Chris Van Dusen's Blog, page 4

Thank you

I’d like to send out a heartfelt thank you to all the people who share my books with others:

…thank you to the young readers and their parents who email me and tell me they enjoy my books and they give them away as presents,

…thank you to the people I meet at book signings who buy an extra copy of a book to give to a teacher,

…and thank you to the kind folks who send my books to their friends and family who live far, far away, sometimes even overseas.

I am truly grateful for all you do to help spread the word about my books. That means the world to me.

Slight Summer Schedule

Even though I’m working on several new projects right now, I’ll only have one book coming out this year and that will be the second book in Kate DiCamillo’s Tales From Deckawoo Drive series. This time the main character is Francine Poulet in a book titled Francine Poulet Meets The Ghost Raccoon. It will be released on August 25th. Therefore I don’t have many of events lined up this summer, just a few to mention:

July 25th ~ 2-5 PM ~ Maine Writer’s and Publisher’s Alliance 40th Anniversary Party at the home of Richard Ford in East Boothbay. This is a fundraiser for MWPA and will feature 24 guest authors. For more info, please visit MWPA website: mainewriters.org

August 7th ~ 11 AM ~ Booksigning at The Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, Portland. The CMTM has opened a new exhibit in their outdoor play area all based on my first book. It’s called Down to the Sea: An Outdoor Adventure. Check it out!

August 14th ~ I’m tentatively scheduled to talk at The Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk but I don’t have a confirmation yet. When I receive word, I’ll update this listing.

September 5th ~ 10 AM-noon ~ Book launch at The Owl & Turtle Bookshop in Camden. This is for Francine Poulet Meets The Ghost Raccoon.

October 10th ~ 11 AM ~ Another signing at The Children’s Museum in Portland.

That’s all I have scheduled for now. If something new pops up, I’ll be sure to add it to this listing.

I hope I get the chance to meet you at one of these events!

Reading Round Up 2015

A few days ago, the Maine Library Association held their annual conference called Reading Round Up. The conference featured several workshops and seminars on everything from the health effects of too much screen time to the best ways to present wordless picture books during story hour. Each year, a highlight of the conference is the award ceremony where the Chickadee, Lupine and Katahdin Awards are presented.

The Chickadee Award is Maine’s children’s choice picture book award. This year the winner was Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat.

“The Lupine Award honors a living author or illustrator who is a resident of Maine, or who has created a work whose focus is on Maine”. The award is divided into two categories: Picture Book and Juvenile/Young Adult.

The Lupine Picture Book Honor Award went to Jubilee! One Man’s Big, Bold, and Very Very Loud Celebration of Peace by Alicia Potter and illustrated by my friend, Matt Tavares.

The Lupine Picture Book Award went to The Right Word, Roget and his Thesaurus by Jen Bryant and illustrated by another good friend, Melissa Sweet.

The Lupine Juvenile/YA Honor Award went to Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord, who is also a dear friend (I’m very lucky!).

And the Lupine Juvenile/YA Award went to Zane and the Hurricane by Rodman Philbrick.

Lastly, the Katahdin Award is “the lifetime achievement award recognizing an outstanding body of work of children’s literature in Maine”, and this year (quite surprisingly!) it went to me. I was shocked but very pleasantly surprised by the award and I thank the Lupine/Katahdin Award committee for this great honor.

During the award ceremony, I couldn’t help but think that the whole thing should be turned around and the 375 Maine librarians in attendance should be the ones standing up at the podium and being recognized. After all, the librarians do the outstanding work day in and day out. If it wasn’t for all of them, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. They are the people who encourage and help young readers and inspire the love of learning everyday.

So congratulations to all the librarians in Maine. My award is dedicated right back to you!

Caldecott Thoughts

If you’re a fan of children’s picture books, I’m sure by now you know that ALA/YALSA has named their 2015 award winners. The category I watch with the most interest is the Caldecott Award given to “the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children“. Here are some personal thoughts on this year’s awards.

