of Thanksgiving foods--Pumpkin pie or a stinky football...
He and his 7 year old nephew envisioned drivers--house drivers, tv drivers, surfer driver, swingset driver, etc.
He does free lance work for magazines and book covers.
He found himself always illustrating for other people and decided to write something himself--Eleven Personal Things.
He got mugged by monkeys in India; They stole a mango from him.
He began drawing elephant/people and writing poems about them.
He’s very comfortable with nonsense verse.
Highwire 66--inspired by traffic in L.A.
The bathtub driver came up in his first book.
I’d like to take this time for questions--Don’t you ever wonder if clouds get jealous during storms and steal each others’ thunder? The book is called Boy Wonders.
Grandpa’s Mustache--about his nose hair--it makes him snore but Grandma doesn’t care b/c she can’t hear--too much ear hair.
He thinks he has dyslexia but was never diagnosed--Tattlesnake, he owes his dyslexia to his transposing of letters and a lot of his work.
Walking by ice cream and transposed letters--alphabet soup
Tv Taxi--based on tv driver--if you watch tv too much you’ll be come a couch potater.
He loves mythological monsters.
His pets inspire him(2 cats and 1 dog)--flat cat poem, Sphinx poem about dog.
He memorized other authors’ verses--Dr. Seuss. He did write Invasion of Pogies when he was younger.
He looks up to Edward Lear, Lewis Carol, Dr. Seuss. He was mainly inspired by song lyrics--pop music--Beatles and the Kinks.
Color schemes were inspired by his travels to India--in art school he etched with black and white and that helped him get a feel for a color aesthetic. He works with color paint whereas he sands down the surface and puts another color--refining and correcting process.
He asked his wrestler friend to pose with an origami canoe--gentle giant.
Flamingos on the Roof--1st and 2nd grade friendly--his favorite book.
He’s surprised by the musicality of words and that inspires his crazy word choices and style.
Bat dropping from ceiling for intro.
His childhood experiences inspired his books.
He’s from Princeton, NJ (60s-70s)--lived in a remote area.
He grew up in a white house. His neighbor always was the ring leader for games/tag. One day she stopped playing and Brian eventually heard car engines pull up their driveway--she had grown up and he was bound and determined not to let that happen to him!
He went to the library a lot growing up--The Knobby Boys to the Rescue--picture of a boy staring up at a tree, imagining a castle treehouse.
He loved the fact that things ran off the pages in Richard Scary’s illustrations--Best Word Book Ever.
He liked the idea of building things--gold mine picture with secret door.
He read the first story he ever created (in 2nd grade); eventually wrote comics in 3rd grade.
When he was in 5th grade Harry Develin came to visit. He loved The Dinosaur.
He created stained glass, alabaster.
He studied psychology in college. He drew drawings in college newspaper--went to Brown University.
He changed his major to political cartooning and he failed. He sent out portfolio and got 141 rejections. They liked his ideas but drawings weren’t up to par so he went to art school.
He referenced Edgar Allen Poe with some of his illustrations--the raven.
A miracle occurred---director of Houghton Mifflin was standing in front of him in line. She asked to see work and the rest is history. First book was ... and it’s still in print.
He’s gone through 3 distinct styles--scratchboard, water colors (weren’t enough lights and darks) so tried acrylics.
Bats was inspired by his daughter when she was in 2nd grade. She dragged him down the hall into the guest room and there was a bat shape dewed on the window. Bats at the Beach came out and he used the cover to thank his daughter by doing that same bat shape image.
He included a sense that the adventure has to end at some point--not all happy and unrealistic.
He had a lady email him about her husband being deployed to Iraq and she and her daughter were having a bad day until they sat down and read one of his books--”that to me is beyond words.”
When he sees a library he randomly goes inside and wonders around--loves architecture.
His dad grew up in Riverside, IL. He went back to that library to use it for Bats at the Library. He spent 3 days at this library taking photos and exploring.
Sometimes a bad pun won’t leave you alone--baseball bats. Bats at the Ball Game--next book. The umpire is the vampire bat. He compared this sentence to Calef’s work.
He’s making books that he might have really liked as a little kid.
”Who needs another children’s book? Well, the world is not static and is constantly reinventing itself. Quiet has become an endangered species and this is one reason we need new children’s books. We need books that explain the ever-changing now.”
His next book after the Bats at the Ball Game will not be a bat book--”We’ve all seen series that go on too long.” He’s known as the bat man...
If he did a chapter book it would not be illustrated--paint with words.
He goes into independent bookstores and set up a carnival and has made good friendships with some of these people.
Born in Portland, OR.
Her work is about color--she likes to draw kids, families, big, round things.
Her roots are from Iowa City, Iowa.
She struggled in spelling b/c of the “R.”
Her grandfather was a cowboy.
By 4th grade she had discovered narrative drawing--she drew pictures to tell a story.
She has a theory that 10 is a pivotal age-- Mrs. Wineburg gave her books on poetry.
She took a stab at writing in 7th grade--Aggravation has a runny nose.
Things that inspire her: big, old trucks, old haunted houses, polar bears.
Her grandson sang her a tune he’d learned and she changed in and used it for a book.
Many pieces of her life end up in her books and paintings.
She relies on teachers to tell her what they need--give their curriculum lists.
She changed the “bus stop” sign to other words that you can make from “stop.” Didn’t get an award b/c it was distracting but she loves kids’ responses so that’s her prize.
Two of her characters are doing signs in the book--turtle, what? A deaf fan came up and was very glad to see sign language incorporated.
She got one of her ideas from her kindergartener’s teacher--”Class, mind your manners!”
Kids don’t mind their manners and turn into pigs. They change back into kids when the librarian sees they are minding their manners. She incorporates her own children’s artwork and hers, when she was in Kindergarten, into this book.
She illustrated a book for Eve Bunting, which forced her to step up.
She makes grids to make sure her books are balanced so all ethnicities, etc. are represented.
She hides things in her drawings--her kids’ names, used her mother’s desk, loves to make spaces look like you’re in them.
She usually adds in a redheaded person.
She used her brother’s kitchen on E 84th in Manhattan, but he noticed that she made his phone red and he didn’t have a red phone...
She did a project in a school on endangered species so used that idea in her book.
She likes to use anagrams.
She’s had her share of disappointments--”We cannot take you on. You are not an author.” She kept on going!
She has a nice studio, but works on a ping pong table. She’s easily amused--stops to blow bubbles.
Illustrator gator--she and her son in the book.
Dare to Read--I’m your sweet little baby child and I was born to learn. I want to say what you ay and do what you do. So show me colors, sing me songs. Dance and laugh and lead me to read. I can already read your smile. It says, I love you!
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