Tiny Treasury

In the days approaching the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, speculation as to what happens to Harry is growing. A lot of the chatter seems to revolve around what the cover art for the book, which was revealed in April, means.

In addition to the cover art above, the cover art for the deluxe edition has also been released (click on it for a larger image):

You can also examine the cover in detail on Scholastic’s site.

Thoughts? Think you know what any of it means?

Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It’s the Friday Fifteen! Today’s guest is Illustrator Tamaye Perry.

Tamaye has a slew of book covers and magazine layouts on her resume. What called my attention to her is the cover for Jerry Spinelli’s There’s a Girl in My Hammerlock.

Now onto the Fifteen!

1. Where are you now?
Brooklyn, New York

2. What were your favorite books as a kid?
Where the Wild Things Are, all of the Dr. Seuss and Judy Blume books

3. What are you reading now?
Triksta by Nik Coen (I designed the paperback for that cover)

4. Do you have kids?
No

5. What projects are you working on now?
A couple of logos for Nick Jr. and Noggin and of course some covers

6. What is your biggest writing or illustrating luxury?
On my down time I watch a lot of movies

7. Coffee or tea?
decaf coffee

8. Name five artists on your iPod (or mp3 player).
Johnny Cash, The Smiths, Al Green, Belle and Sebastian, and Bjork

9. What would I be surprised to know about you?
I’m a big horror movie fan.

10. What college did you attend (in what subject)?
Art Center College of Design

11. If you weren’t working with kids’ books, what would your dream job be?
I wanted be an architect before I became a graphic designer.

12. What’s the best thing on TV right now?
CSI

13. How did you get your “big break” into the field?
I started working freelance for Roberto de Vicq at HarperCollins while I was working at Entertainment Weekly.

14. Which celeb would you want most to meet?
Gerard Butler

15. Who is the best book character EVER?
This one’s hard. There’s too many good ones.

You can see some of Tamaye’s work at her website. Here are some of my favorites:

Thanks Tamaye!

Tamaye Perry, Jerry Spinelli, illustrator, There’s a Girl in My Hammerlock, Noggin, Entertainment Weekly

It’s the Friday Fifteen! Today’s guest is author and illustrator Tony Ross. He has illustrated a number of books including Harry the Poisonous Centipede, written by Lynne Reid Banks, and the Little Wolf series written by Ian Whybrow. I was intrigued by Tony for his Little Princess series which he authored and illustrated. His latest in the series is I Don’t Want To Go To Bed.

And onto the Fifteen!

1. Where are you now?
In my studio in Cheshire

2. What were your favorite books as a kid?
Rupert, William, Swallows and Amazons

3. What are you reading now?
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction.

4. Do you have kids?
Yes, three girls, Philippa, Alex, and Kate

5. What projects are you working on now?
Lots. A book of adventure stories for Orchard, some Astrid Lindren titles for OUP, Horrid Henry, and things for Andersen Press

6. What is your biggest writing or illustrating luxury?
Free lunches and travel, maybe together

7. Coffee or tea?
Both

8. Name five artists on your iPod (or mp3 player).
Bjork, Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Andrea Bocelli

9. What would I be surprised to know about you?
I appeared in Coronation Street

10. What college did you attend (in what subject)?
Liverpool Art School, dept. of graphic design

11. If you weren’t working with kids’ books, what would your dream job be?
A cowboy

12. What’s the best thing on TV right now?
Friends

13. How did you get your “big break” into the field?
By slogging around London with my first book, and folder from art school

14. Which celeb would you want most to meet?
Lisa Kudrow. If she is busy, anyone at all.

15. Who is the best book character EVER?
Winnie The Pooh

Thanks, Tony!

You can find out more about Tony at the British Council Magic Pencil site.

Tony Ross, Little Princess series, HarperCollins UK

It’s the Friday Fifteen! Today’s guest is illustrator Adam Rex.

I’ll own up to being a fan - both of my girls just love his illustrations in Amy Timberlake’s The Dirty Cowboy (my mom does, too!) - and the book won a ton of awards.

1. Where are you now?
Home. In the spare bedroom in my apartment in West Philadelphia that serves as my studio, typing into an old G3 iMac that’s been making this fried baloney smell whenever I ask it stream video. I really need a new computer.

2. What were your favorite books as a kid?
The Monster at the End of This Book
The Bike Lesson
Where the Wild Things Area
That’s just off the top of my head, trying not to think about it too much.

3. What are you reading now?
A collection of short stories selected by David Sedaris titled Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules.

4. Do you have kids?
No–why, what have you heard?

5. What projects are you working on now?
I’m finishing up the art for my novel, The True Meaning of Smekday, which will be released by Hyperion this September. I then have a new picture book to illustrate, and I’m writing monster poems.

6. What is your biggest writing or illustrating luxury?
When I have work that’s portable (basically, anything apart from painting), I like to take it to a local cafe, sit, drink coffee, eat pastries, get into heated political conversations with all the other authors and artists, and so forth.

7. Coffee or tea?
See #6

8. Name five artists on your iPod (or mp3 player).
I think I’m the only person left who doesn’t have one of these things. My wife even has one, but I don’t. But the last five CDs I played were by They Might Be Giants, Mew, The Shins, The Flaming Lips, and The Hold Steady.