When I was watching the live webcast of the YALSA conference in Chicago, the first thing that struck me about the Caldecott announcement was that they named six honor books! I didn’t know the Caldecott committee could even pick so many honor books! I was looking through the list of past winners going all the way back to the 1930s and I didn’t find a year when they had given out six honors- five a few times, but never six. Apparently I was not alone in my surprise as you could clearly hear a loud gasp come from the audience. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is a bad thing, in fact I think just the opposite. This is a great way for amazing books to be recognized and I’m really happy for all the honor winners.

The second thing that surprised me was when they started naming the titles of the honor books. I was unfamiliar with about half of the list. If you follow the Caldecotts each year, you start hearing about certain books that generate a buzz. They show up repeatedly on top ten lists, receive multiple starred reviews and often win mock Caldecott awards. For me, this was true with only two of this year’s honor books- Sam & Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett and The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant (more thoughts on this book later). But I had never heard of Nana in the City written and illustrated by Lauren Castillo or The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art by Mary GrandPre, written by Barb Rosenstock or This One Summer illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki (more on this book later, too). I am really looking forward to discovering these new (to me!) titles. The last book to receive an honor was Viva Frida written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. I have heard of this book, but I haven’t had the chance to look through it yet, so that’s another one I can’t wait to see.

To get back to The Right Word, I was thrilled that this book received an honor. Melissa  Sweet is a dear friend of mine and lives about five minutes away from my house. I congratulated her when this book came out because I knew it would go places. It’s stunningly beautiful! If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and pick it up. I think you’ll agree- it’s a gorgeous book.

And to get back to This One Summer, this is an interesting choice. Now in all fairness, I have to say I have not looked through this entire book yet, but I know it is receiving a lot of mixed reviews. I think that most people agree that it is beautifully illustrated and from what I’ve seen, I totally agree. I think the controversy arises because of the format and the content of the book. This is a graphic novel. It’s not really a picture book. I love graphic novels and I’m always awed by the amount of work that goes into producing one. I mean, three hundred and twenty pages of pure illustration! That’s astounding! I have a hard enough time illustrating a 40 page book, I can’t even imagine the work involved in creating a graphic novel! So kudos to Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. But the other thing is the content. This is a coming-of-age story about two girls. It deals with subjects most adolescents are curious about, including sex. I think this is perfectly fitting, but there are a lot of readers who are turned off by the language. As a result, some people don’t think This One Summer should have received a Caldecott honor. I don’t necessarily believe that, but I think the ALA and YALSA should seriously consider creating a new category that recognizes excellence in the field of graphic novels for young readers. I believe these books deserve to be honored with their own designated, prestigious award.

Finally, a big congratulations goes to the winner of the 2015 Caldecott Medal- author/illustrator Dan Santat for The Adventures of Beekle: An Unimaginary Friend. Dan’s a first-time Caldecott winner and he must be flying high! Well done! 

 

 

The New Year

I never make New Year’s resolutions because I always break them and why would I want to start another new year off with a major disappointment? But the main reason I didn’t make any resolutions for 2015 is I’m just too busy with new book projects. Now the publishers don’t like me to give away any secrets about upcoming titles, but I CAN tell you that:

1.) If all goes as planned, I will complete the final artwork for three new books this year.

2.) Of those three, two were written by other authors and I wrote the third.

3.) Only one of the three books is scheduled to be released in 2015. That will be the second book in Kate DiCamillo’s Tales From Deckawoo Drive series. It features animal control officer Francine Poulet. That’s the book I’m working on right now.

4.) Then I will finish up the paintings for MY next book which will come out in the spring 2016. The title of the book is Hattie & Hudson. Two things set this book apart from all my other books- it’s the first book I’ve created where the main character is a girl (instead of a boy or man) and it’s also my first attempt at writing a non-rhyming story. I’m very excited about it.

