alexandra boiger

here

so happy

about this

beautiful book

alexandra boiger

and

d. j. machale

here

lala news

the monster princess

i love this book

brownstones to red dirt

art: alexandra boiger

here

wow

d.j. macHale

alexandra boiger

thrilling

(straight to the heart!)

love

love emily

Starred Review, Booklist,

September 1, 2009:

"A nicely designed,

refreshingly offbeat

view of etiquette."

Thanks a Lot, Emily Post!

Jennifer LaRue Huget

Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger

September 22: Get Set!

Thanks a LOT, Emily Post!

has arrived

Mermaid. Hope.

Alexandra Boiger

For Ulrike

Emily, Emily, Emily!

coming soon...

here, a taste

(click links)

charmingly mannered yumminess 

and spirited brilliance

from  

Jennifer LaRue Huget 

and 

Alexandra Boiger

an absolute delight:

Thanks a LOT, Emily Post!

[due in stores 09.09]

Alexandra Boiger's Amelia

We have visited Alexandra's Amelia

 before (see labels, below).

And today, we are revisting her 

because she just makes us happy.

Also, forgot that our little mac (see here) 

was named Amelia two Junes ago. So we clearly 

have a fondness for the Amelias in our life. 

There's Fun in Store: A Humdinger of a Humbug...Holiday HoHos at Hicklebee's

To remind you that we will soon be visiting a gifted illustrator...the marvelous Alexandra Boiger...here's a little bit that I created for an NCCBA event several years ago. Many thanks to Valerie Lewis and Monica Holmes of Hicklebee's for asking me to help with those delightful Otter Dinners (I was the flower girl for several years, and snuck in a few scribbles on the side). 

(Is snuck a word yet? Here.)

Year 'round, there is no better place than Hicklebee's to see authors and illustrators. During the signings, these marvelous creatures sit near the wonderful little window-nook (as does our curly-topped author, above). 

Full disclosure: having been, at one time, a Hicklebee-for-real (I worked there for a few years in the early nineties, while the T.K. were very small), I can promise that this is a most marvelous place to find books for children. Just look who's coming on the eleventh of December. God Bless us, every one! Here's a view of more store events. 

Yes, it's going to be a humdinger of a humbuggably happy holiday at Hicklebee's. See you there!

Coming Soon: Alexandra Boiger and Friends

Amelia

and Alexandra Boiger

Soon: 

A few of our favorite people...

Stay Tuned!

Glorious Scratchpaper and Golden Schmaltz

We have some fun things coming up...a few more of our favorite authors and illustrators, groovy event announcements (boy-oh-boy, NYC is the place to be for cool goings-on, 'tho our sweet bay area holds it's own...see John Green info, to be posted soon).

We might even have a few taste-testing updates, given our new urge to cook up as many Urban Mermaid/Insomniac Kitchen goodies as possible. Emily just makes them all sound so yummy. Did you see the schmaltz post? 

Guess who's incredible bit of scratch paper, above, we found in her sun-filled studio? Stay tuned...we've got extreme yumminess coming from the exceptional illustrator of two fabulous new books...

In Love with The Book Thief

"She walked over and did it again, this time much slower, with her hand facing forward, allowing the dough of her palm to feel the small hurdle of each book. It felt like magic, like beauty, as bright lines of light shown down from a chandelier. Several times, she almost pulled a title from its place but didn't dare disturb them. They were too perfect."

This is from Markus Zusak's beautiful BookThief. 

I'm about halfway through it, and it is a wonderment. Thank you, Alexandra, for recommending.

The photo is from the Bauhaus Museum in Weimar. 

Marvelous Marionettes.

Alexandra Boiger (a.k.a. Alexandra the Great)

The funny thing about blogging is that...well, it's funny. You think maybe what you have to post is important, you wonder if anyone on earth ever reads any of your posts (aren't 2 million other people posting at this very second?), you kind of wonder why you are posting, then you wonder what all this navel gazing is about.

Well, that's what happens to me. But, here's the thing: if I go on with this little blog--which is certainly a meandering blogglet now, but does have a higher purpose, which I hope to buckle down and start to work toward a little more diligently once I shake the wander-dust off my flip-flops and vacationitis off my brain...if I do go on with this, there are a few things I hope to accomplish (see above, higher purpose). One of them is to tell the world that there walk, amongst us, illustrators and authors who exhibit great genius, really truly true genius: "put their stuff in the Met (see below)" genius. 

Take, for instance, Alexandra Boiger, 

who's lovely illustrations for 

"The Little Bit Scary People"

just came out, and are being glowingly reviewed. 

Emily Jenkins--the ravishingly wise author

 of said book--and Alexandra have teamed up to create 

a new children's classic. 

How lucky, for all of us! 

Having been fortunate enough to be in a good handful of illustrator's studios in the last 20 years, I must tell you that Alexandra's is the only one I cried in (okay, I've cried once before, as you'll see if you comb through these posts, but not in someone's studio, wordlessly--I could not find the terms to tell Alexandra how beautiful her painting was--and fumbling blindly for kleenex, so I didn't mess up the watercolor I was crying over...and yes, dear reader, I came to my senses and scooted backwards and did not harm the painting).

Alexandra's work, in person, is as marvelous 

and magical--not to mention as delightful and charming--as she is. 

Her painting--she employs both oil and watercolor--her draftsmanship 

(in her hands, pencils are tools of divinity)...as well as her work on film 

(our Ms. Boiger has a fascinating background)...

again, it's all just too marvelous for words. So:

Wait 'til you see what other goodies are in store from Alexandra the Great. 

It just gets better.

I'm also adding many, many thanks to our own wildly talented Miss-Rumphius-Herself (a.k.a., Katherine Tillotson) for the heads-up on the PW review of "The Little Bit Scary People."

Katherine has a delightful habit of sending the best of the internet into our email boxes. She, also, is magical. Just take a look at her art, and you'll see for yourself.

Photo, above: another miraculous Met hand, as mentioned below...