{"id":1687,"date":"2009-05-24T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2009-05-24T06:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1687"},"modified":"2009-06-08T08:33:37","modified_gmt":"2009-06-08T14:33:37","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-116-featuring-sarah-ackerley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1687","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #116: Featuring Sarah Ackerley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jules:<\/font><\/strong> Happy (upcoming) Memorial Day and happy three-day-weekend to one and all! We hope folks are around today to come kickin’ with us, and we certainly hope everyone is having a relaxing and sunny weekend thus far. <\/p>\n

Oh, wait. Yeah. I should have introduced the penguin here. The penguin with the plunger. That’s Patrick. If you think he looks as if he might be sleepwalking, well…you’re right. He’s got sleep issues. He’s also got his own picture book. <\/p>\n

And I’m going to let author\/illustrator Sarah Ackerley<\/strong><\/a> tell you all about him. Sarah—who grew up in Texas, studied art at The University of Texas at Austin, and moved to California<\/strong><\/a> last year—is here to tell us what she’s done, what got her inspired to make books for children (here’s<\/strong><\/a> a hint), and what’s to-come. <\/p>\n

And we thank her kindly for stopping by. Ladies and gentlemen, with no further ado, we welcome Sarah Ackerley . . . <\/p>\n

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“<\/font>I graduated from art school five years ago with my BFA in hand and absolutely no idea what to do next. All those angsty artist questions ran around in my head. Why make art? Who\u2019s looking anyways? What do I have to offer?<\/em> And then I discovered the answer to all my questions\u2026in mouse form. <\/p>\n

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I knew from the moment I picked up Kevin Henkes\u2019<\/strong><\/a> fabulous book, Owen<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, that I wanted to write and illustrate picture books. This book was so funny, so clever, and so beautifully-illustrated. I had to make one of my own. <\/p>\n

And so I did. I wrote a little story about a sleepwalking penguin who wears a plunger on his head. His parents think he\u2019s a little weird, but don\u2019t worry, they come around. <\/p>\n

I did the illustrations on watercolor paper, cut them out and glued them onto cardstock. I made a really, really crappy dummy book, but I was happy with it. It was cute, people liked it, and I just knew I would get it published someday. <\/p>\n

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I won\u2019t drag you trough the details of the next 3\u00bd years. It was a long and winding path, but let\u2019s just say that, yes, eventually, Patrick the Somnambulist<\/strong><\/a><\/em> did get published by the wonderful Blooming Tree Press. It came out in April of 2008, and it makes me really happy.<\/p>\n

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One of my favorite parts about being an author\/illustrator is doing author visits at schools. I encourage kids to follow their dreams, to write down all their wonderful ideas, to draw their way, etc. etc. You know how it goes. AND the kids get to wear a plunger on their head! It\u2019s a good life. <\/p>\n

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Stop by the podcast Just One More Book<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to listen to a fun review of Patrick the Somnambulist<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Since the release of Patrick the Somnambulist<\/em>, I have been focusing more on my illustration. I have a million stories bouncing around in my head, and I love to illustrate bits of them. Here is some of my recent work.<\/p>\n


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Finally, I have more influences than would be practical to list, but some of the majors are:<\/p>\n