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In our lovely interview, we celebrate Ann McCallum Staats' brand new book (just launched this week!), Fantastic Flora: The World's Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants, wonderfully illustrated by Zoë Ingram, published by MIT Kids Press, an imprint of Candlewick. This is not your run-of-the-mill picture book. It's over 120 pages long and is intended for the 8-12 audience, although younger kids and adults will enjoy it too! Ann is the author of numerous other children's books, including the Eat Your Homework series, which received two Junior Library Guild Selections and a Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Book of the Year; The Secret Life of Math; and High Flyers: 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts. She has a master's degree in education and lives in Virginia with her family. We talk about her unconventional road to literary success and advice for authors who are on their writing journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In our lovely interview, we celebrate Ann McCallum Staats' brand new book (just launched this week!), Fantastic Flora: The World's Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants, wonderfully illustrated by Zoë Ingram, published by MIT Kids Press, an imprint of Candlewick. This is not your run-of-the-mill picture book. It's over 120 pages long and is intended for the 8-12 audience, although younger kids and adults will enjoy it too! Ann is the author of numerous other children's books, including the Eat Your Homework series, which received two Junior Library Guild Selections and a Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Book of the Year; The Secret Life of Math; and High Flyers: 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts. She has a master's degree in education and lives in Virginia with her family. We talk about her unconventional road to literary success and advice for authors who are on their writing journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies
Marissa Valdez is a #1 New York Times best-selling children's book author and illustrator. Her clients include Penguin Random House, Candlewick, Hachette, Macmillan, and Highlights Magazine for Children. In our interview we celebrate her new picture book Hedgehogs Don't Wear Underwear (Roaring Brook Press, 2025), which she both authored and illustrated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Kiddo wonders why they've invited his friend Max over for a playdate at Mimi's instead of at his own house. Mimi explains it's in consideration of Max's needs, since her house is more accessible. Kiddo learns that the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, Hebrew for “welcoming guests,” includes making visitors feel comfortable and honored. Families will love Mimi's retelling of The Candlewick, written by Jennifer Rosner, illustrated by Kristina Swarner, and published by PJ Publishing. To learn more about the Jewish value of welcoming guests, visit pjlibrary.org/values. For full show notes, check out our website, pjlibrary.org/podcast.
[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.] Jenn speaks with Candlewick publicity manager Jamie Tan (a 2020 PW StarWatch honoree and CBC Diversity Achievement Awardee) and former Candlewick outreach manager Ally Russell (whose debut middle grade It Comes From Trees pubs in 2024). They discuss working outside of NYC in the publishing industry and the reality of what hybrid work has looked like for their positions, what drew them to the industry and keeps them in publishing, in addition to the added emotional labor BIPOC take on in speaking up about issues in the workplace. [Transcript of this episode can be found on Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]
Giuseppe Castellano talks to Rick Richter, Literary Agent and Senior Partner at Aevitas Creative Management, about the early days of Rick's publishing career, including the co-founding of Candlewick; what made the late, great Ian Falconer so special; why providing comparison titles (or comp titles) when querying agents is a waste of time; and more.
In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Shadra Strickland!Shadra Strickland studied, design, writing, and illustration at Syracuse University and later went on to complete her M.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009 for her work in her first picturebook, Bird, written by Zetta Elliott. Strickland co-illustrated Our Children Can Soar, winner of a 2010 NAACP Image Award. She has published with Lee and Low Books, Simon and Schuster, Random House, Candlewick, Chronicle Books, and Little Brown. Her books have received recognition from the American Library Association, Junior Library Guild, and other prominent literary organizations. Shadra currently teaches illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. Her online picture book course, The Art of the Picturebook is available at Craftsy.com.https://www.jumpin.shadrastrickland.com/Follow Shadra Strickland on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadrieka/Buy Jump In here:https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/jump-in-9781619635807/SCBWI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scbwi/SCBWI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scbwiBecome an SCBWI member today: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi/Shop the SCBWI Bookshop.org page: https://bookshop.org/shop/SCBWISupport the show
Grace and Alvina talk about ask vs guess culture, including which category they fall under, and which way they were raised, as well as the pros and cons to both. See complete show notes at www.bookfriendsforever.com. Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1. Click here for Grace's Newbery poster https://shop.carlemuseum.org/category/books/autographed-books/grace-lin
Why does the world of young adult fiction seem to have more wizards, werewolves, and vampires in it than astronauts and engineers?And why have the writers of the blockbuster YA books of the last 20 years fixated so consistently on white, straight, cisgender protagonists while always somehow forgetting to portray the true diversity of young people's backgrounds, identities, orientations, and experiences?Well, you could write a whole dissertation about those questions. But instead, my friend and colleague A. R. Capetta and I went out and assembled a counterweight. It's a YA science fiction collection called Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions, and after more than two years of work, it comes out today—October 11, 2022.Tasting Light highlights the plausible futures of science fiction rather than the enticing-but-impossible worlds of fantasy. Don't get me wrong: I love both kinds of stories. But fantasy doesn't need any extra help these days—just turn on your favorite streaming TV network and you'll see show after show featuring dragons, magic, and swordplay. There's some great science fiction out there too (The Expanse, For All Mankind, the never-ending Star Trek universe), but it isn't nearly as pervasive.The two genres do different kinds of work, and I think Hollywood and the mainstream publishing world have been focusing so hard on one that the other has been getting edged out. That's too bad, because to me, fantasy is the literature of escape, longing, and lost worlds, while science fiction is the literature of hope and possibility. And hope is something we need more of these days.As a project, Tasting Light was born at Candlewick Press, a prominent publisher of YA and middle-grade books based here in the Boston area. Candlewick had formed a pair of collaborations with the MIT Press called MITeen Press and MIT Kids Press, and they were looking for someone to put together a YA-oriented science fiction collection under the MITeen Press imprint—a book that would do for the YA market what the MIT Press and MIT Technology Review's Twelve Tomorrows books (one of which I edited in 2018) was doing for mainstream sci-fi. Namely, prove that it's stil possible to create technically realistic “hard” science fiction in the style of Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, or Robert Heinlein from the 1950s and 1960s, but do it in a way that speaks to readers now in the 2020s. (For more on the Twelve Tomorrows vision listen to my 2018 episode Science Fiction That Takes Science Seriously.)At the same time, though, MITeen Press wanted to open up space for stories that reflect a wider range of human experiences and perspectives. So they recruited A. R. and me to edit, and we went out and recruited the smartest, most accomplished, most diverse set of authors we could find to write hard sci-fi stories with heroes who would be recognizable and relatable to young adults today.As you'll hear in today's episode, that includes William Alexander, whose story “On the Tip of My Tongue” follows two young people of unspecified gender as they attempt to tame the loopy orbital mechanics of a space station suspended at the L1 LaGrange point. It includes the Chicago-based thriller and sci-fi writer K. Ancrum, who wrote a lovely story called “Walk 153” about a the complex relationship that develops between a lonely, infirm, elderly woman and the college student who helps her experience the outside world through his GoPro-like body camera. And it includes the prolific Elizabeth Bear, who wrote a story called “Twin Strangers” that tackles the issues of body dysmorphic disorder and anorexia through a story about two teenage boys and their misadventures programming their “dops” or metaverse avatars. There's also a luminous story by A. R. themself called “Extremophiles,” set amidst the ice of distant Europa. And there are five more remarkable stories by Charlotte Nicole Davis, Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson, A.S. King, E.C. Myers, and Junauda Petrus-Nasah, as well as a gorgeous comic / graphic novella by Wendy Xu about a sentient robot and the teen girl who discovers it in the forest.The reviews of Tasting Light have been wondrous and welcome. Kirkus Reviews gives it a rare starred review and says “Capetta and Roush introduce engaging, thoughtful, beautifully written entries about identity and agency, all unfolding within the bounds of real science.” Publishers Weekly calls it “dazzling” and notes that “the creators seamlessly tackle relevant issues such as colonization, misogyny, transphobia, and white entitlement in this eclectic celebration of infinite possibility and the ever-present human spirit.” Buzzfeed says “Each story is unique, brilliant, and brimming with hope.”I hope the three excerpts you'll hear in today's episode will entice you to get a copy of Tasting Light for yourself; it's available at Amazon and everywhere you buy books. Or if you decide to become a new supporter of Soonish on Patreon at the $10-per-episode level or above, between now and December 31, 2022, I'll send you a free signed copy of the book!For more about this episode, including a full transcript, please visit http://www.soonishpodcast.org/soonish-509-tasting-light
Despite his best intentions and promises, Pinocchio gives ear to the rascal Candlewick who convinces him to forget his promise to the Fairy and to run away together. It's not long before the Fairy's disappointment is the least of their worries. Theme music: Aleksandr Winkler, String Quintet, Op. 11 (for 2 violins, 2 violas, and cello) - III. Andante semplice. Licensed under Creative Commons via Musopen (www.musopen.org), a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on improving access and exposure to music by creating free resources and educational materials. Intermission: Johannes Brahms, String Quartet No.1 in C minor Op.51, No.1 - III. Allegretto molto moderato Licensed under CC BY 2.0.
I cannot overstate the importance of Cece Bell's EL DEAFO. For both us, as a society, and for the prestige that it brought to graphic novels with the citation of that Newbery Honor, the first graphic novel to earn that shiny silver sticker! Get to know how Cece Bell came to be in her Origin Story!Jarrett: Hello everyone. My name is Jarrett Krosoczka and I wanna say hello to my friend, Cece Bell. Cece: Hi everybody. Hi Jarrett. It's so nice to see you. Jarrett: Oh, it's nice to see you. You're I miss you. I haven't seen you in so long. Even... Before the pandemic, we hadn't run into each other on book tour. Cece: It had been a long time, I guess we probably haven't seen each other for four years. Maybe. Jarrett: It might be. Yeah, it might be. I always see your silly and goofy posts on Instagram. So I really feel like we, we haven't missed a beat because I've been following along, you made a beautiful drawing for your mom on her birthday. Cece: Oh, yes. I did. Yeah. I, yeah, we, I've actually been off of Instagram for a little while because I was finding that it was too much of a pull away from, my productivity. So I'm allowed to look at it every Sunday. Jarrett: Ah! Cece: Nothing for the rest of the week. It's hard. Jarrett: I feel like if I did that, my thumb would always be like, ah, I need to look and scroll and see things. That is some amazing willpower, Cece Bell. So I, we know your story somewhat from your book, El Deafo, and as a person who's also written a graphic memoir, you decide like what you're gonna put on the page, what doesn't make it to the page.And I've said this to you a bunch, and you've heard this a million times, but El Deafo is... Such a powerful book and it's a pillar in graphic novel history because your book was the very first one ever to get a Newberry silver sticker like that really pushed the whole medium of graphic novels forward.And of course, when you sat down to make that book, that was nowhere near in your head. And we'll get to that. But before we do, I'm interested in how Cece Bell became Cece Bell, the graphic novelist, the cartoonist, the author. What are your earliest memories of drawing and making and reading comics tell us a little bit more about what your house was like growing up in regards to like the creative sources you consumed and created.Cece: Okay. Wow. Let's see. I think I always like drawing and mark making and that kind of thing. And let's see. I do remember when I got very sick in 1975 when I was about four and a half which is where the book El Deafo starts, that I did a lot of drawing there in the hospital. And my parents think that I drew probably 100 drawings of the same thing over and over again.It was just a little girl with a green face underneath the rainbow. Her body was shaped like a triangle and I just drew that repeatedly over and over. And that was probably an early experience of drawing being therapy in a way. But I always drew that was basically the only book that I would check out of my school library every Friday, the same Ed Emberly book; Make a World. And I really wasn't interested in reading that much. I could read, I didn't have trouble with it, but I just wasn't interested. I wanted to be making things. so Ed Emberly was a major part of my life.And gosh, my... My home life, I was really lucky. My father was a doctor and my mother was a nurse. And I wasn't limited financially, basically. And it was a very supportive household, but in the book, there's this feeling that that my parents are fairly normal people and my siblings are fairly normal people.And if I had focused on my family instead of on just the story of me coping with my deafness in school and at home it would've been much, much stranger. My family is bonkers weird and they are very funny. Oh, my goodness. They are just so weird. My mom is so weird. My dad is... We're just weird.And so I, I tamped that down a lot because... The focus wasn't on that. It was on deafness and feeling isolated. So anyway, but my family was, yeah, there was my mom. There was a picture of my mom. Nuts, very dramatic and funny. And I think I get a lot of my storytelling abilities from my mom's side of the family and word play and nicknames and all that stuff comes into play.And then my father's side is very really talented with hand skills. My grandmother was an amazing seamstress and my great grandmother was an amazing seamstress, but she was also a sign painter. I always found that really cool. A sign painter. Wow. I think that sort of some of the mix of who I was growing up and a huge focus on weird and probably Ed Eberly and the fact that my father got weekly issues of the New Yorker were major influences the New Yorker cover and then the New Yorker cartoon in the inside.That's a little bit of, a little bit of what was going on around me. Jarrett: Okay. So I want to meet these people who are more cuckoo bananas than Cece Bell, because you are so wonderfully and beautifully... Goofy and fun. And you might be the only person I know who consistently uses the hot dog emoji in text messages, so... Cece: That's the best one ever!Jarrett: I imagine that must have been, yeah, I guess that makes such sense. What - may I ask? What did your siblings grow up to do? Cece: My siblings they struggled more than I did in terms of - this is gonna sound strange, but in a lot of ways, my hearing loss ended up being a real gift and the main way that it did that is I ended up getting attention from our parents.That... More attention from our parents than my older siblings did, which was extremely unfair, but that's just how it happened, how it played out. And so they really struggled. They struggled with that lack of attention and just, they are my sister is five years older and my brother is seven years older and they're growing up was very different from mine, even that slight not generational, but time period was different.And so they, they are probably the funniest, most creative people that I know, but neither one of them has found that lifelong dream career, which is something I struggle with them. That sense of guilt, even though what happened, wasn't my fault. I'm deeply aware of how much it changed things for them.And it's a, it's an interesting thing, but they are so funny. If you think I'm funny, spend time with them and you'll just think that I'm as dull as a brick because those two and when we all three get together, it is just, it's pretty magical. And I'm so grateful that we get along and that we're as close as we are.They're terrific siblings. Yeah. Jarrett: Wow. What that is a, what a beautiful testament of your love for them. And their love for you comes across so clearly in the book, in regards to you, the baby of the family and they're concerned for your health that's, and I connect to that as well, because I too was, the baby of the family, and there was a lot of trauma going on.And with that, I got a lot of attention. And I loved drawing as a form of escape. And I'm so touched to hear that your time in the hospital was spent drawing because that is a testament to the power of creating in the arts to get you through some hard times. Did you ever have an epiphany along the lines where you realized this thing could