This week, contemporary illustrators look back on their childhood art in a new exhibit; Tochi Onyebuchi and Dhonielle Clayton stop by the NYPL’s Schomburg Center; Scholastic’s publicity team wraps for a good cause; Miss New Mexico Teen meets her picture book heroine, Jan Brett; Luke Flowers and a familiar guest visit a Colorado Barnes & Noble; and Vashti Harrison talks veggies.
When I Grow Up
“Now & Then: Contemporary Illustrators and Their Childhood Art,” co-curated by author-illustrators Grace Lin and Jarrett J. Krosoczka, recently opened at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass. On view until May 10, 2020, the exhibit features the childhood drawings of 19 artists, including Lin and Krosoczka, alongside their published illustrations. Here, eight of the 19 featured artists attend the opening of the exhibit, where they signed books, participated in drawing activities, and spoke on how to foster the talent of young artists. Pictured (from l.): Raúl the Third, Elisa Kleven, Evan Turk, Grace Lin, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Shadra Strickland, Barbara Lehman, and Don Tate.
Black Magic
Co-presented by the New York Public Library’s MyLibraryNYC and NYPL Ambassador Angela Yee’s book club, Tochi Onyebuchi (War Girls, Razorbill) (r.) and Dhonielle Clayton (The Everlasting Rose, Freeform) (c.) recently visited the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, N.Y., for an event titled “MyAuthorsNYC with Tochi Onyebuchi & Dhonielle Clayton.” In conversation with Yee (l.), the authors spoke to students from various NYC schools about their writing processes, African-American representation in YA literature, and the importance of diverse books. A q&a session followed.
It’s a Wrap
On December 12, the Scholastic publicity team stopped by the Center for Urban Community Services in East Harlem, N.Y., where they wrapped gifts for the children in CUCS’s supportive housing programs. CUCS is a New York-based organization that provides housing, health, and social services for vulnerable inhabitants of New York City.
That’s My Girl
On Wednesday, December 11, the Farmington Public Library and Farmington Municipal Schools in Farmington, N.M., hosted Family Literacy Night. As part of her fall tour for The Tale of the Tiger Slippers (Putnam), author-illustrator Jan Brett was the featured guest. More than 475 people turned out for the event, which included holiday literacy activities. Books were available for sale courtesy of Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colo. Pictured here, Brett meets Miss New Mexico Teen, Valeria Marquez-Mejia, who is an active proponent of REFORMA de Nuevo Mexico, which delivers First Book bilingual and multicultural books in backpacks with personal hygiene items to children at the borders. Marquez read the Spanish translation of Brett’s The Mitten (Puffin) to immigrant children at the New Mexico border.
Fozziwig’s Party
Last Saturday, illustrator Luke Flowers dropped by Barnes & Noble Briargate in Colorado Springs, Colo., to celebrate his newest book, The Muppet Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Holiday Classic (Insight Kids), written by Brooke Vitale. Guests enjoyed a reading with Luke’s childhood Kermit puppet, a drawing demonstration, coloring, and crafts. Like the Muppets’ musical film that it adapts, this picture book casts the Muppets in roles from Dickens’s classic novella.
Call Any Vegetable
Earlier this month, author-illustrator Vashti Harrison stopped by Oakhurst Elementary School in Decatur, Ga. Harrison had numerous events in the area, co-hosted by Little Shop of Stories, to promote her latest book, Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History (Little, Brown). Here, Harrison speaks to 250 first and second grade students at Oakhurst, teaching the children how to draw their own little legends by using different vegetables to illustrate anatomy.
