JIM! Now with PARODY POSTERS™!

Leave a Comment / #JamesMarshall / /

A couple of weeks ago Jess Hannigan and I were talking about what type of preorder goodies we were going to include with our upcoming releases. I had been thinking of doing a limited edition art print for JIM! Jess was thinking of doing (and did do) stickers for THE BEAR OUT THERE. As happens when I talk to immensely talented people, I got jealous and decided I wanted to do something like stickers (but not stickers because Jess, that immensely talented rat, has that market cornered). This got us talking about our favorite freebies to receive as kids. At the top of the list, naturally, stickers. In second place… those folded posters you used to get in the middle of your favorite magazines.

For some of you, this might have been the Teen Beat centerfold of Jonathan Taylor Thomas or maybe the gray wolf or snowy owl fold out from the center of Ranger Rick. For me, it was the inserts in Muppet Magazine (side note: when I was a kid living in Sumatra, I had a subscription to Muppet Magazine and even drew a picture of the Muppets for their monthly art contest but, sadly, never sent it in). Every issue came with a poster in the center spread. The Muppet Magazine posters were Muppet parodies of famous albums of the day (I remember most vividly a parody of John Cougar Mellencamp’s SCARECROW with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as “John Cougar Melonhead”). I was always too chicken to remove the posters from the magazines (what if I tore the paper on the staples?!) but I always liked the idea of decorating my room with them. Jess enthusiasm and encouragement and this fond memory led to the brainwave that is (drumroll, please…)

YES! Jim! is now available for preorder with one of three James Marshall-themed parody posters exclusively from Mr. Mopps. One of three? Heck, yeah, one of three! Check them out!

Your first option is my take on the infamously dim-witted Stupid family. As my book takes place in an all animal universe, I did the only logical thing:

The second design comes from a rarer Marshall title, the out of print BONZINI! THE TATTOOED MAN.

And last, but certainly not least, is my take on what is undoubtedly Marshall’s most famous story, the one that gave substitute teachers everywhere a bad name, MISS NELSON IS MISSING!

Each of these posters measure 11×17 inches and will be folded twice to fit into your book. I’m very happy with the designs and I hope your young James Marshall likes them enough to tape or thumbtack them on to their walls.

But wait! There’s more!

I can also sign the books (if you so wish) and will personalize your copy in (almost) any way your heart desires. Just leave a note on the order page with your preferred witticism, or leave it to chance. We like to live dangerously around here.

A big thank you to Mr. Mopps’ for hosting this pre-order campaign.

Alright! That’s it. And with that, I think the JIM! pre-launch festivities have officially begun.

JIM! Now with PARODY POSTERS™! Read More »

Appreciation: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE

Leave a Comment / #appreciation / /

Saw this tonight and smiled the whole time. I loved it so much.

If I’m totally honest, cartoons make up a way, WAY bigger part of my development as an artist/illustrator than picture books do. In middle school I used to wake up at five am every day because Revelstoke (for some weird reason) got a channel from Chicago (WGN) which would broadcast Looney Tunes in the early morning. When I was in high school I bought a copy of Chuck Jones’ biography, CHUCK AMUCK, and read it cover to cover a couple hundred times (later, in college I snuck backstage at a showing of BUGS BUNNY ON BROADWAY and got to meet the famous director). This movie was everything I ever wanted out of a Looney Tunes movie.

The hand drawn 2D animation looks so good and the music was a joy. Hearing a fully orchestrated MERRY GO ROUND BROKE DOWN does something good to my heart. The movie is made for animation lovers (there’s even a SPIRITED AWAY reference) but it’s also really funny. It’s possible the movie is too looney for the average picture book audience but if you have a cartoon-loving kid in your home, you should consider taking them to this.

Seeing it is also, weirdly, a political act. The fact that THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP is in theaters at all is a small miracle. This Instagram reel breaks down how Warner Bros. studios has been shelving their animation projects to claim them (for tax purposes) as financial losses.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHWif2hyWMU/#

Lucky for me, lucky for us, Ketchup Entertainment got the distribution rights. THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE in theaters now.

Me being cradled in the arms of my love for old cartoons.

Appreciation: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE Read More »

Zine Monday: HOW TO POOL by Andrea Tsurumi

Leave a Comment / #ZineMonday / /

My post from two weeks ago (Zines for Kids), featured a number of zines from people that are working in picture books. Today’s zine is also from a kidlit creator, none other than Andrea Tsurumi!

This zine is in this state because my kids took it into the bath one time. That’s how much we love Andrea’s work in this house.

