BRBC week 18: I'm sorry / We love you / I'm sorry / We love you

Oy. This week's reading—chapters 53-58—are some of the hardest in the series. I may as well admit I wept through most of it. If you need to talk, come find me in the forum.What I loved about this passage was that it was not only hard, it was healing.

Janner felt a sob rising in his throat. He had spent days and days on the run. He had thought about Tink many times, but always, at the front of his mind, was his quest to reach the Ice Prairies. He had dreamed of his mother’s embrace. He had dreamed of rest and food and safety. Lurking underneath it all was the stark, awful image of Tink in the Black Carriage, eyes wide and full of terror. All that time, Janner had been able to push the guilt away because he wasn’t sure he was much better off.But now that he was in a soft bed in a warm room with his family so near, it felt unfair. He didn’t deserve such comfort when his brother was—wherever he was. ...“Aha!” said a raspy voice.Podo burst into the room. ... He rushed forward and tackled Janner onto the bed. He smelled of pipe smoke and ale. He poked Janner’s ribs with his gnarled old fingers and laughed, but Janner only lay on his back, motionless.Podo’s mirth vanished. He plopped down on the bed beside Leeli with a heavy sigh and placed a hand on Janner’s leg. Nia and Oskar appeared in the doorway and took in the situation at once. ...Without a word they crossed the room and sat on the bed so that Janner found himself enclosed by his family. He was in a nest, the walls made of those who loved him. They were silent. Janner stared at the ceiling.“We love you,” Nia said at last, placing a hand on Janner’s face.The sob rose in his throat and spilled out.“I lost him,” he wailed. “I tried to find him, but he was gone. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Tears streamed down his face. He cried so hard he could barely breathe. Over and over again he said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” And over and over again, Nia said, “We love you, we love you.”
Discussion: When have you experienced healing grace from those you love?Have you ever gone hiking in the mountains? What was it like?What was your favorite passage from this week's reading?In the forum we're talking about choices and consequences and our hearts' treachery. You're also welcome to join in on older conversations, such as this one about trust and betrayal, or to start new discussions about anything at all that struck you as you read. I love hearing your thoughts and getting into deep conversations with you.

Nicholas Kole interview, part 1

Featherheads! Back in March we cooked up the idea of chatting with Nicholas Kole, our animated series production designer. You all sent in some excellent questions, and he and I had a great 45-minute phone conversation. What with one thing and another I've just begun transcribing our talk this morning. My original plan was to turn our interview into one or maybe two posts, but it might end up being more than that. In any case, here are the first six minutes. :-)

Madame Sidler: So I’m really excited to talk to you. I told the Featherheads I would bring five questions with me, and they flooded the comment feed.

Nicholas Kole: Ooh!

MS: So we’ll see what all we get through. I thought we could maybe just start with… maybe just tell us about yourself.

NK: For sure, yeah. My name is Nicholas Kole, and I am a character designer, concept artist, comic book artist, illustrator, toy designer—whatever needs doing that I can make my skill set possibly fit, I try to make it happen. So I do freelance work, mostly character design. My background is primarily video games, but I’ve been doing a lot of branching out. I went to the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 2009, and went on a long journey through big companies and little start-ups and all manner of things in between.

MS: Awesome; thank you. Tell us about working with Wingfeather—how did that happen, and what has that experience been like?

NK: Well, how did that happen is a whole different story than what the experience has been like. Both have been great, but the story about how it happened is kind of wild.

I went to speak at a college in North Carolina called Winthrop University, on the request of one of the students that reached out. They liked my work, and they were looking for a speaker for their senior show in the illustration department. I was very flattered, and that was a very exciting little thing to do. I went and stayed with them for a couple of days and gave a talk and reviewed all their portfolios and their projects. So that was good fun, and I left having had a good time, but not thinking anything portentous about it. And funnily enough, if the screen were split, I went on to live my own life and do sort of whatever, unbeknownst to the deeper currents that were churning.

And apparently one of the alumni who didn’t make it to my talk was told that I’d come, and she was upset that she couldn’t make it, because she was also a Christian and an illustrator and wanted to come see my stuff; and, I think, just because she had been informed at some point that week or that day. But she also happened to be a backer of the Wingfeather Saga Kickstarter, and they sent out an update saying that they were looking for artists and starting to gear up the production. And so she made the connection, completely unbeknownst to me.

So basically, an alumna of a college that I didn’t attend, who herself did not attend my talk, sent an email to Chris and Andrew saying “Hey, you should check out this guy’s work.” And I got an email from them like a week later, saying “Hey, a classmate of yours recommended you to us; would you be interested in talking more about the Wingfeather Saga.” And I asked a few more questions and found out that it wasn’t a classmate; it was somebody who said “this person went to my school.”

MS: Oh! Got it; yes.

NK: So! I wound up in touch with them sort of through a really weird series of, kind of, telephone connections, and then, yeah, wound up talking to them about it. I hadn’t heard about the books at that point; hadn’t really known about the project or the Kickstarter, much to my—I mean, I’m the poorer for it, really. So anyway, that’s the long winding road to the Wingfeather Saga for me.

