Wonder Schools! Part 3

Welcome to Anchorage, Alaska, site of my most recent elementary school tour, AND home to almost all of my very own elementary school education! From January 11-15 I visited 6 different schools in the greater Anchorage School District, including O'Malley Elementary where I attended 1st-5th grade.

This was only the 3rd stuffed polar bear that I saw in my first hour off the plane. It was in my hotel lobby, along with a musk ox, a wolverine, and a dall sheep. Any wonder that I am still fascinated by arctic animals after all these years?

And here it is, my old stomping grounds. SO COOL TO VISIT YOUR OWN SCHOOL!

...and to be welcomed back in style.

Extra sweet: O'Malley was the site of my first ever "published" drawing. As I recall, I was at least partly responsible for the design of their former mascott, the O'Malley Yellowjacket. They dug this out of the archives and it was a definite kick to see it :)

One of the MANY great groups of "Alaska Grown" kids that I had the pleasure to visit...

...and one of my two extremely generous hosts for the week, Totem Tale author, Deb Vanasse. It was a rare treat to meet the author of one of my favorite illustration projects. Deb and her partner Guy were nice enough to let out their quest room, and to shepherd me towards some of Alaska's finest pizza and beer at the Moose's Tooth.

A drawing from Spring Hill Elementary...

...and my foggy expression of sincere joy with respect to the lighted xc ski trails that cover incredibly many kilometers of municiple parkland. Amazing to have these groomed and lighted trails. Why the lights? Keep in mind that the official sunrise during my visit was 10:03am!

Alright, so here I am in second grade... Did you find me? Use the photo below for reference:

While your at it, marvel at the fact that I also reconnected with my second grade teacher on this trip :) Indeed, Mrs. Apodoca is now a Title 1 reading specialist at Taku Elementary. She has almost retired several times, but loves what she does and still finds joy and inspiration amongst her "kids". Given that she is one of the few teachers that I can remember from way back when, she 's surely doing somethin' right!

A parting shot from my final visit at Apenglow Elementary in Eagle River...

...and a nostalgic pic of Anchorage's Fireweed theater (site of my Empire Stikes Back viewing circa 1980 something)...

...and finally, my welcome home from the red-eye flight to Seattle (and the five-hour drive after that). Much fun in the sun at the Methow Valley's first ever Super Tour. Thank you, THANK YOU to all of the PTA members, staff, and students that made this all possible. A fine week indeed!

Happy New Year!

Music. A New Year's resolution? Not that I'm learning to play an instrument or anything, but I DO listen to lots of different things when I paint. Time to share :) Santa delivered two new CDs to our house this Christmas, and I can think of no better way to usher in the new decade!

Especially appropriate for the traditional New Year's saluations is Billy Kelly's "Thank You for Joining the Happy Club." This is some rockin' good kid's music! Curiously odd at times, but in all of the very best ways. Part They Might be Giants, part Brady Rymer. A great voice, and with rythmns and lyrics that are choice for kids and parents alike. I'm especially fond of "Don't Worry about the Government."

Also pretty cool is the fact that Billy was the assistant art director on my first book! He moved from Winslow Press to Little Brown, and eventually started his own design company. He's an aspiring book illustrator as well and does all of his album art in addition to a bunch of other stuff. A Renaissance Man and to be sure!

On the "world music" scene, as I attempt to categorize this next selection, is Luc and the Lovington's "Feel the Warmth." Lush and layered, with playful guitar and choral harmonies, is also an impressive debut. Even better, Luc is originally from Twisp, WA. His younger brother is a talented sax player in his own right, and known by many 'round these part as "Super Babysitter, David."

Both of these excellent debut cds will get your new year started with a smile. Enjoy!

Hannah Mueller

For Christmas, my wife and daughter totally surprised me with a Wacom tablet. I'm not (and probably never will be) ready to completely abandon traditional ink and paper, but I AM really impressed with the newfound ability to create line variation in a digital drawing. Many more experiments, and a hopefully a more uplifting New Years posting soon!

PS I do wish we'd get some real snow out here soon though...

