My hilarious interview with Ivy and Bean

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Saturday 13 October is International Ivy + Bean Day, when we celebrate two very cool characters created by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall.  Book shops and libraries all over the world (including here in New Zealand) are having special Ivy + Bean parties.  I’m hosting one in my library, with activities, games, giveaways and a reading of the latest Ivy + Bean story.  Here is Annie Barrows to tell you all about International Ivy + Bean Day:

I sat down with Ivy and Bean to ask them a few questions about their favourite things and what they like about each other.  Thanks for joining us Ivy and Bean!

  • How did the two of you meet?

Ivy: Bean was running away from home.

Bean: I had to run away from home. Because of Nancy. That’s my older sister.

Ivy: You had to run away from home because you wiggled your behind at Nancy.

Bean: But I wouldn’t have wiggled my behind at her if she hadn’t been trying to get me in trouble.

Ivy: But she wouldn’t have been trying to get you in trouble if you hadn’t taken her twenty dollars.

Bean: But I wouldn’t have taken her twenty dollars if she hadn’t been such a tightwad.

Ivy: So really, it was Nancy who helped us meet.

Bean: Sometimes Nancy’s okay.

  • What do you like best about your friend?

Bean: She can cross one eye without crossing the other.

Ivy: One time, Bean ate wood for a dollar.

  • Who is the most annoying person you know?

Ivy: There’s this girl named Nellie in the book I’m reading who’s really annoying. She says mean things about the main girl’s dog.

Bean: She’s not real. You can’t say she’s the most annoying person you know, because you don’t really know her.

Ivy: I know her. I’m reading about her.

Bean: But she’s not real. She’s in a book. You have to say someone real.

Ivy: You.

Bean: You.

  • What is your favourite food?

Bean: Syrup! Or doughnut holes! I love doughnut holes! I can stick four of them in my mouth at once and then I smash them flat between my tongue and the top of my mouth. It’s great!

Ivy: Chocolate mousse. I used to think it was made out of moose.

  • What do you want to do when you grow up?

Ivy: I’m going to be a witch.

Bean: I’m going to write the fortunes that go inside fortune cookies. Or be an arborist. I haven’t decided.

  • What is your most embarrassing moment?

Bean:  I don’t want to talk about it.  Sometimes, people are thinking about other stuff and aren’t paying attention every single little second and they don’t exactly see where they’re going and it’s not their fault.

Ivy: It could have happened to anyone. It probably does happen to almost everyone, but maybe not when twenty-six other kids are watching.

Bean: And their parents.

Ivy: Never mind.  They probably would have painted that part of the room over anyway.

  • What’s the craziest scheme you’ve ever come up with?

Ivy: Crazy?

Bean: Crazy?

Ivy: Do we do anything crazy?

Bean: Nah. He must be talking about someone else.

Picture Book Nook: Stupid Baby by Stephanie Blake

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One of my favourite picture books from last year was Stephanie Blake’s Poo Bum!, published by the wonderful Gecko Press.  It’s a book that kids immediately love (and end up repeating Simon’s favourite phrase) and divides adults (they either love it or hate it).  Thanks to Gecko Press I have a Poo Bum badge that I wear with pride in the library, which makes a great talking point.  Gecko Press have just published Stephanie Blake’s second book featuring Simon the rabbit, Stupid Baby, and it’s just as hilarious as Poo Bum!

In Stupid Baby, Simon has just gotten a new baby brother.  Simon is always getting told off because he’s making too much noise.  Of course, Simon doesn’t like his new brother at all and wants the ‘stupid baby’ to go back to where he came from.  His parents tell him that the baby is here to stay, but he won’t stay forever will he? What a stupid baby!

