HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY! Illustration from my book A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST

It is February 2nd, the day that groundhogs (also known as woodchucks) are reputed to come out of their holes to check the weather. Here's a groundhog (pictured on a spring day) from my book A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST wishing you a HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY, where ever you are!

According to Wikipedia: Groundhog Day derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog (Marmota monax, also called "woodchuck"; Deitsch: Grundsau, Grunddax, Dax) emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow or not and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.

Look for A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST in your library, or buy it on KINDLE.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Hope you will have a fun and yummy Turkey Day!
The illustration is from one of my first cut-paper art books Who Has More? Who Has Fewer? On one side of this folding book for tots, children count the eggs of seven kinds of birds. On the reverse side, the chicks have hatched!

DIVE INTO BOOKS: Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival 2019

The theme this year at the Humboldt County Children's Author Festival, Eureka, CA, was Dive Into Books

I am just home from the bi-annual Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival in Eureka, California, and it was as fabulous as ever. This was my seventh time to participate, and each time it gets better and better. The theme this year was Dive into Books. A giant octopus welcomed people to the library on the day of the book signing.

With my cut-paper illustrations  at the Morris Graves Museum of Art

The four day festival (October 16-19)  included author visits to schools, a gala banquet, book signing at the library, and an exhibition of children’s book art at the Morris Graves Museum of Art. I had two pieces of original art from my book A Day and Night in the Rain Forest in the exhibit.

The Morris Graves Museum of Art is located in the beautifully restored Carnegie Library building

On the opening day of the festival there is always a welcome reception for the authors and volunteers at the museum--a chance to see the art exhibit, to meet the wonderful volunteers who organize the festival and to mingle with the other authors. This year there were 25 of us!

Display of my books at Jacoby Creek School

Thursday and Friday are devoted to author visits in the schools and I had two wonderful school visits. The first was to Jacoby Creek School (grades K-8.) Librarian Marci Barker had done a great job preparing the students. I spoke to two groups of students in the morning, then had a delicious lunch from the restaurant across the street from the school, and then two presentations after lunch.

Joan Williams, Festival volunteer; Marci Barker, Librarian at Jacoby Creek School; Evelyn Bertell, my driver to the schools.

My driver for both days was Evelyn Bertell, an enthusiastic supporter of the Author Festival and whose children attend Jacoby Creek. On Friday afternoon, after we finished, she took me for a lovely walk at the bird sanctuary in Arcata.

Student performers and Alexis O'Neill, whose book The Recess Queen was one of the stories performed.

Thursday evening at the festival is always a potluck dinner (yummy food provided by the many festival volunteers) followed by a Readers Theater performance by students from the arts high school in Arcata, who did a brilliant presentation, weaving together stories by three of the Festival Authors and a book by Festival Committee member Byrd Lochtie, based on a story her mother told her when she was a child.

With Vicki Childress, teacher at Arcata Christian School

On Friday morning I went to Arcata Christian School where I did three presentations, one to the kindergarteners in their room, one to grades 1-4, and another to grades 5-8. Teacher Vicki Childress coordinated my visit and did a great job, including making a most impressive cake decorated with a large painted lady butterfly. The children in all the classes did artwork and writing projects that filled the walls in the room where I was presenting.

The Ingomar Club where the banquet was held

On Friday evening everyone gathered at the Ingomar Club (the historic Carson mansion) for a gala dinner. Entertainment was from the authors–each of us got three minutes at the podium--a challenge to decide what to say, but everyone always manages to be entertaining and different. Our timekeeper was Shirley Santino--dressed in keeping with the undersea theme.

Shirley Santino with her undersea props

The final event of the Authors Festival is a book signing on Saturday at the beautiful county library. Many thanks to Eureka Books for ordering and supplying all the books! We all wear our festival t-shirts as we chat with visitors and autograph books.

