Mad about Maddie!

As I'm working on the breakdowns of the early reader graphic novel project that won first prize for the best "picture book" manuscript at the last Los Angeles SCBWI Writer's Day contest, I'm in search of the look of my characters. Maddie (shown here) will play a BIG role in this graphic novel, so I'm not going to quit sketching until she's the most adorable talkative girl in the world! What do you think? Which one do you like best?!

Loving "Flight Explorer"

At the BEA, I had the pleasure of running into Kazu Kibuishi, who edited the terrific children's graphic novel collection of short stories, Flight Explorer. I've meant to tell you about it for weeks! Yes, it's that good!!! The art in that anthology sings! The graphic novellettes by Johane Matte, Matthew S. Armstrong, and Bannister have such elegance and fun designs. Stories by Steve Hamaker, Philip Craven and Kazu blend wit, adventure, and poetry. And some characters are a riot! From the fish-in-a-bowl, who controls a sophisticated robot seeking to save the universe, to the Siamese cat with an inflated pride the size of Egyptian pyramids, but constantly stomped by distractions like teeny birds and fellow poofy cats! The anthology contains a great mix of boy and girl stories, making it likely to please any child 6 to 11 years old.

"The Hidden Life of the Burrowing Owl" in Play at Annecy

My good buddy, Mike Roush, is living his dream as we speak! His passions? 2D animation and animals. He combined them in his first solo short animation, "The Hidden Life of the Borrowing Owl." The result? It's been chosen to compete in the world's most selective animation festival, the Annecy International Film Festival in France. In fact, Mike is there right now! Check out the website for "The Hidden Life of the Borrowing Owl," The trailer doesn't show much, but the images in the gallery are superb! Way to go, Mike!!!