As I posted earlier, I created my own rendition from Mac Barnett & Dan Santat’s picture book, OH NO! to auction off for charity. All proceeds are to benefit 826LA. 826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

My piece is currently up for auction on eBay now and will end September 4th, 2010. Please bid! It all goes to a wonderful cause. Thanks!

We are still in the midst of finalizing tour dates for the launch of The Search for WondLa, but I wanted to drop a couple of confirmed events from the first leg of the tour:

Wednesday, September 22 @ 3:30 PM
Books, Bytes & Beyond
197 Rock Road
Glen Rock, NJ 07452
(201) 670-6766

Wednesday, September 22 @ 6PM
**NYC LAUNCH EVENT**
(Hosted by Uma Thurman)
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-3270

Wednesday, September 29 @ 7:00 PM
Rainy Day Books
2706 West 53rd Street
Fairway, KS 66205
(913) 384-3126

Thursday, September 30 @ 6:30 PM
Wild Rumpus Books
2720 West 43rd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55410
(612) 920-5005

Additional regions from the first leg (Sept. 21-Oct. 2) of the tour will be New Jersey, Long Island, Philadelphia and Chicago.

Leg two will start on October 12th and will include San Francisco (finally!), Houston and the Texas Book Festival.

I will also be speaking at the Mazza Museum in November (12-13) and am planning on an event or two in the Columbus, Ohio area. The following weekend I will be signing at the Miami Book Fair (Nov. 18-21).

For all of my friends and fans across the pond, the WondLa UK tour has been pushed to fall 2011. We just could not wedge it into my hectic fall schedule.

That’s all for now, more details as I get’em!

With a little more than a month to go before the release of The Search for WondLa, I am finally able to share some jpegs of my favorite illustrations in the book (there are 70 total). These are all 2-page spreads that open up each chapter. There will be a small block of text on each, which is basically the inverse of what you usually see in a 500-page novel (think of the art in the chapter openers in the Harry Potter books, for instance). This first one is of my heroine, Eva Nine, and it is the opening image of Chapter 1.

…Here is Eva’s first encounter with the gruff curmudgeon, Rovender Kitt…

…and this is the wicked huntsman, Besteel, with his sonic boomrod…

This was one of the first finished images that came to mind for this book. Its of the mysterious Arius in her den.

This is Queen Ojo with her royal procession.

…and this is the world they inhabit, Orbona. Its named after the goddess of orphans…

Enjoy! I’ll be posting more, plus tour dates VERY soon!

Connie Tyrrell Burns, of Mahoney Middle School in South Portland, Maine write a fabulous starred review of The Search for WondLa in the current issue of School Library Journal. Here is my fav part:

…The abundant illustrations, drawn in a flat, two-tone style, are lush and enhance readers’ understanding of this unique universe. In addition, augmented reality is used in three places. By holding up the page from the book to a webcam, an interactive map appears on the screen. Readers can watch as the landscape where Eva Nine is traveling unfolds. DiTerlizzi is pushing the envelope in his latest work, nearly creating a new format that combines a traditional novel with a graphic novel and with the interactivity of the computer. Yet, beneath this impressive package lies a theme readers will easily relate to: the need to belong, to connect, to figure out one’s place in the world. The novel’s ending is a stunning shocker that will leave kids frantically awaiting the next installment.

She got it! She really got it. Yeeessss!

If that was not enough, Debra Lau Whelan did a lengthy interview with yours truly discussing the origin of WondLa, the sequel books, and the developing movie at Paramount Pictures. Please to enjoy!

Greetings young padawans! This past weekend I attended the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida with the rest of the jawas, droids and Jedis. You can read my commentary over at the Hero Complex…I even acted on instinct and did some little illustrations for it!

For my friends and fans who can’t wait for my U.S. fall book tour this September, Stuart Ng Books is offering a handful of signed The Search for WondLa sketchbooks for sale on his site.

As I posted before, I produced this 2-color, 34 page sketchbook in conjunction with Simon & Schuster in a limited edition of 2000. We’ve been giving them away at various conventions this summer (like San Diego Comic Con) and I’ll be handing them out on tour this fall to some lucky attendees, but if you can’t wait…well then here is your chance.

