Small moments

"The Places Beyond the Maps." This paragraph stood out because it reminded me of the Igiby cottage, and yet the stories of these two families are so profoundly different. (More on that in the forum? I would love to hear your thoughts.)

One did not ask for much in those days, just to be together, just to locate and cultivate and nurture those small moments that would spring in the memory like perfectly delicate blooms of joy in a private, walled garden.
What paragraph stood out to you this week? Share it below.What would you need to survive occupation? Where is the Maker in all this? What do you need to talk about? Come to the forum.

Douglas McKelvey: An introduction and an announcement

DKMHigh-quality weirdo Douglas Kaine McKelvey is one of the best writers any of us have ever heard of. His craft spans works of beauty, absurdity, tragedy, brilliancy, surreality, and heartwarbling poignancy.He is also the president of the International Conspiracy & Trade Company and a world-renowned expert on cassowaries, and he has directed some very fine videos.Doug's most recent book is The Wishes of the Fish King (illustrated by Jamin Still). Currently he is working with illustrator Zach Franzen and our own Bookbindery Guildmaster to republish The Angel Knew Papa and the Dog, a middle-grade "lyrical frontier fantasy." It is available for preorder at the Rabbit Room for release early next month.In addition to all this, Doug wrote the Wingfeather Tale which Andrew called one of his top five books of last year. And that brings us to:

LIVE CHAT!

To wrap up our Wingfeather Tales book club, Doug will be joining Andrew for a LIVE CHAT AT THE CHAPTER HOUSE on Tuesday, April 11. Details to come!

This week, Madame Sidler will read the Part One of "The Places Beyond the Maps." Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! Meanwhile, join us in the forum as we talk about what this story said to us.

Third cousins? Whatever.

Jonathan Rogers' translation of the legendary "Ballad of Lanric and Rube" is much funnier than Eezak Fencher's, probably because Jonathan Rogers is much funnier than Eezak Fencher (despite Eezak's much funnier name). There was some rumor early on that Dr. Rogers was thinking of writing a story about someone trying to sell toothy cow milk under the pretense that it has healing qualities. That would have been an killer story, as would something swamp-related (he is great at swamps) or one about daggerfish wrestling. Either way, he ended up writing this one, and I could not be more pleased.This ballad is best read out loud. You can also read along while Dr. Rogers reads to you (the first several stanzas, at least). :-)

At the edge of the forest, where fazzle doves chorusAnd the Keekle flows bubbly and clear,Two farm families neighbored. Together they laboredSide by side, year after year.The Rumley-A’Catos grew heirloom totatoes,The Adoob family, shellery and charrots.They shared what they grew to make prize-winning stewsAnd soups of incomparable merit.The farmwives were cousins. Between them a dozenStout farmchildren filled out their brood.So those dozen cousins I guess were fourth cousins.No— first cousins two times removed?Third cousins? Whatever. The point is, foreverThese families had loved one another.And the bond was the strongest between the two youngest—Third cousins who seemed more like brothers.
What was your favorite stanza in this ballad? Post it below! Then join us in the forum for some lively debate on whether you'd rather wrestle a daggerfish or an alligator, or how you would go about peddling toothy cow milk, or anything else about this story.

Glipwood by the Sea

New animated series artwork, just released yesterday: Glipwood!Glipwood chasmYou've seen a peek of this view behind the characters on the series poster, but this is a new concept of the little town by the cliffs where the Igiby three grew up. (If you miss the old Glipwood, don't worry; it's still there, just to the right (south) of the view in this image.) How do you like the crevasse? The colors? The dilapidated buildings and bridges, and the Fang flags fluttering from fine old architecture? The glittering sea and the angle of the sunlight?

Redeemed Reader Review

Today I bring to you a starred review of Wingfeather Tales from Betsy at Redeemed Reader, a book review website which seeks to inculcate habits of "thinking Christianly" through children's literature.

