ACCLAIMED ILLUSTRATOR E. B. LEWIS
Coming on Home Soon, Jacqueline Woodson’s 2004 Caldecott Honor Award winner;
Nikki Grimes’s Talking About Bessie, one of five books illustrated by Lewis that received the Coretta Scott King Award;
Jabari Asim’s Preaching to the Chickens, a New York Times 2016 Best Illustrated Book and Kirkus 2016 Best Illustrated Book and the recipient of a 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award;
Hester Bass’s The Secret World of Walter Anderson, 2009 winner of the Orbis Pictus Award;
Jacqueline Woodson’s The Other Side, a 2002 Notable Book for the Language Arts;
and Alice Schertle’s Down the Road, a 1996 ALA Notable Children's Book.
Lewis has also received numerous other awards for his outstanding work.
Inspired by two artist uncles, Lewis displayed artistic promise as early as the third grade. Beginning in the sixth grade, he attended the Saturday Morning Art League and studied with Clarence Wood. Lewis later attended the Temple University Tyler School of Art, where he discovered that his medium of preference was watercolor.
During his four years at Temple, Lewis majored in graphic design, illustration and art education. After graduating, he taught art in public schools for 12 years. Currently Lewis teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He is also a member of the Society of Illustrators in New York City, and he is an artist member of the Salamagundi Art Club of New York.
In 2003, the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota
purchased a selection of original watercolors from Lewis’s first 50 children’s
books. Today his works are displayed in museums, owned by private collectors,
and sold by art galleries throughout the United States and Europe.
E. B. Lewis will speak to the Children’s Book Guild on November 16.
Date: Thursday, November 16
1025 Fifth Street NW (at K Street)
Menu: All choices $25 ($26 when paid online via PayPal)
Menu: All choices $25 ($26 when paid online via PayPal)
:: CHOICE OF SANDWICH (served with a salad of baby greens and house-made kettle chips) ::
• Falafel sandwich (vegetarian/vegan) with house-made hummus, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and onion on whole-wheat pita, served with tahini sauce (vegan without tahini sauce)
• Honey-roasted turkey sandwich with Havarti cheese, Dijonnaise, lettuce, tomato and onion on wheat bread
• Grilled-chicken panini with chipotle mayo, caramelized onions, pepper jack, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Green Earth Book Award: Nominations Open
2. Member Nomination: Juana Medina
3. Member Nomination: Rashin Kheiriyeh
4. Speaker Matt Tavares on His Creative Process
5. News from Our Members
GREEN EARTH BOOK AWARD: 2018 NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN
Submissions for the 2018 Green Earth Book Award are being accepted until November 20, 2017. The award honors books that best convey the message of environmental stewardship. Winners will be selected by an expert panel of judges in the picture book and children's and young adult fiction and nonfiction categories.
MEMBER NOMINATION: JUANA MEDINA
Erica Perl nominates Juana Medina for membership in the
author/illustrator category. Susan Stockdale seconds the nomination.
Juana Medina is an award-winning author and illustrator of
children's books that include Juana &
Lucas, 1 Big Salad and ABC Pasta.
A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Juana is
passionate to develop and recognize compelling visual narrative and
storytelling. Her interests have led her to work on exciting projects with
numerous clients, among them the Library of Congress, Penguin Books, ESPN, PBS,
Chronicle Books, Facebook and Simon & Schuster. Her chapter book, Juana & Lucas (Candlewick Press,
2016), won the 2017 Pura Belpré Award and two International Latino Book Awards.
The New York Times said of Juana & Lucas, "Medina’s
beautiful, vivid prose conjures the Colombian setting with tactile language...the
story itself is a giant hug."
