Zelinsky in studio "Drawn in Brooklyn"is the name of an exhibit of children's book illustration that ran at the Brooklyn Public Library from late 2010 until January, 2011. A number of the contributing illustrators were filmed in their studios, talking about their work. You can see Paul's episode here, via YouTube and the Brooklyn Public Library's website.Videos of other artists in the show should appear on the right side of the page.

Dust Devil dedication:Anne Isaacs' dedication of Dust Devil is to her older daughter Amy. "With all my love," it says. Paul wanted his dedication to go to his older daughter Anna, who was still living in the Marshall Islands. So although he was inclined just to repeat Anne's words, he thought he'd get them translated into Marshallese. Anna sent him the translation, and it took the publishers a little doing to get its unusual accent mark over an "n."

That seemed to be that, until an emergency phone message arrived. The next morning, someone was going to be recording the text for an audio version. "How is that dedication pronounced? Please send a phonetic version immediately!"

Luckily it was possible to arrange a phone call from that remote country, leaving a native speaker's pronunciation of the phrase on the editor's voicemail.


PS 8 benefitAn event in Brooklyn. Paul says: When in San Francisco recently, I visited bookstores and schools with Anne Isaacs. She would read a section of Dust Devil while I drew a picture, fast. Now I'm back in Brooklyn. Invited to a benefit for local public school P.S.8, I tried the same thing, but without Anne. So I attempted to memorize the text, and draw and talk at the same time. Not easy! Not totally successful, either!

dust devil patternPaul Zelinsky was an answer on Jeopardy! Not only that, but this was the second time. Click here to see the "answer" on the Jeopardy website (under the category: Caldecott Medal and Honor Books) and the corresponding question, and who guessed the question and for how much.

dust devil patternDust Devil journal
A new book about Swamp Angel, by Anne Isaacs, is published as of September 14, 2010. Its title: Dust Devil, the name Angel gives to the colossal horse she discovers at the core of a wild Montana dust storm.

Paul wrote a journal about the amazing adventures and misadventures he encountered (well, maybe not so much amazing as funny) while trying to make the finished paintings on wood veneer, much like the illustrations in Swamp Angel. This journal has now become available on paulozelinsky.com, but first, Publisher's Weekly published an article about it!

dust devil patternDust Devil drygoods

For the library trade there is a Dust Devil poster; for the Web, a trailer. Paul has felt a need to send Dust Devil imagery out in even more directions. Here is a Dust Devil pattern he devised, using paintings from the book, along with scans of the wood on which the book is painted. He had this design printed on fabric, and you can order some of it, too. Find out about the fabric, and a vest Paul made from it, here.

brearley at the waldorfThe Brearley School celebrated its 125th birthday in 2009-2010, and to cap it off they had a fundraising birthday party in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria. Early in the year, Paul had drawn a series of drawings of the school mascot in period dress, one for each decade of the institution, to decorate various floors of the school. But they were also to be seen at this elegant dinner, cycling through the decades, when there were no speakers or entertainment on the stage.