A Third Act for Maurice Sendak, An Encore for Dr. Seuss

Would you believe I didn’t read Dr. Seuss until I was eleven? It’s true. In my childhood library I had not one Seuss book to my name (gasp)! I watched the cartoon versions of The Lorax, How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, and Horton Hears a Who!, but hadn’t actually read Dr. Seuss until I stumbled upon a copy of Oh The Places You’ll Go at my grandmother’s house in the 6th grade. I read it out loud-- the only way to read Seuss-- ten times in a row until I got the rhythm perfect.

I’ve only read a few titles since so I know I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, but for those of you who’ve read every last word the good doctor wrote, I’ve got news for you: No you haven’t!

Turns out there are seven forgotten Dr. Seuss tales that are coming to print later this year. The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories comes out in September, and promises to be every bit as good as his classics. The stories were written during the height of his career and some even inspired The Cat in The Hat Comes Back and A Fish Out of Water.

My Dr. Seuss-loving friend Tina wears her devotion on here arm. I hope she has room for a few more.

But if that isn’t enough good news my fellow children’s-bibliophiles, how about this:

After a thirty-year absence Maurice Sendak has written and illustrated a new book, Bumble-Ardy! It’s about a pig whose parents have never celebrated his birthday, so he decides to throw a party for himself and invite his rowdy neighbors to join.

Here’s an early animated version of the story that aired on Sesame Street in the 1970s:

Notice that Bumble Ardy is a boy in this cartoon? When asked why he changed him to a pig for the book, Sendak said it was because “boys tend, generally speaking, to be pigs.”. (Good old Sendak, blunt as always). Other changes have been made as well: Bumble Ardy’s career-obsessed parents get sent to slaughter and he’s sent to live with his aunt. And now the party-goers get pickled on brine instead of wine, (thank you political correctness?)

I’m not sure how I feel about sobered-up version of the story. Sendak was never known for writing “safe” stories, but maybe this is just a sign of the times. How do you feel about this edit?

Both books come out this fall and would make excellent Christmas presents if you’re shopping for me or [other] children. Welcome back old friends, we’ve missed you!

Peace out!

--Jovan

Ebooks: Looking to the Future

Recently, children’s picture books have been adopted for the iPad, Color Kindle, and Nook Color, making the public wonder if printed picture books are on their way out. Book-sellers have responded to the concern saying that children’s books sales are higher than ever.

I doubt that that’s entirely true. I’m sure they’re counting children’s literature, not picture books specifically-- skewing the numbers. More and more children’s novels are being turned into movies, and that naturally improves the sales of the books they were based on, (whether or not the films were box-office successes). From Harry Potter to The Chronicles of Narnia to The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, children’s literature is immensely profitable, and can be franchised to sell a range of products.

As far as sales of picture books are concerned, think of them like children’s cereals. Cereal producers know how to market to kids, (with sugar-laden goodness, cartoon mascots, and toy prizes). They also know to put the cereals at children’s eye-level in stores, so that kids will badger their parents into buying some. Same thing happens with children’s books. Kids go to book stores with their parents and see bright picture-book covers and then convince the parents to buy the books. Don’t underestimate the buying power of those under four feet tall.

As long as there are book stores, there will be picture books for sale. However if there are no more book stores around it will be a different story. But don’t fret!

Listen, I love my Nook as much as any commuter, but while ebooks are convenient they sure don’t look good on a book-shelf. They can’t be signed; They can’t be bought cheaply due to cracked spines and inscriptions; can’t be collected; can’t be read and shared with a room full of first graders. No one will scourer flea markets in hopes of scoring a first edition digital book. The printed book isn’t going to go away completely-- not as long as people enjoy owning things. The desire to possess what we hold dear runs too deeply for it to just stop.

Make no mistake though, book publishing is changing. But rather than fear the end of a few hundred-year old tradition, writers and illustrators should welcome the new technology. Ebook readers present new possibilities for interaction. Like the popular LeapPad series or the Talk N Play from the 1980’s, children’s ebooks can engage readers rather than passively entertain them-- but ebooks can be taken further than their predecessors. Rather than being stuck with a script and button-pressing, writers and illustrators can now think of new ways to tell stories that involve audio, music, animation, video, puzzles, customization… and eventually 3D.

electronic story books then and now.

The process will be slow to start-- publisher will think that they have to literally translate one medium to another instead of taking advantage of the new freedom-- but eventually someone will create an epicture book that inspires a new genre, a brand-new form of entertainment.

I also foresee custom printing for books not commercially available in print, opening up the publishing world to new sources of revenue. Eventually stories may be tailor-made for their readers, haute couture in dust jackets. Story characters, plots and settings will be fully customizable-- like the book equivilant of Little Big Planet. Readers will be able to design and order books online and have them shipped directly to them, no book stores needed.

I for one am very excited to see what the future will bring. May some one much brighter than me figure out how to build on the new technology. Or I guess I could get on the stick and start experimenting with it myself. Hmmm…

What do you think the future of children’s books will look like?

-Jovan

Update

My plans to go to Tokyo we cancelled due to several events in the city being closed to conserve power. So instead, my boyfriend and I are headed to Las Vegas. We’ll be there until April 5th, so I probably won’t be updating until after we get back.

On another note: The book illustration project I’ve been working on has been shelved. The editor has a lot on her plate and wanted to put the project on hold until later… just when I finally got the book from the library, (I guess inter-library loans can take a month to fulfill, who knew?). At least now I have the text and can do some brain-storming. Looks like it could be a very challenging project. Let’s hope it picks up again.

That’s all for now. Talk to you after Vegas.

Peace out!

-Jovan

Twiddling My Thumbs

I’ve been waiting for the last few weeks to get the text for the book and haven’t had any signs that it’s headed my way. I’m not sure what the story is about and thus haven’t been able to do many sketches. The ones I have done are little more than scribbles and aren’t worth sharing.

I’m heading to Japan next weekend, (assuming that the flight isn’t cancelled due to yesterday’s earthquake) and will be packing and preparing all next week. As such, I might not be able to update until after I get back in April. Please forgive the hiatus.

Peace out!

-Jovan

The Adventure Continues...

As I mentioned last week, I’m trying to get hired as and illustrator a children’s book. The editor has told me that if I want to be considered for her project, I must submit a few draft illustrations for the book. Typically, an illustrator will be hired based on her portfolio and isn’t asked to create proposals. While I wouldn’t normally agree to do illustrations without being guaranteed the job, I agreed to do some proposals this time.

Why did I agree to this unusual scenario? Because I’m not an experience illustrator. I don’t have a long list of credits to my name, and still don’t have a portfolio. Once I’m an established illustrator I’ll have built a reputation, and won’t need to do many “freebies”,(unless the competition is stiff, and I’m just dying to be part of a specific project). Even though I agreed to do some drafts I still wont do the work for nothing. I made sure to mention to the editor that I’d hold the copyright until I’m hired.

I did a little research on what the going rate is for children’s book illustration. Seems like most professional illustrators charge two or three times what I’m asking for, but with my experience I thought it fair to low-ball the price. As I gain more experience I’ll start asking for more. I’m not going to post what I quoted, but this is a good article on how to quote for illustration work based on hourly-rates, if you’re interested in doing the same.

Oh, and one more thing: The illustrations will be in pen and ink. Only the cover will be in watercolor. So, yay for catering to my strengths!

That’s all for now. I should have some art to share by next week, so stay tuned.

Peace out!

--Jovan