Imagine if a group of professional authors and illustrators were so enamored with Lewis’s Narnia that they each created a unique new story—not an addition [to] the Narnia canon, but an expansion of the elements already present. Someone might write a humorous story of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver falling in love. Someone else might write a fiercesome story about Caspian IX’s betrayal by his brother, Miraz. Or what about a story about those funny Dufflepods and their original transformation to Dufflepods? Now imagine that Tolkien wrote one of those stories and inserted a hobbit into his Narnia story. And that all these authors and illustrators are the Inklings and actually know one another.That is exactly what the Wingfeather Tales is.

Thanks, Betsy! To read the rest of the review, click here, and then poke around the site to find their other Wingfeather reviews. :-)Extra: Redeemed Reader is hosting a Beauty and the Beast themed readalong this month, with featured picture books on Mondays, devotionals on Fridays (the first is up already), and discussions on an assortment of relevant titles (middle grade, YA, and adult books, as well as movies) throughout the month. Wingfeather is included in the lineup. If you'd like to be challenged to think through the topics of beauty, sin, and redemption, click on over.

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading Jonathan Rogers' Wingfeather Tale, "The Ballad of Lanric and Rube." (Catch a video preview here.) Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! We've got great conversations happening in the forum, too, and you're invited.

Wooing Nurgabog

It were a difficult thing to pick an excerpt from this formidable text. It shivers, shudders, and sings with sentences so sqwyrmy and masterful that I feared for me own safety should I be caught betwixt snippets fearsomely fine and equally postable. But in the end, this one prevailed.

“I knew it was Nurgabog,” said Gnut victoriously. Podo eyed him down and Gnut whispered once more to the man sitting next to him, “I knew it was Nurgabog.”Podo ignored him and kept on. “I waited until Lunker Jim slipped into his tunnel. As soon as he and the rest of the Stranders was gone, I sauntered into Nurgabog’s tent and said, ‘Nurgabog, I aim to steal ye.’ She batted her lazy eye at me and said, ‘What if I don’t aim to be stole?’ and I told her, ‘I can’t live without you no more. Your skin is crusty as the bark of a moldy oak and I can’t go on without its touch. Your eyes is the color of a milktoad’s tongue, and I don’t want to live without their gaze. Your brain is like a varmit trap that lays in wait for unsuspecting critters and snaps shut without remorse or pity, and I long to be snatched in its embrace. Will you agree to be stole?’ I asked her.
What was your favorite excerpt from our Bookbindery Guildmaster's Wingfeather Tale? Post it in the comments!What would you buy if you were a dragoneer? What would you have done if you were Whilly? Why do you think Podo thought the sqwyrm was mocking him? What's on the menu at the Windy Monkey? All this and more in the forum!

Happy Kickstarterversary!

A year ago today, just before midnight, Andrew posted the first update on the Kickstarter campaign we'd launched that morning. Twenty four hours later, he posted a deliriously happy poem for The End of Day Two. At 8:28 the following morning, the base goal was FUNDED. The rest of that month went by in a blur that made our heads spin and our hearts nearly explode in gratitude and bogglement, and when it was over we (WE, all of us) had raised 241% of our original goal—enough to animate the Igibys, the Fangs, and the Sock Man, plus thwaps and Nugget and the whole town of Glipwood.241 percent fundedDear Featherheads, I'm proud of us.What was your favorite part of the Kickstarter, or of the journey since then? What are you most excited to see once Chris and the team have finished the good work they're doing? Do you know how grateful we are for you???Love,Madame Sidler

Fluffy's dragon

This remarkable sea dragon was drawn by Heather, who is also known as "H-Bomb, Fluffy, Claudia, Heather the feather the queen of the weather. Writer, laugher, photo artist, drawer and student." (What sort of delightful person identifies herself as a laugher? I love it.) The crystalline patterns on its crest and around its eyes are fascinating to me—and speaking of which, what wonderful eyes. It looks like it has just spotted a very tiny and very curious human, and is itself very curious (although not very tiny). I think it would be such a profound experience to look into those eyes.Thank you, Heather! More dragons, please!102136

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading A.S. Peterson's Wingfeather Tale, "From the Deeps of the Dragon King." Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! And join us in the forum to talk about this story or anything else.Andrew, Audrey, and the band have a few days off, but they'll be hitting the road again on Thursday for the second weekend of the spring tour. Check out Andrew's music site for details!

The stories are true.