Today’s book is by Peter Brown, and I met him yesterday!
First, the meeting at Hicklebee’s.
I just barely made it there on time, due to spraining my foot.
Good news? While waiting at Urgent Care I drafted out my PiBoIdMo post.
Silver lining, silver lining…
I really loved how Peter really addressed the children
as the main audience during his presentation.
He asked how many liked writing stories.
And how many liked to draw.
Of course all the hands went up.
“And I get paid to do that!” he said,
and then quickly added,
“I had to work really hard but now I have a really cool job.”
He talked about Creepy Carrots.
“I knew I would have fun making the pictures and reading it outloud,” he said.
The manuscript got sent to him and pictures just started popping up in his head while he read it.
“Like the Twilight Zone,”
which none of the kids got,
so it was funny to hear him explain to the kids that stuff used to only be in black and white.
He said he looked at old movie posters
And knew he wanted the book to be in black and white…
and..
orange.
Because, well, it IS about carrots.
I LOVED when he said to the children:
“I encourage you to NEVER STOP making art.”
Someone asked him how he made his things look real.
He said, “You don’t have to make your drawings look realistic…
people just need to know what they’re looking at.”
I like that he pointed out the bunny on Creepy Carrots
doesn’t look like a real bunny at all, but we all know it’s a bunny,
and even though it ‘s cartoony, it works!
Then he took the pen and started drawing.
He said drawing can be simple if you can draw a
straight,
curvy,
And squiggly line.
And the secret?
You just have to know how to put them together.
He walked us through the drawing of a creepy carrot.
At one point it looked goofy…
until the eyebrows came in and
POOF!
Instant Creepy Carrot!
He drew some squiggly grass and said, “luckily grass is easy.”
A little girl in front of me nodded her head and said to her mom, “Grass is SOOO easy!”
He said Children Make Terrible Pets came from him wanting to take every wild creature home as a pet when he was a child.
And what about the book for today, The Curious Garden?
He said the idea came when he discovered old NYC railroad tracks that were raised up,
like in the book,
and they were overrun with flowers and natural plants.
And he thought, what if all of this wilderness spread with the help of people throughout the city?
One last thing.
I got up there to talk to him and realized…
I FORGOT SINGE SINGE.
In all the “I can barely walk” drama of the morning,
Singe Singe was still in bed.
And clearly he made no effort to get out on his own.
I panicked.
And reached into my bag to discover:
Philipe. My sock monkey cozied waterbottle.
He never had a name until about half a year ago,
when a child at a school I was doing programs at asked what his name was.
I said I didn’t know.
The boy suggested Philip.
I said it would have to be Philippe, since Singe Singe is French.
The boy agreed.
So I’m talking to Peter and I said,
“Ok, so my sock monkey, Singe Singe, he’s met many authors and illustrators.
But he’s not here today…so, can you take a picture with his stand in, my waterbottle?”
Peter said he has been asked to take many pictures before,
but never with a waterbottle.
So, here is the first picture of Peter Brown and a waterbottle.
Enjoy.
Where’s Singe Singe?
Find out tomorrow.
And onto the book for today! (finally!)
Title: The Curious Garden
Published by: Little, Brown, and Company
Written by: Peter Brown
Illustrated by: Peter Brown
In one word: Growth.
In one sentence: One little boy’s garden grows and grows all over the city and transforms it for everyone.
Favorite pages:
Best EVER!
Likes:
- Reading this book will make you want to grow something. Period. I LOVE THAT.
- The illustrations are so sweet…I love when it’s raining.
- The story gets so exciting that right in the middle there’s a few wordless spreads.
- A few times the art is put into “split spreads” where there’s two spreads; one going across the tops of the two pages, another going across the bottom. It’s such a simple design but it’s so cool.
- Liam is such a lovely little gardener.
- It’s a quiet but exciting story at the same time.
- Awesome author’s note too.
Learns:
- Gardens are great, though I think I already knew that.
- There is a way to have a quiet and exciting book at the same time.
- Peter Brown’s awesome. Simply, AWESOME!
It’s Bookshelf, it’s BOOKSHELF TIME!
Ok, must ice foot before work.
The doctor actually suggested I ice it while driving…
and then I said,
“well, actually, I drive a standard car so I kind of need my left foot…”
Funny.
Hope everyone’s Wednesday is going great!
KE and Singe Singe
I think Philipe did an amazing job standing in for Singe Singe. 🙂 Funny thing, I have a sock monkey wine bottle cozy I named Jacques!
Today I read “Creak! Said The Bed” by Phylllis Root and illustrated by Regan Dunnick. I had never heard of this story, but it looked like fun on the library shelf so we picked it up. Duncan, the 2 year old I nanny, loves it! Its been a favorite all week!
Its fun to read aloud with lots of repetition. Amazon says, “It’s the middle of the night. Everyone’s snoozing in bed when out of the darkness, squeak goes the door. Mama’s eyes fly open. Who is awake? Evie? Ivy? Little Mo? On a stormy night in a little house, only Papa keeps snoring away — snurkle, snark — unaware of the wild weather outside and the growing number of nervous bedmates within. Can nothing wake him? Creak! says the bed. . . . With a cumulative series of comical events, this delightful story sends readers barreling toward bedlam.”
Check it out!
I love Phyllis Root, I will have to check this one out.
Also, I think Sock Monkeys just lend themselves to French names…we will have to get our sock monkeys together sometime!
Okay, I’m in love — with a book. I have just read “I Love You, Mouse” by John Graham, with illustrations by Tomie dePaola (!) three times. Or was it four? Apparently it was first issued in black and white, but is now back in print in color. It’s a simple story of a little boy telling various animals that he loves them, and what he’d do for them if he were one of them. Simple and sweet. Tomie dePaola’s illustrations put it over the edge into love territory.