With author Mary Nethery at the book signing at the library

I do many author events but nothing is quite like the Humboldt County Children's Author festival. I can’t give enough thanks to all the people who put so many hours into planning and coordinating all the different moving parts. (The Festival website has a complete list of these amazing people and much more.) You all do a fantastic job! Thank you for making me a part of this unique and wonderful festival!

Theme poster for the festival.

MEET CAROLINE ARNOLD, Feature Article in Cheviot Living Magazine

Several months ago I was interviewed for an article in my neighborhood magazine, Cheviot Living, by local resident Gabrielle Michel. (The neighborhood where I live in Los Angeles is called Cheviot Hills, inspired by the hills on the border of Scotland and England of the same name.) Gabrielle did a great job and I thank publisher and editor Joe Schneider for featuring my work and introducing it to my neighbors. I met Joe last spring in conjunction with the Cheviot Art Crawl, an annual event in which artists who live in the area open their studios to the public. I plan to participate in the Art Crawl next spring.

Here is the text of the article:

Meet Cheviot resident and artist Caroline Arnold! Caroline grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spent most summers at a small camp in northern Wisconsin. It was there that she began to develop a love for nature and the outdoors (which would ultimately become her muse for her art pieces and environmentally-conscious children’s books, of which she’s written over 170 to date). Caroline attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, where she majored in art and also studied English literature. Following that, she attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, and received her M.A. in art in 1968.

Caroline began writing books for children more than twenty-five years ago when her own children were small. She illustrated a few books and then worked with photographer Richard Hewett for many years creating photo essays about animals. The books she illustrates today are inspired by her experience working with Richard. They read like true stories, following the lives of animals from birth to finding independence, and teach simple themes to children about growing up. The books have also been a major avenue to showcase Caroline’s art creations of paper cut-out shapes.

Says Caroline about her paper cut-outs: “I rely heavily on the outside edges of each piece of paper because it’s those lines that define the shapes of the objects. I use flat colors so I depend on contrasting hues and a layering process to create depth. Thicker art stock paper, when layered, gives a nice, although minute, three-dimensionality that really brings the animals to life and allows them to `pop’ off the page.”

Caroline has found that for animals that live underground or underwater, are active at night, or live in remote locations, often a drawing is better than a photograph for showing their behavior.

Says Caroline about her books: “[these books] are intended for kids in early elementary school so the pictures have to be big and bold, with a poster-effect, and fill both pages, so when a teacher reads to her class, the students can see the images clearly from the back of the room.” While the stories themselves are full of information and can be found in school libraries, they are also good for pleasure reading and are available at book retailers.

Caroline’s favorite aspect about her art is the fact that it’s so scalable: while intended as book illustration, it can also be framed or made into prints to hang on a wall. She’s also used these images to create great greeting cards.

Caroline’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited in numerous galleries and competitive shows. Caroline plans on making her Cheviot Art Crawl debut in 2019. She lives with her husband, Art (name not coincidentally on purpose), who sometimes helps with photography for her books. Their children are grown and flew the nest long ago.

To visit her works, see:

http://www.carolinearnoldbooks.com/

https://carolinearnoldportfolio.blogspot.com

Cut-Paper Animals by Students at Coastal Grove School

I was away for the month of December and came home to a pile of mail including an envelope with wonderful cut-paper art and note from Jenny Hales, the Education Coordinator at Coastal Grove Charter School in Arcata, California. I had visited the school in October as part of the Humboldt County Author Festival. After my visit, the fifth grade students were inspired to create their own cut-paper art in the same manner I use for my books. I absolutely love the art--the students did a fantastic job of making the animals realistic and colorful. I especially like the texture of the paper and the use of watercolors to create various color shades.
Thank you so much for sharing!

AUTHOR FESTIVAL ILLUSTRATOR EXHIBIT, 2017, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

Original cut-paper illustration from A Day and Night on the Prairie, 9:00 p.m.

The Humboldt County Children’s Author Festival in Eureka, California, brings together authors, illustrators and book lovers for a very busy and fun four days.  Held every two years in October, the festival  includes author visits to schools, a gala banquet, book signing at the library, and an exhibition of children’s book art at the Morris Graves Museum of Art. I have been participating since 2007. This year I sent two pieces of original art from my book A Day and Night on the Prairie.