Stupid Baby is a spectacular picture book!  I loved Simon in Poo Bum and he is certainly on fine form in this book.  He’s such an amusing character, who is pretty horrible, but loveable at the same time.  Although he acts all tough and mean, he worries just as much as most kids.  He’s scared of the dark and the wolves that are coming to get him, and he’s scared that his baby brother might stay forever.  The text is simple, but the wonderful translation and the design of the text make the story special.  The variation of the text size helps the reader to put the emphasis in the right place, whether it’s the Ka-boom! of the rocket or whispering around the teeny, tiny baby.  Stephanie Blake’s illustrations are big, bold and bright (similar to Lucy Cousins’ illustrations) making them appealing to kids.  There is no white space in Stupid Baby, every page is colourful.  The bright red cover, with Simon in his superhero outfit, jumps off the shelf and shouts ‘READ ME!’  I love the page where Simon is worrying about all sorts of things, as his expression goes from worried to angry.  I also love Simon’s wide-eyed expression when he’s worrying about the wolves.

The ending is unexpected and will have kids rolling around on the floor laughing.  Get a copy of Stupid Baby now and meet the worst role model in the picture book world.

This is Not My Hat Blog Tour – Interview with Jon Klassen

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Jon Klassen is an incredibly talented author and illustrator from the US.  He writes and illustrates his own books, as well as illustrating others’ books.  The first book he wrote and illustrated, I Want My Hat Back, has won many awards, including a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honour Award.  His latest book, This is Not My Hat, is one of my favourite picture books of the year (you can read my review here).  Today I’m joined by Jon Klassen on his This is Not My Hat Blog Tour.  I asked Jon about his illustrations, his obsession with hats, and humour in his books.

How do you create your illustrations?

For I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat, I made the shapes of the plants and animals with black chinese ink and cut them out and scanned them into the computer and added color and detail to them afterwards. It’s a nice process because it lets you be loose and try a lot of things out and then choose your favorites and put them together in one illustration later.

Your illustrations have a very limited colour palette. Why do you choose these colours?

I don’t think I choose a limited palette on purpose, it’s just what I like, but for these stories it is useful because there are things that can get emphasized by strong color when it’s needed. Also I just like things to feel a little calm. I think you can get interesting stories that still feel like the colors aren’t firing on all cylinders all the time.

Both of your own stories (I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat) have focused on hats. What is your fascination with hats?

I try not to tie too much of myself into the books, but I do wear a hat a lot of the time. But I think, for these stories, hats are great because they are kind of unnecessary. The stories are about characters that want the hats badly, but not for any practical reason, so it becomes really emotional. Also, for younger readers, they are an easy thing to spot and a fun thing to see on a character who wants to put it on.

Your books feature subtle humour that children and adults love. How important is humour in picture books?

Thank you! I don’t think humor is totally necessary, but I think it’s hard to find a good picture book without it because the format sets up jokes so nicely with turning the page. It’s a great way to time a joke. Plus it’s hard to keep younger kids’ attention without either making them laugh or scaring them. I also think it’s a good sign when a story makes you laugh because it means other things are working well too, most of the time.

As well as an author and illustrator of picture books, what other hats do you wear?

I work on animated projects sometimes, though mostly as a concept or background illustrator, and sometimes I do editorial illustrations for newspapers and things. Last year I taught a class at Calarts, but those kids are too good.

Do you prefer writing and illustrating your own books or illustrating others’ books?

I like both. I think if you get an idea you like on your own, doing it all yourself is more exciting because you can really fine tune both sides of it, but I always really enjoy seeing the stuff that comes out of illustrating other people’s stories. Getting an assignment is always a different sort of challenge than just coming up with whatever you want, and you can dive into the illustrating right away.

Are you more of a big fish or a small fish?

It depends on the day, I guess, but if I’m honest, there are probably more small fish days than big fish days.

Thanks for joining me Jon!  Make sure you join Elizabeth O. Dulemba on her blog tomorrow for the next stop on Jon’s blog tour.

 

Picture Book Nook: If You’re a Kiwi and You Know It! sung by Pio Terei, illustrations by Stevie Mahardhika

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Children love singing and dancing to songs like ‘The Wheels on the Bus,’ ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm,’ and ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It.’  In the last few years there have been a number of books, based on these action songs, that have been given a Kiwi twist.  Donovan Bixley’s The Wheels on the Bus and Old MacDonald’s Farm, and Do Your Ears Hang Low by The Topp Twins and Jenny Cooper, are recent favourites of mine.  Scholastic New Zealand, along with Kiwi entertainer Pio Terei and illustrator Stevie Mahardhika, have just released a Kiwi version of ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It,’ called If You’re a Kiwi and You Know It!

