Archive for A Pirates Guide (Series)

Fan Mail Wednesday #103 (The Video Edition!)

December 9, 2010 / / 2 comments

Any author can answer a letter the old-fashioned way — that is, pay their hired assistant Roxanne to stuff an envelope. But a video letter? That takes someone who can’t actually type!

This is for you, Ms. Aberman’s class at Edgewood Elementary in Scarsdale, NY. Thanks for your swashbuckling ideas, me hearties!

Ms. Ableman wrote:

Thank you for visiting our school and sharing how you became a writer. Your visit reinforced my message to the students that writers use things that really happened in their life to them with their writing ideas for books. Sharing your personal experiences demonstrated how drawing from personal experiences really makes your writing come to life.

As promised, my class came up with some ideas for your next pirate book. We hope you enjoy reading the ideas as much as my class enjoying coming up with the ideas for the next book. We can’t wait to read the next pirate book adventure.

Thank you again for allowing us to have a peek into your world as a writer and we look forward to many more James Preller books.

Very truly,

Ms. Aberman

Regarding the video response: I really am sorry for mangling the pronunciation of any of your names. Apollonia & Kasumi, I’m looking at you! I’m just really poor at that stuff, partly because I live under a dome in Delmar, NY. Also, I’m not skilled at video editing and, frankly, can’t spend too much time on my movie-making career — better to just blast it out. Forgive me. I am now going to walk the plank like the scurvy dog I am.

But first, this video message . . .

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Category: A Pirates Guide (Series), Fan Mail, Fun Clips, School Visits / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Thanks, and so on and so forth

November 23, 2010 / / One comment

I came across this quote on a school visit during some down time. I loved it immediately and copied it down:

“IF OUR LIVES DON’T FEEL SIGNIFICANT,

SOMETIMES IT’S NOT OUR LIVES, BUT OUR RESPONSE

TO OUR LIVES, WHICH NEEDS TO BE RICHER.”

— Theodore Roethke

Confession: I did a little digging and could not find the source for this quote, or even confirm its attribution. But who cares!

I’ll tell you why I love it. I live a modest life, a little dull, probably. I’m a cliche: three kids, the house in suburbia, soccer practices in the minivan, etc. It’s so . . . ordinary. And I guess I once suffered from the image of “writer” as someone who lives an adventurous life, travels to exotic places, experiences big things, has important friends. And maybe, at times, fleetingly, I wished I lived that amazing life. But that’s the thing: I do. I already do. I have three children. A beautiful, loving, caring wife. Good friends. A house! I could go on and on. That’s enough material for a writer, the everyday fabric of our lives. It’s enough for anyone. We just have to absorb it, appreciate it, stand before it as if front of an alter and revel in the awe of it, this ordinary miracle, life.

So I’m thankful today, as a writer, father, husband, brother, son, neighbor, earthling.

And also: I’m grateful to you folks for stopping by here, of all places, in this cluttered world. I appreciate it. Just today I had to double my costs to up the giga-somethings to host this blog’s steadily growing traffic. Craziness.

* Thanks, too, for the folks who sent in photos for my Fathers Read project. It’s coming in December, promise! I’m so happy about this, it feels absolutely right, and really hope it contributes in some small, positive way to make the simple statement: Reading is a guy thing. We need male role models to sit down with a book and be counted. Please, keep sending in those photos.

* You can vote in “The Kiddo Awards” for A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade in the category of Best Illustrated Book of 2010. Greg Ruth did the illustrations. I sooo don’t want to come in last place.

* Harriett Levy offers a special holiday message of love. And I have to say, I loved this video about nine different ways.

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Almost forgot . . .

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING . . . AND I’LL SEE YOU ON MONDAY!

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Category: A Pirates Guide (Series), Fun Clips, Readings / Tags: , , , , ,

Forget the Book — Watch the Trailer!

October 13, 2010 / / One comment

Here’s the hot new trailer for A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade — just flown in from Hollywood on a big ol’ jet airliner!

My friends made this as a personal favor to me, at cost. I was surprised to learn these videos are so expensive to produce — upwards to $40,000! — and that they refused to start filming until the check cleared. I guess the Screen Actors Guild is a pretty powerful union. What can you do, you know? It’s not like the old days, when you could just write a book and hope people read it.

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Like the films of James Cameron, you can see every penny on the screen. For example, just look at that tree house/pirate ship . . . that’s all done on blue screen . . . much of the video was shot on location in the Caribbean (the well-tanned director insisted on “authenticity”) . . . and the “mother” figure is actually a product of Robotic Technology, first pioneered at Stanford University. Incredibly lifelike, and worth the $12,750. An alert reader may also recognize the vocal stylings of former child actor, Mason Reese. He really brought the intensity to the shoot, and it was just a privilege being around a Hollywood legend. (Note: Um, I never got to meet Mason, actually, but I did write a check, made out to “CASH,” for $3,200.)

Seriously: I really like this video. I love the homemade feeling and, of course, that it features ordinary boys at play the old-fashioned way. More and more, I’m seeing book trailers that are these elaborate, bloated, phony-baloney productions. How’s a little guy like me supposed to compete with that? With a book? Words on paper? Don’t be so naive!

The answer, of course: Robotics . . . and Mason Reese!

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