PPBF: Some Bugs

Author: Angela DiTerlizzi
Illustrator: Brendan Wenzel
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2014
Ages: 4-8yrs
Themes: stories in rhyme, insects
Opening: Some bugs sting. Some bugs bite. Some bugs stink. And some bugs fight.
Summary: (from my library catalog) From butterflies and moths to crickets and cicadas, a rhyming exploration of backyard-bug behavior.

I like this book because: it features simple, spot on rhyme. Not too tight – just right! Bright, mixed-media collage illustrations are engaging and vibrant – makes you want to jump up for spring! (Which I hope has sprung when I return from the old country!)

Resources/activities: get out your magnifying glasses, turn over leaves, rocks, mulch – you’ll be surprised to see what you can find. Draw or take photos, create a class collage. Do this at repeated intervals throughout the year and gain a better sense of what otherwise remains a hidden environment.

Heading out on a search for picture books on foreign soil, so I won’t be PPBF-ing (or checking out everyone else’s posts – sorry!) until after mid-March. Until then keep up with the PPBF posts and parent/teacher resources you can find on Susanna Hill’s blog – HERE

Winner Plucked!

I used my handy teen in half slumber to pick a winner out of the hat: Liz Carren, of Botanical Beauties and Beasties©

I’m sorry I don’t have a signed copy for every entry, but I do thank you all for sharing the fun comments! Here is a trailer for the book to sooth any disappointment.

Booklove Bloghop and a PPBF Giveaway?

Yup! The GIVEAWAY: this signed book – one of three that I stood on line for outside in February for SEVEN hours. Totally worth it!!! My local indie-bookseller, Old Firehouse Books tempted its customers with a challenge: the most copies of The Ocean at the End of the Lane sold by one of five chosen indies will be the lucky host of a Neil Gaiman visit! AND WE DID IT! A shout out to all the wonderful people I chilled with – literally! And the amazing staff and volunteers that made the event FUN! Leave the number of minutes it would take for you to WALK to the nearest seller of milk in your neighborhood in a comment below by Feb 15th-12amEST to win!

Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Skottie Young
Publisher: Harper Collins, 2013
Ages: 8-12yrs
Themes: adventure stories, fathers, space and time
Opening: There was only orange juice in the fridge. Nothing else that you could put on cereal, unless you think that ketchup or mayonnaise or pickle juice would be nice on your Toastios, which I do not, and neither did my little sister, although she has eaten some pretty weird things in her day, like mushrooms in chocolate.
Summary: (from my library catalog) While picking up milk for his children’s cereal, a father is abducted by aliens and finds himself on a wild adventure through time and space.

I like this book because: it’s funny! I know, by definition, it is not a picture book, but there are pictures on every spread but one, AND I had to share it!

Resources/activities: go out for milk (or pickle juice if that’s what you’re into!) and think up your own adventure as you walk! I can walk to my neighborhood grocery store in 17 minutes – how long would it take you to get to your nearest seller of milk? Leave your answer in a comment below for a chance to win the signed copy of Fortunately, the Milk.

H, J and K: Seven hours

For more PPBF selections including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE

Booklove picks: I didn’t have to choose books that friends wrote, but I am lucky that I can!!! Click each for a quick review on goodreads

 

Carrie Finison came up with the LOVE-ly idea to spread the booklove! Wanna show some booklove too? Check out the instructions on Penny Parker Klosterman’s post HERE. Be sure to include the adorable badge designed by Dana Carey. Dana is a writer and illustrator who is Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI France, and also one of the co-leaders of Sub It Club.

 

 

Thinking about Visual Thinking

…and character development. By sketching, doodling, drawing every day (thanks to SkADaMo challenges with Linda Silvestri and Alison Kipnis Hertz’s Doodle Day fb group) I have become aware that a lot of my creative process does not take place in my head, but though visual communication with my hand. Sound crazy to anyone? The shape of one curve often interests me enough to change the way I’m drawing a character from the visual I had in my head. Often ‘accidents’ happen that are more appealing than what I was attempting. I thought I’d share an example – how I came upon an alpaca while trying to draw a dog!

So here was one attempt at a dog, utilizing black so that I could concentrate more on the shape and how it was working for me. It wasn’t. Do I want this dog to have more anthropomorphic qualities? Should he be able to stand on two legs? Hold on to it, but create a new file.

Fun lines, but this did NOT look like a dog to me! Nope! Next…

Now I have really taken a departure form the canine world! but now I see something quite different, a different species altogether…’follow your nose, Julie’…another file!

Now I see, it’s an alpaca! But so stiff! I’ll play, and add color too…

No dog created, but I found this delightful creature! So I allow myself to write a crappy story draft, and draw crappy sketches – a workable piece could be in the next file!