Tag Archive for Greg Ruth

Art for Sale: Sylvie Kantorovitz Wickstrom

November 28, 2010 / / One comment

My friend, the lovely and talented and confusingly-named Sylvie Kantorovitz Wickstrom . . .

. . . who was born in Casablanca, raised in France, and ended up in Albany, NY . . .

. . . where she has not only illustrated numerous children’s books . . .

. . . but has also continued to ply her craft as a fine artist . . .

. . . pretty good, right? I think her head might still be in France. I mentioned up top that Sylvie was confusingly named. Look at the book covers. She used to go by the name of Sylvie Wickstrom. Then she changed it to Sylvie Kantorovitz. She’s fun that way. We’re all waiting to see what name she’s going to come up with next. I’m quietly rooting for Sylvie Ishkabibble — just to further confuse the marketplace.

Sylvie just opened an Etsy site, where you can see (and purchase!) some of her original work for very reasonable prices. I just thought I’d give her a shout out. You know, use the powerful platform of Jamespreller.com to promote some beauty in the world.

NOTE: Greg Ruth, the illustrator of A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade, also offers many original pieces of art for sale. Just click here!

Thank you, thank you very much.

Interior illustration, chapter 2, The Haunting of Charles Dickens, by Lewis Buzbee.

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Category: Around the Web, Interviews & Appreciations / Tags: , , , ,

Pirate’s Booty & Some Snaps

October 1, 2010 / / No comments

Ahoy, me hearties! I am struggling with spacing issues for the photos, but I can’t fuss over this any longer. Sorry about the mess.

So much to talk about these days — my head is spinning with thoughts on “books for boys,” after a spate of blood-boiling articles — that I’m clearing the decks today for more focused thoughts next week.

Jonathan Liu over at Wired has caught the pirate bug:

Set your goggles double quick on this jolly good book: A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade, written by the old salt James Preller and illustrations by Greg Ruth that’ll shiver yer timbers. OK, yes, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was eleven days ago, but I didn’t discover this treasure in time. Besides, who says you can only talk like a pirate one day a year, right?
For the full review, go here. Mr. Liu goes on to say:
The best part? The end pages have a “Pirate’s Vocabulary” with all the words used throughout the book so that your kids can start talking like pirates themselves!
Quick story about that: The idea for the glossary didn’t come until late in the process, when we were staring at the layout, wondering what to do with the extra space afforded by moving from 32 to 48 pages. I suggested the glossary and Liz instantly recognized it as a good idea. Very glad that happened. The good idea, I mean. Nice to trip over one every once in a while.
Greg Ruth shared some photos from a recent bookstore experience. Thought you might enjoy them . . .
That’s Greg himself. Remember, Greg, to get that pirate gruffness, it has to come from the thromborax.
A scurvy crew of rapscallions.
Prepare to be boarded!
Arrr, this one looks like a rascal if ever there was one.
Seriously, aren’t those shots great? Isn’t this book just so much fun? I know that’s unbecoming of me to say, as the author. But I’m sometimes asked about the appeal of pirates, especially since they are clearly not positive role models for our children. And the answer is in these photos, I think. There’s always room for laughter and whimsy in a world of high seriousness. I’m proud of this book! There, I said it.

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Category: A Pirates Guide (Series), The Gender Gap in Reading / Tags: , , , ,

Overheard: “I can taste things without eating them. That’s my power!”

September 17, 2010 / / One comment

Okay, a few things:

* My daughter is an enthusiastic girl, prone to exclamations and grand pronouncements. Especially when it comes to food. Maggie loves to eat, and does so with the zeal of a rhinoceros. Last night I told her that Mom had a meeting after work, and then we had to run out for Open House Night at school, so I was ordering pizza for the boys.

“What am I going to eat?” she asked.

I said I’d order a chicken parm sub for her.

She replied:

“Really?! Today, this morning, I had the taste of chicken parm in mouth. I can taste things without eating them. That’s my power!”

* We are two days away from Talk Like a Pirate Day. With my new picture book out, A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade, it’s assumed that I’m one of those wildly extroverted guys who loves to talk like a pirate. So I’ve done a couple of radio shows, giving it my all, billowing and sputtering. These things are best filed under, “Live & Learn.”

