Maya Was Grumpy was selected for the top ten Summer ’13 Indie Next Kids’ Great Reads (Use the arrow to scroll to the right to see Maya).
Thank you to all the independent booksellers who believe in Maya!
Maya in the Top Ten!
Category: Awards and Honors
Author Jodi Moore on Accepting Award for When a Dragon Moves In
Jodi Moore accepted the Library of Virginia’s Annual Whitney and Scott Cardozo Award for Children’s Literature for When a Dragon Moves In last weekend! Here is her account of the event:
WOW! The evening – the weekend – was extraordinary… just amazing! I am still pinching myself…what a star-studded, lovely weekend I had!
Virginia is a beautiful state, filled with warm, wonderful people.
The day started out with a scrumptious luncheon at the Convention Center, where all nominees were honored with medals.
We were treated to a Q&A session with the incomparable Tom Robbins, who was honored with a Literary Lifetime Achievement Award. What a fascinating man!
Following the luncheon, people were encouraged to buy the honored authors’ books and we were positioned at tables for signing. I’m thrilled to report that lots of people “adopted” Dragons! I was also interviewed on Sirius radio!
Ernestine is a Winner!
The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister is the winner of the Comstock Read Aloud Book Award for 2012! The award was announced yesterday afternoon at an elementary school in Fargo, ND, and was read aloud to approximately 100 fourth grade students and their teachers.
The Comstock Read Aloud Book Award is sponsored by the Curriculum Materials Center at Minnesota State University Moorhead. The award is granted to the picture book that is best suited to read aloud to children from the ages of nine to twelve. The evaluation criteria of the book includes: rich vocabulary, memorability, whether the text and illustrations stimulate children to respond in a variety of ways, artistry, and more.
Congratulations Linda Ravin Lodding and Suzanne Beaky!
By the way, last year, That Cat Can’t Stay, (written by Thad Krasnesky, illustrated by David Parkins), was selected by the Minnesota State University Moorhead as their Wanda Gág Read Aloud Honor Book (for toddlers through 8 year olds).
Monster Sweeps California!
Join us in congratulating author Amanda Noll and illustrator Howard McWilliam: I Need My Monster just won the California Young Reader Medal Primary Division, 2011-2012!
The California Young Reader Medal program is sponsored by four major literacy groups in the state: The California Reading Association, the California Association of Teachers of English, the California School Library Association, and the California Library Association. Last year approximately half a million votes were cast for all five categories combined.
Congratulations to the winners in the other categories:
Intermediate – Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning by Danette Haworth. Walker Childrens
Middle School – Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Young Adult – Graceling by Kristen Cashore. Harcourt Children’s Books
Picture Book for Older Reader – Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine. Scholastic Press
NY State Charlotte Award Blog interviews David Parkins
David Parkins, illustrator of That Cat Can’t Stay (one of 10 books on the NY State Charlotte Award Primary list), was interviewed by Ms. Down’s students at Town of Webb School on the NYSRA Youth Book Blog. Here’s what he had to say:
Did you use pictures of real cats to draw from?
If I have to draw something I don’t know well, I would always gather lots of pictures of the thing so I get it right. It’s easy to do this nowadays with the internet. I didn’t need to research cats, though, because we have kept cats as pets for years. At one stage we had six, but right now we have just three: a big grey one (very like the big grey cat in That Cat Can’t Stay), a black one and a tabby who is quite old (about 19 years, I think) but very sprightly still. I see them all the time, so I sort of know how they look.
What about people?
Again, I didn’t need to research or gather reference for the people, because I have drawn so many over the years I just seem to know how to do it now. Sometimes, if I need to draw someone in a very difficult position, or they are, say, playing a sport I’m not completely familiar with, I may have to look that up. But I don’t think I needed to do that for this book.
Were any of the characters based on people you know?
No, I don’t know anyone quite like these characters. Although memories of how someone might have stood, expressions they may have had in certain circumstances, that sort of thing will have informed the drawing. It’s important to be a good observer when you are an illustrator. Always notice how your friends stand, what faces they pull, how they react to things. Then you will know how to draw people in similar circumstances. And you can always exaggerate a bit if you want to make it funny.
How long did it take you to create this book?
I didn’t get all that long to do this particular book. I think it took about three months to do the final art, but I was doing other work as well. If I had been able to sit and do just the book, and nothing else, it would have probably taken about six weeks. Add maybe another couple of months for the roughs and discussions, so perhaps five or six months in all.
Were you responsible for the use of white backgrounds and using text as part of the picture?
Sort of. I am given a manuscript, and I know how many pages I need to fill. Sometimes I decide which bit of text will go on which page, and sometimes a designer or editor will tell me (I think that’s what we did with That Cat Can’t Stay). Then I produced a set of rough pencil drawings that went with the text. After I had done that, it was the designer at Flashlight that had the great idea of changing the layout of Dad’s rants, so that sometimes it was boxed like a comic strip, and sometimes the words snaked around the page. She re-sized and re-positioned my sketches to fit, and then I used that new layout when I did the final art.
Did you like drawing for a children’s book?
I always enjoy doing pictures for children’s books. Well, nearly always. Except when I’m a bit behind with my work, then it just seems like work that has to be done. A bit like homework.
We liked the expressions on the character’s faces, esp. the Dad’s. How did you manage to get the expressions right?
