10/01/2006

Tours bring noted authors

Tony DiTerlizzi, Tomie dePaola to visit region

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS

mdrahos@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — New England's Tony DiTerlizzi and Tomie dePaola may be two of the country's best-known children's author-illustrators, but they're breaking out of their molds with their newest books.

DiTerlizzi, co-creator of the children's series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and winner of a Caldecott Medal for his adaptation of "The Spider and the Fly," appeals to the smart-aleck in kids with his irreverent "G is for One Gzonk!: An Alpha-Number-Bet Book" (Simon & Schuster, $16.95). DePaola, winner of virtually every significant award in the children's publishing world including the Caldecott Honor and the Newbery Honor, aims for an older audience with his "Christmas Remembered" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, $19.99).

Both men will stop in northern Michigan this month as part of nationwide tours to promote the books.

DiTerlizzi will sign copies from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Horizon Books in Traverse City, at 1 p.m. Oct. 8 at McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, and from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Saturn Booksellers in Gaylord. The illustrated rhyming book pokes fun at conventional alphabet and number books using a made-up menagerie of creatures with names like Angry Ack, Evil Eeog and Dinkalicious Dinky.

"All the silly names were names that my brothers and sisters and I came up with for each other, Mom and Dad, the dog, people who came to the house — the silly names I used as a kid and still find hilarious," said DiTerlizzi, who grew up in South Florida and calls his young alter ego in the book Tiny DiTerlooney. "There's no recognizable animals at all in it. It's absolutely not made for any kind of teaching. It's just for kids."

If "G is for One Gzonk!" calls to mind books like "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Butter Battle Book," it's no accident. DiTerlizzi is a fan of Dr. Seuss, whose books he read as a youngster and admires as an adult for their ability to delight while delivering important messages.

"Seuss for me was one of the first storytellers that really had that impact on me," he said. "I didn't care about the environment because of Greenpeace, I cared about the environment because of 'The Lorax.'"

Also well-known as a fantasy artist for his work on the collectible card game "Magic: The Gathering" and on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, DiTerlizzi said the book is different from anything he's created before and appeals to the "smart-aleck" in kids.

"My other books were fanciful and imaginative, but they were certainly not as off-the-wall," he said.

DePaola has written or illustrated some 200 picture and chapter books for children, including the autobiographical "Strega Nona" and "26 Fairmount Ave."

"Some of them are just incredibly sweet, some are quite funny, a lot of them are based on his family experiences growing up," said Bernadette Groppuso, youth services coordinator at the Traverse Area District Library, which circulates about 50 of his titles. "There's a real union between his writing and his pictures. It's the combination that gives them their incredible popularity."

Known for his folk art style and original collages and for his ability to connect with younger readers through his humorous style of storytelling, dePaola will sign copies of his memoir for adults at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey and at 11 a.m. Oct. 28 at Horizon Books in Traverse City.

Through memories of special Christmases spent with family and friends, the book tells the story about his life, his art and his journey from art student to novice monk to one of the most enduring and popular illustrators in children's literature.