Little Miss Brontë JANE EYRE

An open letter to Jennifer Adams, and to Alison Oliver, who illustrated this board book:

Dear Jennifer and Alison,


I don't know either of you, but you have both sincerely made my day. I have purchased a copy of the book, subtitled "A Counting Primer", for my young niece. Not because I think she'll love it, although it is possible that she might, but because I expect that my brother will just about pee himself laughing over it, which totally makes it worth the money I paid for it (about $9, plus or minus).

You see, the text is really quite simple. (E.g., "One governess.") But there are a few places in the book with additional text as part of the illustration - like the reminder on the "Three Candles" page to not leave candles burning overnight. Or the quotes from the text of Jane Eyre on the "Nine Pearls" and "Ten Books" pages. And the illustrations are spot-on perfection. Alison Oliver uses a muted palette for this book, which is, interestingly enough, echoed in many of the Jane Eyre movie adaptations and/or book covers, as I discovered when using Google images to see if I could find the first two-page spread for you. (I couldn't - but you can "look inside this book" at Amazon and see the first two pages, albeit not side-by-side as they actually appear when you open the book.)

Kudos to the author and/or editor for coming up with this crazy idea, which is described as follows: "BablyLit(TM) is a fashionable way to introduce your child to the world of classic literature." Additional BabyLit titles include Little Miss Austen Pride & Prejudice: A Counting Primer, Little Master Carroll Alice in Wonderland: A Color Primer, and Little Master Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet: A Counting Primer.

And special kudos to the illustrator for the way her folk-artish illustrations make these books such a delight.

You can see internal spreads from Jane Eyre and Alice in Wonderland in Alison Oliver's blog post about these books. You can see spreads from Romeo and Juliet and Pride & Prejudice at this other of her posts. (And really, you want to see these. Trust me.)

Over at Guys Lit Wire

My review of Baby's in Black, a forthcoming graphic novel about Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles. (Astrid is perhaps best known for giving the band their original signature haircuts, and for some early photographs she took of the band. Stuart is famous for being the band's original bass player.)

And to those of you still reading my blog, which I have been woefully neglecting of late, a very heartfelt thank you.

Oh frabjous day!

Today is the official release date of my first picture book, At the Boardwalk, illustrated by the extraordinarily talented Mónica Armiño. It is indeed a wonderful feeling to have a realio, trulio book of my ownsome out in the world. And just look at the gorgeous post that Jama Rattigan put up to celebrate the day!

Bad news, good news

The bad news is that the injection I take every other week for my rheumatoid arthritis appears to have lost its efficacy. (This occasionally happens in RA treatment - for whatever reason, a particular medication or agent stops working.) This means that I am exhausted and fuzzy-brained and in a bit more pain than usual.

The good news is that I managed to score an appointment with my rheumatologist next Tuesday.

The bad news is that (a) that's still the better part of a week away and (b) even if he switches my meds, it will take a while until we figure out whether they're working or not.

The good news is that I don't expect this current condition to last forever. It might feel that way, until things get better, but in the grand scheme of things, it won't be long. Right? Right.

At the Boardwalk update

In just about a week's time, At the Boardwalk will be officially released and out in the world. (It's official release date is March 1st.)

I am very happy about this, as you might imagine.

I am happy, too, that my promotional postcard mailing appears to be yielding some results, and that some gift shops along the Jersey Shore are requesting copies and information and such.

And I am happy that people on Facebook are letting me know that they've preordered copies (and that they're evidently shipping this week), or are asking me where to buy them, or congratulating me on the excellent review in Kirkus.

What are you happy about today?

BookSpeak!: Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas

A few weeks ago, I attended the launch for Jenn Hubbard's new book, Try Not to Breathe, at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA. I consider CBW to be my "local" indie, despite being the better part of an hour's drive from my home in New Jersey, since it really is the closest independent children's book store to where I live. But I digress.

While at Jenn's party, I purchased a copy of BookSpeak!: Poems About Books by my good friend Laura Purdie Salas. It was cleverly illustrated using original artwork and collage by Josée Bisaillon.

I bought the book because Laura is a good friend, and I wanted to support her.

Having read it, I can assure you that, based on the quality of the poems and the wonderful illustrations, I'd have bought this book anyway, even if I didn't count the author as a personal friend. It contains 21 poems about books, many written in rhyme (mostly couplets or cross-rhymed quatrains). Some are lyrical ("Skywriting", which compares the writing on a page to "inky black birds/forming the flocks that shift into words"), some are funny (such as the poem for three voices, in which the middle of the book laments being the middle). Some are from the perspective of a book ("Lights Out at the Bookstore" and "The Sky is Falling"), and some from only a part of the book ("Book Plate", "Index", "I've Got This Covered", or "Picture This"). Heck, one of the poems is about the plot element known as conflict, and is (quite appropriately) entitled "Conflicted".


(Two-page spread showing "Written in Snow" and "Book Plate")

One of my favorite poems in the book is "This Is the Book", a poem that describes what various people in the book-making process do (writer, editor, designer, illustrator, publisher, and buyer), but I love it for the ending, which is consumer-oriented. Here are the first and last stanzas:

She is the writer
  with dreams in her head
  who writes them down
  so they can be read.

. . .

And she is the reader
  who browses the shelf
  and looks for new worlds
  but finds herself.

My favorite poem/art pairing in the book might be the last poem, "The End", which features a collage-strip infinity symbol composed of chapter excerpts on which children stand and run, set against a brilliant red background. The illustration perfectly reflects the poem, which is written by "The End" of the book, which concludes:

I am not so much
The End
as I am an
invitation back
to the beginning.

WOW!

That was all she could say. Wow.

A celebration of the senses on the sand and by the shore.

Over at Guys Lit Wire

A Valentine to The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.