2010

Before the year closes I want to say how grateful I am for the fall and winter that Ballet for Martha has had. In October, Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan, Neal Porter and I had the incredible experience of seeing the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra incorporate the book into a performance of Appalachian Spring. Publishers Weekly gave the details here. Thanks especially to Jan and the SLSO for working to make that happen, and to Roaring Brook to sending us all to St. Louis so we could see it for ourselves. This past month, I’ve been grateful to see Ballet make a number of end-of-the-year lists: Booklist Top Ten Art Books for Youth, Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books, Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, School Library Journal Best Books, New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Fuse #8 Production’s 100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2010, Horn Book Magazine Fanfare, and the Washington Post Best of 2010: Books for Young Readers. Sincere thanks to those reviewers.

And that’s a wrap for 2010. I look forward to posting soon about some work recently completed, and about the book currently sprawled across my drafting table. That’s my work for the rest of the winter and into spring. But that’s for next year. Happy 2011 to all!

Above: An alternate cover sketch.

Merry Christmas

I think I post this video every year. I feel a little badly about that, but not so badly, because I like it so much. Christmas cheer for the lightshipmen, and for you and yours, and best wishes for 2011!

Hear me, outer boroughs!

I have a busy few days of presentations coming up. On the morning of Thursday the 9th, I’ll give a presentation about my work at the Brooklyn Public Library. Details are here.

On the morning of Saturday the 11th, I’ll read at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School book fair. Details are here.

And on Sunday the 12th, at 3:00, editor Neal Porter, author Sandra Jordan, and I will give a presentation about our book Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, at the Noguchi Museum in Queens. (The circle is complete!) The full event description is: “Ballet for Martha: Making of Appalachian Spring tells the story of the collaboration among Isamu Noguchi, composer Aaron Copeland, and choreographer/dancer Martha Graham to create the iconic ballet Appalachian Spring. In this special program—intended for adults—co-author (with Jan Greenberg) Sandra Jordan, editor Neal Porter, and illustrator Brian Floca will introduce the book and discuss their own collaborative effort to make Noguchi's, Graham's, and Copland's art accessible to a young audience. A slide show of sketches will accompany the discussion.” Details are here.

I hope some of you can come by!