Tuesday, April 21st, 2015
Mark your calendars...
Here are the PIG EVENTS
for Derek Anderson's
TEN PIGS: AN EPIC BATH ADVENTURE
Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure will be in bookstores across the country next Tuesday, April 28th!
If you'd like a signed copy, there are only a few events coming up where you can get one. Here are the stores, dates and times for all the oinky fun. I'll be reading, drawing and signing. Come by and squeal hello!
Saturday, May 2nd
10:30am
Red Balloon Bookshop
891 Grand Avenue
St. Paul, MN
www.RedBalloonBookshop.com
Saturday, May 16th
10:30am
Iowa State University Book Store
(in the Memorial Union)
Ames, IA
2:00pm
Ames Public Library
515 Douglas Avenue
Ames, IA
If you'd like a signed book but can't make it to any of these events, please call the Red Balloon, order a copy before May 2nd and make sure you tell them you'd like it signed before they ship it to you. You can reach them at (651)224-8320.
Friday, April 10th, 2015
Get ready, reviews for
TEN PIGS: AN EPIC BATH ADVENTURE
are coming in...
Here's the first from Family! Magazine
Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure will be splashing into bookstores in a couple short weeks. Reviews have already begun to come in and they're terrific!
Family! Magazine just featured Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure in their Bookmark column. Reviewer Betsy Dailo does a great job of summing up the story and then goes on to say...
"The rhythmic flow of the book paired with the adorable illustrations
will give children a new favorite book for story time."
The pigs would like to extend their thanks to Betsy Dailo and Family! Magazine for the fun review. You can read the full review on their website by clicking HERE.
Saturday, March 28th, 2015
The First Copy of TEN PIGS,
PIGGY Bookmarks,
The Dragons were Spotted in Mississippi
And other news...
Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure will be published one month from today!
The very first copy came the other day. It's so thrilling when that first copy of the book arrives from my publisher. It's the first time I get to see everything together in that final, printed, bound book. From that very first spark of inspiration to the long hours spent fussing over every word, painting every detail and making every last decision, this is it. This is the final, polished work and now I get to hold it in my hands. I couldn't be more proud of how this book turned out. Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure is exactly what I was after. This is one wild, fun romp of a book.
I'm so excited about it, I created Ten Pigs Bookmarks and had them printed. It's always fun to get something special in the mail, but it was extra fun to get a box full of PIGS! These are not available for sale anywhere, I give them away at events.
Speaking of events, there will be special signings for Ten Pigs in both the Twin Cities and Iowa. I'm going to be posting much more about Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure over the next weeks as we lead up to the launch on April 28th.
I have some other fun pics and letters I'll be posting soon. I've spoken to some really amazing school groups this winter and spring. I've travelled to Iowa, around Minnesota and to San Francisco, California. I took part in Hooked on Books, a terrific reading event in Chanhassen, Minnesota. This picture was snapped as I was chatting with a teacher and her daughter just before signing their copy of Hot Rod Hamster at Hooked on Books.
And one final, fun pic on this Saturday. Scholastic Book Fairs has been a huge supporter of my books. And as you can see below in this photo snapped by Heather Tucker in Southaven, Mississippi, the characters from Waking Dragons are featured on the picture book display. If you look on the shelves below you can see the covers of both Waking Dragons and Hot Rod Hamster: Monster Truck Mania! Thanks Scholastic Book Fairs! And many thanks to my buddy, Aaron Kornegay, for sending along this photo.
You can pre-order Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure at your favorite independent bookstore HERE. Or you can pre-order it online HERE.
More pics and posts about Ten Pigs are coming soon. Stay tuned for more fun!
Monday, March 16th, 2015
TEN PIGS: An Epic Bath Adventure
will be published on April 28th!
I have a brand new book coming in April! Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure will be published on April 28th by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic.
This book is full of epic, splashy fun and a LOT of pigs! Honestly, it was hard to fit them all in. I'll tell you much more about it soon, but for now check out this new video teaser. Enjoy!
Saturday, February 14th, 2015
I'll be the featured
Author/Illustrator
at Hooked on Books!
~
Saturday, February 21st
9 am - 12 noon
Chanhassen High School • Chanhassen, MN
I'm proud to announce I'll be the featured author/illustrator at the tenth annual Hooked on Books held in Chanhassen, Minnesota on Saturday, February 21st. The Chanhassen Villager published two articles about the event...