be a career for you?Like this drawing thing? Cece: That took a while. I was in school, in high school and the first part of college I was really super academic. And some of that was pressure from my own self, but also pressure from my dad. I think my dad wanted me to be a doctor like him, and I've have found that's a theme among a lot of cartoonists and illustrators that there was this parent who pushed, but pushed them to be something that they didn't want to be.And that child like me in my case I think [inaudible] has a similar thing. And the name is leaving me... American born Chinese? Jarrett: Oh, Jean Yang.Cece: Helped me. Yeah. Yeah. Just that, that pressure. And There was that, but in school I was really academic trying to fulfill this thing for myself and for my father and overcompensating for the deafness.I didn't want people to think of me as "that deaf kid". I wanted them to think of me, " that smart kid". And so I worked really hard and I never considered art as a career because it didn't seem like it was even doable. It wasn't doable. So when I got to college, I was an English major and I hated it.I hated it. I don't know what I was doing. Having to write papers and read books and but while I was in college, I met Tom Angelberger, who ended up becoming my husband and he was an art major and I did take some art classes. There he is! There he is. He's so smart. And we started hanging out and I think he recognized that I was pretty good at it.And I think he also recognized that I was unhappy as an English major. And so it was Tom who encouraged me to switch majors and just go for it. And I did, and suddenly I was happy and it was the best move I ever made, but it took a while longer to figure out what I was going to do with it. Jarrett: Wow. You know... I obviously I know that you and Tom really support one, one another artistically, but I didn't realize he was really such an integral part of your origin story of you becoming the Cece Bell that we all know, that we know is the name on the spine of the book, the name on the front cover with all of those shiny stickers. And, yeah. And so you were college sweethearts, and then you both got catapulted out into the real world. And so what happened from there? Did you graduate with an English degree?Cece: We, no, no. I got out of that as quick as I could. I keep saying I don't like reading and I do, but the book has to get me.Or it has to interest me from chapter one. And if it doesn't, I throw it out. So there were a lot of books that didn't interest me in chapter one in the English department, but I was out of there, but no, we I ended up getting a degree in fine arts and Tom did two, and we went to the college of William and Mary, which is in Williamsburg, Virginia, and which isn't really known for art. It's known for like business and physics and science. But we finished school and then we took a trip around the country together in an old Volkswagen van. And then we decided, because we survived that we could get married and survived that too. So we got married and I decided to go to graduate school at in Ohio. And so we got married right before that. And so at this point we were just 22. We were super, super young. And I decided I needed to, I wanted to become an illustrator. That I wouldn't have fit in with the whole fine arts crowd. I had this vision that I would have to go to New York city and drink champagne and talk about art and that just founded atrocious.So I thought; "Illustration!" And so I decided to go to a graduate degree in design and illustration, and Tom went with me and basically... He worked in a factory and juggled on the weekend, and that... And he paid for all of the time I was in graduate school. And then and then I finished and then we moved back to Virginia.He learned a lot from what I was learning. So it was neat. I would share my projects with him and talk about everything with him. And I think he picked it up through osmosis, but he actually, his path was really different. He was working in a factory, but then eventually ended up becoming a newspaper reporter, both in Ohio and then back in Virginia.And he was really good at it. And I think that's how he became a writer, was through newspaper writing. And his first book, which was about a group of kids exploring the local sewage department. That was based on a story that he wrote for the newspaper. Anyway he's a huge - Tom Angelberger is probably the reason I'm talking to you right now is because he put me through school.He was the one that, I think he understood me before. I understood me in a lot of ways. Jarrett: Wow. Wow. Wow. I, that's beautiful. I feel like that story you just told us could be... Like a limited series on a streaming service. That is just such a beautiful, that could be a romantic comedy or something, Cece, that's amazing. Wow. So you landed back in Virginia, you got hitched you got hitched and smart to travel across country together to see if you could survive that your relationship could survive that before marriage that's smart. That should be a requirement. So why, so he was writing for the newspaper.And were you like what were you hoping to do with your illustrations? Did you have books for kids in mind? Did you like what were you thinking? Cece: Gosh, when we moved back to Virginia, I was, we were both 25 and we moved back mostly because Tom was homesick for the mountains. I would've stayed in Ohio.And I actually applied for a job at American Greeting, which was, or I think it's still in Cleveland and did not get that job. What were they thinking? But I didn't get hired by American Greeting. And I was bummed cuz it was in a, that the office space was just beautiful and the employees would get these like every other year sabbaticals and it was beautiful.So I was pretty sad, but Tom wanted to go back to Virginia and I did. And so we did, and when we first came back Tom had trouble finding a newspaper job, but I got a job as an illustrator and designer for a small company. That made exotic pet supplies.So for three years I was making packaging and writing copy and doing all this stuff for this little company in Virginia. And the work was really great because it forced me to learn how to use Photoshop. And at the time it was called Freehand, like illustrator. You may remember Freehand.Jarrett: Yeah.Cece: And it forced me to learn to use the computer. I, my time in graduate school, the computer stuff was just starting. It was more, we were using a Xerox machine and cutting and pasting and using all that old, Ruby list kind of stuff. So the computer was still really new. So that job was good because it forced me to learn those things.But I was working for the devil. Satan himself was my boss and I had to get outta there. And so I don't know if you've ever seen this show, The Prisoner, the it's that British show and the beginning, the introduction has the prisoner is an FBI - not FBI, Secret Service agent. And he he quits his job and he like throws his keys down and storms out.I had visions that, that, that was how I was going to quit. But instead I got up like at 5:30 in the morning and I wrote a note and I put it in an envelope with the key. And I crept into my boss's office and put the envelope on his desk and it basically said I quit and don't contact me ever. And then I snuck out and I was at no two weeks notice.Ugh, I was pretty shabby, but I was so glad to get out in there. And then from that, I started freelancing at this crazy local paper... Paper product place that licensed stuff. Like I got to make folders that featured N-Sync and the, whatever those boys are called, those boy bands. Yes, I Want it That Way.And I got to make all these school supplies for N-Sync and with the Crayola stuff on there, and it was this crazy hodgepodge. It was the best job. And so when I was doing that, it freed me up to start thinking about kids books and my graduate thesis had been this wackadoodle children's book that will never is the light of day, but the illustrations are great.And the story's not so good, but I thought the illustrations were great, but anyway So then I started to think; "Maybe I can do this." And I finally had an idea that I felt like it was good enough to pursue, and I pursued it and I made this really polished dummy that I could that I could send out.And at the time Candlewick Press was accepting ,accepting work without an agent, unsolicited stuff. So I sent it to Candlewick and like three months later there was a message on the answering machine. Which of course I didn't understand because I don't understand that. I don't understand answering machine messages, but Tom was there once again, Tom did a rescue and he is; "Oh my gosh, it's Candlewick Press!".And So I didn't, I, that was it. That was my end. And the rest is history . Jarrett: And what book was that? Cece: That book was "Sock Monkey goes to Hollywood."Jarrett: Oh, yes. I remember the Sock Monkey books and, wow. That's right. Wow. So what and what year was that? Cece: Oh, my gosh, that came out.Oh yeah. So the, that was the year 2000 was when I got the message from Candlewick, but it didn't come out until 2003 because I didn't have an agent. And I had to get a lawyer to help me read the contract as those contracts are... It wasn't until later that I got an agent, and God bless agents because I never wanna read another contract ever again. But it just took a long time because it was my first and I didn't have representation at the time. So that came out in 2003. Jarrett: Yeah. Cece: Yeah. Jarrett: Yeah. And because now I'm connecting all of the dots, because then... It was maybe a few years after that is when I first met you and Tom at, we were in a gallery show together and I had just thought; "That's the famous Cece Bell, she's been around. "These books have been out for years now. And I don't know if I'm allowed to talk to the famous Cece Bell who makes the Sock Monkey books." And there, you were just getting started. Cece: Yeah. Oh, I really was just getting started and I wasn't famous at all. I remember Ashley Bryan was there and Grace Lynn was there.Jarrett: Yeah. Cece: And at the time I was a huge Grace Lynn fan, still am, but I think, I still think of her as this icon. She already felt iconic that all the way back then. And I was so in awe of her and that sensation that I had, then it's still there. Anytime I see her, I just turn a jelly like; "Oh, it's Grace Lynn! Baah!"And so she was there and I remember the book that you were talking about was the the animal punk rock band. Jarrett: Yeah. Cece: Book. Yeah. Jarrett: Yeah. Punk Farm! Cece: And you already had the JJK thing going on. You were like Mr. PR and... Jarrett: No, but I was only a few years in then too, that my first book was 2001 and Punk Farm was 2005, I think.Cece: Punk Farm.Jarrett: Still trying to get my stuff out there, and learning how to be on stage. Cause I used to have incredible stage fright. I hated performing. I hated going on stage. And then that became part of the job that I have. So I'm curious and because I know for me, I had been working on Lunch Lady that whole time.But the world wasn't quite ready for kids graphic novel. So you're plugging away on these picture books. How does El Deafo thread into that? I'm assuming that was something that was knocking around your head for, so for some years, right? Cece: It, in fact it was not knocking around my head at all.And honestly I was purposefully not writing about my experience on purpose and it's much like how I was in school. I don't want anybody to know this thing about me. And I want everybody to think I'm smart. And I had the same feeling about my picture books and early reader books. I just wasn't ready to talk about it in any way, not just in books, but in any and every way.There was an event that happened in which I had this really difficult interaction with a grocery store cashier. And she made me feel like the lowest person on earth. And it was all because I couldn't understand her. And I was so upset by that interaction and the person I was most upset at with myself, because at no point during that interaction, did I ever say; "I'm deaf!" Or; "I have trouble hearing." Or; "Could you please repeat that?"Because I had so much trouble saying those things. I still had not come to grips with a lot of it. And at that point I was 40 years old. 40! And I was so mad... At everything. And I was mad at hearing people for not understanding and just frustrated and mad at me. And so I started a website and the website was called, eldeafo.com.And El Deafo really was the nickname that I called myself, as a kid, but only to myself, nobody else knew about it. And I just started writing about it. And my post were more about more directed at hearing people like; "This is what you should do if you're talking to a lip reader." That kind of thing.But then I wrote a little, my, my origin story. I wrote that up and a friend of mine who was a wonderful writer named Madeline Rosenberg. She was reading it and she said; "Oh my goodness, you have got to turn this into something. Please turn this into something, please turn it into a graphic novel." And so we have Madeline Rosenberg to thank for this.And so it was her encouragement and I had just read Raina Telgemeier's Smile, and that thing's a masterpiece. And I could see, I could tell that Raina's methods would really work for a story like this. And I was really excited about it because from the word go, I knew that they were gonna be rabbits.And I knew that the speech bubbles were going to be... The most important part of telling the story of my experience with deafness. So that's how that all came to me. And I was ready. I was ready. I felt like this book is going to be my calling card. This book is going to tell the world for me that I'm deaf.And then sure enough, after the book came out, I was finally able to talk about it. It was like, it worked. Yay. Jarrett: Yeah. Cece: And it was such relief. Jarrett: And I, and again, I could understand that journey. So earlier when I was talking about I, I was making Lunch Lady I probably should have compared it more to Hey Kiddo in that for me too.When I was first getting published and news reporters would wanna ask, they ask; "Why were you being raised by your grandparents?"" And I thought, I don't want that to be, I don't wanna be labeled as the child of an addict. I wanna be the Jarrett, who's making the books and I wanna be the Punk Farm guy or the Lunch Lady guy.And, but then there's this thing that you've lived and you're processing it and it's trauma and you're an adult, but you're still dealing with it. And then suddenly this thing that you've wanted to put inside a box your whole life, you're gonna put in a graphic memoir, like a hundreds of pages for everyone to see what was the creative process like for you?And I love that you made them rabbits. That's it's so perfect cuz of the ears, but also because you're Cece Bell, it's just so silly. Like they could have been talking hot dogs and it's still would've worked, but could you tell us a little bit about... The creative process and how that intersected with the emotional journey you had.Cece: Wow. I was, when I decided to commit to it, I was really excited about it. And I think because I didn't have any experience with graphic novels. I knew that I had to do a little bit of studying up and probably like a lot of folks who were in this business. I started with Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, which is, probably the most important book about comics I've ever seen.And I read it three times. I was just amazed by the whole thing. I read it three times. Once I, after the third time I thought to myself, I'm ready. I'm ready to go. And the process was just, I basically did a a notebook dump. I just wrote down everything I could remember, but I limited myself to the moment that I lost my hearing to fifth grade, and I just wrote all my memories down all my experiences and then tightened that up into an outline.And it was the outline and a a chapter. I drew out a chapter and that's what I sent to Susan Van Metre at Abrams Books. She was at Abrams at the time and she was Tom's editor for the Origami Yoda series. And I was really impressed with her. I had met her a couple of times and something told me she was the right person for it.That's what I sent to her, but the process was just a lot of back and forth between doing just these little sketches for each page kind of blocking out what's supposed to happen and then writing out what people are supposed to say, and then just mushing it together. And the process felt very organic compared to picture books, the picture books, I always feel like you've gotta get the text absolutely perfect. And there was a lot less of that for me, with the graphic novel, it was so much looser and more fun, I think. And that's all I can, that's all I can say. It was just, it was a really good experience. Jarrett: That's and that, that book is such a gift. I still have. The advanced reader's copy that they handed out to promote the book.I'll never, that's maybe in 50 years, I'll sell it on eBay to get me through . But I think it's only with the medium of comics, like a prose novel would not have worked to tell this story as effectively, because with your visuals, you are able to play with the word balloons and the size of the text to really help me and hearing people understand your journey and, and that obviously that's a help to us with hearing, but for, the whole generation of kids who are growing up with hearing loss and who are deaf.Have you - that - I can't even imagine what this book has meant to them. And I'm assuming you hear from readers with hearing loss and deafness could you share a few stories like that must get emotionally overwhelming at times? Cece: Sure. There have been, the response was just so positive.The kids that I've heard from who have had experiences like mine, they just get so excited to see their story and to see something that's familiar to them. It's not exactly their story maybe, but they get it. And they're really happy to have something to show their families and their friends. "This is what it's like!"And... Also just a lot of kids have had the experience of hearing their teacher in the bathroom. And it's great to have that validated. "Yeah. I've been there too. Yay." That's probably, everybody's favorite part in the book. That's my favorite part in the book. That was the chapter that I submitted to Susan that yeah. Hearing teacher. Jarrett: That's perfect. Cece: Yeah. So the kids have been great. And, but somehow the more affecting stories for me were the adults who had grown up in a very similar way that I had with the same equipment, even the phonic ear and the microphone and many of them said; "This is the first time I have ever seen anything remotely, like my story in a book."And I ended up making friends with a lot of adults with hearing loss, which wasn't something I had a lot of, I'm very much in the hearing world because my family is all hearing. And I think for so long, I thought of myself as a hearing person. I am, I'm a hearing person when I stick my hearing aids in and I'm a deaf person when they're out, but I'm both of those things all the time I'm in between all the time.And so it was just really cool to get this new group of people who completely understood and just... Those are the ones that get me. But then in terms of the kids, probably my favorite story ever was a little girl who was struggling with having to get hearing aids. And she was very afraid of it all.And so she found my book and read it, and that helped her be less afraid. And she was at the audiologist office. And at that point she was very comfortable and okay with everything she was going through. But there was a little boy at the office who was crying and she happened to have her copy of El Deafo and she gave him her copy. Ugh. And that was just that really got me so...Jarrett: Wow!Cece: It was just neat. It's neat that it's being used in a helpful way. And I never thought that I would ever create a book that would help people, my other books that are just silly and funny and goofy. Sometimes I feel guilty for those books. I'm like; "Sure, maybe they help kids read, but what good are they doing?" So it's really nice to have this one book that I know helps people, Jarrett: Yeah. Yeah. And, that's something that I struggled to... Especially when we're seeing every awful, horrific headline in the news. And there have been times where I've worried; "But what does this silly story matter?"But they do, those silly stories do matter. I under- I understand that inner struggle because you have made something that connects with readers on this whole other level. So I'm curious, I'd like to know a little bit more about this Apple TV+ limited series of El Deafo. It, my kids requested to watch it because they had read the book and what you did with the visuals in El Deafo, the book to help hearing people understand your deaf experience.The sound scape in the TV show helped me understand on a, on an entirely different level. And it, I had to say Cece, it felt like a animated special we've had for decades. It felt like a Charles Schulz, Peanuts, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, special. Like it was that level of just beauty and taking the time to tell the story.How did that come about? Cece: Wow Jarrett. You just said the magic words to me. That was what I wanted. I wanted that peanut feel that Christmas special Peanuts feel. Where it's not exactly perfect, but the imperfections or what make it interesting, there's something really unusual about that Charlie Brown, Christmas special that on paper, it shouldn't work at all. It's a mess. Even some of the story doesn't make sense and yet you stick it all together and yay. It works. But so thank you for that. That means a lot. So that television show came about a he's my friend now, but back then, he wasn't my friend.He was somebody. Greatly admired and still admired, Will McRob who is one of the co-creators of one of my favorite TV shows of all time, the Adventures of Pete and Pete, which was on Nickelodeon in the 90s, he, out of the blue sent me an email and said; "I like your book. Let's turn it into a show!"And so that was how it got started, but it took him a long time to convince me because I felt like the book was I don't know, to me, at least it felt sacred and I didn't wanna mess that up. And I knew that there were a lot of fans of the book who also felt that love for it. And I didn't wanna mess that up, but I started to think, there's not many, if any characters on TV who are like me in that we are deaf people who have chosen or because of our circumstances, we have gotten through life with hearing aids, not without, but with, and you don't see very much of that on TV and in a movie. And in fact, when there are deaf characters in movies, at least, like back in the 70s and 80s, when we grew up not only was the deaf character made fun of, but the equipment was too, the actual hearing aid was somehow part of the... Was being made fun of, and, hearing aids are not perfect and they're greatly flawed little things, but they've really helped me and the phonic ear from the book I'm in... Once again, I would not be here talking to you without that piece of equipment. I don't think maybe I would've, but I don't think so, but anyway I just started to think, this kind of needs to be this could be really good for deaf kids and hearing kids to have a show like this. So that's how it came about.And I signed on once I I was very demanding. I had to put on those big girl pants and be like; "Ra ra ra!" Which is not my usual way. But anyway I said it can't be just a series that, goes on a, goes off on its own. It needs to be based on the book. And I want it to look like the book and it can't be 3D animation.I was like; "Absolutely no 3D, has to be 2D." And my other thing was; "We have to mess with the audio. The audio has to reflect the book in some way." So those were some of my demands. Also the main character had to be played by someone, a kid who also has hearing loss, but is using adaptive equipment to help her.And in that case, we got a lovely young lady, Lexi Finigan who uses cochlear implants a little bit different from what I do. But she was just fantastic. So I was very demanding. Jarrett: I I'm so glad that you were because, so often these animated adaptations of work the author of the underlying material is the last person they wanna work with. And I think that the work suffers from that cuz so it really, you went in there with, a limited amount of things that would really like you're quote-unquote "demands". And I, and I get it cuz you have to be assertive in these situations. To say; "Here's what's really important to me." And understanding like a book is a book and a and a TV show is a TV show. Like you're telling story with anything that's animated or film. You're telling stories with visuals and sounds, and time, which is different than a book. And you all just hit it right out of the park.I, when it comes to the Emmys, I hope you win all of the awards for this piece. It's an instant classic. It's just so perfect. And you narrat I could, I didn't know that. So I put it on and I, and my wife, Gina was in the other room she came and went; "Is that Cece? Cece's voice is coming from the TV?"Cece: Yeah, that was pretty neat. At first the director who is. From Lighthouse Studios in Ireland, a woman named Gilly Fogg, who was absolutely terrific, when she first heard that I wanted to narrate it. Oh, not that I wanted to narrate it, but just the idea of a narrator. She said; "Oh no, we don't want that. That's, no thank you." But Will, and I, when we were writing the script together, we realized that if we were going to mess with the audio, that it was going to be confusing and that we needed there to be a voice ex- kind of just explaining, giving kids a few clues that no, your TV isn't broken because the narrator's voice would come on and it would be clear.And and like I think every now and then the narrator says something like, everything was quiet and I think the audience needs that. Otherwise they're gonna be, hitting their TV. "What's wrong?" She did not like that idea. The director said; "No, no narrator." And so Will said; "What if Cece narrates it?"And then she just lit up and she said; "Aha, yes, that's what we need to do." Because it did need to be my voice. You've probably heard people talking about the deaf accent, where there are certain sounds that I don't hear very well. And so my voice is a little different and that was important.People need to hear what that voice sounds like, which is why one of the reasons why we cast a deaf actress, because we need to have that specific sound. And I used to be very ashamed of that deaf accent, but not anymore. I don't really, that's just how I talk. So that is how that came to be, but I had to take acting classes, Jarrett, I am now... That's the end. And the woman - I know I am acting.And she was fantastic. I think I had about three or four sessions with her and it was almost more like therapy. I don't know she was magical and she's a lovely woman. And just, it actually really helped just, it was more about "here's how to take direction and then use that direction and go with it."And this all happened during COVID. And so I recorded all of my lines in my bedroom. They sent me all this equipment and Tom and I set it up and I was pretty much in my closet. And that it was pretty neat. It was pretty neat getting to do the whole thing from home. Jarrett: You, but, okay. But you do deserve the limo.That's gonna bring you to the studio. So I hope that we get something more so that you can have a personal assistant that you throw your phone to, and if you don't like the food, they prepared, you just throw it against the wall in a fit of rage. I guess you could do that for Tom.I guess you could like Tom, could, he would do that for you. If that's gonna make you happy, like he would totally be game for that Cece: It was frustrating that I didn't get to have some of the experiences, like I was supposed to be able to go to Ireland and hang out with the animation studio for a couple weeks.Wow. So that got canned. And I was supposed to go out to LA to to work with the audio team. That didn't work. But the funny thing is that because we had all of our meetings on zoom, it was actually better because when I'm in a meeting, oh, like around a table in real life, I miss probably 70 or 80% of what's being said, because I lose the thread.If that makes sense. I can't, I can only do, one or two people. And then I'm lost because of their lip reading. But with everybody's face right in front of me, everybody's facing me, look at me, , they're all facing me. That makes me sound like they're looking at me, we have to look at our computers, right?You have to look at our computers when we do them. And so I didn't miss anything. And... That gave me a lot more confidence to help run the show. Oh yeah. So it was actually a benefit in a weird way that we were all stuck at home Jarrett: A as well. You should run the show Cece, wow. That all of your hard work as a team made for a beautiful animated program, and there's, as I said, it so reminded me of the Charlie Brown specials, cause it also took its time. There was moments of silence. There, there were moments where it wasn't just a lot of fast cuts and my five year old son who... Has a very short tension span. Loves video games. Like it, it actually was very calming to him. We'd watch it at the end of the day, as a treat, as a family watch and he would ask for Cece, he wouldn't call it El Deafo, he'd say, could we watch Cece?And so they all connected with you on this whole other level. So we're gonna wrap things up in a bit be before we do in the chat. So what I'll give you one audience question, cuz I don't wanna keep you too much longer. What are you working on Cece? Is there anything you can tell us about? What do we have to look forward to? Cece: Oh so I am working on of all things, an alphabet book. That's crazy, but so I love music and that's something that a lot of hearing folks are surprised by that.Deaf people can love music and my hearing aids are pretty good. And I grew up with my older siblings bringing in all this great music usually from thrift stores. And we had this fantastic turntable, that we used at home. That is mine now. Thank goodness. Great speakers. And so I really love music and I especially love the visuals that went with the music, the album covers.So this is an alphabet book of fake album covers that are animals playing different genres. And and all I'm making memorabilia and writing songs and smushing it all together in this book. So part of it is hopefully it'll be fun, but it's a very personal project because as I've gotten older, I am losing more hearing.And now it's a genetic hearing loss because my father and his grandfather and father, on down the line, they all had pretty significant hearing loss. So I'm starting to lose. My ability to appreciate music, which sucks in a big way. So this is my my outpouring of love visually for music.And it's been so much fun. I'm doing all the hand lettering. I'm doing weird paintings and it's been a lot of fun so far, but a lot of work because it's so personal, I'm taking my time with it. And my editor is Susan Van Metre, the same one who is working, who worked on El Deafo with me.And I just got an extension, Jarrett. Yay! The best thing ever to happen is when you tell your editor, "I need more time" and they give it to you. So that's what I'm...Jarrett: Awesome. Cece: Very personal and I just wanted to do something that didn't have so much of a story, just fun. And there's thought of a story that the story of my own personal relationship with music, but but that's what I've been working on.Jarrett: Oh we will be patient Cece Bell! It has been very challenging, challenging times and concepts lately, cuz of the pandemic deadlines have seemed like wonderful suggestions. I know my editors won't want to hear that, but it's been, to get that art out of you also need to be in a pretty decent enough Headspace.So I'm glad to know that. Yes, you're getting more time and we are gonna get more Cece Bell and the world and we're also, we're lucky to have you in this world. We're lucky that you make art. We're lucky that Tom Angelberger supported you and took you off that track and put you on a different track that you wanted to be on.And what a beautiful thing to have anyone in this world who would love you so much to show you your true self and what an amazing story from the exotic pet packaging to N-Sync. I did not think I would be able to run a thread between Cece Bell and N-Sync in this interview, but wow. Wow.That's very cool. I will think of you whenever I see an N-Sync lunch box at a thrift store or something like that. . Cece: Oh, please. Yeah. If you ever find school supplies like a notebook and folders, I should have sent you pictures. They're they're just I know everything about Justin Timberlake.Let me tell you, I know everything about, the way he looked and his signature, we got to use all this stuff that they sent us. It was great. Jarrett: Ah I'm gonna make...Cece: I would say a lot of the same things about you. Your work has been so important and inspiring and funny and and your support of other authors and illustrators is amazing. I think I'm a little bit more self-centered honestly, you're just like "everybody else is fantastic!" And I really appreciate that. You're really good about doing that. So thank you.Jarrett: I appreciate that your kind words, but in a way, what we all do is self-centered because we're scratching that creative itch we've always had.And, we're lucky enough that we love to make books and we didn't forget who we were as kids and kids find those really funny or entertaining, or they get to see themselves reflected in that true life experience. I...Cece: Yes.Jarrett: ... Cannot pass up a chance to make a really bad pun in this moment.Cece, I'm gonna sign off by saying... Bye bye bye. It was so bad, right? That was so stupid. That was such a bad joke. Ain't no bad joke. Ain't no lie. I say it. It might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie. Cece I appreciate you. And thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. Cece: Absolutely. Thank you, Jarrett.
In this episode, Lexman takes on the difficult task of explaining the rudiments of game theory to the intrepid Candlewick Hagbut. Levine provides much-needed guidance as the Rules Primer for the Intruder.
Japan's Top Business Interviews Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo, Japan
Noriko Silvester is the President and Founder of Candlewick. Candlewick is a Public Relations consulting firm that works with clients in the Food, Beauty, Travel and Education space with a strong focus on products that influence people's wellbeing. They support overseas clients with their transition into the Japanese market, developing a strategy that considers differences in consciousness, customs and business in their home market and Japan. Mrs. Silvester started her career working as a secretary working at an American Financial Institution in Japan. She later realized that she wanted to get more involved in the business side of things and moved her way into sales and then got into Japanese cosmetics. She did marketing and sales for 8 years before moving briefly to a pharmaceutical company that had moved into Japan at the time, the company pulled out of Japan. She later started working at a Swiss company as a Brand Manager and they also pulled out of Japan. At this point, she started to feel that someone else was dictating her life, so she decided to start her own business. She founded Candlewick in 2004. She wanted her company's name to have some meaning. Candlewick was the name of her husband's grandmother's home which was also close to Candlewick Lake. She also added that the wick is the string at the core of the candle that is necessary to light it, so it is like the message that is core to a business functioning well. Mrs. Silvester says that she finds that sharing knowledge and sharing experience makes people more open and likely to share. She also notes that the default Japanese tendency is to be less proactive. She is currently trying to get people on her team to be more proactive. She says providing people with experiential learning automatically forces them to be more proactive. For example, there is a foreign staff member on her team and most of their clients are overseas clients, so her staff automatically must be more proactive to work properly. The handling of mistakes depends on the staff's attitude, if the staff consult with upper management and do everything within their power to do things correctly and there is still a mistake, she says that upper management takes responsibility of that, however, is someone is very casual about making mistakes and not taking responsibility, she can be very severe about that. Mrs. Silvester's advice to someone coming to Japan for a posting to Japan who doesn't speak Japanese and doesn't know Japan she would say to cover 4 areas: Staying in the box is the default option. Staying comfortable with the familiar is ingrained into Japanese culture It is good to have a mentor, a leader who is heading an organization would be helpful. A foreign mentor running a company in Japan would be helpful to speak with and learn from. Reading books about leadership in Japan to allow them to gain some insights before coming to Japan. Mrs. Silvester says she recently read a book with the title is "Making Rules, Breaking Rules that she found insightful. Experience and join the community. She says Japan has a long history and things are ingrained in the culture and people have a way of working. Learning and trying to understand this would be very helpful. Learning Japanese would be helpful in the workplace as well.
