Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty-Six: crossing the finishing line!

Creation. From an original story by God.

I've been thinking about this one for a while, and though I did have other (semi-crazy) plans for today, this one seemed right. I think I may revisit this one at some point in the future, not necessarily for picture book purposes.

So. The end of an era. A really short era, but still.

Thank you for all your comments and such. I've really enjoyed myself but, I think, the fun is not going to stop. Oh no. I'm considering setting myself another challenge. Maybe slightly less ambitious, maybe less to do, and maybe longer to do it, but I don't want to stop now. Please feel free to share any ideas you would have me do. I was given several ideas over this last month which never quite made it (see above for semi-crazy plans). They may all, at some point, appear. We shall see.  

Thanks again.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty-Five

I didn't have a lot of time today between a massively successful trip to the book fair this morning and an evening out of board games and curry, and, inevitably, that meant that my plans went spectacularly awry.

I had been thinking of some kind of Arthurian legend, but then stumbled on the fact that almost every element of it is massively unsuitable for children. Then I got caught up in Inuit mythology, but I got all a bit confused, so finally moved on to local hero, Boudicca (with various alternate spellings) who also turned out to allude me. So. Finally Boudicca Jones appeared where I thought the Icini warrior would.

Reporter/investigator, Boudicca has sass, somewhere between Veronica Mars and Lois Lane (in her Teri Hatcher phase). I'm watching the first season of V Mars again at the moment. Boy, it's great.

We're winding up, folks. Thanks for hanging around. Tomorrow, all being well, is the last day. Given that I still have one day in lieu, I suppose I could spend all tomorrow prepping for it, and slam bang you on Monday. We'll see. Either way, by midnight, Monday, I'll be done.

So. Have a happy Saturday.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty-Four

It's my Mum's birthday today. Ages ago, before she and my Dad married, he got Interflora to send her daffodils- her favourite flower. Daffodils are, as you may know, dirt cheap at this time of year. Interflora have a minimum price that you have to pay them. Therefore, in a scene reminiscent of that in Big Fish, he sent her a ton (almost literally) of daffodils. They ran out of vases at my grandparents' house. Therefore, ever since, Dad gets Mum lots of daffs for her birthday. Secretly, I find it very romantic.

So. Happiness. I think, maybe, just pictures of people, happy. Swings. Sitting in a pile on the sofa with their family. Puppies. No great story. Just smiles. Sappy, but good for the soul.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty-Three

She's an Elk. He's a Caribou. Adventures ensue.

The name came from my parents who, for inexplicable reasons last night, referred to themselves as 'Jolly Elk' and 'Yoo Hoo Caribou'. In fact, Mum started off as 'Supreme Moose' but moved on. Supreme Moose might have been funnier. Too late now.

Big thanks go to Kimberly Geswein and her brilliant fonts.

Now I have to go and craft stuff for my Mum's birthday. Have a good day.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty-Two

Self explanatory picture books always win out.

Monkeys take a while to draw. All that fur. That, and my mid-drawing trip to Pets at Home (actually Staples but that's not as interesting) which was a distraction, but did introduce me to the degu of which these are three, keeping warm:

  They were so impossibly cute that I thought about writing about them instead, but then I had done all that invaluable research on funny looking monkeys, and it couldn't go to waste. Maybe another day.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty-One

He's a magic post box. He talks. He reads your post. He might even solve a bit of crime. Who knows?

Full imaginative rights go to my good friend Rhiannon who appears to be having some kind of creative outpouring right now. Her post box wasn't magical though. He just talked. The two don't necessarily go together.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twenty

Happy Presidents' Day! I hope that whatever you celebrate today, be it Washington's birthday, Lincoln's birthday, Jefferson's birthday (two months out, but OK), or, in fact, that it's Monday and the week has begun again and unlike your American friends, you don't have a day off, that you will have a good day.

Here, a small child discovers that at night, Mt Rushmore comes to life and that the former Presidents have great wisdom which they can impart. I'm particularly proud of Lincoln here. That and the fact that FDR is pulling Blue Steel.

In researching it, I did find these little gems. First, what may be the coolest picture of Presidential stuff, ever.

That's right. Air Force One, over Mt. Rushmore. Why don't we have an equivalent in the UK? I mean, besides the Cerne Abbas Giant which I don't entirely want to post an actual picture of here. I'm really quite taken with the idea of crafting a Mt. Rushmore for the UK. According to historical rankings of Prime Ministers, our top four could include any of William Pitt the Younger, Gladstone, Churchill (he's surely a shoe-in), Margaret Thatcher, Atlee, MacMillan, Blair, Lloyd George, Asquith, or Heath.

