I only had a month to deliver the first six illustrations of my next book to Penguin, when I received an email from a librarian in Irving, Texas. She offered me an opportunity to present at 17 schools in a two week period. No way I could deliver the illustrations and go to Irving. But no way was I turning down the opportunity either. I accepted the invitation and took my paintings on the road with me — art supplies, lamps, chair, reference books. I converted my hotel room to an art studio. I worked on my illustrations about 4 hours each night after the presentations.

In between presentations on the first day, librarians at Britain, John, and Elliott served me a rocking’ pizza lunch prepared by iFratelli Pizza. Yum! Librarians know how to treat a guy.

On Thursday during a talk at the University of Dallas, I had a Rick Perry moment. I blanked out and totally lost my thoughts. Not really a highlight, more of a downer. This went on for about a minute or so. I closed my eyes and tried to get my thoughts back, but nothing. I started over. Nothing. Then I apologized and moved on to my slide presentation (Powerpoint failed). I continued the presentation but never really recovered. Junior students were great about it, though.

On Thursday, following my freak-out presentation, I headed off to Hanes Elementary. I entered the library to a huge applause. The kids clapped and cheered, which made me feel much better after my failed attempt at UD.

On Friday I met and got to hang out with Tina Berumen, the tweeting librarian. She inspires her students to read and tweet about the books they read. Don’t ya love librarians like this? She also took these great photos of me durning my presentation at her school.

During a creative problem solving, drawing exercise, one kid upstaged me by drawing better than I ever could!

A  student at Lee Elementary slipped me this wonderful note. She even drew a cartoon of me.

When I returned home on Friday, I received a few fan emails from students, one who said: “You kinda look like Usher.”

My tour continues next week.

This is a teaser for my upcoming book, IT JES’ HAPPENED: WHEN BILL TRAYLOR STARTED TO DRAW. This is a short teaser, the longer trailer will be released next month, closer to book publication.

So far, the main question has been: Who provided that wonderful voice. Well, that’s my brother, Timothy. He’s an elementary music teacher back home in Des Moines, Iowa, a popular actor in community plays, and an overall Gospel singing star.

I couldn’t be happier about all this.

Life is full of making choices and these character education chapter books examine the different choices made by two cousins—the McNairs. Greg the Good is hard working and honest. Three books follow Greg as he makes choices that earn him money, respect, and a good reputation. James the Rock, on the other hand, makes the choice to join a gang and lie, cheat, and steal to get by. Three books follow James and show the consequences that come from choosing that path.

Ellen’s Broom is a perfect marriage of words and pictures. No pun intended, though Ellen’s Broom is a story that honors the institution of marriage. It explains, for children, the African American tradition of jumping the broom.

Daniel Minter’s illustrations dazzle with crisp lines and bright colors. He created his art by carving images into linoleum block, hand printing, and then coloring with paint. The result is a treat for the eyes, bold and confident.

Today I feature a brief interview of Daniel Minter.

Don: Tell us about your art for Ellen’s Broom.

Daniel: I was thrilled to get the opportunity to create the illustrations for Ellen’s Broom because at the time I was working on a series using brooms in my artwork. The brooms I was making were not all wedding brooms but one of the reasons I was using the broom was to recall the tradition of jumping the broom in the African American wedding ritual.

The illustrations for Ellen’s Broom were all created using linoleum block prints that were printed in black ink the painted using thin acrylic paint similar to the way water color is used. Before settling on the painted Lino-cut, I tried a more painterly technique but we found that the bold line and hand carved look gave the illustrations more of a rustic look to fit the period of the story.

Daniel Minter is the illustrator of many books for young readers. Other books he’s illustrated include The Footwarmer and the Crow, written by Evelyn Coleman; Seven Spools of Thread, written by Angela Shelf Medearis; and New Year Be Coming: A Gullah Year, written by Katharine Boling.

In addition to artwork created for children’s books, Minter is the designer and illustrator for the new Kwanzaa stamp.

From A Statement on the Art of Daniel Minter from the artist’s website:

“Minter’s art is a protective art. And an art of protection. Firm lines. Crossed roads. Boxes. Square things. And the open circles of offering. The discipline of love.”

“Daniel Minter’s art work is a study of memory. The many ways in which memory is embedded into our past, present and future. It is the interconnection of time that contains the essence of what memory has left behind. These concepts are the inspiration for Daniel Minter’s paintings and sculpture.”

Ellen’s Broom brought forth memories of my own wedding, the day my wife and I jumped the broom. Here’s a photo of our wedding (Don and Tamera), and the wedding invitations that we designed (for more than 600 people):

See also:

Meat Tray Block Printing – Inspired by Ellen’s Broom, hosted at Simple Saturday

Oh, and don’t forget: If you leave a comment on this blog, Kelly’s FaceBook author page, or on any stop along the tour, you win a chance to receive the grand prize — a lovely wedding/anniversary broom courtesy of Stuart’s Creations and a signed poster of the Ellen’s Broom cover. Kelly will draw the winner on the morning of January 16. (Due to postage costs, the winner must be from the United States or Canada.)