MS: I remember seeing a post about you in the Rabbit Room Chinwag on Facebook—your Maleficent by the cliff, “check out this artist,” and it was amazing. And I thought, I don’t even know what other artists are out there, but I hope they hire him! So I was thrilled when they did.

[laughter]

NK: The same woman, making that connection!

MS: That’s such a funny random story.

NK: Totally! And in the emails they dropped a couple key reference points—they said Hayao Miyazaki and they said GK Chesterton. And I, basically, anybody—it’s like a cheat code; if you were to drop those two names anywhere near each other, I would then drop whatever I was doing and find a way to make whatever work.

MS: Awesome.

NK: Those are perfect code words for “Hey Nick, you need to pay attention.” So yeah. And I didn’t even know for sure who these people were, or what the nature of the project was, or to what extent it was to do with the Christian literary scene; the Rabbit Room was unknown to me… In the process of discovering the series, Andrew himself, Chris, the Rabbit Room in general—it’s just been like, kind of this unbelievable unfolding of like, why did no-one tell me about this before? How did I not know?

MS: I’m glad you know now!

NK: Yeah, me too.

:-)

Thank you so much, Nicholas, for this great conversation! Stay tuned, everyone—there's more where that came from. Next Monday we'll get into Nicholas' experience working with the Wingfeather animation team, and see where else the conversation takes us.

For more about Nicholas, see our post here. And for more about the Rabbit Room, check out their website. (Your librarian had much the same reaction as Nicholas when she first realized the Rabbit Room was out there.)This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 53-58 of North! Or Be Eaten. Come back on Friday for an excerpt and discussion!

BRBC week 17: The view from the top of the rise

This week has been hard. Janner and Tink are still separated, despite all efforts. Artham is in a cage. We don't know how Oskar and the rest of the Igibys fare. This is new territory for everyone, Maraly included. Maker help us, indeed.

When Janner topped the rise, he froze.Before him stretched the magnificent crags of the Stony Mountains. The snowy peaks jutted into the sky like shards of glass. Clouds gathered and poured through the passes like a slow-moving waterfall.Janner had never seen anything so big. He felt small and weak and a little dizzy.To the west, the mountains were smaller, and soft hills rolled at their roots. In the east, where Podo’s note had told him to go, the way looked impassable. He saw nothing between him and those peaks but cracks and fissures and jagged cliffs. At the center of the eastern range rose the Witch’s Nose, Mog-Balgrik. It towered above the other peaks, and truly looked like the hooked nose of a witch from a children’s scarytale.“Once you’re past Mog-Balgrik, the land slopes away into the Ice Prairies. After that, your guess is as good as mine,” read Podo’s note.Janner squinted at the pass to the left of the Witch’s Nose. “Maker help us,” he said. “That’s where we’re going.”“What?” said Maraly from behind him. She had removed the head of the snickbuzzard and was busy plucking its feathers beside a crackling fire.“Look,” Janner said. She stood and looked north for the first time. “Oh,” she whispered.A gust of icy wind blasted the hilltop where they stood.
Discussion: What do you do when you feel small and weak?What are the advantages of being small and alone? What are the disadvantages?How do you know who to trust?Does Tink deserve what he's getting? (Discuss this question in our forum.)Maraly and Janner both know things about bomnubbles, but they learned different things from different sources. What do you know a lot about? How did you learn it? Are you more of a book-learner, or do you prefer learning by doing?What passage most stood out to you this week?

Process video: Nia Igiby

In honor of Mother's Day yesterday, here is a video of Nicholas Kole creating Nia Igiby. :-)https://youtu.be/DEPYWDad5dcSpeaking of Nicholas, I am hoping to finally start posting bits of our conversation next week!Who are your favorite fictional mothers? I love mine, of course (she is fictional, as am I). ;-) I also love Joan Peterson from the Curdie books, and Frances the Badger's mother, and definitely Nia, among others. I would love to hear yours!

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 48-52 of North! Or Be Eaten. Come back on Friday for an excerpt and conversation!

BRBC week 16: A daggerfish!

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding which passage to post each week. Tonight was one of those nights. I asked Professor Sidler, "Should I post the part where Janner's in the box? or the part where he's getting water and sees a daggerfish?" Professor Sidler said, "I'd post the daggerfish. It's hard to beat a daggerfish." So here's a daggerfish. :-)

When he emerged from the house, Janner found dawn fast approaching. No Fangs marched past, and no old man snored on the stoop.In the rosy gold light of the sky just before the sunrise, Janner searched the debris around the house until he found a large clay pot. There was no sign of Fangs, so he sprinted across the road and skidded down the bank to the water’s edge. The surface was glassy, undisturbed except by occasional rings where water bugs alighted. Suddenly a fish broke the surface with a great splash and hung in the air for a moment before pointing its needle-sharp snout back into the water and sinking away.“A daggerfish!” Janner said with wonder. Then, more seriously, “A daggerfish.” He filled the pot and scrambled away from the water line.
Activity: What do you think the Fork! Factory! sign looks like? Design a logo.Discussion: What was your favorite passage this week?What Skreean animal would you love to see in the wild?Want a deeper discussion on what Janner's thinking about in the box, or about his hard decision at the end of this week's reading, or about the choice that Tink made? Visit our forum and start up a conversation.