The first article is about the details and history of Hooked on Books. You can read it HERE.
The second is a fun interview. You can read it HERE.
Books will be available for purchase and signing. I'll be doing a short presentation at 10:25am. This event is free and open to the public. Stop by and say hello!
Saturday, January 17th, 2015
NEW Books
and a LOT of FUN
Coming in 2015!
2015 is going to be a fun year! For starters there's a new Hot Rod Hamster Reader that just came out on January 6th. Hot Rod Hamster and the Awesome ATV Adventure! is full of steep muddy hills, speed and a daring rescue. Hot Rod Hamster's best friend, Dog, really steps up in this one. And the mice are still messing around. There will be another fun Hot Rod Hamster reader published a little later this year.
I have an exciting new picture book coming this year! It's an absolute romp. It's called Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure and will be published by Scholastic in April. I'll be writing much more about that and showing some behind-the-scenes sketches and pics in the coming weeks and months. I can't wait for you to see it!
You also might notice a change to the banner at the top of this blog. I'm always working on new paintings. Some are for books or explorations of characters I'm trying to get to know a little better. And some are exploring deeper ideas about life. The picture I chose for the banner is from 2013. I gave it a title that I think is fitting...
The rare and mysterious dance of the sunny pants
The idea for this painting came long before I actually painted it. I wasn't sure how to approach it until I finally began. Once I got to work it came together very quickly. It's one of those pieces that you feel very much like you're witnessing something that you're not so sure you should even be looking at.
Much more is coming soon. 2015 is going to be fun. Stay tuned!
Friday, January 9th, 2015
The BOOKMOBILE made
Publishers Weekly
Many thanks to the folks at Publishers Weekly for including Ames Public Library's NEW Bookmobile in their roundup of publishing news!
You can read their write up HERE.
Monday, December 22nd, 2014
Introducing Ames Public Library's
Brand New BOOKMOBILE!
We had a terrific crowd show up in Ames on Saturday to help us unveil and launch Ames Public Library's new bookmobile. This massive automobile has been years in the planning and is the fourth bookmobile in 50 years. It's one giant vehicle! It stands eleven feet tall and is more than thirty feet long.
I created the artwork for it over a period of five months. I'll post more about the process and how I created the artwork soon. But for now you can take a look at some pics from our fun unveiling event...
I designed the artwork for this bookmobile so it would feel like a giant energetic story bus with characters from my books riding in each of the windows. The inside of each window is filled with the world from that particular book...
My wife, Cheryl, and I posing in front of Little Quack and Hot Rod Hamster's windows.
This is the best photo we have of the right side. It was taken in Ohio before the bookmobile was delivered to the library in Ames.
The characters on this side of the bookmobile are from my book Story County: Here We Come! The characters are building the bookmobile out of wood. They are holding hammers, wood, paintbrushes, paint and blue prints. On the barn door hangs a sign that says 'It's always story time in Story County.' Ames is in Story County. That's right, I grew up in the real Story County!
The characters on this bookmobile are all larger than life!
Smyles is the library's mascot, so I gave him a place bursting out of the back of the bookmobile.
Everybody, get out of the way! Don't worry, I didn't drive this state-of-the-art bookmobile. But I did get behind the wheel for a few snapshots.
I don't know of another bookmobile in the world that's decked out with racing flames. But Ames Public Library's bookmobile has them and they're sizzling!
I spoke to a full house about the process of creating the artwork for the bookmobile and some of the hidden meanings.
I always enjoy seeing old friends and meeting new ones as well. This is the Franco family. Mrs. Franco is a teacher and I was excited to hear they had the same last name as Fearless Franco from the book Hot Rod Hamster: Monster Truck Mania!
Talking with some young Hot Rod Hamster fans.
Everybody took a little time after the presentation to study the details of the new bookmobile...
A father and his kids taking a selfie with Gladys!
Thanks to everyone who came out, I had so much fun seeing you. And special thanks to Lynne Carey, Tracy Briseno, Jerri Heid and the staff at the Ames Public Library for planning and putting together such a fun event. You can read an article about the event on Ames Tribune's website HERE.