Each double-page spread features one animal, such as “I love you, mouse, and if I were a mouse, I’d make you a furry nest. And we’d curl up together and nibble some cheese.” The left page shows the boy encountering the animal, and the right page shows them together, with him as a mouse, or a kitten, or a pig… If one looks closely, each illustration has the animal of the next spread peeking out from somewhere, a tantalizing hint. It took me half-way through the first reading to realize that, so on the next reading, I looked for the peeking animals. (I still haven’t found an owlet in the bunny spread, perhaps that’s just as well.) Then I realized that as the pages progress, the day progresses as well, and it starts to get dark, and the boy’s father appears, small at first, then larger, then finally in the last spread he’s holding the sleepy boy and telling him he loves him, and putting him to bed.
Bonuses on the last spread — there’s a picture of Strega Nona on the wall, and on the bed there’s a SOCK MONKEY!!!
I really need a sock monkey.
And now to your book of the day, Kathy Ellen (sorry to leave it for last, but I just had to spill forth about “I Love You, Mouse!” I am dreadfully sorry that you’ve sprained your ankle, and hope it will heal quickly. Ice is important. Too bad you drive a standard… Great that you got to meet Peter Brown anyway, and that Philippe was available as a stand-in for Singe Singe. (Watch for signs that Philippe tries to entice Singe Singe to stay home, now.) The book you shared today sounds wonderful. Have you read “Rose’s Garden” by Peter H. Reynolds? I think you’d like it.
I may have to go get myself a sock monkey.
Beth, I love that you are in love with a book! That’s the best kind of love I think! Your book sounds absolutely sweet! I will HAVE to check it out….I haven’t heard of Rose’s Garden, which is weird, because otherwise I’ve read all of Peter H. Reynold’s books, I believe.
And yes, I fully support more sock monkeys in the world.
If you can sew, I can send you instructions! 🙂
Hope you are better really soon, Kathy!
Of course I love your book pick…I read it yesterday. 🙂 It is so cool that you seize the opportunity to meet with authors/illustrators whenever possible. 🙂
Today I read “Cat Tale” by Michael Hall. In this story, three cats play with words…and other things. The illustrations are bold, colorful and propel you onward. The text is…confusing at times…but perhaps that is the point. 🙂 I think it is a clever fun story that young kids will love!
Sounds like a fun cat book!
Yes, I seize the opportunity when I can…and that’s most times!
Foot is feeling better now!
I’ve seen that book, The Curious Garden, but I don’t think I read it. I’ll have to look for it again. Your creepy carrot looks great, too, as well as the photo with your water bottle! I hope your foot heals quickly!
I was happy to finally read a book by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen titled “The Mine-o-saur.” This is online at We Give Books. I like how she mixed rhyming pages with prose pages and the familiar plot using the rule of 3 and a cute twist at the end.
Mine-o-saur…sounds awesome. And mixing prose and rhyming pages sounds really cool too…thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out!
Hi Kathy!
I SOOO look forward to your moments with authors and illustrators…and I think Philippe makes a great stand in for Singe Singe!
OMG! Today I read the cutest book ever! Ten Moonstruck Piglets by Lindsay Lee Johnson and illustrated by Carll Cneut. This cute story is about some piglets who sneak outside when the moon is full and Mama is asleep. I think the author used every possible action word to say what those piggies were doing as they play in the dark. And I absolutely loved all the intricate details the illustrator put into each drawing! THIS book tops my Christmas wish list!! ;~)
Donna L Martin
http://www.donnalmartin.com
http://www.donasdays.blogspot.com
Thanks, Philippe will be glad to hear that he is a good stand in 🙂
This book sounds adorable…who doesn’t love the idea of sneaking out. Thanks for sharing…going to look at it on amazon right now!
Great pic of Peter and the water bottle!
We read CECIL, THE PET GLACIER by Matthea Harvey and Giselle Potter. I found this book to be hilarious and laughed out loud numerous times. It is a story about a little girl, Ruby, who has very strange parents and she indeed acquires a glacier for a pet.
One of my favorite lines that describe Ruby’s parents, “On the plane, Ruby stared at the photographs inside her passport while her parents drank milk-and-Cokes (their favorite invented drink) and played miniature Ping-Pong on their foldout trays.”
There are so many more funny lines, but I don’t want to spoil them.
I love that this book was presented in a very serious manner, but it was very funny. Quite a little quirky book!
I think I’ve heard about this book…and how could it go wrong with a girl with a pet glacier! Thanks for the review Eric…I love books that are laugh outloud!
Nice save with the water bottle sock monkey. Silly Singe Singe, deciding to take the day off when you were going to see Peter Brown. I really want to read CREEPY CARROTS. I’ll have to look for it when I’m at the boostore next.
Today I re-read MADELINE. I like to quote Ms. Clavel in a French accent whenever something is not right.
I love that you quote Ms. Clavel in a French accent when something is not right! My brothers and sister and I often quote from the Madeline tv show…they would do this little grace, but with a french accent:
We luv hour bread
We luv hour butair,
but most of all
we luv each oth-air.
I think I will be Madeline some Halloween.
So sorry to hear about the sprain! I hope it’s feeling lots better now.
Love the picture of Peter Brown with your sock monkey cozy. I guess even Singe Singe needs a day off from time to time.
Since this is a Peter Brown post, I’ll pop MR. TIGER GOES WILD on this day. He visited us at the Reading Reptile and read it with a PUPPET SHOW. I keep returning to it because it’s fun. (In all honesty, I like the nudity.)