Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Around the World Events!*



The October 11th release of Around the World is almost upon us! I'm getting ready for a bunch of events at schools, libraries, bookstores, and festivals. Here's the schedule thus far:

10/4    Haverford Township Free Library, Havertown, PA.  Presenting alongside my pals Eric Wight and Brian Biggs at 4 pm. Directions here.

10/15 & 10/16    Southern Festival of the Book, Nashville, TN. On Saturday, I'll be talking about my illustration process at 3pm. On Sunday, I'll be talking about picture books and graphic novels with Bob Shea and Jules Danielson from Seven Impossible Things at 1 pm. Here's the complete event schedule!

10/22   Book Release Signing at Children's Book World, Haverford, PA!

10/27  Keystone State Reading Association Conference, Lancaster, PA. I'll be speaking about graphic novels and signing books. Registration required. Here are the details.

11/4    Annual Author & Illustrator Night at Children's Book World. The most star-studded event of the year!

11/5  Family Reading Festival, Pottsville, PA. Some details are here.

11/11 & 11/12  Lititz Kid-Lit Festival, Aaron's Books, Lititz, PA. On Saturday, I'll be doing a drawing workshop with Eric Wight and signing books with the rest of the gang. Expect a good time, chocolate, pretzels, and possibly exotic meat. It's Lititz, after all. Details here!

11/25  Clinton Book Shop, Clinton, NJ. Signing from 12-2.


All events are free and open to the public except for the one that isn't! I'll be adding more events in the coming weeks. Hope to see you!


Interested in having me visit your school or library? How about a special free SKYPE visit

Send me an email:

matt@mattphelan.com


* Events are for the book Around the World, not a tour "around the world". However, I am leaving the state of PA, to head to Nashville. That's something, right? It's Nashville!



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

New Arrivals, Part 1



Hooray! I recently received a box full of my very first board book! I'm so excited that Alice Schertle's Very Hairy Bear (2007) will now be ambling about in a sturdy, well-nigh indestructible form. It is a full version of the original, a great size, and the reproduction is terrific.

The folks at Harcourt have impeccable timing. Here's what arrived the day before...

(Baby not included with purchase)


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Bojangles




One of the vaudeville cameos in my new graphic novel is the great tap dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson. Lots of great clips on you tube.





Monday, September 12, 2011

Shoe-Box Diorama Studio!

Since it's back-to-school time, I thought I'd share some photos of my favorite school visit souvenir. Some New Jersey public school students made this amazing gift for me a couple of years ago. Is there anything better than a shoebox diorama? No. No, there isn't.


Le Studio




Crumbled up drawings litter the floor, just like in real life.



Past books line the walls to remind me that I can, in fact, finish the current book. 


And my absolute favorite part is the note they attached to the box. I re-read this often.


Dear Matt, Thank you for taking out time from your schedule to come to our school. Good luck on the future books you illustrate. It means a lot to us. Sincerely, Mrs. Abella's Class.

Thanks, guys. That means a LOT to me.