My super-creative pal, Dan Santat, along with hilarious author, Mac Barnett, have organized an auction to benefit 826LA. 826LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Dan and Mac asked a bunch of illustrators to re-imagine a scene from their totally awesome new picture book, OH NO! which came out this summer. Of course, I was honored and thrilled to participate and be in such winning company. Below is my initial sketch:

They are exhibiting the originals at the Nucleus Gallery (from August 14-17th) before they place the originals for auction on eBay. Winning bidders will receive the original art piece along with an official police report filled out by the artist, a copy of OH NO! signed by Mac Barnett and Dan Santat, and an exclusive limited edition print.

Here are the details:

AUG 14 – 17

NUCLEUS GALLERY. Open public viewing. Books will be signed, and limited prints from the book will be sold.

AUG 23 – 27

FIRST EBAY ONLINE AUCTION

AUG 30 – SEPT 3

SECOND EBAY ONLINE AUCTION

…I am not sure which auction my piece will be in, but once I hear, I’ll post it. Thanks for your support and good luck bidding!

I am excited to reveal an extremely limited  exclusive giveaway, a sculpted maquette of Muthr – the robotic character from my upcoming illustrated novel, The Search for WondLa – that will be available at next week’s Comic Con in San Diego.  Take a look:

The maquette and signed books will be available at an auction to benefit The Comic Book Legal defense Fund. Here are the details:

From the mind of Tony DiTerlizzi, creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles comes The Search for WondLa, the start of a new trilogy that’s already been optioned for the screen!

This maquette, MUTHR is generously contributed by DiTerlizzi and Simon & Schuster Young Readers. MUTHR is Multi Utility Task Help Robot, and is brilliantly sculpted and painted by Martin Meunier, the award-winning sculptor/model maker and graphic designer whose film credits include Coraline, James and the Giant Peach, and The Spiderwick Chronicles the film on which he met author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. Martin has worked for FX Company as well as film studios Industrial Light and Magic, Pixar, Disney, and Universal.

Intricately crafted and cast in hard resin, MUTHR Maquette is a limited edition of 100 worldwide, signed by Tony DiTerlizzi.

The auction will be held next Saturday night at 7:30 in room 3 of the San Diego Convention Center.

I can tell you these maquettes are EXTREMELY exclusive. Of the 100 made for Simon & Schuster, most were given to early industry supporters of the book. Two have been raffled off so far (one at BookExpo and one at last month’s ALA conference), but this is the only time one will be available for purchase.

Best of luck to all attendees and happy bidding!

I’ll be doing a special signing event at Comic Con International next week in San Diego.

The signing will be next Thursday, (7/22) from 11:30 – 12:30 in the autographing area at table AA19. It will immediately follow the panel discussion and is limited to 100 attendees only.

The 100 attendees will receive a FREE advanced reader copy of The Search for WondLa as well as the limited edition sketchbook. Supplies are extremely limited so we are offering line tickets at 9:15 Thursday morning. Details can be found here.

Simon & Schuster reps will also be handing out line tickets at the panel discussion, so if you miss the ticket line in the morning, you may be able to nab one there…but remember, we’ve only got 100 books. Seeya there!

“THE SPARK OF IMAGINATION”

Thursday, July 22nd at 10-11am in Room 25ABC

Peek inside the minds of leading authors and filmmakers to explore how imagination informs the creative process. New York Times-bestselling children’s author Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles) details the precedent-setting augmented reality used in his new Simon & Schuster novel The Search for Wondla; LAIKA President/CEO Travis Knight (lead animator, Coraline) explains his studio’s commitment to bold subject matter; artist/writer Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy) pinpoints how and where inspiration strikes; director John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) explores how creativity is enhanced by artistic collaboration in moviemaking; and graphic novelist Doug TenNapel (Earthworm Jim) describes exactly how a blank page comes to be inhabited with his compelling imagery. Join moderator Geoff Boucher, reporter and HeroComplex.com blogger with The Los Angeles Times, for this fascinating panel discussion and Q&A.

PS – Simon & Schuster will be giving away signed advanced copies of WondLa and the limited edition sketchbooks at Comic Con. I’ll update with details soon.