Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Aht on the North Shore

There is still time to see some of my artwork in person in the North Shore!

Head to Wavepaint Gallery. (And do say hello to gallery owner and old RISD classmate Barbara for me.)



And while you are in the area, head to the Gallery Della-Piana. (And do say hello to my old Montserrat College of Art colleague Elissa for me. Don't forget to stop in next door and see the amazing work of seamstress Harper Della-Piana.)










There are lots of fantastic artists whose works are on display as well. Look! It's Kelly Murphy! Prepare for your jaw to drop. Her paintings are awesome.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Strong Island

I'm about to make every librarian who has ever used an overhead projector jealous. These bulletin boards at Marion School in Lynbrook, Long Island were drawn free-hand!










There were evil Flippy Bunnies everywhere! The final count for bunnies? 320. Seriously. 320. I know, right?


But wait—don't fret my creative librarian friends. You still have a shot at HGTV's Next Top Design Librarian. The artwork for these bulletins were created by a PTO mom, who also happens to be a professional illustrator. It's Kelly Light! Look for her books to appear on bookshelves very, very soon! I'll say I knew her when!


Monday, March 29, 2010

Melted Down

On Saturday, approximately 3,500 attendees headed to Meltdown and they were ready to have some fun. Here are some pictures of the authors doing their thing on stage.


Scott Fischer:


Diane deGroat:

Grace Lin:

Mo Willems:



Big thanks to all of the authors who came out, The Odyssey Bookshop for having their books on hand and of course to everyone at 93.9 The River for making Meltdown a reality for a 2nd year.

For more pictures, check out my Facebook photo album.

And for the music side of things, check out Bill Childs' Facebook photo album.

See yah next year!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Meltdown! Radio interview w/Mo Willems






Listen to Mo Willems chat with Monte, of 93.9 The River, about his books, writing for Sesame Street and the upcoming Meltdown!



The Meltdown goes down this Saturday from 10-4 at JFK Middle School in Florence, MA.

Want This?


If you are heading to the Meltdown tomorrow, you could go home with this original Lunch Lady artwork. Just buy yourself a few, if not a thousand, raffle tickets. 100% of the proceeds go to The Lilly Library, our local Florence library, to purchase books for their children's collection.

Look for this at the River table, just as you enter the main room.

See you there!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Meltdown! a radio chat about the authors




I stopped by the the studios of 93.9 The River to chat with Monte about the upcoming Meltdown!




The Meltdown goes down this Saturday from 10-4 at JFK Middle School in Florence, MA.

Stay tuned for more author interviews ahead of this Saturday's Meltdown!

**In the interview, when I say 5th book, I meant 4th book. The 4th LL book comes out next month, but I'm currently working on the art for the 5th book. Deadline dementia...

Friday, March 19, 2010

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

It doesn't get much better than this! A few weeks back, I had a great visit with the students at Prospect Hill Academy in Somerville, MA. The school is just around the corner from the apartment that I moved to upon graduating RISD. It was cool to drive by and see the windows of the room that was once the studio where my career began. But this blog post isn't about my sentimental blabbering. It's about these amazing projects that the students made ahead of my visit! Librarian extrordinaire, Mrs. Kugel, gave a self-directed assignment. Make something, anything creative, based on my books for a chance to win your way into a pizza party.

I was amazed. Check out the awesomeness below! (Not pictured: a rap written and performed by one student and braces with yellow rubber bands on another student.)

LL in 3-D!


The whole gang!


A Mustard Grappling Hook!


This Apple Alarm was rigged up to actually work!






This book had a more thorough analysis on
the science behind LL's gadgets than I give in the books!
Betty would be jealous!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Meltdown!


It's just about time to Meltdown! Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 27th. This is the 2nd year of "Meltdown! The River's Family Music and Book Fest". Gina and I are very excited about the authors that we've lined up for this year.

At 11:40 AM, Scott Fischer will read from (and perform) his brand spankin' new book Jump! (Already in it's 3rd printing, get 'em while they're hot!)


At 12:40 PM, Diane deGroat will instruct us all on what dogs do and do not do in Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth—the book that she co-created with Shelley Rotner and that Time declared as one of the best kids' books of 2010.


At 1:40 PM, Grace Lin will tell us all about her books and perhaps give us some of the scoop on Al Roker, the Newbery Honor and the wild ride she has been having with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon!





And finally at 2:40 PM, CaldecottGuiselEmmy award winner Mo Willems will take the stage. Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny and his whole gang will be joined by his most awesome new book series—Cat the Cat! Come out and see if the Pigeon gets to drive the bus.




And of course that is just the book side of the things. The incredible Bill Childs, of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, has programed a stellar line-up of rockin' kids' bands. (Bill has even put together a downloadable album featuring the performing bands. A code will be given out at the event to access the music online.) There will be River DJs reading books, vendors and many other surprising surprises throughout the day.

It all goes down from 10AM to 4PM on March 27th.

And the best part? It is all FREE!!!

Check out www.rivermeltdown.com for all of the details on the day!

(And of course, big ups to the River for all of their work in making the day happen!)