Re-Seussify Seuss Challenge

In case you missed it, this week’s results for School Library Journal’s Fuse #8 Re-Seussify Seuss challenge were in, and they were pretty spectacular! The mission, as set forth by children’s lit guru Betsy Bird, was to draw a spread from a Dr. Seuss book, but in the style of ANOTHER famous picture book artist. I was inspired by the fun mash-up idea, and pulled off the image of Yertle The Turtle in the style of Arnold Lobel, above.

The idea for the image itself came to me pretty easily. It’s no surprise that I love drawing turtles, and Yertle The Turtle is a family favorite. The reptile vs. amphibian factor – Yertle crossed with Frog and Toad – was amusing to me as well. In particular, I wanted to try my hand at Arnold Lobel’s style. I thought the limited palette with textured graphite would be fun, and his characters and watercolors lend themselves easily to my own style. Plus, he’s a fellow Pratt alum!

I learned a lot about Arnold Lobel’s creative process from this video with his daughter, Adrianne Lobel.  She sought to replicate her father’s paintings when she colored Arnold Lobel’s unfinished The Frogs and Toads All Sang:

I am very interested in Lobel’s use of color separations to make the Frog and Toad illustrations, and I wish I could find more on the subject. While Adrianne went with full-color in her recent interpretation, I wanted to imitate the 2-color (and black) separations by sticking to a green layer, a brown layer, and dark graphite.  I’m pleased with the result and think it was rather successful, if I do say so myself.

Now go check out Betsy’s post for the other mind-blowing creative Re-Seussification mash-ups!

I Forsee Kids’ Books In Your Future…

For years, I’ve been brainstorming ways to combine astrology and children’s books.  There’s just something about the subject that has fascinated me, from the day I picked up my first book as a preteen and promptly fled to the library to pore over star charts, drawing in great detail what each “star sign” would look like personified.  I still look at horoscopes for fun, and genuinely feel that there has to be some kind of eerie truth to the fact that our birth determines some aspects of our personality.

And while I haven’t figured out a way to make astrology widely marketable for the younger set, today’s post at School Library Journal’s Fuse #8 blog certainly poses a fun alternative: make your own horoscopes, based on the children’s books from your birth year!  To make your own, check it out and post there!

1988

Matilda (Roald Dahl) + The Way Things Work (David Macaulay) + Catwings (Ursula LeGuin) + Free Fall (David Wiesner)

You have the ability to get things done in a most extraordinary way.  In fact, you are so exceptional that it’s bound to feel a little surreal, so don’t let yourself wander off into the clouds. If you let any loose ends fly about, you could end up falling off the deep end.  Instead – take apart each task piece by piece and stay close to home, and you’ll be sure to make it work.