In March, Parsons Illustration Senior Katie Turner attended the Bologna Book Fair as a representative of the program. She was kind enough to share some of her wonderfully illustrated journal pages from the trip. Click on each picture and you will be taken to a full-size version so you can really see some of the neat details. Thanks for sharing, Katie!
Your kid can help other kids, and have a great time doing it at this festival book-drive for kids in need. Hear stories from TAD HILLS of “Duck and Goose” fame, make art with RUTH ROOT, attend a children’s writing workshop with SAM SWOPE, among more than a dozen children’s activities throughout the day.
Just bring two or more gently used or new books (pre-K through grade 12) to donate to 11 schools and youth organizations that ReadThis and the Center for Fiction will be helping that day.
All programs begin promptly so come early so you can drop off books ahead of time. Here’s a sampling of the events that are happening:
11:00 a.m. – Doors Open
Children’s Book Reading with VERONICA CHAMBERS and MIRIAM COHEN
Chambers, author of, Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme and Sisterhood, among other titles, reads from her picture book,Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, about the rise of the salsa star from the streets of Havana.
Cohen, an avid champion of the rights of children, will read from a few of her picture books that showcase young people whose positive spirits turn adversity into something constructive. Collaborating with illustrator Lillian Hoban, Cohen has penned the “First-Grade Friends” picture-book series, among dozens of other titles.
Children’s Writing Workshop with SAM SWOPE (ages 7-13)
The author of The Araboolies of Liberty Street and I Am Pencil takes children through the story-writing paces. This is a hands-on, pencils-up, 45-minute session which will take your child a little further toward becoming a writer.
Screening of the short children’s film, LOST AND FOUND
“Nothing short of stunning” – The Times in London calls this film adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ children’s story of the same name. Narrated by Jim Broadbent, the animated film trails the tested friendship of a boy and the loyal penguin that appeared one day on his doorstep.
Children’s Book Reading with TAD HILLS and FRAN MANUSHKIN
Tad Hills, the author and illustrator of the popular Duck and Goose series, and Fran Manushkin, the author of 17 books for children, including Baby, Come Out! and the Katie Woo series, read from their work and answer questions from curious little readers.
Children’s Book Reading with BOB MORRIS and ELISE BROACH
You may know Morris best from his long-running New York Times etiquette column or his hilarious memoir about overseeing his geriatric father’s dating life, Assisted Loving, but he is also the ukulele-playing author of the children’s book, Crispin the Terrible. He plays and reads for kids, along with Elise Broach, the author of the popular book Wet Dog, as well as Time magazine’s #1 children’s book of 2007,When Dinosaurs Came With Everything.
Children’s Book Reading With BRIAN FLOCA: To the Moon!
Michael Collins, the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 11 has said of Floca’s book, “Reading Moonshot gave me the feeling I was back up in space.” And now, without suffering the ill effects of zero gravity, your little ones can get the feeling too. Floca reads from his books and answers every out-of-this-world question for your kids.
Make Your Own Book With RUTH ROOT, REBECCA ODES, CHRIS DOYLE, CHRIS GENTILE, and (Parsons Illustration Adjunct) JEFF QUINN
Sure, your kid has done craft projects, but how many times have they worked side by side with an artist whose work has been projected on the whole side of a building at Columbus Circle? Distinguished artists Root, Odes, Doyle and Quinn provide hands-on guidance for your young artist to create a book or bookmark.
This children’s programming is only part of the days’ events. Visit www.booksfornyckids.org to see the full program including ELIZABETH GILBERT, SAM LIPSYTE, KURT ANDERSEN, RICK MOODY, JAMAICA KINCAID and many many more.
Hope to see you there.
Please come to the first reading and signing of:
Hey, Rabbit!
A new picture book by Sergio Ruzzier (Parsons Illustration Faculty!)
Sunday, February 28th at 11am
BookCourt
163 Court Street between Pacific and Dean
Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY
For more fun, take a look at:
Hey, Rabbit! blog: http://sergioruzzier.blogspot.com
Hey, Rabbit! video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqS8t_suYtE
Hey, Rabbit! web page: http://ruzzier.com/heyrabbit.html
Hey, Rabbit! drawing game: http://ruzzier.com/game.html
December 8, 2009 6:30 p.m.
Pat Cummings, writer/producer for Nickelodeon, Adjunct Faculty in the Parsons Illustration program, and author of Angel Baby and Talking with Artists will discuss her work.