Juana has also been honored as one of 100 Colombianos, a
mention given to successful Colombians living abroad. Being recognized by the
National Cartoonists Society, the American Library Association, and the Society
of Professional Journalists, among others, has empowered her to continue
telling stories and sharing them with children far and wide. Juana currently
lives in Washington D.C., with her wife, twin sons and their dear dog, Rosita. She
has attended Guild meetings and already knows several Guild members. When Erica
Perl asked if she would like to join the Guild, her answer was “Hooray!” Visit Juana’s
website: http://www.juanamedina.com/.
MEMBER NOMINATION: RASHIN KHEIRIYEH
Erica Perl nominates Rashin Kheiriyeh for membership in the
author/illustrator category. Susan Stockdale seconds the nomination.
Rashin Kheiriyeh is an Iranian-American author/illustrator, graphic
designer, animation director and painter who has published 65 children’s books
in 12 countries. She has received 50 national and international awards for her
books and animations including the 2017 Sendak Fellow Award, New York. Rashin
studied graphic design in Tehran and New York. She also received an honorary
doctorate in visual art from Iran. Currently, Rashin is teaching at the University
of Maryland’s College of Art. She illustrates for the New York Times, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, NorthSouth books
and many other publishers around the world.
Rashin lives in Washington, D.C. She has attended several
Guild meetings and is very interested in becoming a member. Visit Rashin online
at www.rashinart.com and www.rashin-painting.com.
MATT TAVARES OFFERED INSIGHT INTO HIS CREATIVE PROCESS
by Kitson Jazynka
Author-illustrator Matt Tavares spoke to the Guild on October 19 about his 20-year career in the world of children’s books, spanning both fiction and nonfiction. He spoke in great detail about his latest book, the stunning holiday-themed picture book Red and Lulu, published last month by Candlewick Press. The book is about two cardinals and the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Tavares started off by sharing stories about his love of drawing baseball players as a kid. He’d search out photographs of Red Sox players in the Boston Globe and then sketch them. When he was about eight years old, he drew a portrait of the famous Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski in black crayon. It was the first time he’d drawn a picture that actually resembled its subject. That moment inspired him to draw more.
He kept drawing all the way through his years at Bates College. “I loved drawing pictures that told stories,” he said. His next challenge was to work out a career that allowed him to draw every day. A lucky break connected him with a literary agent. A visual story he’d sketched in college became the basis for his first book with Candlewick.
Tavares talked about the inspiration for Red and Lulu (his ninth book as an author and 19th as an illustrator) and how the manuscript transformed from nonfiction to fiction during its creation. He also talked about writing text for the the book, only to find out later that his editors wished to have the book be wordless. The final product is a compromise between the two styles.
Tavares also took Guild lunch-goers on a visual adventure. By sharing images and videos, he brought the audience into his studio, showing his artistic process, which starts with sketches and ends with vivid watercolor paintings. For the making of Red and Lulu, his experience illustrating nonfiction books inspired him to be very accurate in representing the birds’ anatomy and movement. To study the birds in detail so he could create precise illustrations, he set up cardinal feeders outside his studio window and then slow-motion videoed the birds to capture the exact way they move.
Guild members had plenty of questions for Tavares, especially about his craft, how he toggles between illustrating his own books and those of other authors and hints about other books he’s currently working on. One thing’s for sure: he’s excited for others to experience the magic of Red and Lulu. “Seeing a new book of mine in a bookstore for the first time never gets old,” he said.
MEMBER NEWS
SUSAN STOCKDALE's artwork from Fantastic Flowers has been selected for the Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibit in New York City, which will run from November 1 through December 23. Susan will sign this book at the National Press Club Book Fair and Authors’ Night in Washington, D.C., on Friday, November 10, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and at the University Club Author Night and Book Fair in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, November 29, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Guild members are warmly invited to all events!
JACQUELINE JULES is pleased to share that two of her Albert Whitman titles have recently been released in paperback:
Zapato Power #6 Freddie Ramos Rules New York--Freddie Ramos has outgrown his special shoes. Will his new pair give him the Zapato Power he needs to save the day on a visit to New York City?
