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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Out On The Prairie gets a starred review from Kirkus

OUT ON THE PRAIRIE [STARRED REVIEW!]
Author: Bateman, Donna M.
Illustrator: Swan, Susan
Publisher:Charlesbridge
Traditionally patterned verses celebrate the flora, fauna and wide sky of the mixed-grass prairie of Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

“Out on the prairie where the snakeroot greets the sun, / Lived a shaggy mother bison and her little calf One.” As she did in Deep in the Swamp (2007), Bateman has chosen representative features and creatures to introduce a remarkable ecosystem. Counting from one to 10, she goes on to include pronghorns, meadowlarks, prairie dogs, grasshoppers, grouse, owls, rattlesnakes, coyotes and toads in a series of verses that also span the day from dawn to night. The poetry is not sacrificed to the information; she pays careful attention to language and rhythm, using splendid verbs. It reads aloud smoothly. Swan’s energetic cut-paper, mixed-media illustrations delight and instruct. She includes found objects and hand-painted paper, collaged and digitally combined on double-page spreads that blend into a spatter-paint frame in the story section. Plants and animals are identifiable in the pictures and described further in the backmatter, 10 pages of “Prairie Flora and Fauna Facts.” This describes the animals’ child-bearing and -rearing habits, offers further information about the plants, and defines the term “prairie.”

Another outstanding appreciation of the natural world for young readers and listeners both. (Informational picture book. 4-8) ©Kirkus Reviews

Thursday, May 3, 2012

paper beads, lava....


a (sort of new) obsession











I'm working on a picture book
about volcanoes so had to investigate the possibilities of lava.
These stones look rough
but are surprisingly smooth and look wonderful combined with these rough nuggets of amethyst.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

out on the prairie

as promised, some spreads from the interior of OUT ON THE PRAIRIE (written by Donna M.Bateman and published by Charlesbridge).

new books

I'm all about the color, texture and patterns in nature and I'm very proud of my new picture book, OUT ON THE PRAIRIE written by Donna M. Bateman, which shows what I love about the landscape of the southwest. I was brought kicking and screaming to Texas soon after I married (after telling my new husband that under no circumstances would I leave Connecticut) and immediately fell in love with the sunrises/sunsets and most especially the wildflowers. I'm so happy I got to show all that in my newest picture book.
I've just received my author's copies and am thrilled with the printing/production quality. It will be in your book store soon (July).
I'll show more of the interior in upcoming posts.