WHO KNEW?

December 15 is NATIONAL CAT HERDERS DAY!!
Con molti ringraziamenti al mio grande amico, Tomasso Di Paola
che mi ha mandato questa notizia di oggi.❤❤❤
Without a doubt, my new favorite holiday!!
Finally, something to celebrate on a magnificent scale.
Maybe a RODEO!!
Too late for this year…..but will be ready next time!!

©Tomie DePaola art - all rights reserved 

Buon Compleanno Carissimo Tomassino!

        Wishing Tomie DePaola a very 

            

    Happy Birthday!!

    XXXXXXXXOOOOOOOO, Carolina di Filli

CATalog Samples, part I

(you can click on images to enlarge)

Hardly any of my books are cat-less. It all started

when Jane Flory asked me to illustrate her rollicking 

cat tale, We'll Have A Friend For Lunch.

My first picture book. Not too sure what I was doing, 

made a full color dummy and sent it to Jane's publisher, 

Houghton Mifflin Co. in Boston. A very patient and 

humorous Walter Lorraine taught me color separation 

over the telephone and that my 38 page dummy needed 

to become 32 pages.

As author as well as illustrator, in Too Many Babas,
my first I Can Read book for Harper, I gave Baba 
Edis a cat. While the Babas are making soup, the 
cat is otherwise occupied in the pictures only.

Lee Bennett Hopkins supplied the how, what, where, 
when and who poems in QUESTIONS, another Harper 
I Can Read book. Lots of places for cats. This one 
accompanying the poem What Do I Make? by Ilo Orleans.

My, oh, my, watching Grandma make SWEET POTATO 
PIE, from Anne Rockwell's delectable singsong early Step 
Into Reading book for Random House.

Caterina and Pavel wishing for a child of their own, 

see that even the Cat has kittens from THE LITTLE 

SNOWGIRL, my retelling of an old Russian tale for 

Tomie De Paola's Whitebird imprint at Putnam.

The Farmer and his cat hear something spooky. 

From Tony Johnston's very clever/funny/not so 

scary Halloween ghost story for early readers, 

BOO, A Story That Could Be True at Scholastic.

Sometimes a little cat just wants to be there.

From FINGERPLAYS AND SONGS FOR 

THE VERY YOUNG, (which my brother Ted 

calls, "The Patty Cake Book") illustrating

Ride A Horse To Boston, another for Random

House.

Bob Barton's retelling of Paul Gallico's sweet 

story about a boy and his Donkey, THE SMALL 

MIRACLE, Henry Holt. No cats in the story. 

But that never stopped me. That's why there's 

a cat, who looks a lot like Tizzy, watching 

from the window.

 

There are lots of farm animals in THE THREE 

BROTHERS, my retelling of a German folk tale,

Whitebird/Putnam again. Here is the cat witnessing 

the magic of the ending along with the Father 

and his sons.

Lastly (for part 1) is this cat looking out the window to

see WHAT WILL THE WEATHER BE, by Linda DeWitt, 

a Let's Read & Find Out book from HarperCollins.

Don't know about you, but after all this,

I need a CAT nap.  =^..^=

Heads Up! Blockhead

                                         The book cover

One of my favorite perks as a Book Illustrator is meeting other Illustrators whose work

I admire. It can be comforting, reassuring and often entertaining to share what I call "war stories", our experiences as artists. Here's John O'Brien, the illustrator of a wonderful new book by Joseph D’Agnese, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci (Holt), about the life of the Italian mathematician who popularized the famous number pattern known as the Fibonacci Sequence, found in art and nature. Blockhead is out this week. You can find out more about the book and the weeklong blog at tour at http://www.blockheadbook.com

            John O'Brien, Illustrator of Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci

CC:  John, you and I are both alumni of the same art school. Did you major in Illustration?

JO'B: Absolutely! We probably had the same teachers in school. It was called the Philadelphia College of Art back then but today it’s the University of the Arts. It was an artsy, fun environment with a lot of colorful teachers who taught illustration. I remember guys like Ben Eisenstadt and Al Gold, who were older gentlemen who took us under their wings. For a 19- or 20-year-old, it was an experience to hang out with these men. Ben was a collector of old illustrations, and I used to love going over his house to see what kind of images he’d picked up at flea markets over the weekend. Al was a WWII artist who drew images of things he’d witnessed during the war.

CC: I knew them both very well. How did you become an artist? Did you like to draw and paint as a child?

JO'B: Oh yes. I was probably drawing when I should have been studying. I’d have to say that half the notes I took in school were drawings.

                 Leonardo at the court of Emperor Frederick II

CC: How is the transition from New Yorker cartoons and covers to illustrating children's books?

JO'B: My style is the same for both, but the books call for a more sophisticated technique. Sometimes the illustrations for children lead me to a cartoon that I later use in the New Yorker. If I do a book on Mother Goose, inevitably that leads to a couple of cartoons using Mother Goose clichés. I’m sure that Fibonacci will come out sooner or later.

                                             Young Leonardo sails to Algeria

CC: Please tell us about your books. They cover so many different topics, dinosaurs, musicians, and lifeguards. Are these all interests of yours?