5.) I will finish up the year by working on the art for a story written by another writer. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you much about this book. The only thing I can say is that I’ve never worked with this author before but I’ve always admired her writing. She is a master of rhyme (yes, it’s a rhyming book!) and I used to study her writing before I wrote my first book. I think it will be a big book for both of us. It will be released fall 2016.

That’s it for now. I guess I better get to work. I hope 2015 is full of fun exciting projects for you, too!

This Christmas…

… I wish you a season of comfort and joy.

I wish every youngster a shiny new toy.

I wish you a fireplace, warmly aglow.

I wish you a yard full of fluffy fresh snow.

I wish you sweet cookies on platters galore-

Preferably home-baked and not from the store.

I wish you a spruce tree or balsam or fir,

And time to enjoy it – it can be a blur!

I wish you a house full of family and friends

(who know when to leave when the party time ends).

I wish you fun things wrapped in ribbons of gold.

I wish you a tiny warm child’s hand to hold.

I wish you glad tidings. I wish you good cheer.

and the very best Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

 

Signing Schedule

With the holidays fast approaching, I have a few signings that I thought you’d like to know about. They are:

- Saturday, November 29th – DRAW OFF! Chris Van Dusen vs. Scott Nash – Longfellow Books, Portland ME – 10 AM

- Sunday, December 7th – Signing with Sharon Creech, Matt Tavares, Toni Buzzeo, Lynn Plourde, Katie Clark, Russ Cox, Wendy Ulmer, Liza Gardner Walsh and more - Camden Public Library, Camden ME – 2-4 PM

- Saturday, December 13th – Book signing – Letterpress Books, Portland ME – 10:30 AM

That’s it for now. Please come see me. I’d love to sign a book for you.

 

 

JLG Selection

Today, in the mail, I received a package from Candlewick Press. In it was a letter of congratulations and a cool little lapel pin from the Junior Library Guild. Turns out Leroy Ninker Saddles Up has been named a Junior Library Guild selection. What a nice surprise.

Leroy Ninker’s Back

2014 is one of those rare two-book-years for me, and so it’s time for another book launch! This go around, the book is titled Leroy Ninker Saddles Up written by the one and only Kate DiCamillo. Yes, it’s true, Kate is bringing back all the characters from the Mercy Watson books and Leroy Ninker (originally from Mercy Watson Fights Crime) is the star of book one in a whole new series called Tales From Deckawoo Drive. These books are aimed at a slightly older audience than the Mercy Watson books – a bit more text heavy and a little less illustrated. This time, the interior illustrations are black and white as opposed to full color, but I ended up painting them in gouache, same as I did in the Mercy Watson books. I’m happy with the result because the pictures capture the feel of the original series. Tales From Deckawoo Drive will be perfect for kids who read Mercy last year or the year before and need something a little more challenging. So far, the reviews have been fantastic.

Here’s all the info you need:

What: Leroy Ninker Saddles Up book launch and signing

Where: The Owl & Turtle Bookshop, 33 Bay View Street, Camden, Maine 

When: Saturday, August 30th from 10:00 AM to noon

Of course if you can’t make it, you can always call Selena at the O&T and reserve or order a signed copy. The number is (207) 230-7335.

Hope to see you there!

David Kirk Comes To Town

I know this is last minute, but if you are anywhere near Camden, Maine tomorrow morning and you’re a fan of children’s picture books, you will not want to miss this opportunity. David Kirk, the master author/illustrator behind the classic Miss Spider books (as well as Nova’s Ark, Oh So Tiny Bunny and his latest, Oh So Brave Dragon) will be at The Owl & Turtle Bookshop (they’re awesome!) on Bayview Street in Camden from 10:00 to noon. I have been a huge fan of David’s work since the very beginning, when I used to read Miss Spider’s Tea Party, Miss Spider’s Wedding and Miss Spider’s New Car to my boys, and I can’t wait to meet him tomorrow morning. I believe this is David’s first ever event here and his only appearance in Maine this year, so I guarantee it will be worth the trip.