Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 22

Children's Choice Book Awards

This year Matthew and Robert's book, 'Encyclopedia Mythologica: Gods and Heroes' has been nominated for a Children's Choice Book award in the 3rd-4th grade category.  15,000 children and teens helped pick and evaluate all the books that made it to the finalist round.

The voting is open until April 29th, 2011.  You click the link here or below to cast your own vote:

Weekly Beast: Psychedelica

A funky, psychedelic fish that bounces on the ocean floor like a rubber ball has been classified as a new species, a scientific journal reported.  The fish — which the University of Washington professor has named "psychedelica" — is a member of the antennariid genus, Histiophryne, and like other frogfish, has fins on both sides of its body that have evolved to be leg-like.But it has several behavioral traits not previously known to the others.  Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, they push off with their fins and expel water from tiny gill openings to jet themselves forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.
 ~Gio

Word of the Day: Charivari

Charivari \shiv-uh-REE, shuh-riv-uh-REE\ noun

1. A noisy, mock serenade to a newly married couple, involving the banging of kettles, pots, and pans.
2. A confused, noisy spectacle.

Etymology:
From French charivari 'hullabaloo', perhaps from Latin caribaria 'headache', from Greek karebaria which stems from kare/kara (head) + barys (heavy).

Artist Watch: Julene Harrison

I have found another fantastic artist that works in paper, British designer Julene Harrison.  I am really in awe of the fact that her pieces are cut out by hand.  So much detail (and time!) goes into her pieces.  Personally I really love the pieces where she incorporates words and phrases into the designs.

Check out her work here:
http://madebyjulene.com






 ~Jess

Whats Popped Up: Trio of talks at the Smithsonian

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I just returned from a weekend in our nation's capital where I caught the tail end of the National Cherry Blossom Festival at the Washington monument. Just down the Mall is the National American History Museum where I was able to finally view the Smithsonian pop-up exhibit, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pop, Pull and Turn. We learned about it on the blog here.

The show is a wonderful exploration of different pop-up techniques with fine examples of movable books that dated back hundreds of years. There are also two short videos on a loop that provide some excellent background about making pop-ups. Over a dozen cases are well laid out and very approachable to the many visitors that streamed in while I was there. The addition of two button activated page turners made the movable books come to life and show some of the excellent movement that can be achieved through paper engineering.

It was recently announced that there will be three upcoming lectures at the museum from some of the best pop-up artists in the world. On Saturday, April 16th at noon, David A. Carter will talk about his pop-up artistry. Then on Monday, April 18th, Andrew Baron will discuss his latest project creating a pop-up annual report. Finally, on Tuesday, May 10th, Bruce Foster pulls back the curtain on his latest Harry Potter book. Be sure to check the PDF flyer for popupbookseries for more details on this exciting lecture series.

Now I have to figure out a way to get back to Washington, D.C. this weekend.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Calligraphy

Calligraphy \kuh-LIG-ruh-fee\ noun


1. The art of writing beautifully.Origin: The word calligraphy literally means beautiful writing, it is derived from the Greek word kalla meaning "beautiful" and graphia "writing.".  Before the invention of the printing press some 500 years ago, it was the way books were made.

Word of the Day: Gearhead

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Gearhead noun

1. A technology enthusiast, a person with a deep interest in the inner working of computers, automobiles, etc.

Etymology: From Middle English gere 'equipment' + Middle English head or Old English heafod.

~Gio

Vintage Movable Review: Toyota Ad

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Here is the last of my recent batch of pop-up promotional pieces. I'd like to think that I saved the best for last, but I'll let you be the judge. I offer you an Australian safety campaign for the Toyota Camry from 1993. Like the Mercedes advertisement from last week, this is another rubber band-activated mechanism with no provenance, so I will let this movable mailer speaks for itself.

(Imagined pitch meeting at the Toyota Motor Corporation, Australia, 1993)

Ad man: "Right-o, We need to liven up this dry information about the safety features of the new Toyota Camry. Any ideas, mates?

Copywriter: "How 'bout we slap a chicken on top. Chickens make everything better."

Ad man: "Fair dinkum, Fred Nerk, Let's do it!"

~Kyle

Whats Popped Up: Will Varner

This weekend one of our intern extraordinaires, Will Varner, will be at The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Arts (MoCCA ) annual festival sharing some brand new books, silk screen prints , and a sneak peek at his upcoming projects. Will's work puts a weird fantasy twist on pop culture and the search for identity. You can see his latest illustrations at willvarner.com This is his second year showing at MOCCA. He says, "MoCCA is one of the most unique comic conventions running because it features the work of many independent, self-publishing creators like myself while attracting many more established artists too. The great thing is that everybody shares a love for making comics." If you go, stop by booth C-19 and say hello. He'll be there both Saturday and Sunday and would love to share his work with you!

Word of the Day: Passe-Partout

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Passe-Partout \pass-pahr-TOO\ noun

1. Something, for example a master key, that enables unrestricted access.

Etymology: From French, literally, passes everywhere, from passer (to pass) + partout (everywhere), from par (though) + tout (all).

~Gio