Bright Eyes in a Dark Place

Last Monday's post brought us a beautiful piece of fan art—a drawing of Janner named "The Boy With Scars." Here's its companion piece, titled "Bright Eyes in a Dark Place."Once again I am so taken by the way Kathleen does eyes. That liquid effect is even more pronounced here in her portrait of Sara Cobbler. I love Sara's round face and tumbledown hair for the way they speak innocence even in dark circumstances. And I also love the way she seems to be leaning forward—she's still present and listening and willing to let herself become involved, even though she's been through so much and will endure so much more. As Janner said in Friday's excerpt, she's brave. No wonder she is such a source of hope, and not for Janner only.Thank you, Kathleen. I'm so glad you shared your art with us.

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 42-47 in North! Or Be Eaten. Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! Meanwhile, we've got many opportunities for discussion in our forum.

BRBC week 15: Stars in a storm

This week's reading was hard. There are more hard chapters coming. There is also "light and high beauty forever beyond the reach of shadows," but we must go through the shadows to get there. Take heart.

The next day Janner woke before the bell-clanger arrived. ...He needed a way out, and as far as he could see, the only way out was through the portcullis. But even if he figured a way to get through the long corridor to the empty floor, he had no way to open the gate. He’d seen the way two children strained to raise it; there was no way he was strong enough or fast enough to do it alone.But what if he wasn’t alone?Sara Cobbler had helped him once. Maybe she’d do it again.Janner smiled. He knew what to do. He just had to find Sara.He scanned the faces around the table carefully. Of the forty or fifty children eating their soup in silence, none was Sara Cobbler. He studied the children serving the soup, the ones who stirred the vats of soup, but none was Sara Cobbler. Throughout his first shift he looked for her, in the faces of those who passed, those who brought him new carts of bad blades, those on the high walkways, and even among the Maintenance Managers. But she was nowhere to be seen. He began to wonder if he had dreamed her up.When he returned to the dining hall after his shift, he found her at last.She sat at the table on the opposite side of the room, stirring her bowl mechanically. Her face was still dirty, her hair still matted, but he knew it was her, even before she raised her eyes and rested them on him. Stars in a storm, Janner thought again, and he smiled at her across the room. Almost imperceptibly, like the swish of a redgill fin beneath the surface of the river, she smiled back.Janner’s insides swelled. Before he had time to think about it, he walked straight toward her. Her eyes widened, and she went back to her soup, stirring it a little too fast. Janner sat across from her and lowered his voice.“Thank you,” he said. “I remember you—from the Dragon Day Festival last year.”She didn’t answer.A Maintenance Manager passed, and Janner looked down quickly and slurped a spoonful of broth. “I need your help,” he said after a moment. “We’re going to get out of here—I’ll get you back to your parents. But I can’t do it alone. Can you help me?”“I can’t,” she whispered. “They’ll put me in the box again.”“You’ve been in the…?” Janner’s heart ached for her. He wondered how many of the children in the factory had endured that awful place. “Listen. I can get us out of here. Will you help me?”She shook her head again.“Sara,” Janner said, then he paused while another manager walked by. “I can’t stay here. There’s something I’m supposed to do. I don’t know what it is yet, but my brother and sister and I—" ... He wanted to tell her. ...“You have to trust me,” he said instead. “Please.”She paused. “What do you want me to do?”Janner grinned. “I knew you were a brave one. I knew it.”Sara Cobbler smiled.Janner was glad she smiled. He knew he would need it to carry him through the next three days and nights in the coffin.
Discussion: What passage stood out to you most this week? The rooftop chase? The heat of the factory? The name Flavogle? Janner's experience in the coffin? I would love to hear how you're connecting with the story, either here in the comments or in the forum.Bonus activity: Check online to see if your local historical society has a blacksmithing demonstration. It'll be interesting to watch, and they probably won't kidnap you and force you to make swords.

The Boy With Scars

One of my favorite things about being your librarian is getting fan art forwards from Andrew. This one, from Kathleen, showed up in my inbox last week. I clicked it eagerly and it took my breath away. It's called "The Boy With Scars."This is Janner. I love how Kathleen imagined him, so young and brave and scarred from putting himself in danger over and over again. I can see in his eyes that his bravery costs him something but he is willing to pay that cost. I think his uncle must be proud of him.Thank you, Kathleen! More drawings, please.(If anyone else has art for Andrew, we'd both love to see it. You can find mailing instructions on the Art By You page.)

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading chapters 35-41 of North! Or Be Eaten. Come back on Friday for an excerpt and discussion!

The stories are true.