Personally, I’ve been a fan of Andrea’s work since NOT YOUR NEST, the art for which reminded me of a mashup between Wallace Tripp and Benjamin Chaud. Andrea, like Tripp, carefully observes their subjects, and like Chaud, renders them with a wonderfully loose but deliberate pencil line. Just look:

Anyway, I’d take any chance to promote Andrea’s work but this week I get to show off this zine AND boost Andrea’s latest POP! GOES THE NURSERY RHYME (written by Betsy Bird!).

Mine’s on order. You can get yours at your local indie.

update: Holy Moly! I only *just* now remembered… I have a zine with a secretary bird on the cover!! I need to dig that up.

Zine Monday: HOW TO POOL by Andrea Tsurumi Read More »

Economic Blackout Pt 2

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / /

Companion piece to my Don’t Buy Stuff Coyote. I’m late to post this for the Amazon blackout that happened this week, but it’s never too late to not shop at Amazon. I have two more posters planned for No Nestlé Week (March 21-28) and No Walmart Week (April 1-14). I’ll do my best to get those up before the actual blackouts happen.

update: I think I like this drawing better with a darker background.

Economic Blackout Pt 2 Read More »

Good Letters for Bad Authors

Leave a Comment / #OnWriting, #PBwithJ / /

Over on Looking at Picture Books, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen are talking about legendary children’s book editor Ursula “Good Books for Bad Children” Nordstrom.

Something I’ve thought and spoken about is this idea of what artifacts will remain from the current age of children’s book publishing and what will those artifacts look like? Will the Jerrold Connors fellow of 2099 dig into future library archives and peruse printouts of emails and scroll through saved screenshots of text messages? Can that type of media hold any provenance?

I like writing letters, I think I write them well. I wrapped up JIM! with an email letter of appreciation to my editor and art director that might be worth archiving. It’s heartfelt and lovely, if I may say so myself. Still, I’m kind of wishing I had typed it up on my old 1949 Royal KMG. A gift to you, future fellow.

Mac and Jon’s post also made me think about the old Letters of Note website (still available via the Wayback Machine). Which, if I remember correctly, is where I first saw the letter from editor Bob Gottlieb to Roald Dahl, calling him out for being a bully and a jerk.

Dear Roald,

This is not in response to the specifics of your last several letters to me and my colleagues, but a general response to everything we’ve heard from you in the past year or two.

In brief, and as unemotionally as I can state it: since the time when you decided that Bob Bernstein, I and the rest of us had dealt badly with you over your contract, you have behaved to us in a way I can honestly say is unmatched in my experience for overbearingness and utter lack of civility. Lately you’ve began addressing others here—who are less well placed to answer you back—with the same degree of abusiveness. For a while I put your behavior down to the physical pain you were in and so managed to excuse it. Now I’ve come to believe that you’re just enjoying a prolonged tantrum and are bullying us.

Your threat to leave Knopf after this current contract is fulfilled leaves us far from intimidated. Harrison, Bernstein and I will be sorry to see you depart, for business reasons, but these are not strong enough to make us put up with your manner to us any longer. I’ve worked hard for you editorially but had already decided to stop doing so; indeed, you’ve managed to make the entire experience of publishing you unappealing for all of us—counterproductive behavior, I would have thought.

To be perfectly clear, let me reverse your threat: unless you start acting civilly to us, there is no possibility of our agreeing to continue to publish you. Nor will I—or any of us—answer any future letter that we consider to be as rude as those we’ve been receiving.

Regretfully,

BG

I wonder if there’s an email out there from She Who Shall Not Be Named’s editor telling her to stop being such a jag and to stop picking on trans people. Doubt it. Courage and integrity, like typewritten letters, seem to be a thing of the past.

Good Letters for Bad Authors Read More »

Zine Monday: Zines for Tough Times

Leave a Comment / #ZineMonday / /

It’s a strange enough feeling, to sense that the country you’re living in is about to cease being, but it’s far stranger to feel like the great majority of the people around you don’t seem to notice. I was raised in Indonesia and Canada and have, for that reason probably, never been under the delusion of American Exceptionalism. In general, I believe that nothing lasts forever—not even nation states. It’s not impossible that the US could just… dissolve. This doesn’t cause me a crisis. As nostalgic and backwards looking as I tend to be, I usually look forward with hope and excitement.

Lately, though, not so much. National Parks are being gutted, as are health agency, as soon will be libraries and education. None of this is a surprise, it’s what the ruling classes have wanted to do for a long time. What’s surprising is that, as I said, so many people around just don’t seem to notice or care. There is time yet to fight, time yet to believe in and build the type of future we want for us and our kids (read, one that isn’t fascist). So, here, for #ZineMonday, a guidebook for tough times.

