Non fiction book review - Brush Pen Illustrations

Brush Pen Illustration by Sho Ito

Step by step guides for art are a tricky thing. On the one hand, you want clear directions. On the other hand, if the directions are too detailed it can narrow your focus, causing the reader to learn only how to draw a few particular items. The nice thing about this brush pen book is that it first teaches the reader a few key stroke styles. Each illustration, then, shows you how to combine those key strokes to create a particular image. A creative person can extend those concepts out to other images. There's also a guide to brush pen styles, but I found that to be a little narrow-focused. It addressed the disposition and options for a few sizes of pens in particular brands. Still, I look forward to trying out these techniques with my own brush pens.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Silence

I picked up some rocks at my parents' house, intending to paint them in the coming weeks and months. I was examining one, planning out what I might do with it. I was thinking it might be a hedgehog. Then someone suggested that the shape resembled the face in Edvard Munch's The Scream. It only followed, then, that the stone might also be the Silence from Doctor Who. That idea really took hold. Luckily, I had a fine tip permanent marker in my bag.

 

Summer applique

Friends, it has been hot here the last few days. So all my half finished craft projects are still half finished. Just the idea of handling yarn was most unpleasant. I whipped up this simple appliqued decoration over the weekend to replace the Doctor Who snowman I've had hanging, but that's about all I could handle.

 

Graphic novel spotlight - The Secret Science Alliance

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis

The Secret Science Alliance starts out in pretty familiar territory: a kid, new to town, is looking for a way to fit in with his peers and trying to hide his true interests which have made him an outsider in the past. He's fascinated by science in general and invention in particular. When his efforts fail, he's resigned to loneliness. Then he happens upon two vastly different kids who share his interests. Together they work on inventions and discover a conspiracy of scientific theft. The plot moves in relatively expected directions, though the final act goes pretty far afield. The multiple messages of self-acceptance and expression are important once but the real appeal, so far as I'm concerned, is in the illustrations. There's a magnificent level of detail, lots of extras packed into most pages. And the splash pages - friends you could spend an hour exploring the details in a single spread.

Book review - Spell and Spindle

Title: Spell & Spindle
Author: Michelle Schusterman
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: Flower Moon by Gina Linko
                      Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin
Rating:

not as creepy as I'd have liked, more complex than I'd hoped

Summary (provided by publisher): The Museum of Peculiar Arts holds many oddities--a mechanical heart, a diary bound in its owner's skin . . . and Penny, a child-size marionette who almost looks alive. Fog clouds Penny's memories from before the museum, but she catches glimpses here and there: a stage, deep red curtains, long-fingered hands gripping her strings.
One day, a boy named Chance touches Penny's strings and hears her voice in his head. Penny can listen, and watch, and think?
Now someone else is watching Penny and Chance--a man with a sharp face, a puppeteer who has the tools to change things. A string through a needle. A twist of a spindle. And suddenly Chance is trapped in Penny's marionette body, while Penny is free to run and dance. She knows that finding a way to switch back is the right thing to do. But this body feels so wonderful, so full of life! How can Penny ever return to her puppet shell?

My opinion: The strongest endorsement I can give of this novel is that Schusterman sets up clear rules for the magic of this world and sticks to them. Now, the details of those rules are parceled out throughout the plot, as Penny and Chance discover what is going on, but they remain consistent. She also uses her setting and it's social context to great affect. By setting her story in the 50's she can explore gender roles, race relations, the growth of the suburb, and the post war era all in the context of a mild horror plot. Personally, I'd loved to have seen the creep factor ramped up a couple of degrees but that's more a matter of personal preference than any real censure of the writing style.

More information: Spell and Spindle releases July 31.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Mini clipboard

I found a few of these little notepad clipboards in the dollar bin at Meijer a while back.

I liked the idea of them but not the design. Repainting them seemed simple enough. Here's the first one.

 

Pick 6: early chapter books

To my mind, choosing the right book for a child who is just beginning to read independently can be vital. Luckily, there is a wide range of choices available for such children. This list includes series and standalone books. Here are six books for kids just beginning to read chapter books published in the last six months.

6 new early chapter books

1. Wolfie and Fly: Band on the Run by Cary Fagan 
2. Ellie Engineered by Jackson Pearce
3. Good Night Sleep Tight by Kristina Andres
4. Gracie Laroo by Marsha Qualey
5. The Bolds on Vacation by Julian Clary
6. Superhero Harry by Rachel Ruiz