Tiz and Ott are out there at last - for real!

Been a bit busy with various things, not least a deadline for four little books!
I'm drawing my way out of the scribble, like in this early sketch for Tiz  & Ott's Big Draw.
Anyone who draws or writes may recognize the problem of getting carried away and ending up in a hole - which in Ott's case is incapacitating!

first colour 'rough' for Tiz's ladder  - which ended up  a lot higher!

Over two years ago that I did this sketch which ended up like this in the book...

page from Tiz and Ott's Big Draw © Bridget Marzo, Tate UK

It is on the top page of a vertical pull-out page.  I feel very lucky that  the Tate were ready to invest in that added 'gatefold' (as publishers call it) to take children up with  Tiz, up and up of the hole...

Spread and gatefold page from Tiz & Ott's Big Draw © Bridget Marzo Tate UK

so high that Tiz has to figure out how to get down, oh dear!
Like the boy who cried 'Wolf'', I feel like I've gone on a bit too much about Tiz and Ott already.  But now it is out there - for real - it takes time to publish a book.

American friends who've seen Tiz and Ott ask if I knew the US classic Harold and the Purple Crayon which was first published in the 1950s. I  I discovered it as an adult and recommend that wonderful book to anyone who has watched a line they have drawn turn into a kind of journey.
As I child I only knew  the Ant & Bee  books  which have recently been reprinted.  I have always loved stories with two characters responding to the world in different ways.  I think that's why Tiz and Ott  started out in these little mini books,  a bunch of short rhyming stories I am still writing more of, which are yet to be published.

When I started thinking about Tiz and Ott, I didn't know of any contemporary stories about ANY characters that draw or paint their way into another world. Doodle books, yes -  I illustrated two big doodle books myself. But though in my case, each page had its own story for kids to doodle into it wasn't like creating fully fledged picture book story with its own arc.
Now there is a spate of wonderful picture books about characters that create in different ways from books like Andrew Drew and Drew to the Days the Crayons Quit.  Spirit of the times!

Anyway Tiz and Ott's Big Draw is now out with Tate publishing in UK bookshops and museum shops.  And it will land on US bookshelves thanks to distribution by Abrams in November 2015.

SO - if by happy chance you are in London on June 4 please join me to raise a glass to cheer Tiz and Ott off into to the world at my launch at Tales on Moon Lane.   You will find the details (plus!) in this drawn-to-music one minute video.  Big thanks to Ella Finch for this video and her perfect timing of my scribbles to music!

Wonders and 'dedications' at the French children's book fair (Salon du Livre Jeunesse, Montreuil, Paris)

I have enthused more than once before after signing my books at the inspiring treasure trove of books that is the French national children's book fair (the Salon du Livre Jeunesse).  What a paradise for lovers of children's books, old and young!  Surely it is one of the reasons why French children's publishing thrives. 

Is there an enterprising someone who could dig out a nice big exhibition space and rally British children's publishers here to create the equivalent - a national 'selling' fair for the UK children's book market? It would be such a big boost for the UK publishing industry, bookshops included.  

French publishers at the Montreuil work with different independent bookshops who run the sales tills at each of their stands at the book fair.  The point is that unlike at the London Book Fair, publishers could actually sell books (and apps and a few related products) directly to parents and children of all ages (babies too!) school groups (in France they come in their droves to visit the fair, sometimes with special book tokens to spend) as well as teachers, librarians, book lovers and art students, not to mention us authors and illustrators.

Here's my illustrator's eye view from the Bayard stand, as armed with coloured pencils and stickers I got ready to sign my new book,  Bridget's Book of English  (That's the title my French publishers chose).  It's a large board book full of flaps and details - and English words - showing a funny furry family going through their day. On the back is a QR code and link to a site where I pronounce every word online - and be warned - I even sing the few songs in the the book.  

How to sign a big shiny board book? Well I did a drawing on sticky-backed paper, stuck it onto the door on the right here alongside the name of the child and my signature.

 Regis Faller, the creator of Polo,  was signing just to my left.  Polo is the adventurous dog whose exploits feature in brilliant wordless comic books for pre-readers.  Polo is a big success in France and also won a prize in the US.  I told Regis that I was lucky enough to witness our Bayard editor Isabelle Bézard presenting it at our SCBWI Bologna conference some years back and as a result the great editor Neal Porter, of Roaring Brook bought the US rights for Polo.

At the 2011 Bayard stand at the fair, I signed my books alongside a very popular friend,  Hervé Tullet. Some of his books were on a table behind me.  Bayard sold coeditions to Tate UK/ Abrams US of my books and Herve's.  It was great to watch Hervé perform and interact with kids and adults of all ages at the Tate when I first moved back to London.  He is amazing - and he continues to create stunningly innovative books which are causing a stir in the US too.   Bayard published one of his first big doodle books in the same format as my Petites Mains Dessinent (The Big Book for Little Hands) which - hooray....

...has just been reprinted with a new cover in France. So I signed this book too. 

Oh - here is Hervé - in one of his books!  

Pity this is the only caught glimpse I caught of him at the fair.

Authors and illustrators were kept busy everywhere -  including comic artist Emile Bravo (I love his Trois Ours Nains series) in the middle here signing at the Seuil stand.

Art, doodles and drawing books were everywhere too this year - in books and on backcloths. Above is the Sarbacane stand which published one of my favourite books this year by Serge Bloch. 

It felt appropriate that the art and new kids book publishers Thames & Hudson had a stand at Montreuil.  (Wish I had had enough battery left to photograph their wares!)

Wow- was the fair busy!  Nice that the Paris libraries had a suitably quiet corner stand of their own for kids and adults to relax in and  browse.

Monday, the last day is the 'professional' day, when more adults attend than kids.
I wonder how many of the people here with their noses buried in books, are teachers and librarians buying their stock for the year.
Ouch! My Iphone battery went flat too soon and I missed taking a photo of my other friend Marc Boutavant who was signing all over the place. Queues for him were huge so I will have to wait to get my latest Marc Boutavant treasures signed when I see him for another fun dinner chez lui or hey - let's get him to London.

The day after I signed at Montreuil I had fun at my first fully fledged Bridget's Book 

workshop at Anglofun.  

But more about that next post!