Sergio Ruzzier's Blog, page 23

Two more drawings

I just received two more drawings from visitors of my website.

This first one is by Frankie from Montebello, NY.










And this by Erica, who lives in New York City.


Thank you!

BookCourt bestseller!

As you might know, last Sunday I did a very successful reading and signing at BookCourt in Brooklyn. Hey, Rabbit! is now in their weekly list of bestsellers. BookCourt offers a 30% discount on their bestsellers, so now is a good time to buy the book from them!



March 1 - March 7, 2010
BOOKCOURT Best Sellers

WE OFFER A 30%DISCOUNT ON OUR BESTSELLERS


Children's Hardcover & Paperback

1. HEY, RABBIT! Sergio Ruzzier. Roaring Brook Press. $16.99. Our Price $11.89.
2. LIGHTNING THIEF. Rick Riordan. Hyperio...

The first giveaway

The blog She Scribes , that talks about "a little bit of this, a little bit of that", is the first blog to run the Easter giveaway! More later.

Reading and signing at BookCourt in Brooklyn

Thank you all who came to BookCourt in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY, for the first public reading and signing of Hey, Rabbit!
It was good to see so many faces, old and new.

First drawings!

A few days ago my friend, web developer Margaret Savage helped me set up this game on my website. The first results are already coming in, and I am very happy to post them here.









The very first to arrive is from someone named Gfybgfdsxcvghj, who apparently lives in Fxcvbnimjokkjnbvcfxdxfjk. I am very curious about his or her or its ethnicity.   
     










This one is by Crystal Bretschgler in Toronto.













This by Bibi, from Dublin (I guess Ireland).


And the last of this first batch is by Jean from Paris...

In the bookstores!

The video

A couple of weeks ago Rabbit and I visited the pre-K classes at  PS 9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, NY. PS 9 is a good elementary school in a neighborhood that has changed a big deal in the past ten years or so. The kids, needless to say, were fun and smart. We read Hey, Rabbit!, we talked about all the things that Rabbit's friends find in the suitcase, and then the children drew what they would want to find in the suitcase for themselves on large sheets of paper like this:













I want to thank t...

Cheer up, rubber duckling!

Rubber duckling, take a look at this nice review of Hey, Rabbit! on School Library Journal.

As a rabbit pushes a large suitcase, many animals inquire about the contents. A toucan wonders, "HEY, Rabbit! Is there anything for me in your suitcase? Maybe a leaf to remind me of home?" Expectations are exceeded when each creature peeks inside. For example, Toucan discovers a tropical paradise full of exotic flora and fauna. More fantasies come true: a dog finds a birthday cake made of bones, a cat d...

The tools

The drawings for Hey, Rabbit! where done in pen & ink and watercolors.
I use an old orange wooden pen which is quite thick, so it fits well in my hand.














The metal nib is very fine, but flexible enough to get different thicknesses, even within the same line.













(This is a detail of a drawing I'm working on now for a different book.)
For Hey, Rabbit! I used black and sepia ink. Sepia is a nice grayish tone of brown. I don't know if they still produce it the same way, but originally sepia ink came from ...

The basilisk

The basilisk exists both in real life and in legends.











The one that appears in the jungle spread of Hey, Rabbit! is more or less taken from the actual reptile.



(This one in the picture is from the Honolulu Zoo.)

According to Leonardo da Vinci, the basilisk likes to hide on the high tree branches and then stare at his (or her) victims as they wilt to death. That's not nice.

















Other authors report similar behaviors, but if you look at my basilisk's face, would you believe she (or he) would be capable ...