Data Journalism is a hot topic in the news business. Reporters working in diverse media and diverse markets are increasingly being asked to work with data. What exactly makes for good data journalism and what does a reporter need to understand to use data well. Those are a few of the questions discussed on The Data Journalism Podcast and that is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guests Alberto Cairo and Simon Rogers. Alberto Cairo is a journalist and designer, and the Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication of the University of Miami. He is also the director of the visualization program at UM's Center for Computational Science. He has been head of information graphics at media publications in Spain and Brazil. He is the author of several books including his upcoming, How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter About Visual Information, Cairo currently consults with companies and institutions like Google and the Congressional Budget Office, and has provided visualization training to the European Union, Eurostat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Army National Guard, and many others. Simon Rogers is an award-winning data journalist, writer and speaker. Author of ‘Facts are Sacred‘, published by Faber & Faber in the UK, China and South Korea. He has also written a range of infographics for children books from Candlewick. Data editor on the News Lab team at Google, based in San Francisco, he is director of the Data Journalism Awards and teaches Data Journalism at Medill-Northwestern University in San Francisco and has taught at U Cal Berkeley Journalism school.
If taking a collaborative stance in protesting ensures sustainability and longevity, how do we lay the groundwork for participation? In this episode of Radio Resistance, Wendy Red Star and De Nichols talk about how and why they use their creative work to connect with communities of ancestors and young people across time and place. They share thoughts on defining success by the ability to make, hold, and take space, as well as how important maintaining curiosity and setting strong boundaries are to the sense of adventure that gives them both purpose.Wendy Red Star was raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, and her work is informed both by her cultural heritage and her engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance. An avid researcher of archives and historical narratives, Red Star seeks to incorporate and recast her research, offering new and unexpected perspectives in work that is at once inquisitive, witty and unsettling. Red Star holds a BFA from Montana State University, Bozeman, and an MFA in sculpture from University of California, Los Angeles. She lives and works in Portland, OR.De Nichols is a social impact designer, arts organizer, and community engagement specialist. Through her leadership with Design as Protest, De mobilizes designers and changemakers nationwide to develop creative approaches to the social, civic, and racial justice issues that matter most within communities. De is a 2020 Monument Lab Fellow and 2020 Loeb Fellow of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She is also the author of an upcoming book, Art of Protest, with Bonnier UK and Candlewick publishers. -As a major component of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis's exhibition Stories of Resistance, Radio Resistance assembles the voices of intersecting local and global agents of change. Artists featured in the exhibition are paired with figures from the past, present, and future of St. Louis, coming together to transmit messages of dissent. Eleven episodes will be released over the course of the exhibition, amplifying shared struggles, collective dreams, and models of individual and group action. Using a historically rebellious medium, Radio Resistance broadcasts social narratives of defiance and hope.Selections of Radio Resistance will be broadcast on St. Louis on the Air, the noontime talk program hosted by Sarah Fenske on St. Louis Public Radio. Full episodes will be released biweekly in a listening station at CAM, and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. A publication celebrating Stories of Resistance, featuring episode highlights, will be released later this year.
In this episode, I give an update on the number of activities that I have been involved in over the last few months. With the beginning of season 2 of the podcast, I turn my attention to things happening out in the world surrounding transgenderism. In particular the things that are happening to children who say that they have gender dysphoria. One of the things that I speak about in this episode is the character of Candlewick from the story of Pinocchio. This character is symbolic of what is happening to us in these days in regards to transgender ideology. Transgender medicine is not able to identify which children will grow out of the feelings that they have and it has been shown that the majority of children do. I discuss the importance to see the reality in these matters and to act. These children and their parents need our help. It is time for you to stand up and participate in community action to protect these children. If you want to help, you can reach out to me at Bob@faithandgender.com.
Eric Smith joins the Lit Service crew to talk about what it is (and what authors can do!) that makes relationships arcs in stories satisfying. Eric Smith is a literary agent and author living in Philadelphia. An agent with P.S. Literary, he's worked on New York Times bestselling and award-winning books. As an author, his books include Don't Read the Comments (Inkyard Press) and the forthcoming You Can Go Your Own Way (Inkyard Press) and the co-edited anthology Battle of the Bands (Candlewick) with Lauren Gibaldi. Find out out more about him and his books here. The chapter we critique with all our notes is here. If you'd like to find out more about how to support this podcast (we'd really appreciate it!), you can visit our Patreon. For more about the podcast, how you can submit your work for a critique, and an upcoming guest list, visit our website.
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Cynthia Leitich Smith. Cynthia is a New York Times bestselling author known for her award-winning children’s and YA books. She writes both realistic contemporary stories and fantastical narratives, and most recently, she won the American Indian Youth Literature YA Award for Hearts Unbroken published by Candlewick. Today we’ll be discussing one of her most recent projects: Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for kids, a middle grade anthology published by Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperChildren’s where Cynthia is the author-curator. In addition to her work in publishing, she is also on the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a citizen of Mvskoke Nation and makes her home in Austin, Texas. In this episode Cynthia and I discuss: How the lack of Native representation in Middle Grade books inspired Cynthia’s writing and the impetus for Heartdrum. What elements are important to include when writing specifically for Middle Graders and how MG is distinct from YA. Why it’s important to create an inclusive feeling of a “we” not “me” book within diverse literature. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/346
Enjoy our presentation of Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes, published by Candlewick. Italy, 1944: Florence is occupied by Nazi forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope— and neither have thirteen year old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. But what can two siblings — with only a bicycle to help them — do against a whole army?Hero on a Bicycle is recommended for children ages 10 and up. Please see Publisher's Weekly for more information. https://bit.ly/HeroonaBicycle_ReviewsThis title is available as an eBook on Hoopla. Hoopla eBook - https://bit.ly/HeroonaBicycle_HooplaeBookPlease visit www.calvertlibrary.info for more information.Music: Dub the Uke (excerpt) by Kara Square (c) copyright 2016. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mindmapthat/53340
In today's episode we chat with author/illustrator, Gaia Cornwall, and Candlewick art director, Pam Consolazio, about the creative journey of the follow-up book to Jabari Jumps, Jabari Tries. ***Find out more about Gaia here: Website: https://www.gaiacornwall.com/ Twitter: @GaiaCC Instagram: @gaiacornwall ***Follow us here: Website: https://picturebooklook.libsyn.com/ Twitter: @pb_look Instagram: @picturebook_look Facebook: @picturebooklookpodcast
Christina Soontornvat, author of All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, talks to Candlewick Press about telling the story of the Tham Luang cave rescue through an Eastern lens and what it was like to actually meet the Wild Boars boys’ soccer team!
In Episode 17 of the Gothic Podcast, Lori, Grace, and Mr Candlewick face the ultimate horror of Castle Caine. The Gothic Podcast's first season is a humor-and-horror actual play audio drama using the rules light Monster of the Week rpg, but we still roll some dice here and there. Come for the story, stay for the brooding!
Arthur Levine is the legendary children’s book editor, including of series such as Harry Potter and The Golden Compass. He is founder of publishing house Levine Querido, and formerly President and Publisher at Arthur A. Levine Books at Scholastic, as well as author of picture books, most recently The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol. I used portions of Arthur’s interview in the Track Changes: Inequality in Publishing episode, and I encourage you all to listen. This episode is brought to you by Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar, a debut YA novel that blends shades of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy. Available wherever books are sold now! This episode is sponsored by Revision Season, a seven-week, virtual master class in revising your novel, led by Elana K. Arnold, author of Printz honor winner Damsel and National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and more. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Susan Hirschman, editor and founder of Greenwillow Books Ursula Nordstrom, legendary editor of children’s books at HarperCollins Margaret Frith, long-time editor at G.P. Putnam's Sons The Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin The Magic School Bus by Joanna Cole Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell Levine Querido is partnering with Chronicle Books for printing Everything Sad is Untrue: A True Story by Daniel Nayeri Elatso by Darcie Little Badger Illustrator Rovina Cai The Wanderer by Peter Van Den Ende Illustrator Shaun Tan Illustrator M.C. Escher This Old Dog by Martha Brockenbrough, illustrated by Gabriel Alborozo Kevin Hawkes, illustrator for The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol Karen Lotz, president and publisher of Candlewick I want to hear from you! Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998 or send an email to mailbag @ firstdraftpod dot com! Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds; Creator of Sex and the City Candace Bushnell; YouTube empresario and author Hank Green; Actors, comedians and screenwriters Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham; author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast Linda Holmes; Bestselling authors and co-hosts of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast, Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish and co-host of the Sciptnotes podcast; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works. Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Track Changes If you’re looking for more information on how to get published, or the traditional publishing industry, check out the Track Changes podcast series, and sign up for the Track Changes weekly newsletter. Support the Show Love the show? Make a monthly or one-time donation at Paypal.me/FirstDraft. Rate, Review, and Recommend Take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you! Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post! Thanks again!
Do you live to eat or eat to live? If you answered, "it's complicated," you are correct. Emily and Amelia discuss. ******** SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by “The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea,” Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s sweeping fantasy debut from Candlewick press: https://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?mode=book&isbn=1536204315&browse=Title Episode 18: The New Hotness https://www.feministsurvivalproject.com/episodes/episode-18-new-hotness
Our intrepid adventurers continues their search for the mantles and find out that there is a lot more at stake than they realized. See our sessions LIVE on our Twitch Every Saturday at 4 PM EST.Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/dicefunctional Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrqMv3SI_o1FnR_Z54-_t7A Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dicefunctional_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dicefunctional/ Intro/Outro Music: Pippin the Hunchback by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4219-pippin-the-hunchbackLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Ep. #454 - Today's episode is sponsored by Candlewick Press and all about their wonderful Camp Candlewick titles. These make a perfect reading list for students of all ages this summer. We open the podcast discussing some additional important collections being made available by OverDrive see the link below: OverDrive Blog to learn more about the COVID response collections and the new Black Lives Matter Community Read program: https://company.overdrive.com/blogs/library-blog/ Get your very own Professional Book Nerds t-shirt! All proceeds are donated to library charities: https://stores.inksoft.com/the_overdrive_store/shop/products/new_products?page=1 Camp Candlewick homepage: https://camp.candlewick.com/ Judy Moody Declares Independence The Infamous Ratsos Malamander Merci Suárez Changes Gears A Wish in the Dark Ghetto Cowboy Slider Small as an Elephant X: A Novel Hearts Unbroken Fat Angie Juana and Lucas
In this episode of The Gothic Podcast, we delve into Mr. Candlewick's past ... lives.
Carole Boston Weatherford, author of BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom; Beauty Mark; Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library; and Caldecott Honor winner Voice of Freedom, talks to Candlewick Press about writing poetry as a child, winning a Caldecott Honor, and the emotional experience of digging through the past and personal lives of important historical figures.
Our travelers find themselves at the mercy of the dark machinations within Castle Caine. Who will survive? And whose blood will quench the thirst of the castle?
This week we delve into the frankly dark and disturbing origins of the fairytale Pinocchio. Not the sweet, faintly creepy story you've come to know, though. This one has much more violence, death and Terrible Dogfish. We're also joined by a special guest, Liam Mandy of the ManNic Podcast, available on iTunes or Spotify
Simon Rogers is an award-winning data journalist, writer and speaker. Author of ‘Facts are Sacred‘, published by Faber & Faber in the UK, China and South Korea. He has also written a range of infographics for children books from Candlewick. Data editor on the News Lab team at Google, based in San Francisco, he is director of the Data Journalism Awards and teaches Data Journalism at Medill-Northwestern University in San Francisco and has taught at U Cal Berkeley Journalism school.
Simon Rogers is an award-winning data journalist, writer and speaker. Author of ‘Facts are Sacred‘, published by Faber & Faber in the UK, China and South Korea. He has also written a range of infographics for children books from Candlewick. Data editor on the News Lab team at Google, based in San Francisco, he is director of the Data Journalism Awards and teaches Data Journalism at Medill-Northwestern University in San Francisco and has taught at U Cal Berkeley Journalism school.
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Kate DiCamillo, author of her latest, Beverly Right Here, published in September by Candlewick. As almost all of you know, Beverly is the recipient of two Newberry Awards, a National Book Award Finalist, has more than 12 NYT best sellers. She has been named the National Ambassador for Young People’s literature. And as most of you already know from Winn Dixie to Despereaux and so many others, Kate has a special place in children’s and young adult literature. Now, her Three Rancheros trilogy, Raymie Nightingale, Louisiana’s Way Home and Beverly Right Here has occupied my and my guest host’s attention for some time.
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Kate DiCamillo, author of her latest, Beverly Right Here, published in September by Candlewick. As almost all of you know, Beverly is the recipient of two Newberry Awards, a National Book Award Finalist, has more than 12 NYT best sellers. She has been named the National Ambassador for Young People’s literature. And as most of you already know from Winn Dixie to Despereaux and so many others, Kate has a special place in children’s and young adult literature. Now, her Three Rancheros trilogy, Raymie Nightingale, Louisiana’s Way Home and Beverly Right Here has occupied my and my guest host’s attention for some time.
