Archive for March, 2010
Continuing the Journey
Posted by: Kali Ciesemier
Book: Sabriel (purchase on Amazon)
My apologies, dear readers. As they say–when it rains it pours! In terms of work, this has been a pretty wet month for me. Although that’s been great for my freelancing, it also means that Sabriel had to be put on the backburner… After seeing all the great work that’s been put up in Round Two I am disappointed I can’t close the month with something better to show! This delay has been doubly disappointing because I got a lovely email from Garth Nix himself and I can’t wait to jump back into this world again.
Above I have a selection of illustration and spot ideas I’ve been playing with….Clockwise from the top left we have an idea for Sabriel at Cloven Crest, and again on the top right, then Sabriel walking through the snow after she passes through the wall (showing the seasonal discrepancies on either side), and finally the Abhorsen rescuing Sabriel in death when she was just a newborn.
Most likely my next illustration will be Sabriel at Cloven Crest…I always get such a vivid image of that scene and will have something cool to show for it in April (when we get to see another 15 sweet illustrations, headed off by Meg Hunt on April 5!)
News! Lucy Knisley vs. The Giver.
Hello! Just your friendly host Meg here, I wanted to announce a little change in the lineup– due to unexpected busy schedules, we are for now waving goodbye to Daniel Krall (and looking forward to seeing all the wonderful new illustration work he’s producing!). While this is sad and we will continue to wonder of the awesomeness of Robin Hood, there is a ray of sunshine on the horizon! And that ray taking his place is Lucy Knisley, a very inspiring comic artist.
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m a comic artist and author of “French Milk,” “Pretty Little Book,” “Radiator Days,” and the webcomic, “Stop Paying Attention.” I’m 25, and I live in Chicago.
Why did you pick the story you chose?
I read this book
Lucy is a very talented cartoonist and artmaker so we’re all really thrilled to have her on board as a Picture Book Report contributor. Her first piece for the project will be shared April 22, so please do keep your eyes peeled (and of course, keep coming back for all the other wonderful illustrations!). In the meantime, why not check out her portfolio, and her comics especially?
The Coast Was Clear
Posted by: Phil McAndrew
Book: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (purchase on Amazon)
The next morning Claudia and Jamie boarded the school bus as usual, according to plan. They sat together in the back and continued sitting there when they arrived at school and everyone got out of the bus. No one was supposed to notice this, and no one did. There was so much jostling and searching for homework papers and mittens that no one paid any attention to anything except personal possessions until they were well up the walk to school. Claudia instructed Jamie to pull his feet up and crouch his head down so that Herbert, the driver, couldn’t see him. He did, and she did the same.
Claudia and Jamie begin their great adventure by stowing away on the school bus after it’s dropped all the kids off at school. They hide in the back of the bus while Herbert drives the bus to the lot on Boston Post Road, where all the school buses are parked.
The bus bounced along like an empty cracker box on wheels- almost empty. Fortunately, the bumps made it noisy. Otherwise, Claudia would have worried for fear the driver could hear her heart, for it sounded to her like the electric percolator brewing the morning’s coffee. She didn’t like keeping her head down so long. Perspiration was causing her cheek to stick to the plastic seat; she was convinced that she would develop a medium-serious skin disease within five minutes after she got off the bus.
And so, according to plan, they stay hidden until well after Herbert parks and leaves.
When they got up, both were grinning. They peeked out the window of the bus, and saw that the coast was clear.
This is my secret pleasure, to watch unseen.
Posted by: Laura Park
Book: Geek Love (purchase on Amazon)
The story flashes to the present day Portland. Lily has lost most of her eyesight (and mind) and acts as the manager of a rambling Victorian rooming house. Oly (now known as Hopalong McGurk) works narrating dramatic stories on the radio and resides in Room #21. The room allows her to keep an eye on Lily and also on the resident of Room #35. Miranda Barker (Room #35) was raised in a convent believing she was an orphan, she has no clue that the albino dwarf in #21 is her mother. And Oly plans on keeping it that way.
“Lily chose to forget me and I choose not to remind her, but I am terrified of seeing shame or disgust in my daughter’s face. It would kill me. So I stalk and tend them both secretly, like a midnight gardener.”
That paragraph was quite a tangle! I hope readers of Geek Love enjoy the illustration and I sure hope it perhaps encourages some new folks to pick it up. More next month!
A WRINKLE IN TIME Chp. 2 Mrs. Who
Posted by: Jeremy Sorese
Book: A Wrinkle in Time (purchase on Amazon)
If you remember where I left off last month, the Murry household had been visited by a strange little woman named Mrs. Whatsit during the middle of a terrible stormy night. As she left, Mrs. Whatsit spoke of a tesseract which shocked Mrs. Murry and a confused Meg went to bed without a clue as to what a tesseract is or why her mother was so shaken by hearing the word.
The next morning, Meg awoke to realize that their nocturnal visitor was in fact real and not a dream as she hoped. Her two brothers Sandy and Denny complain that they weren’t woken up for all the excitement and after a breakfast of french toast, the Murry children head off to school. In class, Meg is distracted and tired, cannot remember the principal exports of Nicaragua and is sent to the office for talking back to her teacher. Even worse, the principal tries prying Meg for information regarding her father, especially now that it has been almost a year since the Murry household has heard from him.