Based on cliff-face aesthetics, I'd say that Gladstone's my number one choice. And Lloyd George. And Churchill. The others can fight it out for the last spot. Charles Grey came close to the cut. And Peel. And Disraeli. Robert Cecil also almost made it. I might have stretched the rule for that awesome beard of his.

The other gem I found was this:

It's the back of Mt. Rushore. Naturally.

Today's fun historical fact. Mt. Rushmore was created by Gutzon Borglum. I am not even kidding. That's his actual name. He also created this:

It's a confederate memorial carving. It is, wait for it, 3 acres in size, 400 ft above the ground. Yes. Massive.

So. In short. Happy Presidents' Day. Have a George Washington-tastic time.

Picture Book Marathon: DAY OFF

Woop. Twenty-six pictures in twenty-eight days equals two days off.
Sunday is the day of rest. I have learned this. They Might Be Giants reminded me.

Happy Sunday.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Nineteen

A sequel to 'Breakfast Forts'. Bunk beds as castles. Sofas as caravans. The wardrobe as a cave.

I feel sorry for kids who didn't have bunk beds growing up. We used to play a game called 'Wine Cellar' in ours. I haven't the foggiest about how it worked. Also, the dressing-gown cord tied from the bed to the door is essential. Again, I don't know why, but it was. The duvet hanging down was also essential, but I always understood that one.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Eighteen

The comings and goings from a small, homely bakery/sweet shop (I'll choose later) jammed between corporate monstrosities in a faceless city. Sticking it to the man, for the under fives, with full recognition to my good friend Rhiannon whose idea it was and also gave me a fake tour around London last night.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Seventeen

So. Yesterday, at four, I started freaking out that I hadn't even started drawing and posted a status saying as much on facebook. Then, my cousin and my old flat-mate started 'helping' me. Kat started with Hippos wearing hats, Lordly looking cats, Rhinestone crusted rats and Hamsters in cravats. Patrick chimed in with Marmosets in spats. Kat came back with Lace wearing gnats. I tried to contribute with Mouse Aristocrats. I was smacked down. They changed it to Goldfish aristocrats. I was dully chastened. Therefore, while the prospect of drawing gnats dressed in lace and marmosets sporting spats was slightly tempting, I went for a simple cover. I may have a go at the details another time. I watched some Sesame Street videos for inspiration. Check out my personal favourite, Preschool Musical  on the Sesame Street video player.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Sixteen

It is 88 years today since Howard Carter and his team unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamen. Therefore, in celebration of a guy who appeared from all the photos that I could find to conduct archaeological excavations in a full suit and fedora, I decided that today would see the combination of one of my favourite children's book genres, the puzzle book, with one of my other favourites, the pop-up/interactive book. Yes. A puzzle, pop-up book wherein we are called upon to help Howard Carter, fedora and all, to find the tomb of Tutankhamen with spinning wheels, mazes, and pop-up surprises galore. Howard's calm exterior masks a book of much excitement. I'm jazzed. Are you?

Picture Book Marathon: Day Fifteen

I doubt that it'll surprise anyone to know that I saw Tangled yesterday. It was, therefore, naturally, fairy tale homage time.

Queen Bee, one of the many Grimm Fairytales, tells the story of three brothers who go off to find their fortunes. The youngest stops his two older brothers from stamping on an ant's nest, kicking (or actually killing, but that's all a little too grim) ducks and smoking out a bee hive. Then, upon reaching the castle, they are set challenges which, if they do not complete, they will be turned to stone. The first is to pick up the princess' thousand pearls, scattered in the woods. The youngest brother gets his ant friends to help. Then they have to collect the key to the princess' bedroom from the middle of the lake. The ducks help out there. Finally, once in the bedroom, they have to pick out the youngest princess who looks identical to her two older sisters, the only difference being that the oldest ate some sugar, the next ate some syrup, and the youngest ate HONEY. See where it's going? The Queen Bee helps out and the youngest princess is chosen. The magic of it all turns the brothers and everyone else back to life and they all live happily ever after, all marrying their respective princesses. THE END.

I really enjoyed Tangled. I think that it's the best Disney movie since The Lion King. Maybe even since Beauty and the Beast. Yes. Bold. One of my favourite things (aside from the look, the lighting, the hilarity, the lack of talking animals, the ceramic unicorns, the tight plot, the fancy 3Dness, the lanterns with the fancy 3D, Alan Menken generally, the mime...) was the design of the inside of Rapunzel's tower which she had painted because she was so bored. It was beautiful and ornate, yet simple, so I took it as my inspiration. It came out pretty much as I had imagined- somethings better, some more things not quite as good but hey- that's what I'm doing this for anyway.