Original cut-paper illustration from A Day and Night on the Prairie, 6:00 a.m.

Many thanks to Lucy Quimby, one of the many devoted volunteers who organize the festival, for making arrangements for the show and to Jemima Harr at the museum for hanging the art. Copies of the illustrated books are also on display.The show went up in September and continues to the end of October.

Books by participating illustrators

On the opening day of the festival there is a welcome reception for the authors and volunteers at the museum and I always enjoy the chance to view the show and get a close-up look at the art of my fellow illustrators.

Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, California

IMAGINE II: Illustrators Art Exhibition

A Day and Night in the Desert, 9:00 am

I am pleased to have two pieces of art from my book A Day and Night in the Desert in IMAGINE II: The Art of Children’s Books, an exhibit of art by children’s book illustrators at the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, California.The exhibition runs from August 12 - September 23, 2017.  It is co-hosted by the SCBWI, with many thanks to Gina Capaldi. I am one of many Southern California illustrators whose work is displayed. The featured artist this year is through the family of Caldecott winner Leo Politi. One wall will be dedicated to his work.

A special VIP Illustrators and Librarians Reception will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 5 pm. This event will include the Pomona Library Foundation and the Pomona Unified School District and book sales! We encourage you to join us. The famous Downtown Pomona Art Walk will follow from 6-8 pm.



Where:
dA Center for the Arts
252 South Main Street
Pomona, CA 91766
Phone: 909-397-9716

Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 12pm to 4pm (til 9pm on Thursday)

A Day and Night in the Desert, 3:00 am

Illustrations from my Day and Night series Available at Etsy

Illustration from A Day and Night in the Rain Forest

This gallery quality print is made from an original cut-paper illustration I created for my children’s book A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE RAIN FOREST, one of four books in the Caroline Arnold's Habitats series published by Picture Window Books (Capstone). This image is on pages 2-3. Even though the paper of the print is flat, it retains the three-dimensional quality of the layered paper of the original art.
The print is 10 1/4 inches by 20 inches with a one inch white border and is shipped in a sturdy mailing tube. Smaller sizes of prints are also available.
Prints make great gifts for the holidays!  Check out my Etsy site for these and other available illustrations.

Illustration from A Day and Night in the Desert

SCBWI SUMMER CONFERENCE 2016, Los Angeles, CA

My Workshop at the 45th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference, Los Angeles, CA

The SCBWI summer conference, held this year in the elegant Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, was fantastic as usual with amazing keynote talks, workshops and more. It was three days of inspiration that will last the whole year. Talks from authors, illustrators, editors and agents were terrific. And I loved the chance to spend time with writer friends both old and new.

Book Sale and Stairway to the Biltmore Bowl

On Sunday morning I conducted a workshop “Creating Eye-Catching Nonfiction for the Very Young” in which I talked about the relationship between text and illustration and how they work together to tell the whole story. My theme was “let the illustrations do the work.” I then showed–briefly–the process I go through when illustrating one of my books using my cut-paper technique. I thank Liz Mertz, SCBWI Regional Advisor from Texas, for introducing me at my workshop and making sure everything ran smoothly.

Some of the many SCBWI nonfiction writers at the Nonfiction Social

An incredible team of SCBWI bloggers kept a running account of conference events.  For a close-up look at all the many events of the three-day conference, I recommend going to the conference blog. Because all the workshops ran concurrently, it was impossible to see everything in person. But by reading the blog you can get highlights of the various presentations. I thank SCBWI blogger (and amazing and prolific author/illustrator) Don Tate for the photos of me at my workshop and at the nonfiction social.

