[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-summer-reading-challenge-mythical-maze":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"\u003Cfont size=\"3\">Is your library taking part in this year's \u003Cb>Summer Reading Challenge\u003C/b>?\u003C/font> \\r\nLast year the illustrator was the amazing \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/605867.html\">Chris Riddell\u003C/a>, and guess what, I'm this year's illustrator! The Summer Reading Challenge encourages kids aged 4 to 11 to read six books during the summer holiday, and last year \u003Cb>810,089 children\u003C/b> took part. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/news/mythical-maze---order-now.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_mythicalmaze_poster_zps299afa3a-6d026536d8.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nThis year's theme is 'Mythical Maze', and I got to design the poster with the homes of the creatures who live in it:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l27/jabberworks/Uploads%202014/Summer%20Reading%20Challenge/src_mythicalmaze_zpse5d01580.jpg\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_mythicalmaze_sm_zpsa4eb5a35-eeeeb53f23.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\u003Ci>Click on the picture to see a larger version.\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nOf course, there's a minotaur living there, but lots of other creatures, too. Can you guess which ones, looking at their habitats? When you get the poster, you'll also get stickers, which will set the characters in their surroundings. (The Unicorn will strut his stuff on Unicorn Island, for example. You can guess where Anansi might be chilling out with his cup of tea.) Here's a sample of just some of the huge amount of fun stuff available in the \u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/news/mythical-maze---order-now.html\">order pack\u003C/a>: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/M%20Maze%20Promotional%20Materials%20Brochure.pdf\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_core_pack_zpsd3c4f072-e711991f9f.gif\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut!-->\\r\nAnd now for a little peek at how the pictures came about! Here's me at my lightbox, drawing out the maze poster in India ink with a dip pen, tracing the pencil lines I'd drawn earlier. I coloured it digitally, but I used some scanned-in textures, such as a big sheet of paper I stained with instant coffee.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_maze_wip_zpsbe09e62b-d3f649a950.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here are my first drawings of the characters. Kids from Leith Library helped me come up with some of the ideas for how they'd look: a \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun\">Leprechaun\u003C/a>, a \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda\">Garuda\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi\">Anansi\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa\">Medusa\u003C/a>. (Click on the link to find out more about who they are; I didn't know who Garuda was when I started out.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_6minorcharacters_zps4f119786-6f45a3a6dd.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_ness_monster\">Nessie\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeti\">Yeti\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn\">Unicorn\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur\">Minotaur\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_dragon\">Dragon\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid\">Mermaid\u003C/a>. The dragon probably changed the most when the committee decided they wanted it to look more Welsh. And the mermaid is probably the closest to how the Leith Library kids had me draw her. She's not quite Iris from \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/oliver-and-the-seawigs/\">\u003Ci>Oliver and the Seawigs\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, but there are traces.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_6maincharacters_zps95d2f566-54c0dba31e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nA little blurb about me in the \u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/news/mythical-maze---order-now.html\">brochure\u003C/a>: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_bio_zpsfc0b92eb-f8daec0c4e.gif\">\\r\n\\r\nCheck it out, there really are a zillion things you can order for your library, including presentation medals, wristbands, key chains, a maze toy, bags, t-shirts, you name it.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/M%20Maze%20Promotional%20Materials%20Brochure.pdf\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_incentives_zpsb723d238-60c81a8128.gif\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>The last day you can order is quite soon - \u003Cfont size=\"4\">24 January\u003C/font> - so get cracking if you're interested!\u003C/b> Check out \u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/news/mythical-maze---order-now.html\">The Reading Agency page\u003C/a> for all the details. You can even 'Like' the Summer Reading Challenge \u003Ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/SummerReadingChallengeUK\">on Facebook\u003C/a>. I hope lots of kids start drawing their own mythical creatures, this is going to be an awesome summer. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/children/news/mythical-maze---order-now.html\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/src_maze_packetcover_zpsac375497-11a8652ee1.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nOne more thing, here's a video I made (filmed by my husband, Stuart) in my studio for last year's Summer Reading Challenge, while I was in the middle of painting \u003Ci>Superkid\u003C/i>. I really liked the sharks in that book, and when I drew it here, I had such fun that I decided to do a whole new book about SHARKS. Which resulted in this year's book, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/theres-a-shark-in-the-bath/\">\u003Ci>There's a Shark in the Bath\u003C/i>\u003C/a>! So thank you, Summer Reading Challenge, for being part of that process. And a big thanks to the three people I worked with, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.piccadillypress.co.uk/teen/damian-kelleher/index.html\">Damian Kelleher\u003C/a>, \u003Cb>Jesse Brown\u003C/b> and \u003Ca href=\"http://readingagency.org.uk/about/people/staff/our-staff/anne-sarrag.html\">Anne Sarrag\u003C/a>, you people are total stars. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"2456\"/>","2014-01-10T08:55:00.000Z","summer-reading-challenge-mythical-maze",[],"summer reading challenge: mythical maze",1776628726088]