Sergio Ruzzier's Blog, page 24
December 15, 2009
A Kirkus Star!
Kirkus will run this marvelous, starred review of Rabbit (in possibly their last issue).
The twin powers of friendship and imagination are stunningly portrayed with utter simplicity. Rabbit, with big blue eyes and a suitcase to match, meets his friends one by one, and they ask, "Hey, Rabbit! Is there anything for me in your suitcase?" Toucan asks if there's a leaf to remind him of home, Crab wonders if there is a shell with the sound of the sea, Cat wants a ball of twine to play with. As...
December 4, 2009
BookCourt Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY
BookCourt, a great independent bookstore in Brooklyn, NY, will host my first reading and signing of Hey, Rabbit! at the end of February (details later). As a client, I really love this bookstore, which after the recent expansion it's even more pleasant to visit.
They have a large and nice children's book department. Evelyn Pollins, who manages the kids' events there, was kind enough to answer a few questions for my blog.
Can you tell me a little bit about BookCourt?
BookCourt was founded by M...
They have a large and nice children's book department. Evelyn Pollins, who manages the kids' events there, was kind enough to answer a few questions for my blog.
Can you tell me a little bit about BookCourt?
BookCourt was founded by M...
December 1, 2009
Adorable little bellies
Abby Nolan wrote this very nice review of Hey, Rabbit! for the December issue of Booklist. Thank you!
Instead of a magician pulling a rabbit out a hat, here we have a rabbit magically producing all sorts of things from a suitcase. An ode to gift giving, Ruzzier's latest picture book showcases his charming illustrations without letting a complicated plot get in the way. One by one, the rabbit's friends ask, "Hey, Rabbit! Is there anything for me in your suitcase?" and each subsequent spread...
Instead of a magician pulling a rabbit out a hat, here we have a rabbit magically producing all sorts of things from a suitcase. An ode to gift giving, Ruzzier's latest picture book showcases his charming illustrations without letting a complicated plot get in the way. One by one, the rabbit's friends ask, "Hey, Rabbit! Is there anything for me in your suitcase?" and each subsequent spread...
November 18, 2009
The idea
When I was done with the drawings for my picture book
Amandina
, my wonderful editor Neal Porter was wondering (being wonderful) if I had any idea for the next story. I did have a few, but at a very rough stage.
In Amandina, Neal especially liked this drawing:
So he told me: why don't you think of a story about a magical suitcase? I thought about it for a couple of weeks and then I went back to him with a manuscript and some quick sketches.
Neal liked what he saw and helped me shape it (here's o...
In Amandina, Neal especially liked this drawing:
So he told me: why don't you think of a story about a magical suitcase? I thought about it for a couple of weeks and then I went back to him with a manuscript and some quick sketches.
Neal liked what he saw and helped me shape it (here's o...
November 15, 2009
November 10, 2009
Thumbnails
These are the first few spreads in my thumbnail storyboard. The thumbnails are the very first thing I usually put down on paper, after I get an idea for a picture book. They are extremely useful to understand if an idea really has the potential to become a story and then a book. As you can see, the drawings are very small (each page is about too inches high) and really rough, to say the least. They're actually plain crappy. But they're good enough for me to see, for the first time, the whole ...
October 27, 2009
Some rabbits I like
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney.
A rabbit (and his dogfriend) in a carving in the Romanesque church of Saint Mary and Saint David in Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England, 12th century.
Photo by Simon Garbutt (thanks).
The one-eared rabbit Bongo from Life in Hell , by Matt Groening, one of my favorite artists.
A rabbit (or is it a hare?) by Albrecht Dürer, dated 1502. It's a watercolor and gouache drawing on paper dated 1502, conserved at the Albertina collection in Vienna...
Some other rabbits I like
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney.
A rabbit (and his dogfriend) in a carving in the Romanesque church of Saint Mary and Saint David in Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England, 12th century.
Photo by Simon Garbutt (thanks).
The one-eared rabbit Bongo from Life in Hell , by Matt Groening, one of my favorite artists.
A rabbit (or is it a hare?) by Albrecht Dürer, dated 1502. It's a watercolor and gouache drawing on paper dated 1502, conserved at the Albertina collection in Vienna...
October 19, 2009
The jaguar
The jaguar was my favorite animal when I was a kid. At the Natural History Museum in Milan, Italy, where I grew up, there was a wonderful display with a jaguar fighting with an anteater. I was fascinated by it. Anyway, when I began planning the toucan spread for the book, with a scene from an Amazon-like forest, I decided to draw the picture of a jaguar in it. As reference, I don't usually look at photographs as I prefer to use old paintings and prints. I like to see how other artists have in...