JO'B: Not all, but a lot of them are. I’ve been a lifeguard at the Jersey Shore since I was 16 years old. The book I did about beach safety, The Beach Patrol, was very close to what we do every summer. And I play the banjo and concertina, a little bass and piano, most Thursday nights at an Irish club in Philadelphia. I also play a little Dixieland and that inspired my book on musicians.

                            He writes the Liber Abaci --- "The Calculation Book"

CC: Can you tell us how you work from sketches to finished ink work? Do you draw and paint by hand or on a computer?

JO'B: Computer? No! I’m a little old-fashioned. I like playing with paper and ink and watercolors. I’m a 19^th century or 20^th century guy, I guess. I don’t even have a computer and I only got email last year. The work all starts with a series of pencil sketches that I do in actual size. When the sketches are approved, I draw on Strathmore Bristol Board 500 series paper, which is good for watercolors. I go over the drawings with waterproof ink. When that’s dry, I erase the pencil. Next, I apply Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus watercolors, mixing the paints with a medicine dropper. That’s it. I apply layers of watercolors until I get the effect I want.

                                                         Fibonacci with pinecone

CC: Did you enjoy working on the Fibonacci book?

JO'B: The sketches are the fun part. I enjoyed playing with ideas and trying to fit in as many Fibonacci objects as possible. Once the sketches are approved, then you start the busywork. It’s like building a house from that point on. Laying it down, brick by brick, you know?

               Leonardo travels the mediterranean in search of math

CC: Reviewers have praised your illustrations for BLOCKHEAD: The Life Of Fibonacci, especially how you incorporated spirals and other Fibonacci objects into your scenes. Since medieval artists often added symbolic objects to their artwork, did this inspire you? 

JO'B: Well, it’s a medieval subject, but I was really inspired by the art of master engravers of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. I still enjoy looking at their beautiful line work. The Fibonacci book just seemed to call for an element of fine art. I tried to insert as many spirals as possible because it’s important for the story. There’s a spiral on the first page, before kids even learn that Fibonacci numbers can form a spiral. But later, when they learn how the numbers are related to spirals, they will enjoy going back and finding them.

 East meets west: Leonardo learns about Hindu-Arabic numerals

CC:  You are a man of many talents. When do you have the time to do your artwork?

JO'B: Work takes a lot of time, and like most artists, I’m happy when I have the work. I think the main thing I’ve learned is that art is like music or exercise. I run four miles a day to keep in shape for the shore. It’s harder to do in your fifties than in your twenties, but you have to do it. It’s the same with music: I pick up the banjo and play when I should be working, just to stay in shape musically. Art’s the same way. I always carry a sketchbook with me and I’m always jotting down cartoon ideas. I’d say nine out of ten don’t work out. Every idea sounds great after two beers. Also, to make more time, I get up earlier these days than I used to. I get more work done between 6 a.m. and noon than most people do in a single day. I love the early morning hours. No one’s calling you on the phone, and you can work without interruptions. Illustration isn’t a 9-to-5 thing. You have to find the time, and when you do, it’s worth it.

Thanks, Carolyn, I think your work is great.


CC: Thank you John and wishing you and author, Joe D'Agnese great success with BLOCKHEAD: The life of Fibonacci. 

                                                       Alfredo and young Leonardo

(click on images to enlarge)

Not PC, But CC

Sipping my morning coffee, checking 

email and listening to morning TV.

First Brooke Shields then less than 20 

minutes later, Dolly Parton touting

their new children's books. Earlier I 

read that Mario Lopez is authoring a 

children's book. I have nothing personal 

against these three or anyone for that 

matter who wants to try and write a 

children's book. There is always room for 

good new book ideas. Wannabe children's 

writers please note: Publishers pay 

celebrities huge sums that dwarf  any 

advance paid to mid list real authors.

I initiated and taught the Children's Book 

Illustration class at the University of the 

Arts, some years ago. Each student produced 

their own original picture book from 

manuscript through dummy to a finished 

art sample. Most were artists not writers, 

but with some direction  and constructive 

critiques, as one would receive from a good editor 

at a good publishing house, they produced some 

wonderful books. One, The Third Story Cat, by 

Leslie Baker, was published by Little Brown and 

won Leslie the Ezra jack Keats award. The first 

of over a dozen handsome books she published,

some by other authors. 

For some students, including Jacqueline 

Bardner Smith and Alix Berenzy, their 

dummies helped open publishing doors 

I always encourage anyone who tells me 

they have an idea for a kid's book to 

write it and if they are serious, include 

advice on professional presentation 

and finding an appropriate publisher for 

submission.

All this said, I am deeply dismayed by the 

trite subject matter and substandard writing 

in so many celebrity books. Material that 

would never be tolerated from true

children's book authors. 

The biggest losers, I believe, are children 

growing up thinking the mediocrity is literature 

and being famous is far more important and than

ideas and writing skill. 

I am also wondering how come with all the celebrity 

children's book authors there are no celebrity 

children's book Illustrators?