It was Podcast moving day last week and the EdTechLoop Pod is happy to now be hosted by Podbean! However all the archived shows did not make it through the move so over the next few weeks before the school year begins I plan to post some of our most popular past episodes starting with the very first BiblioTech podcast featuring local writer and illustrator Brianne Farley. Please excuse the poor audio quality, we hadn’t dialed the studio or editing in yet but the interview is too good to not have on the feed. And as always, thanks for listening and inspiring.Please forgive the first attempt to transcribe the podcast. As always, we will strive to improve.0:00 - StephieThis is Brianne Farley, and she is an author and illustrator, and a local Traverse City Area Public Schools, alumni, we're gonna chat today. 0:37 - StephieWhat’s your background, your educational background and career, what your career path has been. And if you want to look, you know, in when I say educational background. Back in elementary school, the experiences you had an elementary school how those have carried along with you and how you ended up in the career that you're in. Okay. 1:02 - Brianne All right. Well, I started. Well when I moved up here to Traverse City when I was seven, and I started Old Mission, and we live actually right, my parents live right behind Old Mission. Yeah okay and that's like the world's best playground. I think when I did when I first did a visit at Old Mission with my book that's like, all I talked to the kids about was, I was like, tell me about your playground. Is it the coolest is the pond still haunted. and they're like, No, and I was like, It’s still haunted. 1:37 - BrianneAnd so I went to Old Mission and then, and then I went to the talented and gifted program at Central. And then, yeah and I went to East, Central High School, and StephieWhen did you graduate? BrianneI graduated in ‘02. Yeah, I was the first class after the split. Okay, yeah. StephieSo one year after split. Brianneyeah yeah one year to split, and. 2:06 - Brianne And then I went to McAllister college actually on the recommendation of my principal, Mr. Townsend, StephieMr Townsend Yeah, yeah, BrianneFunny enough, he’s been my principal since elementary school. Interesting. He kept moving up as I graduated and so yeah he’s been my principal forever and then you say, also go to college here. StephieAnd then he and he promoted your book for you. 2:35 - Brianne Yeah. Yeah, he's my publicist. 2:40 - Stephiehe's a great person Briannehe is great. He's so great. Um, and then after McAllister, I StephieWhat was your focus there. BrianneOh I went there for English. I like knew that I wanted to be an editor. And so I went for English and I really loved, art, but I thought that for some reason I had this idea that if I made art my career I would hate it, like, like you said, like the pressure of having to make something that makes me not like it anymore. So I really loved reading I loved books as a total bookworm growing up and, and so I knew I wanted to be an editor and then I went off to New York after a year of college, and did an editorial internship and totally hated it. Yeah. I really hated it. And StephieWhat do you think it was. Did you find it too technical or too, was it, work was mundane? BrianneI was at a very small publishing house. And so I think that having a little bit of a different view of what editing was then what I saw at this house and which actually is probably not very accurate it's like how other houses edit but, um, yeah it was like it was a little too mundane it was I thought that I was going to be like in the trenches with the writers like helping them like what if you used this other word here and, and that's not what it was at this house. 4:13 - StephieDid you have much contact with authors. BrianneNo, no, no. Yeah, it ended up being this very I mean it was like an internship, they were like yeah like organize our computer. Like, this is what editing is. So then, I, I was an art minor and then I went down to Chicago and was working at the Art Institute there and was an administrative assistant. StephieOkay, did you like that. BrianneI really did yeah, that was a great job. The best part about it was that you could take classes for free at the School of the Art Institute. Yeah, so I started taking more classes and then I did a residency and, and then, was like why am I doing this is I should really, realy make that happen so I applied for grad school and went to SCAD for illustration and SCAD is the Savannah College of Art and Design. StephieGeorgia? BrianneGeorgia. Yeah. StephieAnd your focus was the illustration, and had that been your interest? Would you say, Did you find that and trust when you're in Chicago? BrianneNo I, well, a little bit I had grown up loving Roald Dahl and Quinten Blake, and I'd actually went to his at TAG we had to write a speech every year about when I grow up, do they still do that? they should still do that because it tells you what you want to be when you grow up. ‘Cause that’s what I wrote my speech about. I was like, I want to be Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake. Although I guess the year before I said I wanted to be Benjamin Franklin and that didn't pan out. StephieThere’s still time 6:01 - Brianneto be a founding father. It could still happen. 6:06 - BrianneYeah, so I said that that's what I wanted to do so. I think that that kind of stuck with me. StephieAs an illustrator, do you focus in a certain medium, or you explain that, like, what, what would an illustrator, what would that look like, like what classes did you take? What kind of a focus in your art education, did you have? BrianneWell, um, I think I lucked out, knowing that I was interested in children's books going into it. Because I was able to kind of tailor my graduate experience toward children's books, and actually my first book was a homework assignment in grad school, I took a class called directed projects which is basically, it's like a directed free-for-all, like, you pick a project that you want to do over the course of the whole semester. And, and it has to be a series of some sort of some people that like branding, like they've made up a brewery and branding, like you know made several different kinds of beer labels or something and, and I picked a kids book and... StephieAnd did that become Ike? BrianneYeah that became “Ike’s Incredible Ink.” Yeah, do your homework kids. 7:30 - StephieSo, that was what year of school. How long have you been in? BrianneThat, it's a two year program and that was the first quarter of my second year there. StephieSo, from that homework assignment, how did they get from there to the published book? BrianneGosh, like a combination of super hard work and crazy good luck. Like anything in life. I kind of hit the ground running with this project and got...I was able to finish the entire book in the whole in 10 weeks. And you were only supposed to do three interior spreads and a cover, and I was, I don't know crazy person was like I'll do all of it and, so, which ended up being great, because I had; so Peter Brown, who's a author, Illustrator, he was coming to SKAD to give a presentation, and at the same time I knew that my friend Ryan who I was in grad school with had a friend Pete who was coming to town, I didn't realize that these are the same person. And so I was sitting in the grad studio at SKAD doing my work working on Ike, and Pete and Ryan came in we were hanging out and talking and then my professor walked in and he was like, oh, Brianne I see you’ve met Peter Brown. He's like, you should have them look at your book, and I was like, Oh, (laughing) okay. And so he took a look at it and send it to his agent and the agent liked it and now here we are. And now Peter’s one of my closest friends so that worked out to, socially. 9:21 - StephieOkay, so what were some of the steps like so then agents said, I really like this. Then what? BrianneWell, that's the trick with kids books is that you. It's very rare that you get your book published without an agent. Without an agent your manuscript goes into the slush pile they call it which is like about as organized as it sounds, but with an agent, you have all these doors open where the agent is kind of the first gatekeeper and they kind of carry a stable of people that whose work they like. And then they will go into the publishing companies and either in person or by email kind of promote your work and say like this is something that we're working on. We think that it would be a good match for you so they'll kind of try to pair you up with a, with an editor. And then the editor is usually the one that does the acquiring till they find a manuscript that they like that can either. If you're an author illustrator they'll have some sample drawings with the manuscripts and this year, just an author, it won't have any illustrations with it. 10:28 - StephieSo from the time that it went to an agent and was selected, how long does it take typically or did it take for your book for your first book? BrianneUm, for my first book. It took about a year from, my agent is Paul Rodine, and it took about a year from when Paul picked it up to when Candlewick said hooray, we want your book. But it can go much faster than that. I don't, I don't know how long it takes us first books but yeah that's what happened with mine. StephieAnd then it was published how soon after that? 11:09 - BrianneUm, let's see well that was another funny one because that I had, you know, finished a book basically and then had to kind of go back to square one with their suggestions and revisions. But I think the whole process took maybe another, not quite another year altogether and then it takes another year to actually get public, come out into bookstores. So, like I finished this book “Secret Tree Fort” in April. Last April, and it comes out this coming April. Yeah. 11:50 - StephieAnd I can't wait to talk about that. 11:53 - BrianneFor Ike, having it published. So tell us about what it's like, it's in bookstores. Did you do a book tour? Did you get to talk with kids, I get to talk with kids. I didn't do a book tour that the publishing company sent me on or anything, I would, kind of, I'm going to get caught by the IRS telling you this but like, if I ever wanted to go on a trip I would call up a bookstore and be like, Hello, and just start writing off this trip. But yeah, it was great, bookstores are really happy to have you because you're free and you help sell their books and you're kind of like an hour long babysitter. And then schools are great too I am, I was able to do a bunch of school visits with TCAPS last spring, yeah, it was. StephieThe weather was a little iffy, yeah. 12:52 - BrianneYeah, somewhere in there StephieIt could have been arranged in November. BrianneCould be anytime. 12:59 - BrianneBut, yeah, it's wonderful , the kids provide a lot of good feedback and you get to see like what they respond to and what they're interested in. 13:10 - StephieDo you have any like best quotes from kids a lot along the way about your book or funny questions? 13:20 - BrianneWhen I first started, hats off to the teachers, I like knew nothing about crowd control and like what questions you could ask kids and whatnot, like, like you can't just be like, How are you, because they'll be like, “I'm going to a birthday party and there's a swimming pool and…” And that was actually my very first reading as a kid raised his hand and said, “I'm going to a birthday party.” Anyway, let me see, at the end of the presentations I draw a rocket with the kids and I like to tell them that they can that I'm going to draw Ike inside of the rocket but that they can draw whoever they want and I had a little kid, tell me that they're putting their grandma in the rocket to the moon, like I'm going to send my grandmother to the moon. 14:08 - StephieWhat happened with that. BrianneYeah, so they yeah this is some pretty some pretty great stuff. I've also been really blown away with the other end of things, kids being like, so how do I get an agent? What's the difference between self publishing a published book? Who are you? StephieLike a little kid. I mean some of those. BrianneSome of those questions came from like fifth graders but I was really impressed that they even... 14:38 - StephieWhen you're young, did you write for fun and to illustrate books for fun? BrianneYeah, yeah. I actually, when I was in third grade. Our Old Mission did a program where you could write a book and the library would bind it and have like put a bar code on it and have it in the library and anybody could check it out. So that was really inspiring I got to do that. StephieDo remember what you wrote for that book? BrianneYeah, it was a book called, Trees are Homes, and I distinctly remember making the cover first and then kind, of just plowing my way through the rest of the book and the book kind of like taking a turn somewhere and then like not really being about that by the end. StephieBut cover was set. BrianneTrees are Homes, and it was like animals live in trees, so you should recycle, recycling's good, boy do I like paper, it just kinda like wandered. 15:37 - StephieDo you remember checking out friends books and like having friends check out your book. Do you remember having like... BrianneI do remember. I do remember going into the library and checking to see if anyone had checked out my book. Yeah, it's like the first version of like social media, any likes? 15:58 - StephieWell, that must be an amazing experience, now to see, Ike, and to see, Secret Tree Fort. BrianneYeah, it's crazy like it when, when Ike first came out, I was on a road trip and stopped at this Barnes and Noble in the middle of nowhere and found it. Yeah, and one of my good friends lives in Anchorage, and she sent me a photo of like in her local library, and I was like, “oh, thanks for donating that book to your library,” and she was like, “it was just here.” 16:31 - StephieSo “Secret Tree Fort,” comes out in April. Can you tell us a little bit about it? BrianneSure, it's about, about two sisters and older sister just wants to read and the younger sister wants to the older sister to play with her. StephieDoes this have any connection to your own life? BrianneOh yeah, it's incredibly biographical. This is me never wanting to put down a book. And this is my younger sister, little toe head, her being very energetic and wanting to play and we actually we did play together as kids, and when we did play a lot of what we did was plan tree forts, or tree houses we would have drawings of like okay on the third floor will have the observation deck and then the slide will lead to the pool. And we'd be like dad. Let's do this. 17:27 - StephieDid you have a tree fort? BrianneWe did, we did, it was a, it was a box in a tree but it did have a zip line. Yeah that's all you need. 17:37 - StephieYou just need a little, little bit of wood in a tree in your house. Yeah. Yeah. So illustration wise, did you use a similar sort of process when you were working on this book? BrianneNo, not at all. I did a lot of print-making at McAllister this great printmaking professor, and I somehow I didn't even know that print-making existed before I got there. And she kind of opened up this whole world they really fell in love with it and so I guess I think a lot of my work is informed by printmaking but maybe by different processes. So, the first book is about a blob of ink who can somehow get up and walk. And so it's about ink and paper and craft and like making things with their hands so I wanted it to be made with ink and paper so it's it's ink line work and collaged paper that's actually collaged digitally. And then this is also kind of made digitally, I drew the book with charcoal and pencil and different layers. Okay, different pieces of paper so like the outline will be a piece of paper and then like the texture will be on another piece of paper and then I scan it all into the computer and color it digitally, which is a total headache. I don't know why I work like that but…StephieWhat made you choose to do it that way does it give you more options. 19:11 - BrianneYeah, I think I really love getting the color right and the texture right is really important to me and I like it when the color and the format of the book kind of helps you tell the story. So, in this book, the younger sister is telling her older sister about this tree forth that she has that, you know, as she talks you kind of see the tree fruit in the background like growing floors and slides and the whale observation area. And, and I wanted to kind of, kind of interacting with an imaginary environment and I wanted there to be some visual cue that was like, “This isn't real.” “And this is real.” And so I made this real for myself that everything that was real would be very muted, and everything was imaginary you can be these technicolors, and the computer let you kind of set that up and play with it. 20:12 - StephieDid you enjoy that process? So, you know, very different from Ike. Did you enjoy doing it that way and was it a lesson to be learned would you do it that way again. 20:27 - BrianneI don't know, actually, it’s funny that you ask. I had a publisher contact me and asked me to submit a sample of work and I like can you make it just like how you made “Secret Tree Fort,” and I was like, ugh. Okay, maybe if I was a better artist I wouldn't need to do it that way but it's like, I need to fuss with it forever to be like, oh no I made this tree dark so then this tree has to be light so then this part has to be more colorful but I don't know if I do it again. It's definitely really fun to work like that it's kind of like how you build a screen print. Yeah, I like that. I love the look of it. Yeah, and I love the control but, boy is it time consuming. 21:20 - StephieWhat I’ve seen of it, it’s beautiful. So when this book comes out will it be the same thing when you visit schools again, and maybe get a few bookstores at some exotic locations? 