The BiblioFiles Presents: Tony DiTerlizzi

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Tony DiTerlizzi - Photo credit "Jim Gipe photo / Pivot Media"Just posted! A webcast and podcast with multiple award winning, and New York Times bestselling, author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.

For 20 years, DiTerlizzi has infused the children’s book world with his brilliant imagination, endless creativity, and considerable artistic talent. His first series, The Spiderwick Chronicles (created in collaboration with Holly Black), details the adventures of the three Grace children and their discoveries on the other-worldly estate inherited from their relative, Arthur Spiderwick. Their much-loved adventures resulted in a spin-off series, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, several companion books, and a feature film.

DiTerlizzi’s second series, the Wondla trilogy, is an epic science fiction fantasy. It centers around human girl Eva Nine as she emerges into a world distantly removed from planet Earth – a world on the brink of an alien civil war and global reawakening. The books are illuminated with DiTerlizzi’ s gorgeous illustrations of air ships, alien species, battle scenes, and beautiful moments. It’s simply amazing.

In addition to his chapter books, DiTerlizzi has produced a number of picture books, including The Spider and the Fly, which won a Caldecott honor in 2003, The Story of Diva and Flea with Mo Willems, and The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, with Lucasfilm. In 2018, the Norman Rockwell Museum hosted a 20 year retrospective on DiTerlizzi’s work titled “Never Abandon Imagination.” He has been featured in Time magazine, USA Today, and a guest on CNN, PBS, NPR, BBC, and The Today Show.

Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview

Tony DiTerlizzi photo by Jim Gipe Photo / Pivot Media

Sweet Snoozer

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sweet snoozer

This hibernating bear will have the sweetest of slumbers, thanks to the amazingly cozy shelter you’ve crafted!

We read Brave Bitsy and the Bear, written by Angela McAllister, and illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke (Clarion Books, 2006). When Bitsy the purple bunny gets lost in the woods, she tries to stay brave, even when confronted by a big bear. Fortunately, the bear is very friendly, and offers to take her home. The problem is, it’s close to winter and the bear is very sleepy. Bitsy finally gets home, but worries her new friend won’t make it back to his cave. She ventures out to discover that yes, bear has fallen asleep in the middle of the woods! Fortunately, Bitsy and her forest friends chip in to build bear a cozy winter shelter, and he wakes up in the spring happy, well rested, and very grateful!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large tissue box
  • 1 toilet paper tube
  • A selection of construction paper, including brown
  • 1 corrugated cardboard base (ours was 7″ x 10″)
  • Scissors, tape and glue for construction
  • Markers for decorating

finished snoozing bear

First, the bear! We used a 4.5” X 4.5” x 9” brown craft box, but you can also wrap a large tissue box with brown construction paper. Add a tail, front legs, back legs, and ears. The nose is a toilet paper tube cut down to 1.75″ with an oval of self-adhesive foam on the end (but black construction paper works too!). Next up, the shelter…

finished bear shelterHere’s the shot from the front. The shelter is basically 1.5″ x 22″ strips of brown poster board arched over a corrugated cardboard base and secured to the underside with tape (but brown construction paper works too). Place the bear on the base while crafting to insure your arches are tall enough! We added green construction paper leaves and s (but you can craft the flowers out of construction paper or skip them entirely).

finished bear in shelterWhen the shelter is done, tuck some (optional) green paper crinkle to make things extra snug. Then, feel free to cozy up with your bear for a nap!

bear nap

The End

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the endSpoiler-heavy free write anyone? All you need are old photos, pen, paper, and a moment to ponder how to tell a story – by only writing its ending! This exercise premiered at Cotsen Critix, our literary society for kids ages 9-12.

At the program, we scattered a bunch of old newspaper and magazine photos on the tables (thanks library recycling program!) and instructed the kids to select an image, Then, they wrote the final paragraph of a story, with the selected image serving as the very last scene.

I also ask them to think about a few things before they got started: Who are your characters? What happened in the story? What’s the resolution of the story? How can you conclude the story without summarizing it? How does everything come down to this image?

It was a challenging prompt, but check out some of these seriously cool endings…

whale photo

Kate and Tristan turned around when they heard the huge SPLASH! Winston dove out of the water, splashing happily. Kate smiled “He looks happy here.” Tristan nodded and called out to Winston.

“Goodbye Winston! We’ll miss you!”

Winston dove down and disappeared into a patch of soft sea foam, creating another splash. Katie turned to Tristan “Well, he’s finally safe from Envetson and his henchmen now, all thanks to us.”

 

man and elephant photo

As I turned, Hannibal tooted as if to say I’ve been with you these last 50 years. I’ve been with you when you were at death’s door. I’m not going anywhere. “I’m going to miss you old friend.” I choked out. The great beast threw this head back and trumpeted so loudly, so deafeningly, I almost thought he was laughing. He then lifted me up on his back. I laughed. “Well then, one last ride.”

 

panda bear photoThe very last thing I could remember seeing was… a panda eating bamboo. And then my eyes refused to cooperate any longer. Blackness. I can only remember the crunch and the green. That’s it. Memories are weird like that, you can always remember the most bizarre parts. Even with my eyes closed, I can taste the dew on the nearby grass. I still feel the presence of a fluffy being right beside me, chomping away. Crackle. Snap. That’s all…

 

 

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