Moderated by Deborah Brodie, freelance editor.
Sponsored by the New School Writing Program.
| Location: Alvin Johnson/J. M. Kaplan Hall, 66 West 12th Street, room 510 Admission: Box Office Information: In person purchases can be made at The New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, main floor, Monday-Friday 1:00-7:00 p.m. The box office opens the first day of classes and closes after the last paid event of each semester. Reservations and inquiries can be made by emailing boxoffice@newschool.edu or calling 212.229.5488 For events scheduled during the summer term, the box office will open one hour before each event. During this period only, reservations can be made using the above contact information. |
Alix Kennedy, executive director of the Eric Carle Museum, will visit Pat Cummings’ Childrens Book Illustration class on Monday, November 16th. He will discuss poetry in childrens books. All are welcome to attend.
Sendak in SoHo
Animazing Gallery Sendak in Soho
http://www.animazing.com/gallery/pages/show_SENDAK-IN-SOHO.html
Through Nov 8, 2009
Maurice Sendak Event! A collection of original published & conceptual illustrations from the collection of the renowned artist and author who created Where the Wild Things Are.
54 Greene St. NYC 10013
Corner of Greene & Broome Toll Free 800.303.4848 Phone 212.226.7374 Mon – Sat 10-7PM Sundays 11 – 6PM
Spike Jonze: The First 80 Years
Through October 18, 2009
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/7592
Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak
2009. USA. Directed by Lance Bangs, Spike Jonze. Produced by Perry Moore, Hunter Hill, Allison Sarofim, and Vincent Landay. 40 min.
Maurice at the World’s Fair
2009. USA. Directed by Spike Jonze, Lance Bangs. With Spike Jonze, Catherine Keener, Bob Stephenson. 4 min.
Where the Wild Things Are [clip]
2009. USA. Directed by Spike Jonze. 5 min.
Where the Wild Things Are: Original Drawings by Maurice Sendak
through November 1, 2009
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street
New York, NY 10016
This special exhibition features original drawings and manuscript pages from the classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (b. 1928). The show is part of a citywide celebration honoring Mr. Sendak and marking the premiere of a new Warner Bros. movie adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze.
The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to witness Sendak’s creative process—from his early drafts about an unnamed boy in search of wild horses to the well-known narrative about a child named Max taming the beastly “things” of his own imagination. Twelve drawings and two manuscript pages will be on view in the Morgan’s historic McKim building.
The exhibition includes such iconic images as Max in his wolf suit, grinning in his tree-filled bedroom; his arrival in the land of “wild things”; and his triumphant departure by sailboat. Also on view are a pencil drawing for the cover illustration of a sleeping “wild thing” as well as a preliminary sketch—not incorporated into the final published version—of a mischievous Max on all fours atop the dinner table slurping a strand of spaghetti.
Drawings on tracing paper show Sendak’s process of transferring preliminary sketches to another sheet for further development, while manuscript drafts offer a window into the author’s composition process. After drafting preliminary text about a boy seeking wild horses, Sendak entreats himself to “Drop this story for time being—I’m forcing it, and it won’t be forced.” After another try at a story about Max and the wild things—in verse—Sendak writes ALL BAD!!! and goes on to refine the story into the text that has become familiar to millions of readers.
Since its publication in 1963, Where the Wild Things Are has become one of the most beloved of all modern children’s books. Like most of Sendak’s works, it is partly autobiographical, born of long family dinners in 1930s Brooklyn, favorite monster movies from childhood, and a keen understanding of the importance of fantasy as a way to learn and grow. While the book went on to win a Caldecott Award and has been adapted for the stage and now the screen, Sendak’s drawings reveal its most enduring legacy: the ability to convey the innocence and imagination of a child.
The Morgan held exhibitions of Sendak’s work in 1981 and 1988, and he recently lent original Jean de Brunhoff drawings from his own collection to the Morgan’s 2008 exhibition Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors.
The works on view in the exhibition, on loan from the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, are part of a group of some ten thousand items by Sendak, including preliminary and finished drawings and manuscripts for over one hundred books, as well as prints, acrylic paintings, hand-made books, publishers’ proofs, first and foreign printed editions, and a wide range of ephemera. It is the largest collection of the artist’s work in the world.
Related events will be held at several locations around the city, including Lincoln Center, The Museum of Modern Art, and The New York Public Library. Animazing Gallery will hold an exhibition, Sendak in SoHo, from October 1 – November 8.
