A few days ago my friend, web developer Margaret Savage helped me set up this game on my website. The first results are already coming in, and I am very happy to post them here.
The very first to arrive is from someone named Gfybgfdsxcvghj, who apparently lives in Fxcvbnimjokkjnbvcfxdxfjk. I am very curious about his or her or its ethnicity.
A couple of weeks ago Rabbit and I visited the pre-K classes at P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, NY. P.S. 9 is a good elementary school in a neighborhood that has changed a big deal in the past ten years or so. The kids, needless to say, were fun and smart. We read Hey, Rabbit!, we talked about all the things that Rabbit's friends find in the suitcase, and then the children drew what they would want to find in the suitcase for themselves on large sheets of paper like this:
I want to thank the P.S. 9 principal and all the pre-K teachers and assistants, who were all very helpful and welcoming.
I also want to thank all the people who helped me make the video: Tobin Yelland, who did the camera work; Charles Bowe, who directed the shooting; Paul Ewen, who edited; Wynne Evans and Marc Amft of the band Drink Me, who gave me permission to use their song Can You See Me?; my girlfriend Karen Devine, a singer for the choir Amuse, who did the voice-over; Gerardo Blumenkrantz, a creative director, who helped me organize the whole thing.
The video is also on my website.
Rubber duckling, take a look at this nice review of Hey, Rabbit! on School Library Journal.
As a rabbit pushes a large suitcase, many animals inquire about the contents. A toucan wonders, “HEY, Rabbit! Is there anything for me in your suitcase? Maybe a leaf to remind me of home?” Expectations are exceeded when each creature peeks inside. For example, Toucan discovers a tropical paradise full of exotic flora and fauna. More fantasies come true: a dog finds a birthday cake made of bones, a cat discovers a room full of yarn, and a hungry mouse enjoys tasting stacks of cheese. Ruzzier’s delicate ink-and-watercolor illustrations have a quirky, dreamy quality. After everyone’s wishes have come true, Rabbit wonders, “HEY, is there anything for me in my suitcase?” [...] Pair this with Katie Cleminson’s Magic Box (Hyperion, 2009) for a fanciful storytime. – Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada
The drawings for Hey, Rabbit! where done in pen & ink and watercolors.
I use an old orange wooden pen which is quite thick, so it fits well in my hand.
The metal nib is very fine, but flexible enough to get different thicknesses, even within the same line.
(This is a detail of a drawing I'm working on now for a different book.)
For Hey, Rabbit! I used black and sepia ink. Sepia is a nice grayish tone of brown. I don't know if they still produce it the same way, but originally sepia ink came from the ink sacs of cuttlefish.
I paint with four or five red (or Kolinsky) sable hair brushes of different sizes, with a round, pointy tip.
My watercolors are mostly Schmincke. They're the best I've tried so far.
Since I started painting with watercolors, I've always used Arches paper, "grain torchon", or rough.
And this is my desk, in my studio in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn:
The basilisk exists both in real life and in legends.
The one that appears in the jungle spread of Hey, Rabbit! is more or less taken from the actual reptile.
(This one in the picture is from the Honolulu Zoo.)
According to Leonardo da Vinci, the basilisk likes to hide on the high tree branches and then stare at his (or her) victims as they wilt to death. That's not nice.
Other authors report similar behaviors, but if you look at my basilisk's face, would you believe she (or he) would be capable of such a thing?
The twin powers of friendship and imagination are stunningly portrayed with utter simplicity. Rabbit, with big blue eyes and a suitcase to match, meets his friends one by one, and they ask, “Hey, Rabbit! Is there anything for me in your suitcase?” Toucan asks if there’s a leaf to remind him of home, Crab wonders if there is a shell with the sound of the sea, Cat wants a ball of twine to play with. As Rabbit opens the suitcase, a full two-page spread appears with what each friend was dreaming of, floating and expanding to fill the page. Cat sees a roomful of twine, Toucan a whole jungle paradise. The all-encompassing visions embody the joy of finding exactly what one’s heart desires. [...] The colors are soft and clear; the line is vivacious and the little anthropomorphized animals are sweet. Their satisfied imaginations fill whole pages, and friendship emanates from every wriggle.
And the last of this first batch is by Jean from Paris (France or Texas?)
