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!

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)

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.

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.

More Sketchbook Stuff

Main Characters

Sketches for the graphic novel I'm working on now...

Even More Pandas

Around the World Book Trailer!

My new graphic novel, coming to a bookstore near you in October 2011 from the fine folks of Candlewick Press!

Exploring Tide Pools

A watercolor sketch from my recent vacation.

Panda #124

Water-soluble crayons are kind of neat.

Keaton studies

Here are some watercolor studies of young Buster Keaton and his dad for my next graphic novel. I'm using Cartiera Magnani hot press watercolor paper for this one. It is verrrry nice paper.

On My Drawing Board

Still working through the thumbnail sketches for my next graphic novel. The script, which I always write first, is above the sketch pad. Although at times this stage of the process seems endless (211 pages total), it is really my favorite part. These little doodles are where most of the big drawing decisions are made.

My goal is to have them all finished before I leave for Book Expo next week...

Storm on the Stage!

I am thrilled to announce that the Oregon Children's Theatre will be mounting a stage version of The Storm in the Barn in April of 2012! My book will be adapted by playwright Eric Coble (who's previous credits include an adaptation of Lois Lowry's The Giver for OCT) and will feature music composed by Chris Funk (guitarist for The Decemberists) and his band Black Prairie. Storm is in fine hands and I cannot wait to see this production!

The plan is for this to be a play with music, not a musical. For more on Black Prairie (and to see why they are perfect for this) check out this piece from NPR. Better still, listen to their album Feast of the Hunter's Moon. It only took me a few seconds of Track 1 to be utterly convinced.

The show will run from April 28-May 20, 2012. I'm sure I'll be posting more about this as it develops (although my actual role is limited). I can guarantee you I'll be in the audience on opening night. Who's up for a trip to Portland?

(I'm reposting this for a few reasons: 1) I knew about this for awhile, but couldn't announce it. When I wrote the draft of the blog post, I assumed it would take the date of when it was posted. I assumed incorrectly. 2) The draft was written on April Fool's Day. This isn't a joke. 3) It's so cool, it deserves two postings.)

ABA Silent Auction at BEA

Here's my contribution to the ABA Silent Auction: The Unstoppable Nellie Bly (and McGinty). The auction will be held on Wednesday May 25 and will benefit the ABFFE Fund for Free Speech in Children's Books. I'll be there ogling the art and bidding with or without noise. Say howdy if you see me.

Here are the rest of the auction pieces... Wow!

TLA Recap (plus Around the World Cover!!)

The cover for Around the World was unveiled at the Texas Library Association conference a few weeks ago. Candlewick was handing out free advanced reading copies which had the color cover, but unfortunately only lowish resolution black and white scans of the color interiors. It's a necessity at this stage, but I can't wait for people to see the full color version.

At any rate, I had an absolute blast in Austin. The Maverick graphic novel panel went very well (with a pretty large crowd in a gargantuan conference room). It was great to chat with Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, and Hope Larson and learn about their process.

I signed boxes of Around the World, Storm in the Barn, Flora's Very Windy Day and more. Conferences are always a whirlwind, but everyone there couldn't have been nicer and it was truly fun. I particularly lucked out at the Bluebonnet luncheon, where Elizabeth Bluemle and I got to sit with a table of students who had entered an essay contest to attend. Keep writing, all of you!

Below are some moleskine sketches from the plane ride home. Now that I look at them again, I think my subconscious was summing up the trip for me.

And the winners are...

This morning I put all of the names into the traditional hat and had my intern pick the winners. And those winners are...

1) Run goes to Jeannie Birdsall!

2) Leap goes to Jarrett Krosoczka!

3) Play goes to Abigail Halpin!

Thank you to all who threw their name into the hat and/or contributed to Team Nora!!!!!

CHF Fundraiser #3: Play

pencil & watercolor on Magnani paper (7"x6")

Price: $150. If you would like to purchase Play, please leave a comment here or on Facebook. I will pick a name from those interested tomorrow and contact you if you win.

All proceeds go to the Children's Heart Foundation via the Congenital Heart Walk and Team Nora. Your donation is also tax-deductible!

THANK YOU!

CHF Fundraiser #2: Leap

pencil & watercolor on Magnani paper (7"x6")

Price: $150. If you would like to purchase Leap, please leave a comment here or on Facebook. I will pick a name from those interested tomorrow and contact you if you win.

All proceeds go to the Children's Heart Foundation via the Congenital Heart Walk and Team Nora. Your donation is also tax-deductible!

THANK YOU!

CHF Fundraiser #1: Run

pencil & watercolor on Magnani paper (7"x6")

Price: $150. If you would like to purchase Run, please leave a comment here or on Facebook. I will pick a name from those interested tomorrow and contact you if you win.

All proceeds go to the Children's Heart Foundation via the Congenital Heart Walk and Team Nora. Your donation is also tax-deductible!

THANK YOU!

Original Art Sale for a Good Cause

Each year, my family is involved with raising money for the Children's Heart Foundation. This time I thought I'd try something a little different. I'm offering three original pencil and watercolor drawings for $150 each with every penny going to our team in May's Congenital Heart walk.

How it works:

Here are the drawings (pencil & watercolor on Magnani paper) created specifically for this cause:

On Thursday 4/19, I'll post each drawing individually here on the blog and on my Facebook page. If you would like to buy one, just leave a comment on either post.

On Friday, I'll randomly pick a name (if there is more than one name) and post the winning bidders on the blog and Facebook. Then you can email me your address and we'll work out the details. Note: This isn't an escalating auction. If your name is selected, then the price is $150 for the drawing you chose. And remember 100% will be donated to the Congenital Heart walk.

If $150 is too steep but you'd still like to donate, you can do so here. We personally appreciate each donation for this great cause.