Lin Oliver, our extraordinary leader and co-founder of SCBWI

In addition to listening to the keynote speeches, panels and Golden Kite speeches in the large Biltmore Bowl I attended three excellent workshops: The Picture Book Process with Saho Fuji, art director at Little Brown; Crafting the Narrative Nonfiction Biography with Bonnie Bader, author/editor at Penguin Books; and Facts Meets Feeling: Narrative nonfiction that informs, entertains, moves, and convinces audiences by Melissa Manlove of Chronicle Books. The final event of the conference was the autograph party in the Crystal Ballroom where I signed my books Living Fossils, A Zebra's World and A Day and Night in the Rain Forest.

Book Signing in Crystal Ballroom

I have been going to the SCBWI summer conference since 1977 (then it was just SCBW, no I) and have seen it grow and become better and better. This year more than 900 people attended!  In 1977 I was an unpublished writer. A year later I sold my first book. I credit the SCBWI for helping me to become a successful writer and I am pleased and honored to have had the chance to be a speaker this year at the conference. Who knew 45 years ago, when Lin Oliver and Steve Mooser started the Socity of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, that it would become the largest and most influential organization for children’s book writers and illustrators in the world.

Thank you Lin and Steve!

Chocolate pyramid dessert at Golden Kite Awards Dinner

AUTHOR FESTIVAL ILLUSTRATOR EXHIBIT, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

A Day and Night in the Forest, original art for pages 2-3, exhibited at Morris Graves Museum, Eureka, CA

Every two years, in conjunction with the Humboldt County Author Festival, a special exhibit of original art from books by participating authors and illustrators is displayed in the youth gallery at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka, California. The exhibit runs for two months before the festival so the general public and children in visiting school groups can become familiar with the work before the authors arrive.

Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

I am pleased to have my art included and this year I contributed two pieces from my book A Day and Night in the Forest. The festival, held this year from October 14-17, always begins with a reception at the museum. I always enjoy the show and the opportunity to see the work of the other illustrators--Bob Barner, David Biedrzycki, Bethanie Murguia and Kathleen Pelley. I thank Lucy Quinby, the school and author liaison for the festival, for making the arrangements, and Jemima Harr, curator at the Morris Graves, for coordinating the exhibit. It looked terrific! The exhibit dates are September 5th to October 25th.
You can read about my school visits during the author festival in my previous post and see some of the terrific cut paper art created by the students.

A Day and Night in the Forest, original art for pages 14-15 and 2-3

READING ACROSS THE UNIVERSE at the Humboldt County Author Festival, Eureka, CA

Signing books at the Humboldt County Library

Last week I participated once again in the wonderful Humboldt County Author’s Festival in Eureka, California. http://www.authorfest.org/ The theme this year was Reading Across the Universe. This was my fifth time at the author festival, and each time it gets better and better. For forty years the Author Festival Committee has been bringing authors–this year there were 23 of us--every two years for two days of visits to schools and a day of book signing at the beautiful Humboldt County Public Library. 

Authors at the Ingomar Club wearing our Across the Universe Bug-eye Glasses

In addition, there was a welcoming reception on Wednesday evening at the Morris Graves Museum of Art; a potluck dinner on Thursday evening with space ship table decorations made by local students and a wonderful dramatization of some of our stories by high school students; and on Friday evening a gala banquet, held this year at the Ingomar Club (the historic Carson Mansion) overlooking the harbor.

At North Coast Learning Academy

My first school visit was at North Coast Academy in Eureka where I spoke to three enthusiastic groups of children in grades kindergarten through grade eight. Before my visit the children had read a variety of my books (provided by the county library) and the wall of the room was decorated with wonderful artwork ranging from worms in the garden inspired by my book Wiggle and Waggle and paper plate zebra masks inspired by A Zebra’s World to drawings of sharks and the Taj Mahal. I was pleased with the good response to my presentations and the good questions. And I thank the parents and teachers for the delicious lunch!

