Clare Melinsky’s linocuts for UK publisher Bloomsbury’s new Harry Potter rejacketing, due in November. Click image for hi-res.
From the monthly archives:
March 2010
Dreamworks has another monster hit on their hands with How to Train your Dragon, in no small part to the fantastic art direction of Pierre-Olivier Vincent and production design of Kathy Altieri, both relatively new to such big roles. Intriguingly, the directors also consulted with cinematographer Roger Deakins on the look of the film. Deakins is best known for his collaborations with the Coen brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) and literary adaptations like Doubt and The Reader.
Our friends at We Heart Books brought to our attention the story of Jim and Kristen Brozina, a father and daughter whose bedtime story ritual spanned 3, 218 nights. Without fail.
What started as a challenge to reach 100 uninterrupted nights endured for nine years, overcoming hundreds of conflicting commitments and outliving the Brozina family itself. But the two held through it all to amusing—if not awkward—outcomes:
As Kristen got older, she was active in community theater groups that would rehearse late, and a few dozen times, Mr. Brozina turned up and read to her between scenes. One night, a rehearsal for “I Remember Mama” was supposed to end at 11:30, but the director, upset with the performance, was yelling at the players. “Our rule was we had to read before midnight and it had to be at least 10 minutes,” Mr. Brozina said. “It was 11:45 and he wasn’t letting up.”
“Dad took me off the stage,” Kristen said. “I was 17.”
“We sat in the auditorium and I read to her,” said Mr. Brozina.
The “Streak,” as it’s known, came to an end in 2006 when Kirsten moved away for college. To celebrate their curtain call, the Brozinas read the book they started with, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The article is deftly written and worth the read. And if any of you are Hollywood producers, we suggest you quickly snap up the rights to this lovely story.
Invigorated by Coralie Bickford-Smith’s adventurous redesign of “boy-friendly” classics for Penguin. Click through to see all the excellent covers.
Our last post noted how a five-year old paid tribute to his favorite Storybird artists. As a corollary, these images from Dave Devries seemed fitting as a follow-up. Devries, a successful comic book and conceptual artist, was so inspired by his 7-year old niece’s drawings that he created a series of realistic paintings to mirror her originals. What followed became a book and lecture tour dubbed The Monster Engine. Speaking about its success, Devries notes: “It made me remember my childhood and realize that no matter how old I became, I could always see things like a child.” Amen.
Nicole wrote us to say that her 5-year old son drew these as a tribute to Paul McDougall and Aaron Blecha. She sent them to the artists who wrote back to encourage him to keep drawing. “Now,” Nicole says, “he tells everyone he wants to be an illustrator/author when he grows up.” Imagination, FTW!