A bitter and embarrassed Meg returns home, to find Charles waiting for her, eager to take a stroll through the woods with his older sister and their dog Fortinbras. Charles has even predicted her hunger and packed an afternoon snack for her. In the woods they stumble upon Calvin O’Keefe, a tall gangly kid who plays basketball at Meg’s school. Charles gives him the third degree, curious as to why he is wandering through the woods by himself and Calvin explains that he has “compulsions” (see second illustration I posted last month). Charles decides the three of them should visit Mrs. Whatsit who lives in a little rickety little shack with a reputation of being haunted. Inside is not Mrs. Whatsit but Mrs. Who, which is what I illustrated above. The conversation with the short squat woman is quick and even more confusing for Meg than the encounter with Mrs. Whatsit. Kicked out of the shack, the three kids decide to go back to the Murry household for dinner.
“Lead on, moron,”Calvin cried gaily. “I’ve never even seen your house, and I have the funniest feeling that for the first time in my life I’m going home!”
The Marshal
Posted by: Israel Sanchez
Book: Where the Red Fern Grows (purchase on Amazon)
“He raised me to a sitting position. His deep friendly voice said, “Are you all right, son?”
When Billy goes to pick up his puppies at the mail depot, it’s the first time he has ever been in to town. He gets many stares from townspeople as he walks down the street with his dogs. A group of boys taunt him for being a “hillbilly”, they stomp his bare feet and pull the ears of the girl pup, when Billy stands up to them he is attacked. He fights the boys off for a while but eventually falls to the ground under their punches and kicks. The town marshal scatters the group of boys and helps Billy up. When the marshal hears the story of how long Billy worked and how far he traveled to get his hunting dogs he is so impressed that he offers to buy Billy a bottle of soda pop, it’s Billy’s first taste of soda ever. The marshal is one of many people who help Billy along after seeing the bond he shares with his dogs.
Acutes vs. Ratched
Posted by: PMurphy
Book: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (purchase on Amazon)
“Good morning, Miss Rat-shed! How’s things on the outside!”
Hi again!
The image above is my rendition of what has been going on in the ward since McMurphy’s arrival. He has riled up the patients and staff with his loud, outlandish behavior. The patients admire his confidence and the excitement he brings to the ward. Nurse Ratched and her staff keep a watchful eye and try to hinder his influence. As time goes on, McMurphy learns more about the ward’s policies. He makes a bet with the other patients that he can push Nurse Ratched over the edge. The narrator, Chief Bromden, has been on the ward a long time. He knows what ultimately happens to patients that resist Nurse Ratched’s system. Nevertheless, he is hopeful.
Thanks for visiting.
I will play the lute, and you shall beat the kettle drum.
Posted by: S.britt
Book: The Bremen Town Musicians (purchase on Amazon)
(click image to see larger)
When he had walked some distance, he found a hound lying on the road, gasping like one who had run ’til he was tired. “What are you gasping so for, you big fellow?” asked the donkey.
“Ah,” replied the hound, “as I am old, and daily grow weaker and no longer can hunt, my master wanted to kill me. So I took to flight, but now how am I to earn my bread?”
“I tell you what,” said the donkey, “I am going to Bremen, and shall be town musician there. Go with me and engage yourself also as a musician. I will play the lute, and you shall beat the kettle drum.”
Here before you, we see the very first meeting between Donkey and Hound. Such a historic encounter of two mangy musical masterminds can only be compared to such monumental meetings as John and Paul, Mick and Keith, Nasty and Dirk. In the pages to follow, Donkey and Hound recruit the two more shoddy and shabby sidekicks to fill out their crummy quartet; namely Cat and Cock. Do stick around in the coming months to see what sort of melodious mayhem these bucolic balladeers get themselves into… and out of!
No More Z’s!
Posted by: Lizzy Stewart
Book: Ella Minnow Pea (purchase on Amazon)
So like Andrea Kalfas before me I have to hold my hands up and say this month got the better of me! For one reason or another I only got around to sitting down with ‘Ella’ yesterday. Disaster! Anyway I thought that after last months slightly more digital offering I’d get the paint out and tackle this old school!
At this point in the text the letter Z has fallen from the cenotaph and the town leaders have taken this as a sign from on high that Z is no longer a part of the alphabet. All usages of Z are banned and anyone heard to utter the forbidden letter is..well…for it! This image is a totally simple interpretation of that I guess. This is also sort of how I imagine the eponymous Ella to look.
Hopefully next month I’ll have more time to spend with this and can come up with something really meaty to redeem myself!
welcome to the jungle
Posted by: Andrea Kalfas
Book: Tarzan of the Apes (purchase on Amazon)
well, almost! I’m sorry to do this to you folks! Things got away from me this month. Soon Tarzan and his ape family will be leaping and feasting and going wild in this setting, but for now I can only bring you part of the way there. Once the final is ready it’ll go right up, along with a little chapter summary.
So, thanks for your patience! Can’t wait to see Lizzy Stewart’s new piece up tomorrow!
