Chris Van Dusen

New Schedule

chris — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:56:28 +0000

With my new book Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit being released soon, I have several book signings scheduled for the next few weeks. I’ve posted the schedule below. For most of these events, I’ll be joined by my good friend and fellow author/illustrator, the brilliant Matt Tavares. It turns out that Matt has a fantastic new book coming out the same day as Randy Riley AND it’s with the same publisher (Candlewick Press) AND it also has a baseball theme! It’s a beautiful biography called There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived. Matt had the idea that it might be fun to get together for a book signing and it’s turned into a mini tour. Here’s where we’ll be:

• Sat. Feb. 18th, 10-12:00 – Launch at The Owl & Turtle Bookshop, Camden, ME (Chris only)

• Sat. Feb. 25th, 10:30 – Reading and Signing at Kennebooks, Kennebunkport, ME (Matt & Chris)

• Also Sat. Feb. 25th, 2:00-4:00 – Signing at L.L. Bean, Freeport, ME (Chris only)

• Sat. March 24th – Signing at The Children’s Book Cellar, Waterville, ME (Matt & Chris)

• Sat. April 7th, 11:00 – Signing at The Maine Coast Bookshop, Damariscotta, ME (M & C)

• Sat. May 12th – Signing at Water Street Books, Exeter, NH (Matt & Chris)

We hope you can make it to one of these events. We’d love to see you!

Kindle Fire

chris — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:41:24 +0000

People have very strong and differing opinions about e-readers. Some people love them, some hate them, some think they will spell the death of the traditional book and others think they are just a passing fad. I’m not going to weigh in on the debate, but I was quite surprised and pleased when Amazon decided to highlight my book, The Circus Ship in their advertising launch of the new Kindle Fire. If you go to Amazon and click for more info on the Kindle Fire, you’ll see one of the spreads illustrations from The Circus Ship in full display.

Festival Time

chris — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:01:18 +0000

This fall and winter, I’ll be attending and presenting at a number of festivals and conferences around the country. Special thanks to my publisher Candlewick Press for hosting me at the following events:

• Sat. Sept. 24th – The National Book Festival, Washington DC

• Sun. Sept. 25th – The Baltimore Book Festival, Baltimore, Maryland

• Thurs. Oct. 13th – NEIBA Author’s Reception, Providence, Rhode Island

• Mon. Nov. 14th – The San Antonio Express News Luncheon, San Antonio, Texas

• Thurs. Jan. 19th, 2012 – ABA Winter Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana

• Sat. & Sun. March 10th & 11th – Tucson Book Festival, Tucson, Arizona

I hope I get the chance to meet you at one of these upcoming events!

BookshelfBanter Review

chris — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:54:27 +0000

I recently came across this nice review of King Hugo’s Huge Ego. And no, I did not pay this woman!

My Summer Schedule

chris — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:33:31 +0000

With the release of my new book, King Hugo’s Huge Ego on July 26th, I have several upcoming events planned. Here’s where I’ll be this summer:

• Fri. July 8, 2:00 – Library visit at The Patten Free Library in Bath, Maine

• Sat. July 9, 12:30-3:30 – Books & Boothbay at the Railway Village in Boothbay, Maine

• Thurs. July 14, 10:30 – Library visit at The Edythe Dyer Library in Hampden, Maine

• Tues. July 26, 10:00 – Library visit at The Waldo Pierce Reading Room in Frankfort, Maine

• Sat. July 30, 10-12:00 – Book launch at The Owl & Turtle Bookshop, Camden, Maine

• Thurs. Aug. 4, 11:00 – Library visit at The Rockland Public Library, Rockland, Maine

• Sat. Aug. 6, 10-12:00 – Book signing at The Children’s Book Cellar, Waterville, Maine

• Wed. Aug. 10, 1-3:00 – Book signing at Sherman’s Books & Stationery, Camden, Maine

• Sat. Aug. 13, 11:00 – Book signing at Maine Coast Book Shop & Cafe, Damariscotta, Maine

• Wed. Aug. 17, 10:30 – Book signing at Kennebooks, Kennebunkport, Maine

• Sat. Aug. 20, 1-4:00 – The Children’s-Bookfair-by-the-Sea at the library in Camden, Maine

• Sat. Aug. 27, 10:30 - The Hope Family Festival in Hope, Maine

And coming up this fall:

• Sat. & Sun. September 24 & 25 – The National Book Festival in Washington DC

• Thurs. October 13 – Author reception at NEIBA in Providence, Rhode Island

• Mon. November 14 – San Antonio Express News Luncheon in San Antonio, Texas

That’s it for now. I hope to see you at one of these events.

