Jerry Pinkney Exhibition and PiBoIdMo

I had the thrill of spending over an hour with the legendary Jerry Pinkney and a group of visitors at the Hudson River Museum. Jerry gave us a tour of his current exhibition, highlighting 50 years worth of illustrations. I suppose he is most known for the Lion and the Mouse, which won the Caldecott Medal in 2009. However, my favorite of his books are: The Old African, Sweethearts of Rhythm and Sam and the Tigers. Which of his books are your favorites? Reply in the comments section.

Here we are, while he signs a book for me (excuse the blurriness of the shot, the paparazzi were going frantic.)

I was intrigued by what Jerry said about his early youth. Although he never knew it until much later in his life, his fascination with the printed page "fueled a need to fill the masses." He also talked about what keeps a project fresh- setting up obstacles in the actual approach of a painting and identifying the illustrating challenge for yourself as you execute the story.

Go see the show! Well worth the trip . . . and the rest of the museum is lots of fun. There's a planetarium, an over sized street art exhibition, etc...  A special thank you to the curator, who showed us the historic manor!

And, while on I'm on the topic of picture books, I would like to formally announce my participation in this year's PiBoIdMo. PiBoIdMo? If you are wondering if I've made this up, no, here's the creed (from Tara Lazar's Blog):

I do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into
picture book manuscripts
throughout the year.

 

You can find out more about PiBoIdMo at Writing for Kids and see the official logo designed by Ward Jenkins (his work is Amazing).

Wish me bonne chance and a bientot!