One of my favourite recent reads is THE BLACKTHORN KEY, a debut novel from Kevin Sands, coming out from Aladdin/Simon & Schuster this September. Wow. Really, REALLY loved this. When people ask me for recommendations for good, new middle grade novels, I will not hesitate to list this book. It’s a . . .
Donna Gephart is a professional nerd. She’s written five novels filled with humor and heart for Penguin Random House, including How to Survive Middle School, Death by Toilet Paper and Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen. She’s also written some compelling grocery lists and award-winning Post-it notes to her dogs. For free activity/reading guides, lots of fun . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 “WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?” FINAL STAGES AND LAUNCH When Debbie’s illustrations were nearly finished, she started brainstorming ideas of the cover. Here are just a few: Everyone liked the first idea the best, so that’s the one Debbie developed into a cover. Debbie also needed . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 ILLUSTRATING “WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?” Debbie needed to decide what the characters in Where Are My Books? would look like. She decided that the mother would be Asian and the father would be Caucasian: Here are some Debbie’s early sketches for Spencer: Debbie’s art director, Laurent Linn, . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 WRITING THE STORY FOR “WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?” Every children’s book author/illustrator has their own method for creating a story. Debbie started with writing only the text. Here is the first version of the story: Here is another version: When Debbie was happy with the . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 COMING UP WITH THE IDEA FOR “WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?” Every book starts with an idea, but where does the idea come from? Debbie carries a small notebook around with her all the time, where she can scribble down ideas and sketches whenever inspiration strikes. . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 In Part 1 of How NAKED! Was Created, Debbie talked about why and how Michael Ian Black wrote the story for NAKED! and how she did sketches for the book. Each time Debbie finished a round of sketches, Debbie sent them to the art director and editor for comments, . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 The author of NAKED! is Michael Ian Black. Here is a picture of Michael: First, Michael had to write the story. “Like all parents of small children,” says Michael, “I noticed that my kids seemed to enjoy being naked more than clothed. (Adults probably feel this way too, but . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 (you’re reading it right now) With the text and art for I’M BORED finalized and the f&gs (the proofs) available, now it was time to start showing the book to people. Even though Debbie had finished the art, Simon & Schuster’s I’M BORED team still had . . .
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 (you’re reading it now) – Part 4 (last updated: March 17, 2013) To sum up the previous two parts of the I’M BORED process: – Michael sent the editor the story (text only) for I’M BORED. – The editor helped Michael polish the story. – The . . .