Wonderful Wonder Bear!

'Wonder Bear' by Tao Nyeu is a really fantastic children's book I found at Barnes & Noble recently.  The book takes you through a delightful journey with two children, a bear, and other animals!  Even though there may not be words, the pictures tell the whole story.  And a picture is worth a thousand words.

Check out more of Tao's work here!

xo

Jess

Another little peek at Nursery Rhymes

Just finished my latest pop-up title tentatively called "Nursery Rhymes" to be released in Fall 2009 by Little Simon. Above is a sample piece of art I made to get myself in the mood. I had a fantastic time making the book, because it took me back to the first time I ever encountered books, like around when this picture was taken. I don't think I'll ever get to wear those pants again.


Some people say you can't remember that far back into your childhood, but I do have very distinct memories of being two to three years old. I especially remember boldly jumping down the steps which explains my intense unease at great heights. I don't remember what happened afterward - so I must have been knocked out cold.

As I have in past books, some of my family make cameo appearances as some of those classic Nursery Rhyme characters like...


...my little cousin, Jillian, as Mary Mary Quite Contrary...


... and another cousin of mine, Charlie, who catches a tiger by the toe.

- MR

The return of a Disney classic (again)...

One of my fondest childhood memories is watching Disney's Sleeping Beauty.  I know, big shock right?  Pretty pretty princess movies were a must in my house!
And now it has been re-released on DVD!

I had to have it and relive one of my favorite films!  I did and it's still awesome.

Eyvind Earle was the artist behind Sleeping Beauty's design-style, lush backgrounds, and fantastic colors.  The Disney studios gave
Mr. Earle over a week to do each background painting, instead of the one day turnaround other artists got.

This is one of the most stylized animated films Disney had put out at the time (and in my opinion, ever)... after watching it again I've realized that this
film still inspires me today.  And I owe it all to Eyvind Earle.

xo
Jess

Time to begin again

A few years ago when I worked at this studio as an intern, a fellow coworker and I began a project in our free time to build a clock out of paper from the book "Make Your Own Working Paper Clock" by James Smith Rudolph.



The project soon slowed down, and then I went back to school and the clock was completely forgotten. However, I just recently came across some of the pieces we had cut out, and I'm definitely going to have to take a stab at making the clock again! Wish me luck, because no one else in the studio believes it can be done!

- Shelby

A slow news day, indeed...

Today, we picked out new carpet samples for our studio. We had a hard time agreeing on one color. It was between "Dust Maroon" and "Cybernaut Blue".

Finally, we left it up to the office's senior amphibian, Freddie the Frog. He ended the tie with Cybernaut - which we all agreed Matt would like a lot considering his love for Cybertronians.

- Simon

First and not the last!

Last week, we had a special visitor at the studio. It was his first time here and like many other visitors, he seemed to be overwhelmed with all the activity. Luckily we keep lots of toys around, which come in handy whether you are 25 years old like some of the designers or 15 months old like our new guest, Robert's godson Rayan Bounkit (son of acclaimed jewelry designer, Hassan Bounkit). Robert and Matthew were taking care of him and showed him the place where all the pop-ups are made. He even got a sneak peek at Robert’s upcoming pop-up book, Peter Pan, which was dedicated to him. Rayan mainly wanted to eat the pops, but we have a feeling he'll still enjoy it.

He is such a cute little guy and was happy to model for my next non-fiction title coming out in May under the Sabuda & Reinhart imprint with Scholastic. We are so happy with the results that I wanted to post a first look at Rayan as he shares the sign for “bath” in Baby Signs. We are excited for the new book and even more excited for Rayan to pop in again at the studio anytime.



- Kyle

Pigs In Architecture

Over a year ago I was reading on the How Magazine website about cool new sites to check out and stumbled upon this blog. Up in Sweden, Mattias Adolfsson blogs just about every day his sketches, finished art pieces, and videos of his moleskin journals. His blog entries vary on subject, pigs in architecture, houses with arms and legs, animals in clothing, crazy robots and much more! Mattias has such a great hold on his craft and pen that it's quite hard not to envy his style. Thanks to the world wide web, I am able to enjoy his artwork daily here in New York. Check it out!

xo! Jess

E-I-E-Ink-Ohhhhhh!

For the past seventy-five years Esquire magazine has been making headlines with some of its more provocative and iconic covers. For this month’s anniversary collector’s edition, Esquire tops itself and creates the first E-Ink magazine cover. We have been hearing about E-ink for years and have been (not so) patiently waiting for its arrival in consumer products. Finally through a collaborative effort between Esquire, Ford, E-ink Corp. and Structural Graphics; wishful thinking became a reality this month. The above still photo does not do the technology justice so I have included one of many videos from the Web showcasing the magazine. You can view the short demonstration here.

We love the projects that Structural Graphics has been helming, whether it’s the effective Lexus pop-up book or the eye-catching inclusion on E-ink technology, and I’m sure they will pop-up on the blog again. To learn more about how E-ink works and what this Connecticut-based company is up to, visit their website.

- Kyle

Mickey is more than meets the eye!

OK, I think everybody knows I am a HUGE Transformers fan - since the very beginning back in 1984. Over the last couple years, Hasbro, the makers of those giant, shape-shifting robots, has allowed our beloved Transformers to "cross-over" into other licensed properties like Star Wars and Marvel Comics - which has been super-cool.

Now, the the most famous mouse in the world has decided to take a trip to Cybertron (the Transformers metallic home planet) - and transform himself into Opti-Mouse Prime! Check it out - the prototype of the Mickey Mouse Transformer to be released sometime next year.



I can't wait for Donald Duckatron!

- MR

An early sign of greatness?

While looking in the archives, I found one of Robert's old books from a quite a while back - 1975. This "Frosting & Decorating Cakes" book was made when he was just about 10 years old. The 30-page hand-made book details how to take a cake and cut it up into different shapes. Pretty impressive for someone so young, right?  Obviously, Robert had cake on his mind from a very young age.

- Simon

The Paper Mind

My roommate Javan Ivey is an animator, specializing in stop-motion techniques. Some of his films use a "stratastencil" technique, in which he cuts out each frame from a sheet of paper and photographs them in sequence, layered on each other. The following is one of the films Javan made in this technique, "My Paper Mind."

More info about the making of this animation is on Javan's website:

Interested in stop motion? Check out another film that Javan helped create, "Western Spaghetti"!

- Shelby

Dino-Mite!

One of our favorite times of the year happened last week. It was our beloved (he made me write that) boss, Matthew Reinhart’s birthday! There were balloons and presents. A tasty lunch and even tastier red velvet birthday cake. And most importantly there was a dinosaur themed cookie bouquet delivered sent from Matthew’s family. This bouquet may not last as long as flowers, but they taste better and are a lot more fun! So congrats on Matthew making it another year, and we can’t wait until next year to do it all again. (Or at least tomorrow, when we get to celebrate Shelby’s anniversary of her birth!)

- Kyle

Night on the town...

Last week the studio attended a fantastic dinner hosted by the Eric Carle Museum. Also attending the dinner were the Wild Things from Maurice Sendakʼs memorable childrenʼs book Where the Wild Things Are! As you can tell, we fit right in with them!


It was also a privilege for Shelby, Simon, Kyle, and I to meet Eric Carle (and take a picture with him!). His cut paper collage art is a big influence here at the studio. You can find more information about the Museum here: http://www.picturebookart.org/



And of course after a big meal lounging in the Lounge area of the University Club is a must. You see? Weʼre not that wild!



<3
Jess