Author Lecture - Chris Van Allsburg

This past Saturday, I had the honor of introducing Chris Van Allsburg at the my library's central branch.  I'm a HUGE CVA fan, so I was incredibly excited to meet Mr. Van Allsburg (and slightly terrified that I was going to spaz out and scare the tuna salad out of him).  Thankfully, I did not scare him and it was a great lecture regarding his career and inspirations.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Here I am introducing Chris Van Allsburg in our auditorium.  The thought in my head right now:  "Don't mess up.  Don't mess up.  Don't mess up."

Chris Van Allsburg takes the stage. 

Mr. Van Allsburg's fascination with topiaries at the time was the catalyst for the creation of The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.

The juxtaposition of wild animals in a suburban home amused the author and provided inspiration for Jumanji.

Originally created for Cricket magazine, this image inspired the book, The Wreck of the Zephyr.

Hunting through flea market stalls caused The Mysteries of Harris Burdick to become a reality.

Mr. Van Allsburg created maquettes of each stage seen in The Z was Zapped. The only artistic license taken was the addition of the lightning bolts hitting the letter Z.

Bad Day at Riverbend was the result of a coloring book owned by Van Allsburgh's daughter. A picture of a radically-colored Tigerlily from Peter Pan inspired the story.

Queen of the Falls is Mr. Van Allsburg's first nonfiction book.  This is the first biography on Annie Edson Taylor written for children. 

Mr. Van Allsburg discussed his new book, The Misadventures of Sweetie Pie.  This is his first book illustrated with watercolors. 

The signing line was long, but it was worth the wait! 

Here is a link to the podcast of his lecture.  It's worth listening to! 

Book Review: Patron Review!

I had another patron reviewed book come back to the library!  This book was so loved that the patron returned it directly to me, raved about the book and made sure I read the review.  Here's a copy of it:



Patron's book review



The review reads, "Wonderful twist on having imaginary friends! Beautiful illustrations - kudos to the author!"

Here is a picture of the book:

Beekle by Dan Santat

The story is creative and the illustrations (pencil, crayon, watercolor, and computer manipulation) are beautiful.  Personally, I think the story is a tad too long for a storytime, but for 6-8 year olds, it's a solid choice for lap reading. 

I never had an imaginary friend, but for children who do, this book will be a winner!

Bulletin Board - Picture Book Word Maps

A patron recently turned me on to Wordle. The website lets you created "Word Maps" from text.  With a word map, the more frequently a word appears in a text, the larger it will be.  I was captivated!  

Because of that, the monthly bulletin board at our branch is a word map challenge.  I've taken the text from 13 beloved picture books and created word maps.  Can you figure out what these classic picture books are?

I had a young boy request this book EVERY storytime for at least 9 months.  How could I not include it?

 

Click here to see the book!

 

This is one of my favorite books!  I've always longed to do it in a storytime without getting my tongue completely twisted. 

 

 

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Fun Fact:  I really dislike this book. A LOT.  I think Max should not have gotten his dinner (or he should have apologized first for his behavior).  But it's a classic, so I included it. 

 

 

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I can't read this book without tearing up.  The death of a grandparent can be tough and I think it's beautifully handled here. 

 

 

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I love this version of this story.  Another fun fact:  The author used to be a librarian with my library system. 

 

 

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This book is a modern classic and a great example of photography mixed with illustrations.  Both sequels were just as good, which can be tough to pull off.   

 

 

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This is another title I really dislike.  I'm surprised by that because I love the author's books of poetry. 

 

 

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Another great storytime book.  I love the message and the songs.  After storytime I frequently hear kids singing this on their way back to their preschools. 

 

 

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Growing up, this was one of my favorite series because of the detailed watercolor illustrations. 

 

 

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I love reading this to second graders through fourth graders.  The humor is so dry and incredibly funny. 

 

 

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The collage work in this book is mind blowing.  I love this author/illustrator for his urban, city-based images. 

 

 

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This book is iconic.  I visited the author's museum a few years ago and it was a great experience! 

 

 

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I've had preschool teachers tell me that kids imitate me doing this story.  Apparently I do a memorable troll.  (Thank you?)

 

 

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Work Blog Post: Princess Picture Books

Some of my book reviews have made their way to our blog at the library!  Check out a link here:

http://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/index.cfm?postid=2030