Duck for Turkey Day--Just in time for Thanksgiving, this award-winning title shares the story of Tuyet, who is concerned that her Vietnamese American family is celebrating the November holiday all wrong.
On November 7, Clarion will release Victoria: Portrait of a Queen, by CATHERINE REEF. Victoria received a starred review from Kirkus. It is a Junior Library Guild selection and will be available as an audiobook.
KATHERINE PATERSON's novel My Brigadista Year, set in Cuba during the 1962 literacy campaign, was released by Candlewick on October 24.
The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Firetruck, by LAURA MURRAY, was selected to be part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 2016 and again in 2017.
And The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo is featured in Scholastic’s book clubs and fairs, along with an accompanying audiobook CD.
ERICA S. PERL received a 2018 DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities fellowship. Erica will be happy to discuss the program with any Guild members who live in the District and are interested in applying for next year’s fellowships.
Ferocious Fluffity, with words by Erica and pictures by HENRY COLE, is on Florida’s Sunshine State Young Readers Award Junior list for 2017-2018. Ferocious Fluffity also recently ran amok in the back-to-school window display at Politics and Prose.
SUE FLIESS has a new book out this October from Sterling Children’s Books called We Wish for a Monster Christmas.
Dear Santa: please bring us a MONSTER for Christmas! This hilarious parody of the traditional carol stars two siblings who want something just a little more special than the usual toys for their Christmas gift. Delighted readers will sing along with the merry song. Watch the trailer now or sing along to the karaoke version of the book! School Library Journal calls We Wish for a Monster Christmas "a fun departure from elves for those who prefer monsters and monkeys." Notes Publishers Weekly, "Fliess contrasts the children’s joy about their new friend/pet with their parents’ less-than-thrilled reactions ('Our mom took up meditation./ Our dad hollered in frustration./ But we had a celebration/ with monsterly cheer!')...Ranucci pictures the monster as an overgrown beast with lustrous red-orange fur, a spiky tail, and evident affection for the children, even as he inadvertently turns the house upside-down with his mess making." —Publishers Weekly
Sue will be appearing at the following events...come sing with her! Virginia Association of School Librarians Annual Conference, November 2-4, Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles, Chantilly, VA; reading and book signing, 11 a.m. on December 2 at Scrawl Books, 11862 Market St., Reston, VA; story time at 6:30 p.m. on December 5 at Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Place, Potomac Falls, VA; and reading and book signing from 6 to 8 p.m. on December 12 at Barnes & Noble, 12193 Fair Lakes Promenade Dr., Fairfax, VA.
PAMELA EHRENBERG will share and sign her new book, Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas, at three events in November:
PAMELA EHRENBERG will share and sign her new book, Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas, at three events in November:
November 19, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas and Kosher Mulligatawny at Soupergirl!*
314 Carroll Street NW, Washington, DC
November 24 (Black Friday), 11 a.m. to noon
SCBWI Read Local event at Dawson's Market*
225 N Washington Street, Rockville, MD
Nov. 29, 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Meet the Author Night at the University Club of Washington DC
1135 16th Street NW, Washington, DC
*Books for sale via Guild member DEBORAH COHEN's Story House.
SAVE THE DATE!
The Guild’s annual holiday potluck party will be held on Saturday, January 6, at the home of Susan Stockdale and Todd Mann.
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NOTE ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S BOOK GUILD NEWS: Would you rather print your newsletter than read it online? Current and past issues are now available for printing on the Guild's website at http://www.childrensbookguild.org/guild-newsletters. Look for the "Newsletter" tab on the left side of the Guild website. There is also a "Printer Friendly Version" link on the top left-hand side of this blog.
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LITERARY EVENTS SPONSORED BY POLITICS AND PROSE: The literary calendar at Politics and Prose lists many upcoming programs that may be of interest to Children's Book Guild members: http://www.politics-prose.com/events.
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