Sergio Ruzzier's Blog, page 13
February 24, 2012
Jules alla bolognese
Julie Danielson is back from Bologna, where she was one of the judges for the
2012 BolognaRagazzi awards
. Read her report here!
February 21, 2012
Another warm applause for Amandina
The British but Madrid-based translator Ellen Duthie reviews children's books on her blog,
We read it like this
. Today, she posted a particularly attentive and thoughtful review of
Amandina
. Thank you!
February 17, 2012
La piccola fuggitiva (The Little Fugitive)
I would like to share images from a picture book that is particularly dear to me. The author and illustrator is Franco Matticchio, who also happens to be a friend of mine (unfortunately I don't see him nearly as often as I would like to). I think he is one of the very few truly extraordinary book artists working in Italy today. The book - the story of a little girl who runs away who knows where - was published in Milan in 2009 by the meritorious
Nuages
gallery.
February 15, 2012
The Tiny Visitor
A few days ago I joined an interesting discussion about strangeness in picture books on Roger Sutton's blog. I have to confess that I hadn't heard of Oscar de Mejo before, so I looked around and bought this nice copy of what is apparently his first children's book: a 64-page picture book, published by Pantheon in 1982.
Oscar de Mejo with his first wife, actress Alida Valli.
Oscar de Mejo with his first wife, actress Alida Valli.
February 12, 2012
January 8, 2012
January 4, 2012
What James Marshall said
Leonard Marcus interviewed James Marshall (author of George and Martha, among many other books) for Publishers Weekly in 1989. The same interview was included in Marcus' book Ways of Telling.
- I think I became an artist because I wanted a studio, because I wanted to buy art supplies.
- I quickly realized that I would die of a stroke if I had to teach high school for the rest of my life. That's when I started drawing. That's when the doodling began.
- I think I also got into doing children's books because I thought it would be easy. It's a lot of fun sometimes - but it ain't easy.
- Doing two- or three-page stories is the hardest thing.
- I've ruined so many books with no-good endings.
- I really cannot stand it if something in a picture is misplaced.
- I have the beginnings, I guess, of a hundred stories that never went anywhere, which I know somebody could finish.
Since I couldn't find any good pictures of our James Marshall, I'm posting a portrait of this other James Marshall, second President of Coe College (1887-1896).
- I think I became an artist because I wanted a studio, because I wanted to buy art supplies.
- I quickly realized that I would die of a stroke if I had to teach high school for the rest of my life. That's when I started drawing. That's when the doodling began.
- I think I also got into doing children's books because I thought it would be easy. It's a lot of fun sometimes - but it ain't easy.
- Doing two- or three-page stories is the hardest thing.
- I've ruined so many books with no-good endings.
- I really cannot stand it if something in a picture is misplaced.
- I have the beginnings, I guess, of a hundred stories that never went anywhere, which I know somebody could finish.
Since I couldn't find any good pictures of our James Marshall, I'm posting a portrait of this other James Marshall, second President of Coe College (1887-1896).
January 2, 2012
What else Arnold Lobel said
- There's a statue in Central Park of Hans Christian Andersen with children climbing all over it. Hans Christian Andersen was a fussy, prissy, old maid of a bachelor, and I don't think he would have children anywhere within 10 miles of him.
- We've all met children who don't seem to have a sense of humor and they grow up to be adults without a sense of humor.
- I think one of the most personal books I've ever written was Owl At Home. It came out last year. It's more personal than any of the other books.
- I notice that all of my books are rather home-bound.
- We've all met children who don't seem to have a sense of humor and they grow up to be adults without a sense of humor.
- I think one of the most personal books I've ever written was Owl At Home. It came out last year. It's more personal than any of the other books.
- I notice that all of my books are rather home-bound.
What Arnold Lobel said
Quotes from an old interview in The Lion and the Unicorn.
- I began writing for children because I couldn't do anything else.
- I really don't quite know what I'm doing.
- Toad is a neurotic and Owl is a psychotic.
- You tend to like your friends' work. You meet people in the field, and if you like them, you like their work. If you don't like them, you don't like their work. It's very strange. And sometimes a terrible thing is, you meet an artist whose work you hate but you like him and you don't know what to do.
- I began writing for children because I couldn't do anything else.
- I really don't quite know what I'm doing.
- Toad is a neurotic and Owl is a psychotic.
- You tend to like your friends' work. You meet people in the field, and if you like them, you like their work. If you don't like them, you don't like their work. It's very strange. And sometimes a terrible thing is, you meet an artist whose work you hate but you like him and you don't know what to do.
December 30, 2011
Unobtrusive genitalia
From an Amazon customer review of the anthology
Guys Write For Guys Read
:
[...] there is also an illustration of a monster, drawn when the artist was in fifth grade, I believe, that shows the monster's genitalia. It's unobtrusive, but its [sic] there. I'm having to black it out with a felt-tip so I can make the book available for my middle school students.
He's talking about my Sprokostagorubolonoso. Unobtrusive is probably the worst thing one can say about a penis.
Here's the culprit:
[...] there is also an illustration of a monster, drawn when the artist was in fifth grade, I believe, that shows the monster's genitalia. It's unobtrusive, but its [sic] there. I'm having to black it out with a felt-tip so I can make the book available for my middle school students.
He's talking about my Sprokostagorubolonoso. Unobtrusive is probably the worst thing one can say about a penis.
Here's the culprit:
