|
|||||
| SMART PIGGY'S NEWSLETTER By Audrey Wood Compiled by Heath Uliasz February 2000 Issue #12 Dear Friends, A SECOND CHANCE TO FLEA By Don Wood Eighteen years ago, after completing the paintings for THE NAPPING HOUSE, I delivered them to Harcourt Brace’s editorial offices in San Diego. I could perhaps be forgiven the surge of pride I felt as I unveiled each painting. Together they represented a year-and-a-half of non-stop, arduous labor. The characters’ expressions, the light that gradually brightened, the changing point-of-view choreographed like a swooping film camera, all had been polished and re-polished. Everything seemed to be going well - each painting brought smiles and murmurs of admiration - and then, as I neared the end, I pulled another painting out of my portfolio, and every editor in the room immediately exclaimed, "Oh no! You forgot the flea!" It was true. I had forgotten the flea. But I couldn’t believe that with all my effort to get the characters’ expressions just right, with all of my thousands of hours of painting painstaking details, the only thing anyone was looking at was the flea, a small black dot that anyone could paint. At that moment I knew who was destined to be the star of THE NAPPING HOUSE. After I completed my showing, I ran around the corner to an art supply store, purchased a small brush and some black paint, and added the missing flea. Unfortunately, I had painted all of the other fleas with two coats of black paint. The flea I painted in San Diego received only one coat of paint, and he faded. To this day the flea is difficult to locate on the page that reads, "who thumps the child." I cannot count the letters we have received accusing us of omitting the flea from that page. Sometimes you get a second chance, and last week I was able to correct that error I made 18 years ago. Harcourt Brace, within the relatively near future, will be releasing board book versions of both THE NAPPING HOUSE and PIGGIES. Of course the original film taken of the oil paintings has now been digitized, and they shipped me a CD with all of the digital files, plus the proofs the printer had printed from those files. They did not go to all that trouble just so I could repair the faded flea. To explain why I needed the digital files of the film, perhaps you will forgive me one more anecdote. A few years ago Audrey and I were touring in Texas, covering much the same ground we had covered in our very first tour right after THE NAPPING HOUSE was released in 1984. Due to this early tour, more first editions were sold in Texas than elsewhere. Many times when we appear at a bookstore, people bring books from home. At one Texas signing, Audrey noticed that several people had brought in well-worn first editions. Audrey and I own only four first edition copies, and they are relatively rare, only 7,000 or so were printed in the first edition. Eventually a first edition in good shape came through the signing line. Another man in line noticed it, and began to try to purchase it from its owner. The owner of the first edition didn’t want to sell. She just wanted us to sign it to "Tommy." Eventually the bidder offered $120, plus a new NAPPING HOUSE, and the book was sold. Why was the old first edition worth eight-and-a-half times the price of a new book? Because it is rare, for one thing, but there are other reasons. The publisher’s production supervisor is hovering over the press while the first edition is running, making sure that the printers reproduce the original art, which is right by his side, perfectly. On subsequent editions, the printers attempt to match the first edition, and are not under the direct supervision of a production man from the publisher. Although a house with high standards like Harcourt Brace insists their printers maintain quality, after 15 editions and hundreds of thousands of copies, some slippage is inevitable. If the printers in Singapore even have a first edition of THE NAPPING HOUSE, I shudder to think of its condition. Dirty hands are an occupational hazard in printing, and anything that’s near a press, especially paper, suffers accordingly. So Harcourt Brace sent me the digital files, and the proofs the printer had pulled from those files, and asked me to make them look like new by manipulating the files with my computer. I was delighted. First I corrected the flea. Then I warmed up the yellow light coming through the window at the end when the bed breaks. And I noticed that Granny’s face had lost a bit of its color on the same spread. I have retained four of the original oil paintings, and that’s one of them, so I was sure about the face and the cool yellow. I used the three other paintings to spot check the contrast and saturation and color balance of the other portions of the book, and made corrections throughout. All of this was done in a computer in about 8 hours without putting a brush to canvas. Revisions of this nature would have cost a literal fortune 10 years ago, if