21:31 - BrianneHopefully, yeah. Yeah, I love doing school visits it's really, really fun. Yeah, I love doing the school visits, it's kind of like the opposite of sitting alone and drawing. Standing up in front of an auditorium of eight year olds. 21:54 - StephieWhen you mentioned that, that being alone and working, I know that you've been involved with A26. And can you tell us a little bit about, first what that is and what you've done. BrianneSure. A26 is an amazing organization and I know that you said that Front Street Writers is kind of a little bit near it. A26 was started by the writer Dave Eggers and legend has it that he wanted to start a tutoring program in San Francisco and bought a commercial space, and then was told that, because it was a commercial space and zoned commercially it had to sell something and it couldn't just be a tutoring center and so he was like great we sell pirate supplies. And so the front of the store sold pirate supplies in the back of the store… StephieI love that it happened that way. 22:50 - BrianneYeah, so then they were really surprised to find out the pirate supply section of the store kind of helped the kids, like it made it this like, very special space and it also helped take away the stigma like meeting after school homework assistance or like taking an extra writing class just for fun. I'm a big dork, that’s something I would do. And so, it helped with that and then also it was bringing in people from the neighborhood to be like, what is this place? And that led to people volunteering just because they like walked in to see what the Pirate Store was about. And then the revenue from selling like a tub of lard pays the rent on the stores. Yeah, so now it's nationwide and all of the stores had like a front and then there's a secret tutoring center in the background. So I think they want in Michigan, haven't been a robot repair shop. StephieYeah, yeah, Seattle is time travelers. I think there's a Bigfoot one. What’s New York?. BrianneIt’s the superhero supply store. I first got involved with the one in Chicago, which is the spy supply store. StephieYeah, I just love to go in one. BrianneYeah, yeah, it's the one in Chicago so funny that it has the sign out in front, that's like, nothing to see here, nobody needs to come in, you don't need anything. And for a while I had to change it because it was like two effective people are like, Oh, yeah. 24:18 - StephieAnd so did you do workshops there? BrianneYeah, yeah, I did a comic book writing workshop and autobiographical comic book ratings that was great. And also the one. Oh, we did block printing with character descriptions so I had the kids make black print of face, and they wrote a character description of it and then they all traded prints and then wrote a description of that someone else's portrait. It's really fun activity Yeah. StephieSo thinking about working with kids and, have you thought about, like, doing something more like that doing more workshops with kids is that an area that you might pursue? BrianneYeah, yeah, hopefully. That's the great part about living here now is I have all this extra time I was, I was working. When I first moved to New York I was working for random houses, uh, well first as an administrative assistant and then there's a book designer. And then I left to do more illustration but came as rehired as a freelance designer so I was working there part time. And then, and now that I live here, I can have a little bit more time on my hands, because I’m not working at Random House. StephieSo right now are you do your projects in the pipeline that are working on? BrianneI do. I don't know what am I allowed to share. I'm working on getting my promotional plan ready for it Secret Tree Fort. You start kind of amping that up about three months out but you have to know what you're going to do before the three months are here. And, and then I signed up to do it I can tell you about this. I signed up to do a book called “Charlotte the Scientist is Squished,” and that's my first book that I’m just illustrating in not writing on hey yeah. StephieSo where is that in the process? BrianneThat is signed up... StephieSorry to interrupt you. How did you get connected to that book? Did the author see your work? BrianneNo, that's, um, gosh that's another book was like, yeah, and like, usually it happens this way but I don't, that’s not how it happened for me, usually an author submits their manuscript to a publishing company and then the editor buys the manuscript, and then the editor and the art director work together to find an illustrator. But in this case, my agent represents the author and, and I had told my agent that I wanted, I was like I'd really like to try illustrating somebody else's manuscript. And I said, we've got this manuscript do you want to illustrate it and we'll send it out to publishers that way and I like there's no guarantee, they like they might drop your illustrations, like, whatever. Yeah yeah so that's how I got connected. 27:29 - StephieSo, and that book will be coming out like I said a couple years away. BrianneThat'll be coming out in spring ‘17. StephieOkay, I’m excited to see it. 27:42 - BrianneYeah, me too. It's on the manuscript is being edited right now and is with the author. And as soon as they finalize the manuscript then I get a hold of it. 27:55 - StephieWill you be working on that here? will you be back in New York? Or can you work anywhere? BrianneOh gosh, I don't know. Yeah, I can work anywhere. That's great anywhere that has Wi Fi and a flat surface. 28:11 - StephieBesides, what you've done in the book form,where else has your art appeared, what other format? Tell us about, tell us about your art, separate from books? BrianneUm, well, I did a couple publications with, I did a drawing for McSweeney's, and for the New York Times, did one for them. So I've done a couple editorial pieces here and there, but I found that editorial is like, kind of this constant, you need to keep reminding our directors that you're around, and I just I love doing children's book so much that I'd rather spend my time doing that. StephieThat's really your passion. BrianneIt is it's so great, it's like it's like don't tell any other illustrators but it's like you get to, basically, you're like free rein you have like 32 pages to just go nuts, and with editorial it's really really fast turnaround and people make beautiful stuff. I really have a deep admiration for editorial illustrators but and I don't work that way very well. StephieBut it's gonna work, what you enjoy. BrianneYeah. Yeah. can anybody see your art around town? 29:25 - BrianneOh, the Little Fleet. Yeah. That was the best job. Yeah, I did the mural at Little Fleet. 29:35 - StephieTell us about that process? BrianneYou introduced me to Allison. And Allison was so great. She actually, it was so funny because they had just moved here from Brooklyn, and I was living in Brooklyn, at the time, and she was like, oh yeah, she sent me a couple images of what she was interested in and she was like we want these free hand kind of line drawings on our wall, and I started sending her sketches and she's like, can you know, can you just come in and like, do crazy stuff all over the wall. It's like, Oh yeah, totally. StephieAnd you did it. Tell us about like the actual process where people there? BrianneOh yeah, they... I started at 11 in the morning so I got all set up before anybody came in, and then I just worked the whole day. And it was, yeah, there are people there and watching and luckily I was up on a ladder, with my back to everybody. I wasn’t too aware of anyone watching. That's pretty good. Yeah, and you're adorable daughter was there, StephieShe does love knowing there's. 30:47 - BrianeIt's their balloon. 30:50 - StephieDid you? It has it looked like watching it that that you had planned out where things would go because everything fits so nicely, like how much pre-planning... BrianneSmoke and mirrors. StephieDefinitely. It looks that way. But can you just like did you look at this face and you're able to just, I mean how much of that was planned ahead in your mind and how much of it, and I mean I like out of the blue here.BrianneThey told me that they wanted some like goofy characters and I've actually painted my bathroom in New York with chalkboard paint and had been actually like the week that she contacted me had filled my bathroom wall with these like crazy characters, and I sent her a photo of it and she was like, yeah, that's what we want. That works out well. So I had a kind of a eight and a half by 11 piece of paper with just some doodles on it and like character ideas, but all the layout was done on the fly. It was fun, it was exhausting. I think the only thing I knew going into it was that I wanted to have all of the characters marching in one direction because I wanted them to be like a fleet. Yeah, and I wanted to put that there's a cherry with a face in it that I knew that I wanted to up there, but... StephieYou obviously such an eye and experience. Was it nerve racking to do in front of people? And maybe we're looking back to people but have you ever painted like in a public setting? BrianneNo, no. You know, I think I would have been, you know, if someone had come up to me and said, will you draw my portrait that would have terrified me but the fact that she was like, draw these crazy characters that you love drawing. I think that made it fine. Stephie Did you go back and change anything, or was it just as is. 32:56 - BrianneNo, Yeah, I think one girl I kind of made for myself was that I would get off the ladder as often as possible so that I could step back and look at it from a distance. I think that really helped. But for the most part if I, I kind of saw how things were fitting together as I was moving from left to right. But yeah, I think I did have a little freak out in the beginning, so I wasn't really sure about the paint. The paint was like going on the wall and was really weird way like I felt slimy and I was like this is terrible, like, no one told me that painting on a wall it feels different than drawing with the marker. 33:41 - StephieSo that was your first time painting, something like that, of that scale? 33:46 - BrianneYeah, but now I love it funny. Yeah, I would love to do it again. 34:03 - StephieOkay. So switching gears a little bit. I'd love to talk about books and libraries, in particular. I mean we touched a little bit on the book project that you did at Old Mission but what are some of the things you remember now that you're, you know, in your career and following your passion for what you're doing and looking back at you know school libraries, public libraries and books in general I know you're a big reader and always were. What are some of the experiences you remember, and in what ways do you think school libraries and libraries in particular impacted you? Or some of your memories? BrianneGood question. I guess, I have really fond memories of my librarians feet, you know, she would kind of sit on like a big armchair and everyone would kind of like crowd around. I just, I remember I loved that, like intimacy of like being read to. Really wanting to know what happened next, like, I remember the librarian at Central reading us “The Giver” and just being like, oh, when I found out that it was color that had been missing I was like, “What!” stop everything. Being read to it's just so special and it really brings the books to life, and, and I found I was really surprised when I visited schools that told me that I was going to be presenting to first graders as well as fifth graders. It's like I hope this presentation works for all ages. And I was really surprised by how engaged the fifth graders were that they still love being read to and enjoy picture books and just get something totally different out of it. StephieAbsolutely, yeah. picture books are, they hit kids at all different levels. And some of them are really, and, and maybe not in particular yours but some are geared, really there's middle school kids and some projects that there are picture books that are at that level, I mean in the details well as, What's the subject and it's quite mature. It's always thought of as her very young children. The format is really not necessarily that way. BrianneYou know I really think that's a mistake, actually I find myself when I talk about books trying not to say, kids books. I tried to say picture books cuz i mean i think that a lot of them are for audiences of all ages and that, and that booksellers are making a mistake kind of pigeon holing what age range, they can present to.Have you ever seen this book? Death, Duck, and the Tulip by Wolf Elbrooke? I think it's his name. He's a German guy. European kids books, they're like crazy like boobs, and there's all kinds of stuff in there. They’re a little bit edgier. It’s about a duck that meets death, and they kind of hang out together and then at the end of the book the duck dies, and that’s whole book and it's like really beautiful and, and just kind of like, this is what happens. Sometimes things die. And so it's like, I think it would be good. And it really struck me, you know, a certain age. Yeah, that was really really powerful, yeah. A good thing for kids of all ages. StephieI don't think that kids stop needing to be or stuff enjoying to be read to. It's not, it doesn't end in fifth grade. Middle School, even when even High School, and the adults. Yeah, being read to is something that's pretty universal. BrianneYeah, it's very soothing to be read to even as an adult, it's nice to have someone just read something out loud. And, and I think that you get you get access to, you know, like words that you might not normally hear read out loud, like you're like, Oh, it's not hors d'oeuvres? Yeah, I think, I think it's really important and I think, yeah, I think that there's I actually I find myself having a little bit of a hard time talking about like, like what my favorite picture books are because I'm like there’s the books that I love as a kid. And then there's the books that I love now, and I don't have, I don't have kids and so like I don't really know what it is that kids respond to and Charlotte who I work with at Smith and Jones studios she brought in this whole stack, she, she labeled them a post it notes and she's like these are good books. These are terrible books. 39:10 - StephieLike, what made those terrible? Was it content, they were boring was it…? BrianneYeah, I mean, I think some of it was. I mean picture books I such a hard audience because you're appealing to a very young child and the parent that has to read it one hundred times in a row. And so I think some of them were books for her kids love them and she was like, I never want to see these books again. Yeah, yeah, but so I don't have that, I don't know I don't have the input of actual little kids so I'm going off like this is a beautiful book. I'm touched by this book, I don't know if kids would actually like it. 39:47 - StephieSo the unfair question. What were some of your favorite books as now and as a kid, and not just picture books like what are some of your, you mentioned the Giver, just favorite books? BrianneI think the first book I remember being just obsessed with was the BFG Roald Dahl, and I loved that book. And then I went and read everything of Roald Dahl’s that I could find. He's super talented and dark. I love that too. Yeah. And I think as a kid I really, I really liked Sneeches by Dr. Seuss and, oh, Just a Dream by Chris Van Alsberg. That probably inspired Trees are Homes. Protect your environment. And what else: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, anything by Maurice Sendeck, the Little Bear books, and Where the Wild Things Are, Go Dog! Go! I recently re-read that and was like this book is brilliant. Yeah. And, and now...There's so much out there. Again, I'm like, I don't know if kids like these are not, but Greg Pizzoli is really great author, Illustrator. He just said a book about the “Watermelon Seed.” Okay, about a crocodile that follows a watermelon seed and Pool by, oh gosh, JHyeon Lee I think is her name and I think that that just one has a magical place in New York called the Society of illustrators and that's a museum slash art studio, that's just illustrations, And they hold, they do separate several competitions throughout the year but there's the original art show is just for children's books. And I think that that just won the original art show. It's a really cool space it's like this little converted townhouse, and it's kind of bright red door so you feel like you're kind of walking into a magical home. StephieWow, great, things like that are celebrated. What a wonderful spot to celebrate that kind of creativity. 42:16 - BrianneThat's the thing I miss most about Brooklyn is that a lot of my friends also wrote and illustrated book so they've also got some really beautiful books coming out. StephieAnd their titles, you can share? BrianneYeah. Um, let's see, Ruth Chan has her first book coming out which is, “Where's the Party,” which is about a cat that wants to throw a party but then all of his friends are busy. And it's based on her real cat Georgie. And let's see, my friend, Dasha Tolstikova has this really beautiful illustrated novel coming out I guess that's what you call it so it's long but it's not really a graphic novel, probably like a hundred pages, “A Year Without Mom.” And that's about when she grew up in Russia and her mom moved to America, and she stayed in Russia for another year and then followed her mom so it's about that year, she's 13. StephieSo, like a middle grade, Middle School? BrianneYeah, probably for like that same age group, 12-13. And she's also got a couple of picture books coming out “The Jacket.” She illustrated and that's like doing really, really well. It's a, it's a book about a girl who, I guess it's about a book, who, a girl buys the book and he's so happy to have someone who loves them. It’s so cute. 43:44 - StephieSo, yeah. Any other thoughts on experiences you remember, projects you did that standout related to books or illustration in school, other experiences in other schools or libraries that you remember? 