9. What would I be surprised to know about you?
Hmm. Most people seem to be surprised that my wife is an astrophysicist. I’m not sure why–an artist and a scientist don’t seem any less compatible to me than, say, a doctor and accountant. Or a lawyer and a computer programmer. We each appreciate the other’s work, but she doesn’t draw and I don’t launch sub-orbital telescopes, so there’s no competition. I know couples who are BOTH artists, and I can’t imagine how that works.

10. What college did you attend (in what subject)?
The University of Arizona, where I got a BFA in Illustration. I was lucky to have kids’ author/illustrator avid Christiana there as one of my instructors.

11. If you weren’t working with kids’ books, what would your dream job be?
It’s hard to imagine not doing what I do. I suppose I always wish I had time to try my hand at animated shorts and films.

12. What’s the best thing on TV right now?
My cat, I suppose. Though she’s sleeping next to an old war photo of my Grandpa–that’s pretty good, too.

13. How did you get your “big break” into the field?
I’d been sending work out to a few interested editors for a long time, but one editor at FSG gave me my first picture book when I visited him on a trip up and down the east coast. I was still living in Tucson at the time, and had never met any editors face-to-face. It’s part of why I’m still a big believer that successes come more often when you shake hands and make eye contact.

14. Which celeb would you want most to meet?
Maurice Sendak? Will Ferrell? I don’t know. Meeting famous people you admire almost never ends up being the experience you want it to be.

15. Who is the best book character EVER?
I feel uncomfortable putting all my eggs in one basket, but “Ford Prefect” popped into my head before I really had a chance to think, so I’ll go with that.

–

Thanks, Adam and we hope to hear back once Smekday is published!

(Psst, if you want to show your support, you can vote for this story here.)

As part of the ongoing countdown to the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Scholastic has released the cover illustration for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As with the other Potter books, the cover was designed by illustrator Mary GrandPre.

Harry Potter, Scholastic

Today’s Friday Fifteen guest is illustrator Brian Biggs.

1. Where are you now?

I am in my studio, which is on the third floor of my house in Philadelphia. It is my office, my playground, and my factory.

2. What were your favorite books as a kid?

Where the Wild Things AreMaurice Sendak
Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever!Richard Scarry
One Day, I’ll Fix AnthonyJudith Viorst, illustrations by Arnold Lobel
Mike Mulligan and his Steam ShovelVirginia Lee Burton

For starters.

3. What are you reading now?

Just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Princeand I’ve preordered Deathly Hallows. Can’t wait can’t wait…
I’ll be reading China Miéville’s Un Dun Lunnext. In the meantime, a lot of magazines.

4. Do you have kids?

I have two. A six-year-old girl and an almost-eight-year-old boy. They make me laugh, and sometimes they make me breakfast.

5. What projects are you working on now?

I’m finishing up a book for Knopf written by Judy Sierra called Beastly Rhymes; I’m designing two puzzle games for Cranium and a puzzle for Mudpuppy; I’m illustrating a book about camping for kids for Workman Publishing; I just recently completed a book for four short stories written by Garth Nix called One Beastly Beast and I’ve just landed an eight-book project for Harcourt that is still a little hush-hush. So I’ve been busy.

6. What is your biggest writing or illustrating luxury?

I’m currently in pajamas.

Other than that, the flexibility of my work schedule is the best thing. Not so much when I work, as that still seems to fit somewhat into the 9-to-5, since my kids are in school and clients have certain expectations. Rather, it’s what I work on. I like having several projects into which I can sink my teeth, and I love the fact that at any time the phone could ring and my life and career get turned upside-down. In a good way.

Who am I kidding? I get to draw pictures all day. That, in and of itself, is THE luxury.

7. Coffee or tea?

Oh good lord, coffee. Though with this cold I’ve had I’ve been drinking tea in the mornings. But without these extraordinary circumstances, coffee.

8. Name five artists on your iPod (or mp3 player).

I checked the “Most recently played.”

Isan, an English electronic music duo.
Pierre Bastien, who is a French musician that constructs songs from mechanical sounds. Crazy stuff.
The Police (the comfort of the music I danced to in high school)
One Ring Zero, a duet from Brooklyn who play accordions, theremins, and other such things.
My son Wilson, who remixes loops in music software.

9. What would I be surprised to know about you?

My favorite art supply is a ballpoint pen.

10. What college did you attend (in what subject)?

I studied Graphic Design at Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris.

11. If you weren’t working with kids’ books, what would your dream job be?

Either a photographer or film-maker, or a touring musician.

12. What’s the best thing on TV right now?

Well, I won’t claim it’s “the best” by a long stretch, but I’m a junkie for “24″ and, I have to admit, I’ve been turning on the tv for American Idol this season. Don’t tell anyone.

13. How did you get your “big break” into the field?

During a downturn in my newspaper and magazine work in 2001, I collected some little portfolios of work and sent them off to ten editors and art-directors of some of the larger publishing houses. Less than a week later I received an email from Isabel Warren-Lynch at Knopf. I went up to New York to meet her and she gave me the Shredderman books to illustrate. It happened that fast. Since Shredderman has been such a success, other doors have opened because of it.

14. Which celeb would you want most to meet?

Living: David Letterman
All time: Jim Henson

15. Who is the best book character EVER?

Oh, I suspect Max, from Where the Wild Things Are. But if I was a kid now, I’d probably think Harry Potter.