They have taken the original action song and given it a Kiwi twist by adding in some of our wonderful wildlife.  Kids can join in the song and dig for worms like a kiwi, dive and play like a dolphin, strut around like a pukeko, slither away like an eel, and many more.  The actions are easy to do and you can have a lot of fun pretending to be different creatures.  Stevie Mahardhika’s illustrations are beautiful and they get funnier as you go through the book.  I love how each of the animals pretends to be a different animal (the kiwi and pukeko trying to dive like a dolphin and flap their flippers like a seal are absolutely hilarious!).

The book comes with a great CD of Pio Terei singing the song (and just the guitar accompaniment), as well as a Te Reo Maori version of the song.  Thank you so much Scholastic New Zealand for including the Te Reo version of the song on the CD and for including the Te Reo lyrics in the back of the book (rather than as a separate book).  This is a godsend for librarians like myself who will use this book and CD in their preschool sessions in the library, and for parents all over the country.  We certainly need more bilingual books of this quality.  Get a copy of If You’re a Kiwi and You Know It! from your library or bookshop now, and sing and dance along with our wonderful wildlife.

4 out of 5 stars

Win A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo

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A Medal for Leroy is Michael Morpurgo’s latest book.  It’s a story of war, love and family secrets from this master storyteller.  If you haven’t read a Michael Morpurgobook you don’t know what you’re missing.

Thanks to everyone who entered.  This competition is now closed.

 

Picture Book Nook: This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

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When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened…

This Is Not My Hat is a perfect picture book. The story is quirky and captures children’s attention, the illustrations are wonderful and the ending is unexpected.  The thing that really makes this picture book stand out for me is that the illustrations tell a slightly different story to the text.  Tiny fish tells us that Big Fish probably won’t wake up for a long time and that he probably won’t notice that his hat is gone, but the illustrations tell us that this is not the case.  The humour of the story comes from these mismatched illustrations and text.  This just goes to show you what an incredibly talented story teller Jon is and the wonderful things that can be achieved in the 32 pages of a picture book.

Jon’s illustrations are quite basic, but he has managed to convey so much humour and emotion on each page.  I love the way that Big Fish’s expression changes when he realises something isn’t quite right and he figures out pretty quickly what has happened.  Jon uses a very limited colour palette in his illustrations (mostly brown, green, blue, grey and black) and these set the tone of the story.  It’s not all bright and colourful so you know straight away that it’s not going to be a bright and happy story.  I like the way that the story moves with the fish (swimming away towards the right) and the way that Jon shows this movement through the bubbles that follow each of the fish.

My absolute favourite thing about This is Not My Hat is the surprise ending that shocks you and also makes you laugh.  After reading I Want My Hat Back I kind of expected a shocking ending but it still made me laugh, and I’m sure children will too.  If you want a picture book that you will enjoy even more than the children you’re reading it to, get a copy of This is Not My Hat from your library or bookshop now.

5 out of 5 stars

Join me tomorrow when I host Jon Klassen on his This is Not My Hat blog tour.  I’ll be asking Jon about being an author/illustrator, how he creates his illustrations, and what he does when he’s not working on books.

Nic’s Cookbook by Nicholas Brockelbank

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Is there a kid in your life who loves cooking or would love to learn how to cook?  You have to get them Nic’s Cookbook, by an inspirational young New Zealander called Nicholas Brockelbank.

Nic lives with muscular dystrophy and was the 2012 ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). He started cooking when one of his teachers suggested it might help with his schoolwork, and has since shown significant improvements in reading, spelling and maths. He put together his first ‘cookbook’ when he was eight years old, as a Christmas present for family and friends. This photocopied booklet of recipes was so popular he wrote another one and set up a website (www.nicocool.com) to sell the recipe books and artwork to raise money for the MDA, the Christchurch Earthquake Relief Fund and the True Colours Charitable Trust. The website also describes aspects of Nic’s life with muscular dystrophy from his point of view, like having a wheelchair and undertaking lots of hospital appointments and tests.

