Cover Love

I used to write for a children’s book cover blog with Julie Larios, Patti Brown and Deirdre Mander called “Jacket Knack.” It’s still up, for the most part–have a look. Anyway, I love book cover art and design, so naturally, I ♥heart♥ the art on my own books. Here’s more about them:

THIS:

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Judy Garland, circa 1938. I think this may be a publicity still; the Wizard of Oz was being filmed around the time of Radio Girl.

PLUS THIS:

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Deanna Durbin, sheet music for “I Love to Whistle” from the film Mad About Music.

EQUALS

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Radio Girl, Holiday House, 2013. Cover art by Mike Koelsch

Cool, yeah? My editor at Holiday House asked me for some input on what Cece should look like (not every author gets to do that!) so naturally, I suggested that she might look like Deanna Durbin or Judy Garland. Both singer/actresses were about fifteen years old in the fall of 1938, and Cece is fourteen. The illustrator, Mike Koelsch, did an amazing job capturing not only her authentic look but also the earnest expression on her face (with just a little trepidation, maybe?). It’s brilliant!

Now here’s where things get a little weird for me. The cover of my first book, Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer, also has–well, you tell me:

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Winnie Finn, illustrated by Ard Hoyt, FSG, 2009

Am I imagining it, or is Winnie‘s cover somewhat similar to Radio Girl’s? In the pose? The hair? No?

BUT WAIT! It gets a little weirder • • • Mike Koelsch was also one of the illustrators of the amazing Earthworm Jim character. I kid you not.

1938 ~ Part III, Ten More New Things

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Nestlé Crunch, an early wrapper look

Nestlé Crunch, an early wrapper look


Today’s installment–Ten more things that were invented, founded and established in ’38.

  1. The Nestle’s Crunch bar. (Back then, maybe it had real chocolate flavor.)
  2. Everybody was reading a new novel by Daphne DuMaurier, Rebecca. (Still really good!)
  3. Tupperware was invented.
    4. Mr. Tupper's invention

    Mr. Tupper’s invention

  4. The first Caldecott Medal was awarded.
  5. Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” was first performed, and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize later that same year.
    6. A playbill title page of Our Town

    A playbill title page of Our Town

  6. The Barbershop Harmony Society was founded.
  7. Ella Fitzgerald recorded “A Tisket, a Tasket,” which quickly shot up to #1 on the charts.
  8. This invention was introduced (I foresee a life-safety issue with the design):
    9. Alarming.

    Alarming.

  9. The ball-point pen made its debut. Before the war, it was fountain pens and inkwells like the one Cece fills in Radio Girl.

    10. Pens and ink.

    Pens and ink.


  10. Squirt was born. Said to be named that because it squirts into your mouth like a squeezed grapefruit. Well, I guess.

Seventy-five years ago this year. I was -25 years old. That’s negative 25. Ahem. 🙂

1938 ~ Part II, Ten New Things

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Today’s installment–things invented, founded and established in ’38.

Dr. West's amazing breakthrough in oral hygiene!

Dr. West’s amazing breakthrough in oral hygiene!

Falling as it did before WWII but at the onset of a slow rebound from the dreariness of the Great Depression, 1938 seems to have been a year for new things. Here are ten.

    1. The National Button Society was founded, and is still going strong.
    2. Superman debuted in Action Comics #1.

      3. Superman was new

      Superman was new

    3. Nylon was accidentally invented.
    4. Consequently, the nylon toothbrush (see above) first made its appearance. Before that, people brushed their teeth with boar’s bristle brushes. (1939 saw the advent of women’s nylon stockings)
      Boar's bristle toothbrushes

      Boar’s bristle toothbrushes

    5. Soft-serve ice cream may or may not have been invented that year, by someone in Illinois, maybe. Or by a young Margaret Thatcher. Depends on whom you ask.
    6. The National Arborists Association was established. It, too, is still around. Woo.
      7. A demonstration of the Drunk-o-Meter

      A demonstration of the Drunk-o-Meter

    7. The Drunk-o-Meter, an early form of the breathalyzer test for drunkenness, made its debut.
    8. This Ferragamo shoe (I know, again with the shoes):

      Colorful.

      Colorful.

    9. The board game Scrabble was invented, but it wasn’t called Scrabble yet.
    10. And finally, this … vehicle:

      Tractorcycle. Did not catch on.

      Tractorcycle. Did not catch on.

    Did anything surprise you? More to come!

    In 1938: What a Year, Part I, we talked 1930s fashion, namely, shoes.