This exhibition was organized in cooperation with the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia.
As Steve Heller says:
It’s never too early to introduce children to design (or egotistical designers). My favorite Italian publisher, Corraini Editore, has published my favorite American illustrator (with an Italian surname), Steven Guarnaccia’s architectonic take on The Three Little Pigs (in English and Italian).
Couldn’t have said it any better! Parsons Illustration Chair Steven Guarnaccia has a new children’s book out called “The Three Little Pigs” and it tells the classic story but infuses every aspect with architecture, casting the pigs as Frank Gehry, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. You can grab your copy directly from the publisher Corraini.
Congrats, Steven!
CHILDREN’S BOOKS FOR RECONSTRUCTION
Rebuilding life after the earthquakes
A project to help the central Italian region of Abruzzo
On April 6, 2009, in the middle of the night, an earthquake hit the central Italian region of Abruzzo. The majority of the damage occurred in the medieval city of L’Aquila (capital city of the Abruzzo region) and the 26 surrounding villages. L’Aquila and most of the villages were almost totally erased. In the earthquake 397 people died, including more than 20 children, and thousands were critically injured. The earthquake left more than 70,000 people without homes. Right now most of the people are being housed in temporary camps.
IBBY Italia, the Italian section of the International Board on Books for Young People, is promoting a project to help Abruzzo rebuild its life and future.
The project aims to realize two different levels of experience. The first level is organizing professional volunteers who specialize in children’s books and boardgames to hold readings, workshops, and meetings for children and families affected by the earthquake. Following the immediate emergency, the project is collecting books from publishers in order to build a youth library in the area hit by the eartquake. During the reconstruction IBBY is working with a local committee to promote a calendar of events, readings, and game sessions, bringing a public Bibliobus, a mobile library, to the area where people are now living in five main tent camps.
The project plans to be present in the area during the long period of reconstruction, and to organize meetings with authors, illustrators and specialists during the coming years in schools. The goal is to help the local community to rebuild its structure, energy, and hope in order to reinvent its future. In order to make all this happen, IBBY Italia*, with the support of the Minister of Cultural and Artistic Heritage and in collaboration with the local committee calls for the help of all of those who wants to contribute to this project.
Donations should be sent to:
Ibby Italia, purpose: Abruzzo Project – IBAN IT 46 Q 01030 02400 000004685403
Any proposal for fundraising for the Abruzzo Project would be more than welcome.
Contact: IBBY Italy National Secretariat – Marcella Terrusi
ibby@ibbyitalia.it
www.ibbyitalia.it
* Italian Publisher Association, Association of Italian Librarians, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, University of Bologna and the main associations and cultural subject active in the promotion of reading in Italy
James Sturm and two of his former students, Alexis Frederick-Frost and Andrew Arnold, have created Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics. Here’s the official description:
In this action-packed cartooning adventure, kids will have as much fun making comics as reading them!
Once upon a time . . . a princess tried to make a comic. And with the help of a magical cartooning elf, she learned how – well enough to draw her way out of an encounter with a dangerous dragon, near-death by drowning, and into her very own adventure! Like the princess, young readers will discover that they already have the drawing and writing skills it takes to make a comic – they just need a little know-how. And Adventures in Cartooning supplies just that.
Here’s what Booklist has to say about it:
Not quite a how-to book, as the cover might suggest, this is rather a stupendous new high for children’s graphic novels, spearheaded by comics maestro Sturm (Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, 2007). Ostensibly, this is the adventure of an eager knight, a sweet-toothed horse, and a magic elf hunting down a gum-chewing dragon, and those reading for the adventure itself will not be disappointed, filled as it is with humor, action, and a great girl-empowering twist. But along the way, lessons in the language of sequential art are woven seamlessly into the narrative, explaining the basics of how elements such as panels and word balloons work, while concluding bonus features offer specifics on terminology (like gutters and stems) and common symbols (like speed lines). Newcomers Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost, using varying page compositions to keep the sizable volume visually captivating, have constructed a tale that works just as well as a read-aloud for the very young as it does a lesson for everyone from fans of the form to the wholly uninitiated. As an examination of the medium, it’s a supremely worthy spiritual legacy to Scott McCloud’s seminal Understanding Comics (1993). As a straight-up graphic adventure, it may be the best of the year.
Grab a copy for your little one (or yourself) here.