At Kneeland School

My second day of school visits was at Kneeland School, reached by a beautiful drive up a winding road into the mountains above Eureka. Children have been attending this school since 1880! This year the 25 students range from kindergarten to seventh grade. I spent the first hour with the lower grades, where everyone had a chance to use my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets to act out the story, and then, after recess, I presented to the upper grades. Everyone in the school had created cut paper art, inspired by my book A Day and Night in the Forest. Two people had even made porcupines–cutting out lots of quills! We all had a delicious lunch of homemade soup. 

"Worms in Dirt" dessert

Dessert, in keeping with the Wiggle and Waggle theme, was worms in dirt--actually brownie chunks with gummy worms. The students at Kneeland know a lot about real worms and have their very own worm bin. On a daily basis lunch scraps are contributed to the worm bin to be made into compost.

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the author festival and thank the hard working committee for making it all possible. I also want to thank my drivers who ferried me around so expertly: Ann Wieland, who gave three of us a wonderful scenic tour of the coast on our way to the hotel from the airport; Stella Hawkins, who took me to North Coast Learning Academy on Thursday; and Byrd Lochtie, who drove me to Kneeland on Friday and then graciously took me for a visit to the Sequoia Park Zoo in the afternoon. I also thank Eureka Books who coordinated the Saturday book sale at the library. The Humboldt County Author’s Festival is truly a community effort and a very special event for everyone involved. Thank you all!

Across the Universe cakes for the Banquet

CUT PAPER ANIMALS at Crocker Highlands School

Last Friday I had a terrific author visit at Crocker Highlands Elementary School in Oakland, California.  When I arrived I found the library bulletin boards decorated with a host of cut-out animals inspired by my books–moose, eagles, walruses, zebras, pandas (which were displayed with branches of bamboo) wombats, koalas and a whole fleet of swimming platypuses.

In the morning I spoke to three groups of enthusiastic students.  In the afternoon I visited a third grade class and we did the animal pyramid poem project.  I thank librarian Lisa Hobbs for doing a great job organizing the day and making sure that everything ran smoothly.  It was a special treat for me to visit Crocker Highlands because it is the neighborhood school where I live part-time in Oakland and several of the students in the audience were children that I know.

Colorful Animals

Nobody ever said that animals have to have realistic colors! At a recent event, I set up a table with crayons, colored paper, scissors, glue and coloring pages from some of my animal books. Then I let the children free to use the materials as they liked. The picture above shows the ingenious use of the materials by Jossi and Laura, two nine year old girls. I love the way they let the shapes of the animals inspire the filling of the space and how they made patterns of colors and lines. The coloring pages for the koala and penguins can be downloaded from the book pages on my website. A Koala’s World and A Penguin’s World. Go to the project section of each page to click on the link. Have fun making your own creative and colorful animal art!

Folk Art from the Czech Republic

It’s Christmas season and time to get out our creche collection. We just added a new one, a paper cut out creche from the Czech Republic. A week ago we got back from a trip to Prague and Berlin, where we spent Thanksgiving. Christmas lights were up, street stands and shops were filled with traditional Christmas foods (stollen, lebkuchen, mulled wine) and whole stores specialized in hand made decorations, including various forms of creches. I have always been fond of folk art and the simple forms, bright colors have been an influence on my own art. I look forward to cutting out the new creche with my grandchildren when we get together for Christmas.

Making Cut Paper Illustrations

My basic technique is the same for all of my books.
The first step is to write the story. This involves basic research in the library, on the internet, and if possible, observing the animals in real life. I need to find out everything I can about the animal–what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, how it behaves, what its special adaptations are. All this information helps me with both my writing and my art.
Whenever possible I like to observe animals in their natural habitats. I also like to watch them in the zoo. I always take my camera when I go to the zoo. The pictures are a type of visual note taking. They help me both with my writing and my art.
The first step in creating my illustrations is the drawing. If I’m drawing a baby moose, I need to know exactly what it looks like. I then transfer the drawing onto colored paper, cut out the pieces, and glue them together. The final step is putting the animals on a background.
This illustration is from my book A Moose's World.
Update, September 14, 2011
VIDEO:  You can now see a short video of my cut-paper process on YouTube.  Click here to view it.