The Fantastic Mr. William Joyce

There are some days when my life seems truly blessed.  There are many reasons why I would choose not to live in NYC.  However, there are days when I'm really glad to be here, and this past Saturday was one of those days.

I was lucky enough to attend a book signing and talk with the author, illustrator, and filmmaker William Joyce at Books of Wonder in NYC.  I've written about this little gem of a store many times;   it continues to inspire me. Children's books authors and illustrators are my celebrities! If you haven't yet visited Joyce's website, please do so by clicking here.  You'll love it.

Joyce has written and illustrated many books, including the Guardians of Childhood series, comprising "The Man in the Moon," "Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King," and "E. Aster Bunnymand and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!" 

William Joyce, spread from "Man in the Moon"

His new picture book, where he teamed with illustrator Joe Bluhm, is called "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." It--and the Oscar-winning animated short of the same title--was the subject of his talk.

Joyce spent the bulk of his time talking about life in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He told an anecdote about how he observed children in the hurricane shelters, crammed with thousands of people who had lost their homes, who were able to lose themselves "in the bubble" of their imaginations when reading books that he had passed out to them.  This helped to inspire a portion of his book.  It begins when Morris Lessmore, his beloved books, and even the words on the page of the book he writes, blows away in a Wizard of Oz-style storm that upends his home and leaves him in a black and white world.  While no Wicked Witches were squashed below, below, below his home, and no yellow brick road appeared to show him the way, his wanderings led him to a young woman being carried aloft by books.  Flying books.  Flying books in color!  He followed one particular book, a flip-book animation of Humpty Dumpty, to an old house filled with these books.  Reading the books, getting immersed in a world of imagination, Morris turned to color after his world went black and white.  The house he lived in had no computer (like Joyce), no internet, no hand-held games, not even a Kindle. Just books. Books that gave color to his world.  And living there, he wrote his own book.  He lived among and in the books, took care of them, shared them with others, until he was an old man.  I won't give the ending away. 

Little did I know that we would also be able to view the movie with Joyce and his colleague, the movie's director Brandon Oldenburg, also of Moonbot Studios, in attendance.  It's a first for me: seeing an Oscar-winning film for the first time with the men who made it.  How inspiring!

Screening of "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore".  See Joyce at left.

Of course I got a copy of the book signed for my inspiration collection.  It's so great to be able to talk to the authors. 

He drew the egg with a pen for me, because I told him I am an illustrator.

I asked if it were nerdy to want to pose with the author. He replied, "Yes, but that's ok!" I own that one. I am a children's literature nerd.  Are you, too?  Don't be afraid to admit it.  Heck, embrace it! It means you have a verdant imagination and a healthy dose of innocence left.  Those two things are still in short supply.

Me and William Joyce. Amazing. Or, as my nephew would say, "Epicness!" Even cooler that a Trina S. Hyman and a Gennady Spirin book illustration are directly behind us. They are two of my favorites.

Even nerdier, but via proxy: here is my photo with a very accommodating Brandon Oldenburg. It's my geekfest photo for my little sister, an animation student at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Me and Brandon Oldenburg, posing with Joyce's "Dinosaur Bob"

 The moral of the story (of my day): keep dreaming and think big.  They thought and worked all the way to the Oscars, and won.  Thanks for a cool afternoon, Mr. Joyce, and a healthy dose of imagination.

A Day with Roald Dahl

"Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.  Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

--Roald Dahl, "The Minpins"

My sister and I recently took a trip to England (based in London) and Rome.  The highlight of the London portion of our trip was the day we took a train from London Marylebone station to the tiny town of Great Missenden, most famous as having been the home of the writer Roald Dahl.  We traveled there specifically to see the Roald Dahl Museum, and it really was worth the trip.  It was only 40 minutes by train, and the town was lovely and all that you'd expect a tiny British town to be. The museum was whimsical, with many fanciful details.  To top it off, the food at the museum restaurant, Cafe Twit, was delicious, well-priced, and very fresh, and the chef and staff were exceedingly friendly.  Where else can you enjoy a piece of Bogtrotter cake, Matilda-style, drizzled with chocolate ganache, white chocolate, and maltesers, along with fizzy lifting drinks?

Dahl and Fantastic Mr. Fox

 The museum was small but contained many wonders.  The first room was called "Boy," both after the book and the way Roald used to sign his letters to his mother.  It contained original letters, a candy jar with mouse (which derived from "Boy"), a school uniform you could try on, and audio stories also taken from "Boy."  The door was a giant chocolate Wonka bar.

Chocolate Doors...they even seem to melt.

Letter from Roald Dahl to his mother, signed "Love from BOY"

My favorite item in this room was the first draft folio from "The Witches," hand-written.  This is the chapter that tells the story of the grandmother.  This may be my favorite of Dahl's books.  I first read it on the day we moved out of the US to Germany.  I got through most of it in the airport, but it eased my nerves (or distracted me) on a day I was really nervous. We would not be returning home for three years.

First draft folio from "The Witches"

In the next room, we traveled with Dahl across the world and watched him grow first as a pilot and then as an author.   We saw portholes with photographs of alligators morph before our eyes into drawings by Quentin Blake.  Blakes's lively, sketchy style filled the pages of all of Dahl's children's books.  He formed our first visual impressions of Charlie, Willy Wonka, the BFG, the Grand High Witch, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, and more... He remains one of my favorite illustrators to this day.  You won't regret a trip to his website, www.quentinblake.com

Dahl with Quentin Blake, his amazing illustrator

We measured ourselves against a Dahl measuring stick, where the Big Friendly Giant, foxes, Grandpa Joe, and Oompa Loompas served as height indicators.  My sister and I were both "A Complete Wonka."

We're a complete Wonka.  Only half the size of Roald Dahl, it seems

We also got to see, amazingly, the original writing shed of Dahl, completely preserved and intact as it was when he passed away in 1990.  After the injuries Dahl received as a pilot, this was the most comfortable way he worked. He surrounded himself with little objects he loved, as most of us do.

Dahl's writing shed and chair

Meghan with the original set from the recent film version of "The Fantastic Mr Fox": an animator's dream?

Notice that the set above, from the wonderful film rendition of "Fantastic Mr. Fox," recreates Dahl's writing chair and shed, and many of the details on the walls.  Elsewhere in the museum, we made our own stop-motion animations, drew pictures, made silly stories with magnets, and dressed in costumes.  We whispered ideas into an idea-generator and dreamed stories of our own.

Afterward we stuffed ourselves on the Bogtrotter cake and a delicious, fresh lunch at Cafe Twit.  I broke my diet for this and it was worth it. It was absolutely delicious.

(Bruce) Bogtrotter cake at Cafe Twit, Great Missenden, UK. Yes, it was as good as it looks.

We then walked through town and in the country and stumbled across the cemetery where Dahl was laid to rest.

As you might guess, the BFG showed us the way:

Me and the BFG's footprint

How amazing to be able to visit this location from which so many of my dreams have sprung, and to pay my respects to one of the most talented, creative, ever-youthful minds the last century has ever seen. It was a perfect day, and I am very happy my sister and I got to share it together.

The grave of Roald Dahl