The Spotlight
April 2007 - Immedium
1. News
2. Reviews
3. Events
1. NEWS
A. Pigs fly in 2007!
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Thanks for kicking off The Year of the Pig with us! Patty and Farmer Wu enjoyed making many new friends in our travels, such as during our whirlwind week in Los Angeles in late February. Plus we appreciated working with more groups nationwide (Atlanta to Santa Ana) who celebrated the New Year by sharing our books with friends and families.
Happily, readers enjoyed meeting our cheeky piglet too and loved the colorful and expressive art courtesy of Miah Alcorn!
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Coquette: "I just absolute love the fresh illustration style and story."
SuperCoolBaby.com: "While this book does teach you about the Chinese zodiac, the story of Patty's tenacity is applicable to all cultures. The book is beautifully illustrated, and kids of all ages will be sure to love it."
ForeWord magazine: "When Farmer Wu lost his jade ring, and all the other farm animals couldn't help the farmer, Patty saves the day with her cleverness, stubbornness, and courage."
Asian Week: "Beautiful illustrations by Jeremiah Alcorn highlight Patricia enjoying her life on the farm with her parents."
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In the San Francisco Chronicle's 96 Hours, writer Paul Kilduff summed up the response:
"[The graphics] are reminiscent of the work of Chuck Jones, the animator behind such Warner Bros. cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny. They look like animation stills."
People want more Tales from the Chinese Zodiac and we're working on them! We're creating 2008's The Year of the Rat as we speak, and here's a sneak peak!
B. The Octonauts Sequel in Sight
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Mixed Plate served up this praise for our gang of 8:
"This book will entertain children and adults of all ages. I really wish that I were a child again because the books are better than ever! Go and Read It!" Up north, Vancouver Magazine awarded the book a "Best Buy" in their March 2008 issue.
Obliging their dear fans, Meomi will be autographing The Octonauts at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (in the Kinokinuya booth #327) on UCLA's green grass during the weekend of 4/28-29. Tell all your buddies in the City of Angels!
Meanwhile, Meomi is crafting their extra-special sequel The Octonauts and the Sea of Shade, due in stores in October 2007 (naturally!). Here is a preview!
C. Burning Man hits DC
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Author Barbara Traub will be visiting her alma mater Johns Hopkins later this month and will be presenting her book in Washington, DC and Baltimore Maryland. Tell your friendly Mid-Atlantic Burners to come on down!
Recently TakeGreatPictures.com viewed Desert to Dream and had this to say:
"Traub's evocative photography displays the human connections established by the attendees with each other, the art they produce and the beautiful landscape of the Nevada desert. A particular aspect of humanity's capacity for artistry is what Traub brings us. From the sensitive nude photographs of people in all manner of color and caked in mud to cars retrofitted to be art on wheels and the temporary temples which dot the desert floor."
D. June 2007 Preview: Timmy & Tammy's Train of Thought
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Our next book is due in June, and already rail fans are starting to line up for it. Timmy and his sister Tammy love trains, and their parents treat them to the ride of their lives!
Illustrator Heath McPherson pulled out all the stops to make the most inspirational railroad adventure yet - bursting with fabulous locomotives and breathtaking detail.
Experts such as Tom Bancroft, former Disney Supervising Animator, have chimed in: "Heath McPherson's work has the vitality and whimsy of the classic illustrators of the golden age of children's books."
We gave the New York design store Trunkt a behind the scenes look, and they agreed.
So spread the word among your loco train buffs, that there's a new train tale coming soon to a station near you!
2. REVIEWS
Year of the Pig: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac (ISBN: 1-59702-007-9, $15.95)
"Piglet Patty, new to Farmer Wu's farm, demonstrates qualities associated with those born in the Year of the Pig. The sociable animal quickly learns about her new home and the other Chinese zodiac animals that live there, including the ox, horse, sheep, and dog. However, her impulsive, stubborn, and inquisitive nature resists learning the manners that her aunts and uncles try to teach her. Then Farmer Wu's jade ring disappears, and even cousin dog's sniffing cannot locate it. With Mama and Papa Pig's encouragement, Patty uses her intelligence to sneak out of the barnyard, find the farmer's misplaced glove, and follow its strange scent to the compost heap. With determination, she recovers the missing ring. Her success earns her the respect and acceptance of the farmer, his family, and her barnyard cousins. Computer-generated graphics feature bright colors, angular cartoon figures, and visually appealing textures."