McCabe Memorial Fundraiser

The xc ski community is pooling its resources in order to purchase two paintings by my late friend, Sean McCabe. Even better than the obvious financial contribution is the fact that the paintings will be given to Sean's two young daughters - in memory of their dad. The fundraiser continues through January 15th at www.fasterskier.com.

Happy Halligator!

Happy Holidays!

My daughter and I teamed up for our second annual Christmas card print. She drew/designed/printed it. I cut the block and provided assitance/heavy hands-on consultation with the printing. So much fun, and she loves it too :)

Wonder Schools! Part 2

Busy of late, but thanks and recognition to several school/festival visits in October and November is LONG over due! To start, in mid-October I attended my second Humbolt County Authors Festival. In a nutshell...

....I tagged along with a gallery tour at the Morris Graves Museum of Art and did a short illustrator talk about my work from Dog Diaries...

...I visited Washington Elementary and Arcata Christain Academy...

...made guest appearance on the cable access t.v. program "Homework Helpers"...

...and pretty much basked in the joyful glory of the "school visit" part of my job! Check out these great projects by the students at Arcata Christian. Above: construction paper sloths and cheetahs ala Slow Days, Fast Friends.

On the fast/slow theme as well, the teachers crafted this great creative writing excercise. "I want to slow down when... I like to go fast when..." PLUS, they brought in an art component as the kids each painted sunsets!

Kids also wrote and illustrated their very own Dog Diaries...

...and built their own mosters ala Octavius Bloom and the House of Doom.

As usual, I did some drawing to compliment my talking. Here is the Alligator, Bear, Crocodile for the ABC Pre-schoolers. Yup, alligators and crocodiles are pretty similar, but that's what they wanted :)

As a special treat at lunch, we had Slow Days, Fast Friends cake. So cool!

Look at that CAKE!

The final morning is a big booksale at the beautiful Humbolt County Library.

I shared a table with the amazingly talented writer, illustrator, singer Bruce Hale...

...and the entire 3 days with the rest of these incredible folks. Larry Dane Brimner, Shirley Climo, and Mathew Gollub are pictured in the foreground here.

Finally, on Nov. 4-5 I visited 3 different schools and libraries in the Sno-Isle Library System as a part of their annual Children's Book Week. Great, inquisitve kids in all three places...

...plus there was more CAKE! Otis the otter, featured here, is one of the many drawings that I did last spring for the Sno-Isle Kids Library Homepage. Cheers!

Thankful

So much to be thankful for - especially amidst the recent rending of tears and expostulations into the ether...

Family and friends. A community of others. Those to be held, who in return will hold. Bright eyes, rosy cheeks, and mischevious grins... definitely the top of my list!

Not to be Missed

If you haven't seen it already, Sophie Blackall's Missed Connections blog is too good to miss. I was already a fan of her work - especially her color pallet and sense of style in Ruby's Wish, Meet Wild Boars, and Ivy and Bean - now I'm like that gawky teenager in awe of a girl who pretty much walks on water. Simple. Striking. Delicate and bold. Great stuff!

The Fix!

A quick peak at most of POLAR OPPOSITES -- both on my studio wall and on the front porch getting a final coat of "workable" fixative. Highly recomended that you wear some sort of mask for this part of the job. After several weeks of minimal sleep I pretty much resemble an alien anyway...

On the Drawing Board

In the final throws of my latest picturebook project. Frankly, I'm late on this one, but there's been a lot going on... I'll be sure to send a celebratory post when done is done!

Illustration Friday: Unbalanced

Tremendous loss...

Last Saturday morning, my friend Sean McCabe died after a long stuggle with Thyroid cancer. He was far too young for such a fate, and leaves behind his wife Laura, two beautiful daughters, and far too many other impacted lives to count.

For anyone reading this on my children's book blog, you need only know that Sean was a gifted artist and teacher. His persona - his love for color, dedication to work (in both the classroom and the studio,) sense of humor, athleticism, and his incredible generosity towards family, friends, students, and acquaintances - deserves tribute here.

Shed a tear. Paint. Write. Act. Take solace in the dreams that you have, the people in your life, and the time that you are given.

You can enjoy Sean's paintings and purchase his work at Sean McCabe Studio.

Rest in Peace Sean.

With much Love.