See the complete blog tour schedule here.

Thanks again for stopping by!

The definition of a great book, I would say, is one that a reader returns to over and over again. Folks often ask about my favorite childhood books. Well, a couple weeks ago, I rediscovered it while at The Book Spot in Round Rock: My family’s Better Homes and Gardens Family Medical Guide. Love! Love! Love!

This baby is illustrated with every disease one hopes to never get. And the illustrations aren’t bad either. In fact, they are quite artsy-fartsy-cool, while informational at the same time.

The title page of this copy looks just like our family’s copy, torn with browned tape. Ah, memories!

The artwork really was nice, circa 1973, psychedelic.

I loved this flip-through look at the inside of the body, guts and bones, veins and ligaments:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Infectious diseases! This was my favorite chapter, and likely explains my hypochondria today.

And it included everything a 10-year-old kid would want to learn about the birds and bees.

This was my favorite chapter. I don’t know why, but I was all into eyeballs. I used this chapter as reference for my 7th grade science project, where I created a 3d model of an eyeball.

Anyway, that’s it, one of my favorite childhood books. It’s a wonder I didn’t become a medical illustrator. Well, actually in college, while on an internship at the College of Osteopathic Medicine, I was offered a free medical illustration course. But to test me out, I had to spend a day in the morgue. I got sick only after a few minutes, watching students slice human corpses like deli lunch meat.

Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite, written by Anna Celenza and illustrated by me, will be given away on December 1, along with a $15 iTunes card and DVD documentary of the band leader.

ReaderKidz everyday through the holiday for chances to win! Other books up for grabs: Nancy Bo Flood’s Sand to Stone; Chris Barton’s Shark vs Train; Jeanette Larson’s Hummingbirds: Fact and Folklore; more!

I put all the names in a hat and here are the winners:

Grand Prize: A signed copy of Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite (with music CD), choice of a $25 iTunes or Amazon gift certificate (winner’s choice), DVD of Jazz Legends: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1929-1943.

Winner: Dorina

Winners of signed books:

Kerry Aradhya

LaQueshia Jeffries

Teresa Garrett

Sandy Sansom

Ethan Ham

Lynn Alpert

Cathy

Renee G

Shelley Jackson

Liz Samo

In addition, I’m giving away  three more copies, just because. Ms. Rita Painter, Ms. Rachel McInnes, and Cynthia Leitich Smith.

I’ll contact winners through email.

A small group of children took turns narrating the story, while others acted out scenes. The set was fully decorated to look like the scenes from the book. The most poignant moment was when Ron McNair was denied a library card because of his race.

This activity was a great way to introduce kids to the story, because it put them directly into the shoes of the characters. The kid who played Ron McNair was brown-skinned. He surly felt what Ron McNair must have felt in that South Carolina library, circa 1960. I hope he and the other kids walked away with a greater appreciation of the freedoms they enjoy today.

I encourage teachers and librarians to use activities like this leading up to school visits. Introduces kids to my books, and so they’ll be excited on the day of the visit. Thank you Rose Shaw Elementary (photos used by permission of the librarian and parents).

The grand prize: A signed copy of Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite (signed by me, Don Tate), choice of a $25 iTunes or Amazon gift certificate (winner’s choice), DVD of Jazz Legends: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1929-1943. And don’t forget, every book comes with a CD filled with Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite holiday jazz music!

Single prizes: Ten individuals will win one signed book.

Several ways to enter — Do one (1) of the following:

**Tweet this blog post. Let me know that you’ve tweeted so I can enter you in the drawing. Here’s a suggested tweet:

Enter to win a copy of DUKE ELLINGTON’S NUTCRACKER SUITE, a jazzy holiday book, illus. by Don Tate (@devas_T): http://bit.ly/qOvwgH #kidlit

**Announce my giveaway on Facebook. Let me know so I can enter you in the drawing. Here’s a suggested status update:

Enter to win a copy of DUKE ELLINGTON’S NUTCRACKER SUITE, a jazzy holiday book, illustrated by Don Tate:  http://bit.ly/qOvwgH

**Like me on Facebook! Let me know that I’m ‘liked’ so I can enter you in the drawing.

**Or you can simply comment on this post (or email me directly). Be sure to include an email address (formatted like: don at donate dot com), or you can send me a link to your email address.

The drawing will be held and announced on Friday November 4th, 2011 (Deadline: midnight CST Nov. 3). I’ll put all the names in a hat. Those who have announced the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook will earn a double entry into the drawing. Let me know if you are a teacher or librarian, you’ll earn a triple entry!

Due to the high costs of postage, I’ve had to limit the eligibility to folks in the United States and Canada.

Again, 10 signed books given away, in addition to the grand prize.

A special thanks to my publisher, Charlesbridge Publishing, for donating books!

Thank you all for your support.