44:00 - BrianneWell, each. And, and the librarians and I think I was really lucky to be in that talented and gifted program they have a lot of really great like kind of interactive projects where you are encouraged to write and, and draw, or they would maybe give you like several options of how to complete a project which I think is really great for kids learn and express themselves in different ways so you could either you know like, put on a play or like make a board game. I think that's always the one I chose like make some stuff with your hands, you could make, like, a little sculpture. I remember really loving my science classes, because I like making all the models. StephieSure, yeah, it's interesting isn't it like even as a small, small young learner like those things that carry through, things that you love, you know, they might change, but some of those things stay. They are what is important to you even as an adult. 45:11 - StephieWell, are there, anything is there anything I didn't ask you that you want to share. 45:17 - BrianneI can think of any. Any ideas?. 45:20 - LarryOkay, so the voice from the other side of the monitor. There, there are three questions I want to ask if you have the time. The first one I was fascinated by the conversation you guys had about picture, picture books, not being available, or is this something with the authors and publishers now making picture books for adults. First of all, was that their coffee table books, but not really because oftentimes, coffee table books don't contain a narrative. There more non-fiction. There might be a correlation between and especially for high school readers that correlation between picture books, and then read and students that have enjoyed picture books then graduating to graphic novels yeah I mentioned graphic novels and I wanted to know if you felt there was a connection there between the picture book and the graphic novel. BrianneDefinitely, I think that and I think graphic novels are really filling a hole that's been present in, in the books that are available that that graphic novels aren't just like superhero graphic novels anymore that you can get like these really beautiful narratives that, I think that this is the first year that a graphic novel won, oh gosh, I'm going to get it wrong, some big literary prize was won by a graphic novel this year StephieFor kids or adults? BrianneFor kids it's like the Caldicot of, and I'm going to show you like such a dummy, I have to figure out what it is but it was like the Newbery, Yeah, StephieEl Daffo, I think it was an honor. BrianneWas it an honor? StephieWe’ll have to crack this detail, definitely. 47:10 - BrianneIt's a great book, you should check it StephieIt’s in our elementary libraries. 47:17 - BrianneBecause you can read it, like, I read it sitting in a cafe. You know the whole thing. StephieOur libraries just received a donation from AAUW, for the book “Roller Girl.” BrianneI heard it’s wonderful. 47:30 - StephieYes, and it has wonderful messages for young girls. But it was. I'm guessing it was the first time we've had from that group, a graphic novel donated which, you know, there's so much more. Yeah, the quality of graphic novels, has come so far. But it really connects with kids all readers it really. Yeah, we've seen that really sparks kids who may or may not love to read and then it kind of ties, you know, good, kids who love to read anyway are drawn to it but sometimes you're reluctant readers of graphic novels less intimidating. BrianneYeah, yeah. Another. I have friends who teach in the Bronx who say that the graphic novels are this like huge gateway for kids that like might not even feel comfortable reading or maybe like English language learners or... it’s a nice, nice I like that and I think it makes, it can make, like, difficult topics more accessible. I think that, like I'd rather read a history graphic novel than like read a history book. Yeah. 48:36 - StephieAnd the graphic novel “The Fun House” which is for adults. BrianneMaking so much. It's amazing so many ways right now which is funny because I taught that book in my autobiographical comic book writing class for A26. I mean, my friend Grace and I taught the class together and we just we photocopied, like one page out of a bunch of different books and showed kids like these are different styles of autobiographical comics. StephieWell it, kinda as a segway but I think it's now on Broadway. It’s become a Play. And I think she has another graphic novel coming out. 49:15 - BrianneI know that she's like a regular comic, like a series. But I think that that kind of predates “Fun Home” but I don't know who the next book is. StephieWell and that was, you know, for, for example in “My Mom's” book we read, you know, it was the first time I think a lot of people were exposed to a graphic novel. It just it's come so, there's, there's just so much more at every level, and and that's an example of amazing illustrations, and amazing narrative as well. BrianneYeah, I was really lucked into a great class, and that McAllister my first class was called superheroes. And it was English class that we studied graphic novels and then books about graphic novels, and books about superheroes, like Frankenstein and Orlando like these kind of like super human people in literature, but it was my, It was great, and it was my first exposure to, like, critical discussion about a graphic novel I think it was the first time I'd ever read a graphic novel. We read Watchmen. We read Dylan Horrocks, what is it called, “Hicksville,” it’s a great book. It's about New Zealand and they ended up studying abroad in New Zealand and then I came back and read it again was like, it's so cool because it's about the, I mean it's about a guy who loves comic books, but it's also about the, kind of mythology of New Zealand and, like, Captain Cook discovering New Zealand and his interaction with like the Maori people that were already in there legend of how New Zealand came to be and it's like you learn all this stuff. You don't even... StephieYou have to go back through this tape and make a reading list. 51:03 - BrianneI spent way too much time with books. 51:11 - Stephiesomething else who said that. I'll remember. LarrySo I didn't realize that the graphic novel question was going to just.. BrianneI love graphic novels! And I don’t love them as much as most people do. I’m, like, no connoisseur, but I do know that they're like, I think they're incredibly under appreciated, and should just be like, thrown out like confetti. 51:34 - LarryAs an Illustrator there’s a whole other conversation about how you relate to, to not only the pictures, specifically as an artist but also how you would tell your stories in a picture book, as opposed to a graphic novel and vice versa. But those aren’t the questions that I want to ask is that much longer. I think, you know, the idea is kind of keep this under an hour, and we're getting close to it. So, what I wanted to maybe close with if Stephie doesn't have any more questions, are two questions. One is, what is the most important thing and putting you on the spot here and I recognize this, what is the most important thing you believe you learn from a teacher. 52:31 - BrianneI have no clue. Actually I guess cuz we're talking about like learning styles, because I think that's where that's kind of what we're going for with graphic novels was I like, that someone's learning style, I learned better with that. I also think it's important to do the learning style that you're not good at, and I, I, so when I was in, let's see, fourth, fifth and sixth grade so at TAG, we had to every week give a science report out loud in front of the entire class. And it's like, my deepest fear, like, like you would you rather be buried alive or give a report in front of class. And. And I think that that was incredibly helpful to kind of just like stand up there and just get used to it and like those communication skills are super helpful and every single part of your life going forward so I don't know if I'd say that they taught me to like face my fears or if they taught you that you can just like practice something and get good at it and, but. That persistence is more important than natural ability. 53:48 - StephieSo then when you have 250 first through fifth graders staring gymnasium. BrianneOh yeah, I was terrible. My first couple of presentations I was like, BLLL Stephie Looked very polished to everyone, 54:03 - BrianneNot through natural ability, It was through like going home and being like, Okay, I need to redo my entire PowerPoint presentation. I think it's something that like is probably the most important part of a when kids go to those presentations is like seeing that there's a huge leap between where they are and like where they'll be as an adult, and that you can kind of be like, I was really bad at these things, and then you just do them a lot. And then you're good at them. Like I have friends were like, “your such a better drawer than I am,” and I'm like, “you're such a better lawyer than I am,” and they’re like, “I went to school for that,” and I'm like, “I did to.” It’s not magic, you just keep trying it. 54:51 - StephieAnd, and wanting to keep trying. Have the love for it. And that's, I mean the segue’s to but having kids, especially local like when you're talking to an Old Mission and when you talk to other schools in our district, for them to say she went, like, she sat here, she was in my school being a kid here, and then she's really doing the thing that I'm wanting to do. That is incredibly powerful for kids. BrianneYeah, and I actually don't remember this, I vaguely remember it but a cartoonist came to Old Mission when I went there, and I guess I came home from that author visit and my and told my mom that I wanted to be a cartoonist and was, like super inspired by it, yeah, vaguely remember this guy coming but, yeah, that's has a huge impact on me. Yeah, just like opening up the scope of, like, what you think is possible. StephieAnd I think the library is clear on that, yeah and experiences for kids. Bring the world in and through books to the world for kids. BrianneIt opens you up to the things that you might not naturally seek out, like, I just went to our library on Woodmere the other day I was looking for books about Matisse and came home with a book about Danish chairs, because it was like sitting out on a table and I was like Oh, chairs! that’s what’s like, so magical about libraries is that you're like, you know, it's all just there. And you might kind of wander into something that you weren't looking for. And then the librarians are these like incredible gatekeepers who are just way smarter than I am. 56:37 - StephieBut that's what we hope the libraries are doing is opening up all these possibilities. BrianneYeah, and that's something that like the internet can't replace. I visited an elementary school, where the librarian stands in the hallway, and she has like hand picked out books for certain kids and as she sees them walk by she would be like this book is yours. This is a really cool. I’m sure that they feel really special. StephieAnd knowing your readers, you know, connections. 57:11 - LarryOkay. So last question. And then ties in exactly you segueing your segue. What advice would you give a student interested in pursuing a career in publishing? So, you inspired one of those, one of those kids. BrianneI hope you like ramen noodles. You will not be rich. I guess, yeah, I guess what we've been talking about. Of course you have a natural interest in certain things but that, that persistence will get you way farther than any, like, ability you may have like out of the gate, and that, Neil Gaiman gave a speech that I think about all the time where he said that you only have to be two of three things, either have to be talented, pleasant to work with, or on time, you only have to be like, be only two to those. It's like if you're pleasant to work and on time then you don't have to be that talented. 58:17 - StephieSo true. 58:19 - BrianneYeah, you can. I think there's something, really something to be said for persistence and pleasantness.
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Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorThe Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor was a published campaign written by Benjamin Baugh using the One Roll Engine. In our wrap up, we look at expectations vs. realities of a truly sandbox game, discuss the dice system, and give insights into our own childhoods and inspirations.
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorAfter the whirlwind of events last episode, Fred is rushed to the hospital... But, to everyone's surprised it turns out Fred has... a... plan... Well, not knowing where this is going, the kids all come together to help Fred with his plan. Lord only knows where this episode is going...
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorThe day that Roger has be waiting for what feels like an eternity is finally here. The first day of school! Fred is given special rules that he struggles to remember, while the others try to keep up with their teacher's lectures. Meanwhile, Rodger is having a great time at school and everything seems to be going great! That is until an event with one of the other kids threatens to end the school day early...
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorThe kids take a day to handle some personal items. Damien catches up with Miss Silverdale, Rodger keeps looking in the Candlewick Mystery, and Fred with the help of Elle and Desi makes a move on Josie that goes horribly wrong...
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorWhile Roger is off at the dentist, the kids look for ways to find out more about the Candlewick family. Damien goes to Ms Silverdale and tries to work out a deal. Then, in Roger's absence, an unexpected child comes up with a plan. What could possible go wrong?
When we design for our clients and commercial projects we source about 85% of products that we purchase wholesale. For the other 15% we are going to share with you a few of the catalogs we purchase from and our favorites from those catalogs. 1. FRONTGATE – A “luxury” catalog featuring many outdoor and resort products. Here are some of our favorite items. A. The resort towel collection i. Soft, durable and so many choices of colors/patterns B. The Door Mats i. Large sizes and available for Monogram. C. Planters i. All sizes and shapes, self watering and many include drain holes D. A great feature of Frontgate – A “create a stylish entrance” visualizer that lets you drag and drop products such as greenery, lanterns and door mats to see how they will look in your entry. 2. FLOR – A square carpet tile that you can create with any size, style and shape. – squares are about 19” x 19” and are put together to create an area rug or runner. A. A great website that helps you to design and install B. Very durable and great for high traffic areas. C. Super stain resistant D. Excellent customer service E. A company that uses sustainable practices. They use reclaimed and recyclable materials for every FLOR tile. F. They are washable, movable and replaceable. G. We use FLOR for areas with kids, pets and commercial spaces. 3. BALLARD DESIGNS A. The “Modular” Home Office Series i. A built in feel ii. Endless options 1. Choice of color 2. Choice of wood 3. Choice of top – wood or zinc iii. Each piece works with every other B. The “Gramercy Desk Chair” i. Customize with over 350 fabrics ii. 5 spoke base iii. Smooth rolling casters C. Indoor Lighting Fixtures i. The “Hadley” pendant 1. Choice of large or small 2. 4 – 60 watt bulbs in each 3. Hammered iron 4. WISTERIA – family owned. they support a different non-profit organization each month. A. Mirrors i. The Pagoda (especially in navy) ii. Looking Glass Mirror iii. Accessories 1. Boho Wooden Vases 2. Brass and Acrylic Easels 3. Several unique dinner napkins iv. Furniture 1. Bar Stools 2. Woven Leather lounge and dining chairs 5. POTTERY BARN A. Parker Modular Bar System i. Reclaimed wood in a gray wash finish 1. Bluestone top 2. Console and base – add on or keep small 3. Great Storage ii. Bedding 1. The “all white bed” a. Belgian Linen b. Pickstitch c. Candlewick d. Honecomb iii. Wall Organization a. “build your own” daily system i. Chalkboard ii. Wipeboard iii. Corkboard iv. Calendar v. Magnet Board vi. Letter Bin 6. DEAR KEATON – a global lifestyle brand founded by Christie Shepard and Chris Hutcheson – a shared passion for travel, living with intention and great design. A. Baskets i. Black basket with jute rope handles ii. Blue Woven Hope Tray iii. Lidded Senagalese baskets B. Tabletop i. Mango Wood Whale Salad Servers ii. Marble Salt and Pepper Set
Megan McDonald, author of the wildly popular, award-winning, best-selling Judy Moody series, talks to Candlewick Press about the importance of storytelling in her own family and how she created the world’s feistiest third-grader (and her brother, Stink). Megan also gives readers the scoop on her career history, recounting her time as a journalist, spy, superhero, and park ranger.
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorThe children go to bed after a tiring set of events, only to realize they are seem to be dreaming on the moon... together... Later, the kids meet a new friend named Damien and think that he is so cool, its like their almost FORCED to like him. The gang and Damien proceed to meet with an acquaintance of his and find some new information about the web they've been caught in.
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorThe crew finds a strange man with a boy who look like they are up to no good. As they get closer, Sebastian makes a mistake that will change the course of his life forever... The others simply try to go on, struggling to comprehend what just happened, while Roger, obsessed with an finding answer for the Candlewick mystery, confronts his grandfather about the past.
A podcast about the real VC Andrews, Terrible Ghostwriters, and Patriarchal Horrors In the Deep Dark Woods
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorTrying something new, the group decides to try a new narrative building mechanic from the campaign book. What comes out is a messy fur ball of events that involve Gesepie, Dr. Candlewick, Sarah Candlewick, Miles Candlewick, and Matron Fineliner. What does it all mean for the gang at Candlewick Manor?
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorOh no! Somebody left Fred out on his own and now he and Poe are wandering the vale all by themselves. Surely this can't go bad right? Meanwhile, the others start digging into some occult studies and find a strange chapel. Whatever the Candlewick's are up to, it can't be any good...
