We’ve received some AMAZING entires to the “Design Your Dragon” contest so far…so keep them coming! With only a week left to go, if you have not yet entered then you better get scribbling.

You can enter from any part of the world, any age, and any medium. And of course, you can enter as many times as you’d like.

Here are the contest details once again:

I am terribly excited to share with you all my upcoming chapter book, Kenny and the Dragon. Though it is not due in stores until August 5th, I will be giving away three signed (first edition) copies here on the site…each, with a very special drawing in them.

All you have to do is design your very own dragon!

Like Grahame, the dragon who dubs himself a “Renaissance guy” in my book, I want you to come up with a drake of your own, who has its own personality. Here is what I am looking for:

1. A full color image of your dragon (any medium), along with his/her/its name.
2. A quick (4-5 lines) description of his/her/its personality. What does it like to eat? Does it play an instrument? Is it moody? Enjoy long walks in the park? Etc…

…you tell me what makes your dragon so darn special.

I will be judging on originality, creativity, and pure imagination. It doesn’t matter if you are a good drawer or not. It doesn’t matter if you are a two-year old kid, or an eighty two-year old kid…all entries will be accepted.

And those entries have to be in front of my bespectacled eyes by July 31, 2008.

You can send ‘em to me at:

Tony DiTerlizzi
“Design Your Dragon” Contest
P.O. Box #442
Amherst, MA 01004

Or email’em to Angela at: angela@diterlizzi.com
*Please title your email “Design Your Dragon”.

Winners will be chosen by myself, my loverly wife Angela, and my trusty assistant Will. We will announce the winners here on the site August 1, 2008, and I will then award winners with a signed copy of Kenny and the Dragon, along with a drawing in the book of Grahame (my dragon) shaking claws and congratulating YOUR DRAGON!

…sound cool? Then get drawin’ - and good luck!

Holly and I will be doing a special event on September 16th, for the release of the next Beyond the Spiderwick book, A Giant Problem. Below are the details, I hope we see you there!

Special SPIDERWICK EVENT with Holly Black!
Tuesday, September 16th
6:00 PM
BOOK WORLD
Essex Mall
895 Bloomfield Avenue
West Caldwell, NJ 07006

Jesse Lopez did a take on my rabbit wizard which was part of the inspiration involved with Kenny and the Dragon. Nice mood in the cave piece Jesse!

My web-guru, Anthony, and I have designed a new interface to view my ART quickly and as large as possible. I have added some new images, and some old favorites, and will continue to add more throughout the week…with captions to follow later on.

Also, we added the same interface to the BOOKS section, in the Drawing Board. Check it out!

I am covering for Peter Reynolds who was supposed to speak this weekend at the Eric Carle Museum. So if anyone is in the area and wants some book signed, come on by!

Imagination and Illustration with Tony DiTerlizzi
July 13, 2008
1:00 to 2:30 pm
Free with Museum Admission or Conference Registration

JUST ADDED! (Posted 7/10/2008) Join author and artist Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles, G is for One Gzonk) as he explores the worlds of childhood, fantasy, and the places where they converge. Book signing to follow.

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We had the pleasure this week of receiving a few pages from a wonderfully imaginative collection of creatures by our friend Joseph. I think you’ll agree that many of his creations tread the line between fearsome and just plain adorable! Keep on drawin’ everyone!

Time for another contest!

I am terribly excited to share with you all my upcoming chapter book, Kenny and the Dragon. Though it is not due in stores until August 5th, I will be giving away three signed (first edition) copies here on the site…each, with a very special drawing in them.

All you have to do is design your very own dragon!

Like Grahame, the dragon who dubs himself a “Renaissance guy” in my book, I want you to come up with a drake of your own, who has its own personality. Here is what I am looking for:

1. A full color image of your dragon (any medium), along with his/her/its name.
2. A quick (4-5 lines) description of his/her/its personality. What does it like to eat? Does it play an instrument? Is it moody? Enjoy long walks in the park? Etc…

…you tell me what makes your dragon so darn special.

I will be judging on originality, creativity, and pure imagination. It doesn’t matter if you are a good drawer or not. It doesn’t matter if you are a two-year old kid, or an eighty two-year old kid…all entries will be accepted.

And those entries have to be in front of my bespectacled eyes by July 31, 2008.

You can send ‘em to me at:

Tony DiTerlizzi
“Design Your Dragon” Contest
P.O. Box #442
Amherst, MA 01004

Or email’em to Angela at: angela@diterlizzi.com
*Please title your email “Design Your Dragon”.