Remember that thing about watching your friends’ expressions? I’ve been doing that a long time. But also, drawing is a bit like acting. You have to imagine what the person is feeling, and what that would make them look like. And I’ll let you into a secret: when I draw faces I am usually acting the expression that I’m drawing. I sit scowling as I draw a scowl, and grinning when I draw a grin, trying to feel what it is to be the person I’m drawing. When I was doing all Dad’s expressions, I think my wife must have thought I was quite bonkers.
Did you mean to have the Dad look harsh?
I didn’t want Dad to look harsh, exactly, but he had to look disapproving and completely determined. If he had not, it wouldn’t have been as funny when the rest of the family kept winning, and the cats kept staying. And in the end, we know he’s really an old softy, don’t we?
What is your favorite style of illustrating?
Such a difficult question. I have done quite a few children’s books, and each time I approach it differently. I always try to make the style of the pictures fit the text as best I can. My favourite style is the one that works best with the writing. But I know that’s not really a proper answer to your question, so I will confess that I do like to draw slightly cartoony characters with lots of energy and exaggerated body language and facial expressions. Like Dad, in That Cat Can’t Stay.
Do you like reading books?
I love reading books, but I always feel that I should be working and not sitting enjoying a book because I have so little time. So when I don’t have enough time, I love to listen to audible books. I do that while I work. I find I can listen while I am drawing without any problem, although I can’t if I have to think. So if I am working on roughs, and I’m thinking about the text I’m illustrating, I can’t listen at all. It distracts me. But once all that is done, and I’m just concentrating on the final drawing, I can listen to another book and it’s fine (I really enjoy Charles Dickens). Maybe drawing and listening occupy different parts of the brain.
David Parkins, November 2011
Wanda Gág Read Aloud Honor Book for 2011
That Cat Can’t Stay (Thad Krasnesky & David Parkins) was selected as a Wanda Gág Read Aloud Honor Book for 2011.
For this year’s awards, 22 regional teachers and media specialists and 80 elementary and early childhood majors at Minnesota State University Moorhead read to 18,454 children. The feedback from these readers, along with children’s reactions, are considered by committee members when selecting the winning award and honor books.
Fiery debut for Dragon
When a Dragon Moves In (Jodi Moore & Howard McWilliam) has made its fiery debut and is an INDIE NEXT KIDS’ PICK (Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers), summer 2011.
Read all the way through this exciting post to see what a few real kids have to say about this tale.
Monsters in California!
I Need My Monster (Amanda Noll & Howard McWilliam) is one of five books nominated in the Primary category of the California Young Readers Medal, 2011-2012. The CYRM program is sponsored by four major literacy groups in the state: the California Reading Association, the California Association of Teachers of English, the California School Library Association, and the California Library Association. Last year, the CYRM counted nearly half a million votes (collectively in the five categories: Primary, Intermediate, Middle School/Junior High, Young Adult, and Picture Books for Older Readers.)
The California Young Reader Medal Committee members greatly enjoyed I Need My Monster. This book met our qualifying standards for both child appeal and literary merit. The colorful illustrations really added to the story. We are looking forward to promoting this title to students, teachers and librarians throughout California.
That Cat… is Notable
Congratulations to That Cat Can’t Stay on making Smithsonian’s 2010 Notable Books for Children. The list, publicized every year around Christmas, presents “some of the best that children’s literature has to offer” organized by age group.
That Cat Can’t Stay by Thad Krasnesky and illustrated by David Parkins is praised with the following summary:
There’s really no point in putting your foot down, when the entire household is bent on taking in just one more stray. This droll tribute to dads who are softies at heart is sure to become a family favorite.
That Cat is in great company among recommendations for all ages ranging from the much discussed wordless picture book The Chicken Thief to a re-issue of Madeleine L’Engle’s And Both Were Young. For a full listing, see the Smithsonian.com feature article here.
That Cat… can win awards
Anyone who’s read Flashlight Press’s That Cat Can’t Stay by Thad Krasnesky, illustrated by David Parkins, knows that the book is about family and compromise and, well, cats.
The International Cat Writers’ Association couldn’t help but love Thad’s purr-fect tale. Over 50 categories of awards were presented at the CWA 17th annual Communications Conference (November 18-21 in White Plains, NY), and That Cat Can’t Stay received two of them.
The CWA Muse Medallion is awarded in categories ranging from journalism to photography to fiction. That Cat Can’t Stay won the Muse Medallion in the Books for Children category, with the judge’s high praise:
Pure delight! The rhyme and rhythm excites the mouth when read aloud, the brightly colored illustrations are visually appealing, and the father’s facial expressions and physical antics are hysterical. This book is purrfect.
Thad then received the CWA’s top award for fiction, “The World’s Best Litter-ary Award” presented by World’s Best Cat Litter®. That Cat Can’t Say contended in an open field with works from all genres of fiction. Thad took home the award of $500 and a commemorative pewter bowl. The judge for the Litter-ary award was Beth Withers, a children’s librarian with the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library and a former member of
the Newbery and Caldecott Committees. Her glowing review reads:
This is the perfect blending of text and illustrations which is very important in a picture book. The story, which is about a Dad who really does not like cats, is told with humor, verve and an obvious love of cats on the part of the author. The verse – unintentionally or not – pays homage to Dr. Seuss. The book begs to read aloud and should be enjoyed by children and adults.
Thank you, Cat Writers’ Association, for these wonderful awards.
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