fling93 loves fishies

Robert's Snow

I received an e-mail from my sister, Alvina, and thought I would pass it on. As I mentioned earlier, she works in children’s book publishing and is close friends with Grace Lin, the writer and illustrator of Okie-Dokie, Artichokie!, Olvina Flies, Dim Sum for Everyone, and my personal favorite, The Ugly Vegetables. Her new book coming out is Robert’s Snow. Here’s Alvina with the rest:

Hi all,

Many of you already know about this online auction for cancer research that children’s book author and illustrator, Grace Lin, started in honor of her husband, Robert, who was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma a few years ago. For those of you who don’t know the whole story, please go to the Robert’s Snow for Cancer’s Cure website or see the below press release for more information.

The auction is picking up steam: over 150 illustrators have signed up to illustrate/decorate wooden snowflake ornaments, including Jules Fieffer, Chris Van Allsburg, Mary Grand Pre, Peter Sis, Robert Macauley, Ruth Sanderson, Marc Brown, Todd Parr, Chris Raschka, Robert Sabuda, and more! Below are some of the snowflakes that have come in so far (there are more on the website). The actual auction will run via eBay from November 1-December 12. For those of you who are children’s book illustrators (or have illustrator friends who may be interested), please go to the website to sign up—the deadline for snowflakes is August 1.

But my main objective is to create more awareness of the auction itself. If you have any media contacts who you think might be interested in picking up this story, please let me know or pass along this email. Also attached is the press release. If you have a website and are willing to link to www.robertssnow.com, that would be great, too! If you know of any galleries or bookstores that may want to host the actual snowflakes, carry postcards, and/or put up a poster, please let me know. We are also looking for more sponsors—a celebrity would be nice! Any and all help is welcome.

Thanks for your support!

Best,

Alvina

Here’s some sample images of the flakes so far (click on them to zoom in — be sure your browser allows pop-up windows):

You can see a few more at the website.

And here is the press release she mentioned:

Children’s Book Artists Make it Snow!
Illustrators of Madonna, Billy Crystal, & Katie Couric’s books help friend

RELEASE AT WILL
May 24, 2004
CONTACT: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
617-230-4198

When children’s author/illustrator Grace Lin walked down the aisle to marry Robert Mercer, how could she imagine newlywed life would include surgery and long months of chemotherapy for her new husband? She couldn’t, but when it happened, she did what she does best: she told a story.

When Robert was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, it was the middle of winter. Since a slip on the ice or snow could lead to a broken bone, a dangerous situation in Robert’s condition, the doctors put him on bed rest for months.

“He was bored and depressed,” Grace says, “So I started telling him a story about a little mouse who wasn’t allowed to go in the snow. He really got into it and made lots of suggestions,” Grace laughs, remembering, “but the one thing he didn’t like was being portrayed as a mouse.” Robert protested, “How come I’m not something more manly? Like a wolf!”

But a mouse was right for the story, and when Grace submitted Robert’s Snow to her editor at Viking, they decided to publish it. Grace began the publishing process on the new project, and the young couple moved forward with hopes of a bright and healthy future. However, a year later, just as Grace was finishing final artwork for the book, Robert had a relapse.

“I told Grace and Robert that his best chance for long term survival would be continued cancer research,” his doctor said, and once again, Grace was inspired.

This time it wasn’t for a book, though Robert’s Snow was the catalyst. “I started thinking about ways we could raise money for cancer research,” says Grace. Within weeks, she had organized the Robert’s Snow Committee, and together with them, found wooden snowflake ornaments, which her fellow illustrators would use as templates to create original pieces of art. The snowflakes will be auctioned off on eBay, with 100% of the profits going to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

And what great illustrator friends she had. “It’s really quite amazing. I never realized how many famous artists I knew or could get in touch with. I’m sure your readers have their books at home on their shelves,” Grace says, “We have over 100 illustrators—a lot of them are Caldecott winners, like Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express, Jumanjii) and Marjorie Priceman (The Brand New Kid, written by Katie Couric). Even Pulitzer-prize winning Jules Feiffer (The Phantom Tollbooth, written by Norton Juster) agreed to do one!”

Loren Long (illustrator of Madonna’s Mr. Peabody’s Apples) was one of the first who agreed to make a snowflake, “Many people are working incredibly hard in cancer research every day. I’m humbled and proud to be able to make a small contribution to such a profound effort by simply creating a piece of art that I’ll have fun doing anyway.”

“I was speaking to a friend recently about how world events seem to be so overwhelming right now and wondered, ‘What could we do to change things?’” says Elizabeth Sayles (illustrator of Billy Crystal’s I Already Know I Love You), “I believe we have to start small and make changes in our own community, using whatever talents you have. I was so impressed with how Grace conceived this idea in the face of an overwhelming and potentially tragic situation. I hope it’s a great success.”

Corretta Scott King Honor illustrator R. Gregory Christie, (The Champ, The Story of Mohammed Ali), was inspired to participate because of his own experiences. “I lost my mother to cancer in 1998. In time, after stopping in order to look backwards, I continued my journey with the knowledge of how horrible any degenerative illness can be for the person that is ill and for the people who love this person,” he says, “With such an early life lesson, I decided to use my talent for her memory and to help change things in this world.”

Popular illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka (Max for President) was so excited by the project that he became a committee member. “This whole thing is really great. Not only does it bring our illustration community closer together, you can bid on a piece of art by your favorite children’s book illustrator,” he says, “The idea that you could own an original by the person who did the pictures in Harry Potter or the creator of Arthur is so exciting. And it’s for such a good cause!”

Bidding begins on November 1st and ends December 12th, through the website: www.robertssnow.com. To see them in person, the prestigious Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA will be hosting a display of the snowflakes at the same time.

Written by Katie Davis, the author/illustrator of Mabel the Tooth Fairy and How She Got Her Job, a participating artist and an eagerly anticipating bidder.

Again, if you want to help, you can contact my sister or leave a comment here. Thank you!