Regrettably, due to an excess of rum and ill-advised gusto, I cut off my right hand and inserted a hook.

I hoped it would lend me street credibility, a quality that’s equally important to rappers and children’s book authors alike. But now I can only wear slip-on shoes. Arrrr.

A while back I nominated Kiss the Book for best logo image — and my support has not wavered. It’s actually a very good site, and you can find it on my handy, dandy sidebar. The good folks over there recently reviewed A Pirate’s Guide.

Here’s the booty quote:

“If you want your students to spend the next few hours speaking and acting like pirates – this is exactly the right book for you. What a fun way to start the school year – ending with a trip to the library to find the buried treasure!” — Kiss the Book.

* Lastly, two reminders: If you are within range of Tarrytown, NY, this Sunday, September 19 (which is, coincidentally “Talk Like a Pirate Day”), you’ll find me and dozens of way better authors & illustrators at “Sunnyside.” Click here for more details.

But if you are close to Ashton, MA, you can hang out with me heartie, illustrator Greg Ruth — hoist the mainsail, swill some grog, the whole magilla. I heard they are going all out for what should be a great, grand, jolly time, transforming a bookstore, Elmer’s, into a Pirate Ship! I hope Greg takes pictures. Look at the cool poster he created:

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Category: A Pirates Guide (Series), Family / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week’s Greatest Thing Ever: Around the Horn

September 8, 2010 / / 2 comments

Just thought I’d share some recent enthusiasms:

* Greg Ruth, illustrator of A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade, is selling and autographing and shipping copies of the book. Pretty sure he’s licking the stamps, too.

* I have to say it: Maggie with her summer freckles is a hoot in her new hat.

* Maria is a teacher I met on a school visit to Ohio. With more than 20 years of teaching as her guide, she recently took the plunge and started a new blog, Teaching in the 21st Century. Be sure to bookmark it. She’s everything a veteran teacher should be — still learning, still open, still eager to meet new challenges.

* Is Joe Posnanski the best baseball writer on the planet? Maybe.

* Every once in a while, a blogger steps out of his comfort zone to get real — and hits one out of the park. Nicely done, Bill.

* Speaking of fathers and their children, congratulations to Kurtis Scaletta, proud papa. This is a writer who should be on everybody’s radar. The author of Mudville and Mamba Point, he’s just beginning to let his freak flag fly. I can’t wait for what’s next.

* For my money, Arcade Fire’s new disk, “The Suburbs,” sounds like the best of 2010. Check out this innovative, interactive new video, where you need to “enter the address of the home where you grew up” for full effect. Mind-blowing.

* A short discussion guide for Bystander is now available as a FREE PDF DOWNLOAD. Scroll down and you’ll find it.

* Can’t explain exactly why, but I got choked up by this “Pink Glove Dance” video — a joyful dance to promote breast cancer awareness. Seriously, just tears rolling down my face. I think maybe it’s accumulation — all those talented, caring people dedicated to saving lives, making a difference, showing such zest for life, for making the broken whole again.

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Category: A Pirates Guide (Series), Around the Web, Bystander / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Good News from “The Wall Street Journal”

September 6, 2010 / / No comments

I returned from a wonderful camping trip at Forked Lake — four families, three campsites, seventeen folks in all — and found this great review for A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade in The Wall Street Journal.

This book has been on an amazing ride, so well received in many different places.  I’m grateful. But I have to say, because the WSJ is just one of those hallowed papers, it’s especially nice to be in there, legitimized. It would have turned my father’s head, the type of random thing he might have clipped out of the paper and mailed to me. Remember when people used to do that?

Remember Dad with the scissors in his hand, slurping coffee at the kitchen counter, pulling open drawers, searching for stamps? Not long ago, but a world and a lifetime away.

Click here to read the review in full.

Thank you, Meghan Cox Gurdon, for the kind review. The opening quote:

Young children who love pirates—and parents who might relish reading aloud with swashbuckling gusto—are going to find “A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade” just their cup of grog.

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Category: A Pirates Guide (Series) / Tags: , , ,
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