- School Library Journal
"Jeremiah Alcorn illustrates the book with expressive angular cartoon characters, capturing the emotions of the animals and animals on their adventures, with full color illustrations on every page...In this book, his second collaboration with Chin, he illustrates with humor and gentleness the traits of Patty: inquisitiveness, resilience, intelligence, stubbornness and courage. Patty's character, as well as the other animal and human characters in the book, shines through his simple bright cartoons. From the supercilious scorn of Auntie Horse as she tells Patty to "sleep standing up and not be so noisy" to the amusing expressions as Patty squeezes, squeaks, and slithers her way under the gate, readers young and old will enjoy this journey through the remarkable Year of the Pig."
- ForeWord magazine
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The Octonauts (ISBN: 1-59702-005-2, $15.95)
"Local graphic design studio Meomi's new children's book, The Octonauts, has gained an international cult following for its beautifully rendered and vibrant illustrations (and refreshingly sassy characters)."
- Vancouver Magazine
"I love this one! This illustrations are adorable, and the different languages give it a multicultural edge that good teachers really try to incorporate into their classrooms…As a teacher with a Masters Degree in reading as well as an arts advocate there is a definite value to this book!"
- ArtsAddict.com
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Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography
(ISBN: 1-59702-003-6, $29.95)
"Traub's photographs capture where human experience and behavior intersect. So much of Burning Man is about the participatory and interactivity of art…One of the most striking things about Traub's photographs is how the human capacity for art keeps manifesting itself in countless ways. In photograph after photograph we witness people fully engages in the artistic process. Traub captures people in the midst of building temples and painting themselves in all manner of color. By way of the photography we see how people are art and art is people. The Burning Man festival is a remarkable example of the transitory nature of human existence. Before the Burners arrive there is only the desert and after the Burners have left there is only the desert."
- TakeGreatPictures.com
3. EVENTS
APRIL
- 4/2: Oliver Chin: YOP: Martinez Library, 740 Court St. Martinez, CA (925) 646-2898, 6:30 pm.
- 4/15: Oliver Chin: Glen Park Library Kids Day, GP Recreation center, San Francisco, CA, 1:30 pm.
- 4/21: Barbara Traub: D2D: Johns Hopkins Bookstore: 3330 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD, 877-548-2665, 2 pm.
- 4/27: Barbara Traub: D2D: Candida's World of Books: 1541 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC, (202) 667-4811, 6:30 pm.
- 4/28: Meomi: Octonauts: L.A. Times Festival of Books, Kinokuniya Booth #327, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 11 am.
- 4/28: Oliver Chin: Comics Workshop: San Francisco Public Library - Bayview branch, 5075 3rd St. (415) 355-5757, 2 pm.
- 4/29: Meomi: Octonauts: L.A. Times Festival of Books, Kinokuniya Booth #327, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 11 am.
MAY
- 5/11: Oliver Chin: Create your own Manga: San Francisco Public Library - Main, 100 Larkin Street, (415) 557-4400, 4 pm.
- 5/20: Oliver Chin: YOP: Pacific Rim Street Festival, Old Sacramento, CA, 10 am.
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Spring ahead, pay your taxes, and then stop to smell the roses!
Immedium
P.O. Box 31846
San Francisco, CA 94131
orders@immedium.com
Immedium, Inc. inspires a world of imagination, and creates entertaining books that have multi-dimensional appeal. Based in San Francisco, CA, Immedium sits on the Pacific Rim, a vibrant intersection for crossover cultural trends from Asia and America. Embracing an increasingly diverse and "multimedia" world, Immedium publishes titles ranging from eye-catching children's books and contemporary non-fiction to commentaries on art and popular culture. Visit us at www.immedium.com.