When I met my amazing panel of art directors:
Finishing my workshop with only a few snags and having no one come at me with pitchforks and torches afterwards:
When I got to the Conference bookstore:
When I saw so many illustrator friends at the Portfolio Showcase:
This year my longtime friend Matthew Althof joined me for his first conference ever. By the end of the day we were both like this:
See you at the hotel bar!
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It took me awhile to tell what these were (my first guess was pickles), but then I recognized them with delight: calabacitas! Calabacitas are a type of squash and prominently featured in Adelita and the Veggie Cousins / Adelita y las primas verduritas. I gifted these two artists, nephews of my very good friend, with a copy of the book when I met them during a fabulous vacation in New Hampshire last summer. Both their Dad and their Uncle Matt were painted into the book as children, thanks to some great photographic reference loaned from the family.
Getting fan art, letters, and notes from kids is the best part of this job! Thank you, Alex and Eliot, for bringing a smile to my face!
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I hope you've all been reading and commenting along with the Latinas 4 Latino Lit Día Blog Hop!
Head on over to Growing Up Blackxican to read my entry in this series: Encouraging Early Childhood Literacy in the Latino Household, where I relate the vital role my multicultural parents had in the development of my love of reading, books, and eventual career as a children's book illustrator.
Comment to enter the amazing Grand Giveaway of more than 30 Latino children's books for your school or library. Thanks and happy reading!
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Save 50%
This special offer is good on books ordered before April 30, 2013, for events celebrating El día de los niños / El día de los libros. Visit our online catalog at www.artepublicopress.com. Fax your order to (713) 743-2847 or e-mail your order to bkorders@uh.edu. |
People all over the country are celebrating Día de los niños / Día de los libros, Children's Day / Book Day. Click on the links below for founder Pat Mora's guides and resources for creating your a memorable Día event in your community!
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The Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros Blog Hop has kicked off! Follow the calendar of entries below to join in this exciting celebration of Latino children's literature (and please note my post on April 20th)!
Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros Blog Hop:
April 10th - Pat Mora on Latinas 4 Latino Lit
April 11th - Alma Flor Ada on All of Me...Now
April 12th - Margarita Engle on The Wise Latina Club
April 13th - F. Isabel Campoy on Autism Wonderland
April 14th - Joe Cepeda on Mommy Maestra
April 15th - Lulu Delacre on Modern Mami
April 16th - Jorge Argueta on Sweet Life Bake
April 17th - René Colato-Laínez on Latinaish
April 18th - Amy Costales on Mami's Time Out
April 19th - Monica Brown on New Latina
April 20th - Christina Rodriguez on Growing Up Blackxican
April 21st - James Luna on De Su Mama
April 22nd - Brian Amador on Moms LA
April 23rd - Mara Price on Mama Latina Tips
April 24th - Jeff Zorilla on Multicultural Familia
April 25th - John Parra on Mami Talks
April 26th - Duncan Tonatiuh on Spanglish Baby
April 27th - René Saldaña on Living Mi Vida Loca
April 28th - Eric Gonzalez on Unknown Mami
April 29th - Irania Patterson on The Domestic Buzz
Remember to comment on any or all posts to enter the Grand Giveaway! On Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros, a collection of 25(!) books of Latino children's literature will be awarded to a commenter for their local school or library.
Have fun and happy reading!
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This past weekend marked another successful Kid Lit Salon event: Drawn to Spring! Several friends and I explored the offerings of the Harvard Museum of Natural History - and then later, the offerings of John Harvard's Brewery. We sketched life-size animal models and taxidermy specimens, chatted and caught up with one another, and then shared the morning's work over a meal. This was my first time visiting that particular museum and I could've easily spent several more hours there! We are definitely doing this event again in the future.
Huge thanks Jason Hart of Raspberry Productions for providing the idea and event logo, all of the talented New England illustrator-writers for attending, and my friend Diane for watching all my resident animals so my husband and I could make this day trip to Boston.
Stay tuned for more Kid Lit Salon events in the coming months! Send me an e-mail or connect with me on Facebook if you'd like to be on the mailing list.
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I've been invited to participate in a fun Latino children's book-themed online event next week: a "Blog Hop" to celebrate Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros.
Sponsored by Latinas4LatinoLit.org and kicking off on April 10th, 20 Latino authors and illustrators will be featured on a different Latino blog each day. There are some fabulous storytellers involved, including Pat Mora, Alma Flor Ada, René Colato-Laínez, Joe Cepeda, and James Luna, and an accomplished group of Latina bloggers.
I'm very excited to be a part of this! Join me on Ruby's blog on April 20th, 2013 as we celebrate growing up bicultural in a military family and the important role of parents in the development of early childhood literacy.
This is also a great opportunity to benefit readers in your community! At the end of the hop on April 30th, Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros, a Grand Giveaway package consisting of a collection of Latino children's literature will be awarded to a commenter for their local school or library. Comment on any (or all!) of the blog posts to enter. It seems that now more than ever, communities everywhere need these books!
Check back soon for the official kick-off post and links.
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Happy April, everybody! It’s crazy that we’re a quarter of the way through 2013 already – where did the time go? At any rate, I’ve been steadily bringing a brand-new look to my website behind-the-scenes and hope debut it before half the freakin’ year goes by. I’ve got a lot of changes to make, but I’m excited about them. Wish me luck!
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Event logo by Jason Hart.
Celebrate spring with children's book writers and illustrators at a field trip to The Harvard Museum of Natural History! We’re going to spend the morning gathering inspiration from the best scientific displays and natural exhibits that the museum has to offer. All are welcome to explore with new sketches, write a children’s poem, develop a character or story idea, research a scene, or experiment with creative techniques. Look closer and dig deeper into your imagination!
Kidlit Salon: Drawn to Spring
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2013
Time: 10:00 a.m. to noon
Place: The Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA
Fee: Free to join with $12 admission to the museum.
Meet at the Oxford Street Entrance at 10 a.m. The group will explore the museum until noon, and afterwards will convene at John Harvard's Brewery (33 Dunster St.) for a drink and to show each other our work. This is a great chance to mingle with some of your fellow kidlit enthusiasts!
To register, go to drawntospring2013.eventbrite.com or use the form below:
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I like Isaac G. Salazar's almost ironic message:
Guy Laramee makes Lilliputian landscapes with his books:
Alexander Korzer-Robinson cuts out the words in antiquarian books (controversial since some volumes are nearly 150 years old), leaving only the gorgeous illustrations between the covers:
Maria Popova's work is fueled by classic children's literature:
