Wordless Wednesday

Kane/Miller has a few wordless (or nearly wordless) books on our list:

Fly, Little Bird

Jukebox

Yellow Umbrella

Next week - and from that point forward - we'll be participating in Wordless Wednesday by sharing delightful interior illustrations from our books.

Happy Birthday Anji!

Today is Anji Yamamura's birthday! She is the author and illustrator of Hannah Duck, a new picture book from Japan.

After beginning work as an illustrator, Anji Yamamura moved to Tokyo where she taught herself the art of wood engraving. Her work takes a variety of forms, including picture books, and has won numerous awards.

Tina in Toronto

I'm meeting Tina Burke today for the first time. She's just moved to Toronto and since I'm here on business, it's the perfect opportunity to sit down with her and learn more about her future projects and what types of promotions she and I can work on together. She's created several beautiful titles with us over the past few years and we're anxious to learn about how we can have her appear in the schools, bookstores and libraries in Canada and the U.S. to promote her work.

by Tina Burke
From Australia


Fly, Little Bird


It's Christmas


Sophie's Big Bed
(Toddler Tales)

Tina grew up in Warriewood on Sydney's northern beaches, with her parents, Ron and Janet, and two older brothers, Paul and Sean. Her mother was always interested in art, and got Tina interested too by asking for her opinion when she was working on a painting, and then eventually buying her a box of pastels and a sketch pad. Tina always seemed to enjoy drawing and painting animals most of all.

Eventually, Tina moved to Sydney's eastern beaches - first Bondi Beach, then Coogee Beach (which looks a lot like La Jolla, California) before moving to Toronto, Canada last month.

Fly, Little Bird was Tina Burke's first book for children, but not her first work for children. For six years, she worked for Walt Disney animation.

Pay Close Attention!

For those of you with young children, you'll understand my awe at how amazing my son's memory is and the details he notices when we're driving in the car and of course, among the illustrations in the books we read.

Of course, my argument for this is that I'm too focused On the Road to notice the dog in the back of the van or too busy concentrating on reading the words in the story to see the small frogs hiding in the pictures (Paul Needs Specs).

Look closely, and you will discover many things in picture books that you might otherwise miss. Spend a day looking at the pictures alone and ignore the text. You may find a new appreciation for the stories that can be told without words.

From England
On the Road
by Susan Steggall


From Australia
Paul Needs Specs
Written by Bernard Cohen
Illustrated by Geoff Kelly


From Japan
Animal Faces
Written by Kyoko Toda
Photographs by Akira Satoh


From Germany
Something is Not Quite Right!
by Ralf Butschkow

From Japan
Who's Hiding?
by Satoru Onishi


From Mexico
Half of an Elephant
by Gusti


From South Korea
Yellow Umbrella
Illustrated by Jae Soo Liu
Music composed by Dong Il Sheen


From Australia
Fly, Little Bird
by Tina Burke

Now, see if you can't find all twenty-two frogs hidden in the illustrations of Paul Needs Specs, or if you can tell me what your favorite animal is made of from Half of an Elephant (mine is the giraffe made from a tape measure). Happy Hunting!