Adventures at Wilder Farm

Lots of Visitors

Lita Judge — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:44:06 +0000

I’ve been thinking of a new story idea based on an experience I had with a fawn when I was a little girl. I have little time to write lately as I’m working hard on the final illustrations for the Moran story, but often find myself daydreaming about the fawn story when I have a spare moment. Now summer has arrived and our back yard here at Wilder Farm has blossomed with wildflowers and baby wildlife. We have baby turkeys bobbing about in the clover, baby jays and crows squabbling on the fence posts and baby chickadees venturing out of their nest boxes. But perhaps the best of all are the twin fawns that were born in our backyard — I saw one wobbling around just after its birth.

They are growing up, eating our garden, napping in the ferns in front of my studio and playing in the yard. I now have oodles of pictures and have enjoyed watching them grow. I guess I’m going to have to write that story after all!

Michigan Public Radio Interview

Dave Judge — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:07:53 +0000

Lita spoke last week with Charity Nebbe, the host of Michigan Public Radio’s All Things Considered. There’s a link to the Michigan NPR page here. Or you can listen to the interview by clicking on the start button below:

(It’s about 6 minutes long — please let me know if the audio gadget has any problems…)

First copy of Mogo

Dave Judge — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:18:57 +0000

We just received our first copy of Mogo, The Third Warthog! We’re so excited that the book will be available soon — by July 1st.

This is the second Donna Jo Napoli book Lita has illustrated (the other one was Ugly). Here are a few of the interior illustrations:

When Lita was assigned this project we didn’t have time to go to Africa, but we did spend many days at the San Diego Zoo. Lita sketched critters all day long and we had a great trip. Here’s a picture of one of the warthogs that inspired Lita’s Mogo:

Spring Bear Adventures

Dave Judge — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:18:18 +0000

Lots going on lately — outside the studio…

and inside the studio…

A friend of ours provided a caption for this picture of Pu: “Darwin kitty stays indoors today.”

It’s fun to have a bear in the neighborhood again this spring. Lita and her parents have been following the adventures of bears for years. Here’s one of my favorite pre-digital photos of a Yellowstone bear:

(Photo by Dale and Elva Paulson)

And here’s one of my favorite Lita drawings of a Yellowstone bear (with two cubs):

Foundation for Children’s Books

Dave Judge — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:01:26 +0000

New England Voices:
Three Area Authors Read from their New Books
Free & Open to the Public

Tuesday May 20, 2008 7:30 p.m.

Join us for an evening of readings from Barbara O’Connor, Susan Goodman and Lita Judge

Barbara O’Connor will read from her latest middle-grade novel Greetings from Nowhere. Barbara has written 14 novels and biographies for children and her books have won the Massachusetts Book Award and the Parents’ Choice Award.

“O’Connor’s knack for well-developed characters and feisty protagonists is evident, as is her signature Southern charm.”-School Library Journal

Susan Goodman will read from See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes and the Race to the White House. Susan is the author of dozens of non-fiction books for kids.

Using witty anecdotes and clear explanations, Goodman takes readers from the birth of democracy to the Electoral College; from front-porch campaigning to hanging chads. Illustrated by Ellwood Smith.

Lita Judge will read from One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, a 2008 ALA Notable Children’s Book, which she wrote and illustrated.

“Based on a true story of the author’s grandmother and mother, this touching bit of history humanizes war and demonstrates the difference a few people can make.”- Kirkus Reviews

Note: new location at Walsh Hall, Boston College (behind Vanderslice Hall)

This event includes book sales from the Children’s Book Shop and signing, as well as refreshments.

Free and Open to the Public. No registration necessary. Bring your friends and colleagues to introduce them to the FCB!

Where and When:
Walsh Hall, Boston College

Tuesday, May 20 7:30 p.m.

For more information:
The Foundation for Children’s Books

The Foundation for Children’s Books
P.O.Box 320284
21 Stratford Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02132-0003
617-469-7222

The Foundation for Children’s Books (FCB), a nonprofit, educational organization, was founded in 1983 to assist the professionals who most directly influence young readers: teachers, librarians, and parents. We achieve this through professional development programs, including a dynamic speaker series, innovative conferences and workshops, as well as through author visits and residencies in under-served schools.

IRA Atlanta Itinerary

Dave Judge — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:07:18 +0000

Last week I joined Lita at her events, in Michigan and then in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Today, Lita is on her own and headed down to Atlanta for the International Reading Association Conference. She has a full and deserving schedule of dinners and parties in the evenings. The award luncheon is on Thursday—One Thousand Tracings won the 2008 IRA Children’s Book Award for Primary Fiction. We also heard that one of the IRA special interest groups on “Engaging Literacy Learners with a Global View” is announcing a list of Notable Books for a Global Society and One Thousand Tracings is on that list.

Lita will be doing two autographing events: at the Anderson’s Bookstore Booth (#2452) on Wednesday from 2-3 pm, and at the Hyperion Booth (#1958) from 10-11 am on Thursday. Please stop over and see her if you’re at the conference.

Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards

Lita Judge — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:57:28 +0000

The 2008 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards, given by the Jane Addams Peace Association, were just announced last Friday from the Hull-House Museum at the University of Illinois-Chicago. I am very, very proud that One Thousand Tracings received an honor! I’m looking forward to the awards ceremony at the United Nations Plaza in New York this October. I really feel like I’m accepting this particular award on behalf of my grandparents. One Thousand Tracings is their story—their efforts to help people who were suffering after the war and to bring healing to all people. I continue to feel very fortunate that I was able to write their story.

During last year’s awards presentation Susan Griffith read a quote from Jane Addams: “We have learned as common knowledge that much of the insensibility and hardness of the world is due to the lack of imagination which prevents a realization of the experiences of other people.” I love this quote!

Pennies Update

Lita Judge — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:06:39 +0000

I’ve just sent a pile of Pennies for Elephants artwork to my editor and art director. This is my next book with Hyperion—hopefully a spring/summer 2009 release. The story is based on the true event of Boston area children earning money to buy the first elephants for the zoo in 1914. Here are a few images:

I’ve added these images to the main illustration page on my website and added a few other new images as well.

Under the Table

Dave Judge — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:40:26 +0000

Lita is over in Nashua this weekend at the New England SCBWI conference. Apparently she lent her laptop to Kevin Hawkes for the afternoon keynote. I was out yesterday, but when I got home there was a whispered message about the projector not working, and 600 people in the audience, and I could hear Kevin delivering his talk in the background, and Lita said something about being under a table with a bunch of wires and a couple of confused tech guys. These conferences sound fun, maybe I should start going.

I’m proud to say that Lita got the laptop and projector working with about 5 seconds to spare — after the tech guys gave up. If they had listened to Lita in the first place there never would have been a problem…

NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts — One Thousand Tracings

Dave Judge — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:40:26 +0000

One Thousand Tracings was selected as a 2008 Notable Children’s book in the Language Arts! This list of thirty books was selected by a committee of the Children’s Literature Assembly of NCTE. We saw the announcement and the full list of titles at Educating Alice.

Don’t you think the Children’s Literature Assembly has a great logo (Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes)?