I should mention, reluctantly, that my Mum thought that this should be called 'You can't have my beehive. Let's go to that castle'. I have managed to not find it funny so far today. I will strive to not find it funny tomorrow as well.

I should also mention, in retrospect, that the castle was not my own invention. I tried and failed. Neuschwanstein which is seriously replicated in Tangled was my inspiration today. I love it. I did a presentation on it at university. Poor mad Ludwig. Such vision. So many swans. So much Wagner.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Fourteen

Happy Valentines Day!

I was feeling totally uninspired for today. I was trawling the internet for ideas. I liked the idea of a Valentines theme, but it's not until you actual look for ideas that you discover that Valentines Day a) inspires little originality and b) is, in the main, massively inappropriate for children.

While searching I did, however find this vintage Valentine which is pretty brilliant and this one, which while I haven't read the whole thing, is pretty romantic.

However, in the midst of all the searching, I stumbled across a friend who has just brought his two week old son home from hospital, who told me that my inspiration should come from the snowdrops, the daffodils and all the ripe nappies that he's dealing with. So. Romantic. However, he also posted pictures of said son which, while I won't post them here, did feature the toy mole that my sister and I made for him:

 

So. Valentines Day. Moley. It all came together. I think that Moley probably discovers Cupid, injured, and offers in a helpful sort of way to do his job for him. Hilarity ensues. Probably. 

Have a very happy Valentines day.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Thirteen

Half way through! Woop!

I had meant to do some kind of Biblical-heroine/hero-Sunday again, but instead I got a little too excited about an idea given to me yesterday. Biblical heroes may turn up again, but today I was working from a quote from Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm (1932):

"He stood at the table facing Flora and blowing heavily on his tea and staring at her. Flora did not mind. It was quite interesting: like having tea with a rhinoceros."

Today's book chronicles an increasingly irrate mother as her family exhibit behaviour which is more suited to a zoo than a house- blowing in tea etc. I rather suspect that it might end up being something of an anti-valentines sentiment, with her husband snoring like a warthog. I think it should end (not to spoil it) with her becoming a zoo keeper. I love a story with a zoo keeper in it. They're so aspirational. There was an episode of Animal Park when a trainee lion keeper tried it out for the day and then decided that it wasn't for him. What's not to enjoy? Lions. Keeping them. I was baffled. 

Picture Book Marathon: Day Twelve

This is a quizzing book for the young. The kind that any parent would immediately regret reading at bed-time as their children would get wound up, wanting to know what Binturongs really do smell of rather than, you know, going to sleep. The title, as given to me by the Susie of the title, was 'Quizzard Quizzing with Susie' which, while pleasing, did not inspire anything for the front cover. Except a picture of Susie, playing Quizzard.

If you are wondering what 'Quizzard' is, here is a picture from board game geek:

My Gran found our copy at a jumble sale, gave it to us, then reaped the whirlwind. It is quizzing, with buzzers. Genius. The buzzers make it all the more competitive. And dangerous. Except, to add to the hilarity, the questions are a good thirty years out of date. Half of them are now wrong. However, this has never stopped us.

This book may have been requested, but it does represent one of my favourite all time groups of book:

The PUZZLE BOOK.

I love them. Seriously. I always have. There's something so entertaining about them, and yet there's still a story going on, in and amongst the code breakers and mazes. I was given several of the Usborne Young Puzzles when I was little, but the ones I really liked and rediscovered this summer, having given two of them to my twenty-five year old brother, were the Agent Arthur books. We spent a week in a caravan in Yorkshire not reading our worthy grown-up books but, in fact, reading about Agent Arthur and solving his way across an island and through the desert. It's amazing how hard they make some of the puzzles, given that they're designed for children. In fact, it's slightly embarrassing. However, this does not dissuade me from wanting to write my own. If not Mount Quizzard, there's another one planned. It may turn up sometime before March. Otherwise, it may become a longer term project.

Have a puzzling good weekend adventurers.

Over and out.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Eleven

A gritty expose into the truth about dinosaurs: robots, operated by rodents. Of course.

Really, this is a hideous insight into how my mind works. It went:
Google home page-Thomas Edison-Heath Robinson-(twenty minutes looking at Heath Robinson pictures)-Wikipedia front page-Albertosaurus (blame Wikipedia front page) and then some ransom clicking while thinking which suddenly amalgamated them. I also went through ideas about robot mice and robot ghost frogs. Robots were quite prevalent today.

The Albertosaurus was heavily inspired/copied by the Wikipedia reconstruction. I was intending to just be inspired by it, and before I knew, it had reappeared, filled with engineering mice.

