Artist! I went to a talk by Caldecott-Medal illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky at Tacoma Public Library last week. What a cool guy.
I apologize for not telling you about this beforehand in the blog, but the good news is you still have a few days to see the exhibit of his art at the Main Library in Tacoma. The show goes through May 14 and it's worth a visit.
Zelinsky is super talented and versatile. The paintings for "Rapunzel," his Caldecott Award book, look like 
they were done by an old master. For the popular pop-up book "Wheels on the Bus" and its follow-up "Knick-Knack Paddywhack!" his style is brighter and livelier.
they were done by an old master. For the popular pop-up book "Wheels on the Bus" and its follow-up "Knick-Knack Paddywhack!" his style is brighter and livelier.For another cool book, "Doodler Doodling," by Rita Golden Gelman, Zelinsky "doodled" most of the characters, then scanned them and put them together using his computer.
At first glance, Zelinsky looks like he could be a mild-manner high school history teacher with his suit, spectacles and receding hairline. Once he took the microphone, he was hilarious and had the rapt attention of everyone in the audience, from age 4 on to adults.
He talked about why he chooses different styles for different books. "Every story has it
s own feelings." Using a program on his laptop, he drew pictures on the spot to illustrate. Obviously, the dude on the left would be in a different sort of book than the pretty girl on the right.
s own feelings." Using a program on his laptop, he drew pictures on the spot to illustrate. Obviously, the dude on the left would be in a different sort of book than the pretty girl on the right.He showed pictures and talked a lot about "Awful Ogre's Awful Day," a book of poems by Jack Prelutsky that Zelinsky ill
ustrated. For that book, he called up another famous illustrator, Lane Smith, to ask him advice on creating a "yucky" texture for the ogre's skin. He wanted a look like "old food that turned bad and started to rot." He showed pictures from medieval manuscripts that contained little monstrous figures called "grotesques." He said: "I thought Awful Ogre should have a grotesque." He does - a different one on every page.
ustrated. For that book, he called up another famous illustrator, Lane Smith, to ask him advice on creating a "yucky" texture for the ogre's skin. He wanted a look like "old food that turned bad and started to rot." He showed pictures from medieval manuscripts that contained little monstrous figures called "grotesques." He said: "I thought Awful Ogre should have a grotesque." He does - a different one on every page."Rapunzel" was a long, arduous illustration project. Each painting was done using many thin layers of watercolor to re-create the old feeling. On another "Rapunzel" note, he said: "My daughters were not really interested in my work, but they were interested in their cat. So I thought if I put their cat 
in, they'd get interested." It worked beautifully; the girls pestered him daily to see the drawings, he said.
in, they'd get interested." It worked beautifully; the girls pestered him daily to see the drawings, he said.He talked abo
ut deciding on a follow-up to "Wheels on the Bus," then figured out how to make the "old man" so that when he played paddywhack on parts of his protagonist's body, the kid wouldn't get pummeled. He decided to use 10 tiny men, each humorously representing a different occupation. His laptop drawings to illustrate his "process" had the audience, especially the kids, chortling.
ut deciding on a follow-up to "Wheels on the Bus," then figured out how to make the "old man" so that when he played paddywhack on parts of his protagonist's body, the kid wouldn't get pummeled. He decided to use 10 tiny men, each humorously representing a different occupation. His laptop drawings to illustrate his "process" had the audience, especially the kids, chortling. "Paddywhack" is a "pop-up book." So Zelinsky had to be in close contact with a talented paper engineer. Among many astounding features in the book: One of the little men runs from left to right, every time. Think about it. How does he get back? Zelinsky showed an inside view of that page. A piece of paper hides his return to the left. Zelinsky said the paper engineer Andrew Baron, is also well known as a repairer of antique clocks and watches.
I haven't decided yet on all the authors for my "An Author a Day" classes for Summer at Seabury. But after hearing Zelinsky, I think he might be one of them. We could make pop-ups! I've done that before with kids and it's great fun.
I hope some of you get a chance to see his work at the library. Check out Zelinsky's Web site, too. It has some fun features, including animations he did related to one of his newest books: "The Shivers in the Fridge."(A warning: Don't let kids navigate to the animations using the You Tube link. Links/promos to other inappropriate YouTube videos show up on the page. You can link directly to the animations on his site. Addendum: I e-mailed Mr. Z and got a very fast response. He's going to try to change his tags, or contact YouTube. An update: Mr. Zelinsky changed his You Tube tags; it took him a couple of tries. He even e-mailed me with updates. But now the links are harmless!!)
Let me know if you're interested in hearing about author talks in advance (Here or in the Thursday packet). I will post them, if some of you will go!
Talk to you soon