they would have been possible at all. Yesterday I sent the revised files back to Harcourt. Of course we saved a copy of the original files in case my "art time machine" turns out to have been a big mistake. If we’re lucky, however, the first edition of THE NAPPING HOUSE BOARD BOOK will look as good as the first edition of THE NAPPING HOUSE. -DW ********************************************************************* A FAN-TASTIC IDEA! Dear Audrey and Don, I teach remedial reading to students in need from grades 1, 2, and 3 in two buildings in our district. One of my current third grade group’s most successful projects was a re-write of your mouse book (THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR) - written as though the mouse is doing the talking. We started out with the children taking turns telling what the mouse might be saying on each page of the story and writing it out as a group on a chart. The kids and I were so pleased with the results of our story, that we decided to "publish" it, making a copy for each of the five children involved in writing the story and one for myself. -B. Karr Dear Mrs. Karr, This is a fantastic idea, because in the book, the mouse does not talk. I think this idea would work well with my books SILLY SALLY and LITTLE PENGUIN’S TALE. If anyone tries these titles, I would love to know the results. -AW ********************************************************************** DECISIONS! DECISIONS! Are you looking for a book for a child of a particular age? Enter The Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents And Teachers" link. Then click on the "Author Suggests" link. ********************************************************************** EXERCISING THE MIND! In our book, THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR, the big hungry bear is never shown in the story - however the reader is given a strong impression of the bear by the "narrator." As a classroom activity, the students can draw a picture of the bear as he would look if he appeared in the story. (Their guess is as good as ours.). You can print out and use the "Big Hungry Bear Activity Page" located in the "Activities" section of the Clubhouse. This page comes complete with a frightened Little Mouse and a big blank space for the bear. To enter the "Activities" section: Enter the Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com and click on the "Activities" link. Here you will find the "Big Hungry Bear Activity Page." ********************************************************************** MOUSE FASHION! We all notice what the people around us are wearing and think about the different lifestyles their costumes represent. Surely, at one time or another, we've all wondered, "Can a mouse make a fashion statement?" To learn the answer to this question: Enter The Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com and click on the "TOP SECRET" link. When you arrive at the "Secrets" page, click on the link that says "More Secrets" in the lower right-hand corner of the page. Then click on the "How can people be Models For Mice?" link. ******************************************************************** AND THE WINNER IS... Congratulations to Rachel Spruill of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina! Rachel won a free autographed copy of THE NAPPING HOUSE from Audrey and Don Wood! Due to the overwhelming response to our January contest, we decided to draw 3 additional winners. These 3 winners will receive an autographed copy of THE NAPPING HOUSE WAKES UP (this is the pop-up version of our book, THE NAPPING HOUSE). Congratulations to the following 3 winners: -Johanna Staples of Toledo, Ohio -Lynn Dye of Marietta, Georgia -Carole Prendergast of Ramsey, New Jersey THE JANUARY CONTEST QUESTION WAS: In the book THE NAPPING HOUSE, who broke the bed? ANSWER: Granny! Thanks for all of your entries. Enter our February contest and you could win an autographed copy of the book, THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR. ********************************************************************** FEBRUARY CONTEST!!!!!!!!! DON'T MISS OUT! This month one lucky person will win an autographed copy of THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR. To enter: Enter the CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Contest" banner. If you answer the question correctly you will be entered into a random drawing. The winner will be drawn at the end of the month. Good Luck! ********************************************************************** NEW SUBSCRIBERS! If you would like to check out past Smart Piggy's Newsletters, go to THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link or the "Fun Bag" link, then click on "Smart Piggy's Newsletter Past Issues" link. ********************************************************************** Keep your questions and suggestions coming! Warmest Regards, Audrey Wood Info@audreywood.com http://www.audreywood.com |
|||||
 |
|||||