{"id":2514,"date":"2013-02-15T00:01:15","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T06:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2013-02-15T21:23:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-16T03:23:00","slug":"what-i%e2%80%99m-up-to-at-kirkus-this-weekplus-what-i-did-last-week-featuring-dan-yaccarino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2514","title":{"rendered":"What I\u2019m Up To at Kirkus<\/em> This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Dan Yaccarino"},"content":{"rendered":"

“<\/strong><\/font>Doug Unplugged had been buzzing around my brain for a very long time before I actually created the book dummy. My sketchbook was filled with images of a little robot boy [pictured left], whom I originally called Digi Doug. I’d been wrestling with the idea of a character who unplugs from electronic devices in order to use his senses (other than to see and hear) to experience and learn about the world.<\/strong>“<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/center><\/font><\/p>\n

Those words are from author\/illustrator Dan Yaccarino<\/a><\/strong>, whose newest picture book, Doug Unplugged<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, is out and about in the world, as of this week. <\/p>\n

And it was the subject of my Kirkus<\/em> column last week<\/a><\/strong>, so I’m following up today with some art and sketches from the book (below). I thank Dan for sharing. <\/p>\n

Today at Kirkus<\/em>, I take a look at a chapter book import, Rose Lagercrantz\u2019s My Happy Life<\/em>, illustrated by Eva Eriksson. Originally published in Sweden in 2010 (both author and illustrator are Swedish, too), it was released here in the U.S. at the end of last month. That column is here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dan<\/font><\/strong>: First, I tried to figure out what [Doug] was able to do as a robot. I love robots, so this was a lot of fun to do!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I thought about things he could learn about the world, if he unplugged from his computer. This was also fun.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Once the dummy was worked out and the sketches approved, I started the book. Doug Unplugged<\/em> is the first book I’ve done digitally. Yes, I know, it’s kind of odd that a book about unplugging was done using a computer, but I had a specific look in mind. I adore [Roger] Duvoisin’s<\/a><\/strong> Petunia<\/em> books, as well as other books from that era, and wanted to evoke the simple shapes and clear black lines. I can’t imagine doing the illustrations for this book any other way.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s the color chart I developed while creating the images.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And here’s the cover: <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I wanted to show him plugged in and learning facts via his computer. The brilliant designer Sarah Hockenson at Knopf came up with this beautiful layout to show what Doug learns and what he’ll ultimately encounter when he goes out into the city.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n

(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

And here is Doug out in the world for the first time.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n

(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

I wanted him to experience the world around him using his senses. <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\n

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

This image is not part of the book. I just did it for myself. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n

DOUG UNPLUGGED. Copyright \u00a9 2013 by Dan Yaccarino. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Images used with permission of Dan Yaccarino.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Doug Unplugged had been buzzing around my brain for a very long time before I actually created the book dummy. My sketchbook was filled with images of a little robot boy [pictured left], whom I originally called Digi Doug. I’d been wrestling with the idea of a character who unplugs from electronic devices in order […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}