Your Pal,

Erik

25 Luftballoons

Happy 25th Anniversary to St. Paul's finest children's bookstore! The Red Balloon Bookshop celebrates 25 years this month.

Arg! Happy Halloween!

The pirate limped, the toddler toddled, and the bunny hopped -- all through the town!

I'm overdue with a post about another fantastic year at the Humbolt County Author Festival. I'll report on that very soon :)

Recommended Reading: Rabitt Hill by Robert Lawson

I don't think I've done a book recommendation before, but reading Rabbit Hill might make this a semi-regular feature. We recently finished this really cool 1944 edition (on lone from my father-in-law) and it was great.

In some recess of my brain, I can recall reading this book as a kid. I know for certain that I would have loved the artwork, but reading it out-loud over the last few weeks of bedtime routine, I am now firmly impressed with the entire package. The cast of characters, the dialog, the emotional swings of the story... It's an excellent read-aloud. Like so many good books, there are real moments of danger, joy, sadness, and elation at play here. When reading aloud, those feelings bubble so naturally into the author's chosen words that you can't help but "act " a bit as you read along.

Plus, the art work is still awesome! Check it out. Hop to it. Etc.!

Wonder Schools! Part 1

My week started off with a 5:30am rousting and just possibly the most gorgeous school visit drive of my life! I sauntered down the Methow under cover of darkness, filled up with gas in the 16 degree chill of Brewster, WA, and rose up out of the Columbia River Valley into early light and long shadows. Some inspiring color in the dryland grain farming NE of Waterville...

... and then a descent into Dry Falls /Sun Lakes -- a canyon carved out by the Ice Age Floods.

The students, teachers, staff, and parents at Grant Elementary School were just simply AWESOME! So friendly, creative and welcoming. Thank you all very much, and keep up the excellent work on your own writing and illustrating!

PS Click the school link above for a few additional photos of the visit -- for as long as they stay on the "News Paws" homepage anyway :)

Illustration Friday: Flying

A return to Illustration Friday! Next week, I promise to create something brand new, but this is from my latest book at least.

Orange County Children's Book Festival

Here's a quick photo from my recent weekend in Orange County, CA. In conjunction with the Orange County Children's Book Festival, and on behalf of Jacketflap.com, I spent the day hanging out with Dan Santat, Ashley Wolff, Joy Allen and several other excellent author types in the chilly Californina sunshine. More to come soon!

A mysterious letter?

A Fall 2009 Methow Arts Interview

Boo and Dinny (from Boo's Surprise) join me on the cover of Methow Arts Magazine.

Some Good News!

About 10 days ago I received word from author Deb Vanasse that Totem Tale had been selected as a Reading is Fundamental (RIF) read-aloud book for "40,000 children in 50 public elementary schools" in Washington, DC. The RIF DC Initiative (“DCI”), is a special program facilitating free book distribution and motivational activities. All children in participating schools get to choose a free book to keep at each of the three book distribution events held during the school year. Totem Tale will be featured in the first book event during November, which is American Indian Heritage Month.

In celebration (and support) of such excellent news, I've just established a separate blogsite for a Totem Tale teacher's guide and other supplemental materials.

And, just because it's REALLY nifty, I'm posting this swanky Totem Tale Music Player right here as well!

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Through the wonders of modern technology and the generous talents of Terry Hunt at Mountain Sound Digital Media LLC, you can listen to a theme song for each of the totem characters in the book. Terry wrote and performed these pieces for a 2006 Totem Tale theatrical production by the Methow Valley Community School. The play was FANTASTIC, and with Terry's permission, I am extremely pleased to share that music with you today!

Fair Enough!

The Okanogan County Fair: A feast of images (and curly fries!)

An experiment with an experiment...

This is old hat for some of you, but on the heels of Summer Reading 2009 I've just uploaded my very first Lulu.com self-publishing experiment. Super Princess Madam Zorony lives!

Each interior page in this serial story was the result of much collaboration and creative input by kids all over north central Washington. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Once I get a few copies of my own, I plan to put them in circulation - back into the libraries from whence they came!

Too Cool!

"Literacy Day" 2009. Octavius Bloom goes to school. Too cool!