Don’t Just Do Nothing: 20 Things You Can Do to Counter Fascism

Update: a Little Free Library near me has these cards. It was more than a little heartening to find them and be reminded other people do care.

Zine Monday: Zines for Tough Times Read More »

Zine Monday: Zines for Kids

Leave a Comment / #PBwithJ, #ZineMonday / /

There’s a question I’ve wanted to tackle for a while but it’s one that’s going to take more time than I have this morning to figure out. So, I’m just going to throw down some thoughts and maybe something will come of it. In short, my question is this: is there such a thing as a picture book zine?

Zines, by definition and by legacy are usually for mature audiences. They were born of the punk rock music scene and tend to stay in the “alternative press” world and they are (or were) seldom created with a kid audience in mind. Often zines were text heavy and read as (punk) music reviews of personal manifestos. Still, though, you do find kid-friendly zines from time to time (and lately, more and more) and some actually work as picture books. Here are a few from my collection with the barest bit of commentary:

PICKLE by Alina Chau

PICKLE, I think, is more picture book than zine. In form, it’s absolutely a zine. But in production quality it’s a picture book. That’s due in no small part to Chau’s exquisite watercolor illustrations but also because this book was meant to accompany a companion app. If you remember the mid to late 2000s, apps were (as CD roms were in the 90s) poised to make books obsolete. This project, I think, was meant to bridge those media.

THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE by Kristyna Baczynski

THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE always stood out in my mind as almost a picture book. The story feels like such a classic “how a (thing) got its name” fable but it’s told in comic form (Baczynski is an excellent cartoonist) so maybe I should be thinking of it as a graphic novel. It’s short, though, so it’s maybe a minicomic.

DOG BREATH by Joe Maccarone

There’s an energy in Joe Maccarone’s DOG BREATH that reminds me of Marc Simont’s illustrations in THE STRAY DOG. I could see this as a picture book, probably published by Enchanted Lion.

A POCKET BOOK OF WITCHFOLK AND DEMONS by Nat Andrewson

Everything Natalie Andrewson makes is magic. And, lucky for us, she’s making a lot of things. This one’s definitely a zine, but it feels like something from the Nutshell Library. It’s kind of its own thing but its very close to a picture book.

THE HELENA SERIES by Michael Furler

The Helena comics by Michael Furler feel like something between TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING and DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. I would call them… MG autobio comics. Not quite a picture book but really, really good.

LITTLE TADPOLE MAN by Steve Steiner

Charmingly bizarre and bizarrely charming, LITTLE TADPOLE MAN is like the kind of comic you’d get in the middle of the old Nickelodeon Magazine. I think this also falls in the graphic novel camp (and I think it could be really popular with upper elementary readers).

OUR HOME by Angela Poom

Not only is Angela Poon’s OUR HOME is a straight up picture book I think it’s a Caldecott-level picture book (Poon being Canadian notwithstanding). Wholly original in technique (at least in the US, I think Korea has a tradition of using photographs of handmade dioramas like this) OUR HOME is an intimate and warm story about a kid and their grandmother moving into a new home. I have to share more pictures of this one.

I think at this point, though, you don’t call them zines. You call them “mini books”. It’s a weird nebulous distinction between the two, but I think that makes the most sense. Then again, I’m not sure I like the diminutive prefix. Here’s another “mini book” that offers as much as any traditionally published picture book.

MY BROTHER THE DRAGON by Galen Goodwin Longstreth and Jonathan Hill

See, again I feel weird calling this a mini book. To be sure, it’s small (measures 6×6 inches), but it’s also a really fun and funny (and brilliantly illustrated) annoying sibling story. And maybe I don’t need to call it a mini book. Maybe it’s just me and my need for tidy labels that’s making me draw these arbitrary distinctions. After all, I bought MY BROTHER THE DRAGON at Powell’s Bookstore in Portland where it sat proudly and legitimately amongst many other picture books, including the similarly sized Mr. Men volumes.

IN CONLUSION

So, can zines be picture books? I guess? I think in form and content, yes, absolutely. In public perception? Probably not. I think the buying public still likes knowing that picture books are vetted, to some degree, by publishers, editors, librarians, reviewers (in that order) to be made sure they are good and safe for young readers. Zines, by their very nature, are independent works and come with no such guarantee (irrespective of whether a guarantee is even needed).

Zine Monday: Zines for Kids Read More »

Scroll to Top