I should also say, this is my dream book. I loved books about mice living in mansions in strange places when I was little, (and in all honesty, now too) and you'd be surprised just how many books there are in that genre.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Ten

Yesterday was a bit of a slog. I'm still not entirely happy with it. This, however, just happened. It's a wordless book, starting with the slow stacking of jam jars on Variety packs. However, it quickly gets out of hand. The chairs get involved. As does the cat.

I'm not sure that I believe anyone who says they haven't played breakfast forts. It's the best game ever.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Nine

I'll admit- I didn't write this one. It was written in 1941 by June Hershey with the tune written by Don Swander. It is, however, begging to be turned into a children's book:


The stars at night, are big and bright,
deep in the heart of Texas,
The prairie sky is wide and high,
deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume,
deep in the heart of Texas,
Reminds me of, the one I love,
deep in the heart of Texas.

The coyotes wail, along the trail,
deep in the heart of Texas,
The rabbits rush, around the brush,
deep in the heart of Texas.
The cowboys cry, "Ki-yip-pee-yi,"
deep in the heart of Texas,
The dogies bawl, and bawl and bawl,
deep in the heart of Texas.

See? Brilliant. I drew while listening to Mr Bing Crosby sing it. He inspired me. Not that I should blame the slightly shaky coyote on him. That was all me.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Eight

It is 59 years to the day that Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen of the Commonwealth Realms. She actually became Queen 59 years and 2 days ago, but I somehow missed that. So. Anyway.

Happy Queenniversary! 

Given that there is no set gift for the 59th, I reckon that you either add 50 to 9 and give gold AND china, or 55 to 4 and give silk AND emeralds. Either way, it'll be an expensive queenniversary. That said, I did just find this. And then this, which is even more of a stretch. What do you think?

Picture Book Marathon: Day Seven

Bonus! I didn't think I had time to draw today. However, I got home early, and Puffin MacGuffin appeared. I suspect that the fedora might give him away as a Private Investigator, but he's smart. He's fast. He can go underground. Literally. 

I should warn you though, this is probably not the last time that investigators/detectives will appear. I think Puffin MacGuffin might, at some point, meet an ally. 

Picture Book Marathon: Day Six

It's Sunday. Therefore, of course, it's Biblical heroine picture book time. Esther gets her glad-rags on (everyone loves an ugly duckling transformation) and uses her womanly wiles to save her people. She's like Wonder-Woman, but without the cape. 

I was browsing the web, trying to find some inspiration and put off my stand-bys until needed, or a good story for them transpired, and first, I found a site of biblical art, which then led me to Yoram Raanan. His picture of Esther (or inspired by- it's anyone's guess) got me thinking, especially about a blog post by Shannon Hale on why there aren't more books and films about Wonder Woman. Hence, Esther. Queen, and ass-kicker.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Five

I got stuck in my car, just before Christmas, when the snow turned a three hour round-trip into twelve hours. It made me appreciate just how not-boring normal traffic jams are. The new rule: if the car moves at all, every five minutes, it's a good thing. 


So. This is the story of a family, trapped in their car, on a seemingly boring strip of road. They will, as the story progresses, discover that there are lots of interesting things to do and see while stuck in a jam. 


That is, besides counting the bottles of urine that lie by the road.


The fact that the despondent Dad looks a lot like my Dad is entirely coincidental. Kind of. 

Picture Book Marathon: Day Four

He's a rocking-horse who is also a time machine. This is, of course, the first in the series. I'm looking forward to RHTM: Ancient Rome Ahoy!

Day Eight Edit: I changed it. I'm sorry if you preferred the original, but the font was really upsetting me. This just works a lot better.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Three

I'm imagining this is as a picture book with the emphasis on the 'picture'. He laughs, he cries, he's scared...you know the score. All very eductational.

I'll admit, this does double duty as a card for friends who had a baby this week whose name, Isaac, means 'he laughs'. It just seemed meant to be. That was until I discovered how hard babies are to draw. Then I wished that I was drawing dinosaurs again.

Thanks for all the comments. Right now, I'm seriously enjoying this, but it's nice to know that other people are reading too.

Picture Book Marathon: Day Two

The city is in peril. Dinosaurs run rampant. Who can save humanity?
Pip B.
He's seven. He always has a peanut-butter and jam sandwich in his pocket. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs. And, of course, he whispers to them.
Classic.

PBM: Inspiration

I had been planning Mo Moss as some hybrid of Janine from 'Gerald McBoing-Boing' and the kids from 'Little Einsteins', but having researched them, I discovered that a) 'Little Einsteins' isn't as quite as jazzy as I had remembered it, and b) the original 'Gerald McBoing-Boing' is brilliant. I couldn't help but post it.

Picture Book Marathon: Day One

The title really explains it all. She's six. She's a detective. She has a faithful parrot companion and a mouse side-kick. I foresee flaps and the lifting thereof.