Nic, with the help of his mum and the wonderful people at Scholastic New Zealand, has produced his own cookbook, that contains some very yummy, easy-to-make recipes.  They’re perfect for kids who want to learn how to cook and it’s all food that kids will love, from savouries and rice paper rolls to chocolate slice and lamingtons.  There are heaps of photos to show you the delicious food and to help kids with the trickier parts of the recipes.  The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow and Nic gives you lots of handy hints throughout the book.  There’s a very handy page at the start of the book which helps kids to understand the different terms used in the recipes and what each of the measurement abbreviations mean.  The things I really like about the book are that Nic lists the equipment needed for each recipe and he tells you how many people each recipe should serve.

Not only is Nic’s Cookbook full of great recipes, it’s also great value.  It’s only $10 and 50% of the royalties from the book are going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  At that price you can grab one for every kid you know!

Celebrate Jon Klassen’s new picture book This is Not My Hat

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This week I’m celebrating the release of Jon Klassen’s new picture book, This is Not My Hat.  Jon is an incredibly talented author and illustrator and his books are fantastic!  The last book he both wrote and illustrated, I Want My Hat Back, has won numerous awards, including a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award.

Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing This is Not My Hat and on Wednesday I have an interview with Jon Klassen as part of his This is Not My Hat blog tour.  Check out the book trailer:

Maddy West and the Tongue Taker by Brian Falkner

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Characters in Brian Falkner’s books have saved the world from a deadly virus, discovered the recipe for Coca-Cola, developed super powers, traveled in time, and been chased by black lions.  In Brian’s latest book, Maddy West and the Tongue Taker, an evil witch is stealing people’s ability to talk, and it’s up to Maddy and her friends to stop her.

Maddy West can speak every language in the world. When she is asked to translate some ancient scrolls, Maddy is excited. But the scrolls hide many secrets. Secrets that send Maddy on a wild adventure with a stowaway ninja, a mysterious monkey, a Bulgarian wrestler and a fiendish witch. And soon Maddy finds herself in deadly peril. Does Maddy have what it takes to save herself and her new friends?

Maddy West and the Tongue Taker is an action-packed, magic-filled adventure that has something for everyone.  There’s a girl who can speak every language known to man (some that haven’t been spoken for thousands of years), a very clever monkey, a ninja that can go invisible, a giant Bulgarian wrestler, a witch, ancient scrolls, magic, and lots of spiders and cockroaches. The story is full of twists and turns, so you’re not sure who to trust and whose side of the story to believe.

Maddy is a very cool character.  She has an amazing gift that she uses to help people, especially those who speak another language.  She helps her friend Kazuki and the giant Dimitar by translating for them so that others can understand them or so they can understand the horrible situation that they’re in.  Maddy is also very brave and isn’t afraid to stand up to the dangerous people she meets.  Kazuki is a funny character, who is a loyal friend to Maddy and a ninja who can make himself invisible.  He does his best to protect Maddy, including stowing away on her plane to Bulgaria.  Some of the adults in the story are really annoying, like Maddy’s mum who only seems to be interested in how much money she can make, but there are others, like Dimitar, who are friendly and do all they can to help Maddy.

I love Donovan Bixley’s cover and his illustrations throughout the book.  I’m a huge fan of illustrated novels for children and Donovan’s black and white illustrations add to the excitement and suspense of the story.  I love the way that he has brought Brian’s characters to life, especially Dimitar and Maddy.

Maddy West and the Tongue Taker is a great read for 9+, especially if you liked Brian’s last book, Northwood.  It’s perfect for anyone who likes adventure, mystery and magical stories.  Get it now from your library or bookshop.

4 out of 5 stars

You can enter my competition to win 1 of 3 copies of Maddy West and the Tongue Taker here on the blog.