First Review

chris — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:22:34 +0000

Even though King Hugo’s Huge Ego doesn’t come out for a couple of months, I just received my first review, a starred review from Publishers Weekly! Here’s the full review:

King Hugo’s Huge Ego
Chris Van Dusen. Candlewick, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-5004-9

“Long ago, when people spoke/ with words like ‘thou’ and ‘thee,’ ” a Napoleonic figure (in attitude and physical stature) named King Hugo ruled supreme. While his subjects think he’s a joke, they have no choice but abjection: they bow low when he passes by and pretend to listen his “Speech of Adoration,” a weekly hours-long “boring buzz/ of how mighty and magnificent/ King Hugo thought he was.” Comeuppance takes the form of a comely, feisty peasant maid named Tessa, who, unbeknownst to the king, is also a sorceress. “Let’s see if all your arrogance/ can fit inside your head,” she says, and sure enough, “his head kept bloating,/ bulging bigger every day” with each narcissistic act, until he looks like a bobble head doll on steroids. A life lesson and true love tie up the loose ends, but not before readers are treated to a terrific mélange of satire, slapstick, and caricature, all served up with expert comic timing. Van Dusen (The Circus Ship) may be puncturing the myth of infallible monarchy, but readers will have no trouble pledging obeisance to his comic majesty. Ages 3–6. (Aug.)

King Hugo on Amazon

chris — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:09:39 +0000

I’ve been working day and night to finish the art for a new book which will will come out in the spring of 2012. That’s why these blog posts have been few and far between. But I just saw that my next book, King Hugo’s Huge Ego is now available for pre-order on Amazon. I also noticed that the release date is earlier than I thought. According to Amazon, Hugo will be available on July 26th.

I don’t want to give anything away about King Hugo’s Huge Ego, but I can tell you that it’s a fairy tale (you probably guessed that!), it rhymes, it’s 40 pages long and it’s probably the funniest story I’ve ever written. I was inspired to create a fairy tale in part by the great Dr. Seuss. A few of his early books were fairy tales. Remember King Derwin and Bartholomew? But I also had so much fun by adding a villain (Mr. Paine) to The Circus Ship that I decided to challenge myself with this one. Could I write a book where the main character is a bad guy and still make it fun? I’ll let you decide.

Some Terrific Drawings from ASFL

chris — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:50:21 +0000

Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Mrs. Claxton’s second graders at The Academy for Science and Foreign Language (ASFL) in Huntsville, Alabama. Apparently the students had been studying me and my books for a while. Before our visit, Mrs. Claxton sent me a packet of letters the students had written and I was amazed when I read them. They almost knew more about me than I did! The notes were filled with insightful comments and great questions. Several students were curious if there was going to be a Mrs. Magee (I didn’t quite know how to answer that one. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to marry Mr. Magee!). As a bonus, attached to each student’s letter was a drawing they had done from one of my books. They were all TERRIFIC and I really wish I had room to post each and every one, but unfortunately I don’t. Here are just a couple:

On the left is Stephanie’s homage to Dee, and on the right is Emmanuel’s version of Mr. Magee skiing.

Thanks to all of the students in Mrs. Claxton’s class at ASFL for studying my books, writing me letters and drawing wonderful pictures. I really appreciate it!

I Made the List!

chris — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:46:39 +0000

The Good Stuff Guide is a wonderful website dedicated to …well…good stuff. Heidi, who created the site, has been especially supportive of me and my books. She recently sent me this link to her list of The 25 Best Children’s Picture Books (which sounds like a daunting task to me!) and very nicely included me as #17 – right before The Giving Tree! What an honor to be in such esteemed company.

Here’s a link-http://www.thegoodstuffguide.com/the-25-best-childrens-picture-books/

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

chris — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:31:56 +0000

Dr. Seuss was born on this day 107 years ago. In his own words:

“Today you are you! That is truer than true!

There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

Shout loud, I am lucky to be what I am!

Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham

Or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!

I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be!

If I say so myself, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”

-from Happy Birthday To You! (1959)