Winners will be chosen by myself, my loverly wife Angela, and my trusty assistant Will. We will announce the winners here on the site August 1, 2008, and I will then award winners with a signed copy of Kenny and the Dragon, along with a drawing in the book of Grahame (my dragon) shaking claws and congratulating YOUR DRAGON!

…sound cool? Then get drawin’ - and good luck!

I hope everyone here in the states had a great Fourth of July yesterday. I was so busy eating hot dogs and playing with sparklers, that I forgot about posting our runner ups for the DVD Drawin’ Contest, so here they are!

As with our winners, the judges (myself, Ang and my assistant Will) looked for creativity and technical skill. Some of these pieces came close to placing, but we tried to keep the ages varied for our final winners. Below, we picked some of our favorites that I just wanted to share with you all:

Thomas’ piece would have likely placed, but we received it after submissions were closed. At only thirteen(!) years old, this fella shows A LOT of promise.

Five year-old Lily, sent us several pieces, but this simple, yet iconic, drawing of a unicorn melted our hearts.

Sandrine, an illustrator from France, rendered this variation of Allister the leprechaun from Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide.

Speaking of France, Stéphane sent us this awesome sketch of Mulgarath sitting on his tower steps from book 5.

Eleven year-old Gabe sent us this funny sketch of Hogsqueal and Byron (also from book 5). The look on Hoggy’s face is almost as funny as Jared (or is it Simon?) watching from the window.

Exploring the digital medium, Ellie sent us this cool colored version of Byron the griffin.

Summoning the spirit of Arthur Rackham, Aaron sent us a couple great images, but we loved this one of Thimbletack best.

In fact, the little brownie was quite a popular model for many. Check out Andrew’s interpretation.

Studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice, Leonardo found the time to do a couple of lavish renditions of his favorite creatures. Because the phooka is one of my favorite critters, I chose this one personally.

Last, but certainly not least, is nine year-old Allie’s colored drawing of Mal fighting off a goblin. Of course, she gets extra points for hand-lettering it.

Thank you all again for participating! I will be sending you all a signed postcard as well as a set of my custom “DiTerlizzi Studio” stickers…so make sure Angela has your mailing address.

And to those who did not place, please don’t fret: I will post the details of the “Design a Dragon” contest next week!

Yay! I’ve got confirmation on my late August tour dates for Kenny and the Dragon. I’ll be traveling through the southern US with stops in Tennessee, Mississippi, New Orleans and Georgia.

Sunday, August 24
2:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
2774 N. Germantown Parkway
Memphis, TN 38133

Monday, August 25
4:00 PM
DAVIS-KIDD BOOKSELLERS
387 Perkins Rd. Extended
Memphis, TN 38117

Tuesday, August 26
5:00 PM
SQUARE BOOKS
160 Courthouse Square
Oxford, MS 38655

Wednesday, August 27
3:00PM
LEMURIA BOOKS
202 Banner Hall
4465 I55 North
Jackson, MS 39206

Thursday, August 28
4:30PM
OCTAVIA BOOKS
503 Octavia St
New Orleans, LA 70115

August 29-31
DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL
Decatur, Georgia

Sunday, August 31
2:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
7660 North Point Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30022

My second leg this October will include: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Fran, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.

All details (including links) and dates will be added to the ABOUT section of the site. So check back often, and I hope to see you there!

Anyone remember the scene at the end of Back to the Future when Marty McFly’s dad, George, becomes a famous sci-fi writer and opens the box full of his latest novels? That is totally what it is like when you get your complimentary books from the publisher (without the Delorean).

My editor, Kevin, is totally cool and will often send me his only advance copy fresh from the printer. This can be months (or even a year) before the book is released. One of Simon & Schuster’s VPs, Rubin, hand-delivered the first and only copy of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to me from New York City! (Okay, he was on his way to visit his son in Boston, but it was so awesome! And Ang cooked a great meal to celebrate.)

I get so excited because I really like to draw, and I really like to spin a yarn, but I LOVE making books. I love the size of them in your hand, the paper texture, the printing effects on the cover, and the smell of the ink (yes, I smelled dittos when I was a kid - this was destiny my friends). My favorite feeling of all, though, is sitting alone on the couch with a cup of coffee, or in bed right before sleep, and immersing myself in the story presented in those bound pages with a little bit of ink printed upon them. It is true magic for me. (click the thumbnails for a bigger view):

And I want to share some of this excitement with you. I have been so inspired seeing what everyone has done with the “Spiderwick Drawin’ Contest” that I want to keep that creativity going. So, next week, I will announce a “Design Your Own Dragon” contest and will give away some of my own fresh-off-the-press copies of Kenny & the Dragon…stay tuned!