Shawn Sheehy has been teaching book arts courses and workshops on the national level since 2001. His broadsides and artist book editions have been collected by numerous prestigious institutions, including Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago, Library of Congress, UCLA, and Harvard. Sheehy's trade pop-up book Welcome to the Neighborwood (a mass-market version of his artist book) was released in 2015, winning numerous awards. He's currently at work on his next trade book—a mass-market version of his artist book Beyond the Sixth Extinction—and it will be released through Candlewick in Autumn 2018. He holds an MFA in the Book Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Continue reading Shawn Sheehy
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorFred tries to undo the wrong that he did to Josie. At least he will once he figures out WHAT he did wrong. Meanwhile, Sebastian performs his great escape from the Manor in order to find some dirt on the Candlewick family. Unfortunately for him, it is not what he finds that he should be concerned with, but instead what finds him...
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorAfter the kids meets their new prefect, Fred decides to help her move into her new room, but begins to experience a weird feeling in his gut. Meanwhile, the others go to investigate more clues about Misenwrath and the manor itself at the library. There they find a young artist. This eventually leads the group down a hidden tunnel to another mysterious car, this time with its head lights pointing right at them!
Monsters and Other Childish Things > The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick ManorMoving always sucks, you know, losing all those friends you never have, meeting all the new people you never wanted to, it just sucks. Unfortunately for these children, that's exactly what happens when a mysterious man in a limousine picks them up and takes to Candlewick Manor, Home for the Unwanted and Unloved. Here, the children get to meet all their new "friends" and show off their powers. After taking a test with the utmost honesty and integrity, the kids realize that the statues keep staring at them. Huh... that's weird... So is this sudden gust of cold wind... And this blanket that's wrapping its self across my face...
Intro Hi everyone! This is episode #35 and today I am sharing with you a LIVE recording of an interview I did with the incredible Mira Bartók where we discuss her debut middle grade novel, The Wonderling. This was recording at ALA on Sunday, June 25th and I have been eager to share it with you and since The Wonderling is released tomorrow, now seems like the perfect time. Before we begin today’s interview, I am excited to tell you that this month’s episodes are sponsored by WriteAbout.com - a safe, digital writing community where students are just one click away from starting a new writing piece. And if your school uses Google like mine does, you will be happy to know that your students (and you!) can log-in with your Google account. I love that that my students can share their writing with peers locally or globally. And we all know that a real audience makes a real difference. So, if you or someone you know is looking for an engaging and authentic way to help students write every day, absolutely check out WriteAbout.com. And at the end of the show, I’ll share with you what my class has been up to lately. A couple quick notes before I share the interview. First, I huge thank you to everyone who came to the live recording of our show, to Mira for being a great guest, and all the fabulous folks at ALA and Candlewick (especially Andie and Anna) who helped coordinate this. Second, this is a LIVE recording in a very large and noisy space so I hope you bear with the bit of background bustle that you hear, but I promise that hearing what Mira has to say is so worth it. Take a listen. Interview Outline I am really excited about the finished artwork in the final version of The Wonderling! Did the art come first and inspire the story or was it the other way? The Wonderling has this fantastic darker flavor to it at some points - in a similar way to Roald Dahl. And the cruel Miss Carbunkle reminds me of one of my favorite villains Miss Trunchbull. Did you like darker books as a child? One of the fascinating aspects of this book is the wielding of power. For example, Miss Carbunkle bestows small little favors or a bit of extra food to some of the prisoners in the orphanage as a way of pitting them against each other. Can you talk a bit about how power is used by characters in this story? One of the aspects that I loved about this book was the role that music played in it. Songs are forbidden in Miss Carbunkle’s orphanage and then - music plays a bigger and bigger part as we get into the story. Can you talk a bit about how music has played a part in your own life and how those experiences may have influenced this story? The Wonderling isn’t even released yet (it come out September 26th) - but, did I hear that already it’s going to be made into a movie? There comes a point in the story when Arthur realizes that he can understand the mice around him when others can’t and so he starts to translate for his mouse friend, Peevil. So they have this profound exchange about cats and Arthur says something like “maybe if I can understand them someday, they won’t hiss at me when I walk by.” In our world, or maybe just in the context on this story - do you think that understanding each other and developing empathy is enough to avoid conflict or are there some problems too big for that? There is a scene in the story where Arthur (still named Number 13) meets his first friend, Trinket, this fierce little bird-like creature. And she tells him the story of King Arthur and Merlyn and mentions that “there’s not really one way to tell it.” When you were writing The Wonderling, were there other versions or storylines that you played with or did you come into it knowing exactly where you wanted to take the story? A thought that struck me as I was reading The Wonderling was how powerful imagination can truly be. How has that force played a part in this story and maybe in your own life? As Arthur and Trinket begin their journey, they run across this boy named Pinecone. And he finds them sleeping under a tree and wakes them with a wooden sword and asks, “Are you a tinker, trader, forager, or foe?” As a writer, are you more of a tinker, trader, forager, or a foe? When we first meet Arthur in the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, that is his name from his tag around his neck. And even later when he’s in a rather dire situation, that number 13 get attached to him again - he just can’t quite shake it! Is 13 unlucky for you? What are you reading now? Audience Q&A Closing Okay - that wraps up our show this week. You can find an outline of interviews and a full transcript of all the other parts of our show along with all of our previous episodes at AlltheWonders.com. And, if you are liking the show, please help others find us too by telling a friend, sharing on social media, or leaving a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. And thanks again to WriteAbout.com for supporting the podcast this month - when you visit their website you’ll find fabulous ideas to get your students writing this year. My class has started with Personal Narratives and I love that I can find and pin ideas to our class page to help students who might have a little trouble coming up with something on their own. Thanks again and see you soon! Bye! Episode Links: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780763691219 Mira Bartok’s’ website:http://www.mirabartok.com
This episode contains material that might be inappropriate for younger listeners; discretion is advised. M. T. Anderson, author of Thirsty, Feed, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party, and Yvain: The Knight of the Lion, tells Candlewick Press all about his early life as a fast-food employee and as a Candlewick intern. He also talks about banned books and shows off his singing skills (without laughing too much).
Eugene Yelchin is a Russian-American artist best known as an illustrator and writer of books for children. In 2006 Yelchin received Tomie DePaola Illustration Award and began writing and illustrating picture books and middle grade historical fiction. Since then his books have been published by Scholastic Press, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Macmillan, Candlewick, Clarion Books and Harcourt. In 2010 his illustrations for The Rooster Prince of Breslov received a National Jewish Book Award. In 2012 Won Ton, A Cat Tale Told In Haiku that he illustrated received over forty awards. In 2012 Breaking Stalin’s Nose, a middle grade novel that he wrote and illustrated received Newbery Honor and has been translated into ten languages. His latest novel The Haunting of Falcon House received a Golden Kite Award and was named one of the best books of the year by the National Public Radio. Visit Tamara and Alistair at their websites. Thorne & Cross’ latest novel, The Witches of Ravencrest,is available now! Sign up HERE for Thorne & Cross book updates, special deals, upcoming guests on Haunted Nights LIVE! and more. This is a copyrighted, trademarked podcast owned solely by the Authors on the Air Global Radio
Scott Magoon, illustrator of Big Mean Mike, talks to Candlewick Press about his days as a Candlewick employee, the time M. T. Anderson complimented him on his work, and Bigfoot! He also serenades us with a song from the musical Pal Joey.
Ethan Murrow and Vita Murrow, the author/illustrator team behind The Whale, talk to Candlewick Press about playing together, creating together, and applying their talents to the world of picture book art. They also share their love story and talk about their childhoods. Oh, and there are strange farm sounds.
Annie Cardi, author of The Chance You Won’t Return, talks to Candlewick Press about the literary value of YA books, her time as a Candlewick intern, and the importance of social media. Annie also opens up about the sea captain who has been squatting in the home she shares with her husband.
Aaron Becker, award-winning author and illustrator of the wordless picture books Journey, Quest, and Return, talks to Candlewick Press about destiny, Star Wars, the Caldecott Medal, and finding inspiration in the works of Chris Van Allsburg. Journey into Aaron Becker’s world of childlike wonder to find out why he tells stories.
You already know the stories between the pages of your favorite children’s books, but do you know the stories behind them? Join Candlewick Press as we take you on a storytelling journey. Listen to the teaser episode of Candlewick Press Presents now!
Didn't you mother teach you not to enter random homes? Jim Robbie and the Wanderers is a bi-monthly radio drama podcast. A troupe of musicians are traveling a surreal post-apocalyptic America with their robot companion Jim Robbie, entertaining and sticking their noses where they don’t belong. The United States that the Wanderers inhabit is full of all sorts of strange and wonderful surprises, from zombies, cactus people, underwater kingdoms to vampires, messed up physics and mad scientists. A script for those who want to follow along, or who are hard of hearing is found on our website at jimrobbieandthewanderers.com
Time Codes: 00:24 - Introduction 01:40 - Setup of interview 02:03 - Interview with Matt Phelan 51:30 - Wrap up 52:16 - Contact us Gwen and Andy W. are very pleased to offer up another milestone for the Young Readers edition of The Comics Alternative: their first interview! And they couldn't have asked for a better person to talk to than Matt Phelan. The Two People with PhDs talk to Matt about his new book from Candlewick, Snow White as well as Matt's previous books, The Storm in the Barn (2009), Around the World (2011) and Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton (2013). In addition to a great discussion about Matt's books, you'll also hear talk on a wide range of interesting topics such as film noir, silent movies, the creative process, and teaser or two about Matt's upcoming projects. We hope you'll join us for a great talk with creator Matt Phelan!
Matt Phelan (@MattPhelanDraws), illustrator of Marilyn's Monster, which is written by Michelle Knudsen (@michelleknudsen) and published by Candlewick Press (@Candlewick), stops by the podcast to talk about studying theater, the parallels between drawing and playing an instrument, and the one scene in any book that's the real reason for doing it.
Steve Light (@SteveLight), author illustrator most recently of Have You Seen My Monster? (@Candlewick), stops by to talk about incorporating the 20 Motessori shapes into his newest book, turning new mistakes into better drawings, and why every illustrator needs a good fountain pen.
Jon Klassen (@BurstofBeaden), Caldecott-winning author illustrator of I Want My Hat Back (@Candlewick) and This is Not My Hat, and illustrator of Mac Barnett's Sam & Dave Dig a Hole and Extra Yarn, stops by to talk about how an audience can detect when you've broken your own rule, illustrations with a job to do, and remembering that day when you needed someone to help you not give up.
Michelle Knudsen (@MichelleKnudsen), author of Evil Librarian (@Candlewick), Library Lion, and a number of excellent books for readers of all ages, stops by to talk about being a library monitor, working as an editorial assistant at Random House, getting her MFA in writing for children, and her not-so secret love for librarians.
Boisterous, eloquent, and just the tiniest bit zany, Cynthia Leitich Smith, New York Times best-selling author of TANTALIZE and RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME, took me out for tacos and taught me a thing or twelve. I loved hearing her wise words on diversity in YA, paying it forward with newer writers, and writing 200 drafts of a single picture book. Cynthia Leitich Smith Show Notes Dear Sugar Kathi Appelt and Austin SCBWI Greg Leitich Smith Varian Johnson, Don Tate Brett Hartman JINGLE DANCER Ming Doyle, illustrator for Cynthia’s graphic novels Deborah Noyse at Candlewick press (editor) SANTA KNOWS illustrated by Steve Bjorkman (edited by Mark McVeigh at Dutton) HOLLER LOUDLY TWILIGHT Joss Whedon FERAL PRIDE Sara Zarr Ellen Oh’s post on Cynsations FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg Judy Blume
Chris Haughton (@chrishaughton), author of Shh! We Have a Plan! (@Candlewick), Oh No, George!, and Little Owl Lost, stops by to talk about his recognizable style, transitioning from digital art to more traditional collage. and his work on Hat Monkey, an all new app for young children.
Aaron Becker (@storybreathing), author of Quest (@Candlewick), the sequel to Journey, a 2014 Caldecott Honor book, stops by to talk about the mythos within the world of Journey and Quest, the ripples made in the publishing world with his debut picture book, and where this journey will take him for the trilogy's conclusion.
Betsy Bird (@FuseEight) and Julie Danielson (@SevenImp), authors of Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature (@Candlewick), stop by to talk about subversion in children's literature, the late Peter D. Sieruta's irreplaceable contributions to the field, some memorable highlights from the cutting room floor.
Calef Brown appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Publications as diverse as Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Spin, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Travel and Leisure, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune and Business Week, among others, have all featured illustrations by Calef Brown. He is also one of the illustrators of "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure," an original story written for the Library of Congress's Read.gov website and now a book from Candlewick. Brown's new book is "Boy Wonders." For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5431.
Author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Katherine Paterson appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Katherine Paterson is in her second year as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Her international fame rests not only on her widely acclaimed novels but also on her efforts to promote literacy in the United States and abroad. A two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award, she has received many other accolades for her body of work. She is also one of the writers of "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure," an original story written for the Library of Congress' Read.gov website and now a book from Candlewick. Paterson's new book, written with her husband John Paterson, is "The Flint Heart" (Candlewick). She has also just published "Brother Sun, Sister Moon." For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5303.
Susan Cooper appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Susan Cooper has been writing for over 30 years. In this time she has written numerous newspaper articles, books for children and adults, screenplays for TV and the cinema and a Broadway play. She is best known for her five-book series, "The Dark Is Rising," which includes the Newbery Award-winning "The Grey King." Cooper is also one of the writers of "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure," an original story written for the Library of Congress' Read.gov website and now a book from Candlewick. For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5309.
Author Gregory Maguire appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Gregory Maguire is the author of more than a dozen novels for children and many novels for adults, including "Wicked," the basis of the smash Broadway musical of the same name. Formerly a professor of children's literature at Simmons College, he is a co-founder of the Foundation for Children's Books and of Children's Literature New England Inc. Maguire is also one of the writers of "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure," an original story written for the Library of Congress' Read.gov website and now a book from Candlewick. His latest novel is "Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years" (William Morrow). For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5282.
Jack Gantos appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: When Jack Gantos was 7, his family relocated to Barbados, where he attended British schools. His family then moved to Florida, and in the sixth grade, he started a diary and began his life as a writer. He is well known for his "Joey Pigza" and "Rotten Ralph" series of books. His new book is "Dead End in Norvelt" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), and he is also one of the writers of "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure," an original story written for the Library of Congress' Read.gov website and now a book from Candlewick. For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5280.
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