Today is Star Wars Day—May the fourth be with you!
If you couldn’t guess, I’ll tell you that we here at Workman are HUGE Star Wars fans. Exhibit A: Fandex. Exhibit B: Scanimation. (Don’t those sound like words from the Lucasverse?)
That’s why we’re extremely excited to offer you a tiny sneak peek at the next Star Wars project we have lined up, to be released this fall! No details yet, but here’s a behind-the-scenes shot to pique your curiosity.
Designer Phil takes a break to pose for the blog.
Watch this space for more details about our latest project to come out of the Star Wars universe!
Call us biased, but we think the best presents come in book form. Since we’ve recently welcomed the newest little Workman-ites into our extended office family, that got us thinking about our favorite gifts for new parents. Here are just a few of our picks for the new mom, new dad, and mama-to-be:
Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton – What could be better than a great big hug in book form? It’s the perfect love letter from parent to child.
Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg – A sweet book with a powerful message: When you make a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful!
Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder – Every turn of the page brings a new animal to life: a horse in full gallop, a turtle swimming, an eagle soaring. It’s impossible not to flip the pages again and again!
Indestructibles - Beautifully illustrated books that babies can really sink their teeth into! They’re waterproof, tear-proof–baby-proof!–and truly impossible to destroy. (Trust us, we’ve tried.)
What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff – Why not get something for the new mama, too? This book has absolutely everything parents needs to know about their baby’s first year from one of the most trusted names in pregnancy.
What fan of Judy Garland’s hasn’t once coveted something sparkly and ruby red?
If you’re in the market for an authentic icon of Oz paraphernalia, you can take a chance at your very own pair of Dorothy’s slippers when this rare gem goes to auction on December 15.
According to the article, the slippers up for grabs are “one of only four pairs of screen-used ruby slippers known to have survived since the making of the 1939 film. One pair is at the Smithsonian, one is in private hands and a third pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.” My stars!
But if you’re looking for something with all the sparkle but sans the hefty price tag, may we present to you the glittery and glam Wizard of Oz: A Scanimation Book, by Rufus Butler Seder, which debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list at #5 (on 10/9; it will make its appearance for the second week as #9 on the 10/16 list)! Check out the video below to see the collector’s item in action.
And now, the test: Can you click your heels and move the pages of this book at the same time?
We already knew Gallop! is one of the cutest—not to mention coolest—animal books we’ve ever seen. When the lifelike images dance across the page, you just can’t help but be amazed—and it’s so fun to gallop and soar and cock-a-doodle-doo! right along with them.
But we bet you didn’t know that roosters don’t always say cock-a-doodle-doo. No, in France they say cocoricôôôô! And in Spain they say—well, see for yourself! Below are some of our favorite pages from international editions of the Scanimation book we all know and love. Hoppe-di-hopp!
In German, a horse goes "hoppe-di-hopp!"
Can you swim like a French turtle? Bloup bloup bloup!
The Japanese chimpanzee swings through the jungle!
Roosters in Spain say "¡Qui-quiri-quí!"
And of course, in English…
Soar like an eagle! Whoosh-whoosh-glide!
Check out this fun video to see Scanimation in action. After all, a video’s worth a thousand words—in any language.
Happy Wednesday! Here’s the delightful Lillian, daughter of photo researcher and photographer extraordinaire Danielle Hark, reading up on some scanimation. She loves Gallop, says mom, citing the movement–of course!–but also the bright colors and thick pages.
There’s nothing like Scanimation to bring out the kid in all of us! Take tv host Steve Katsos, who visited Rufus Butler Seder’s studio for a feature on his show (in the clip below). After demonstrating the amazing process of creating Lifetiles, Rufus pulls out a copy of Star Wars: A Scanimation Book. Steve immediately begins narrating each page of the book with spot-on impressions of Yoda, Han Solo, and the rest of the gang!
Rufus Butler Seder, creator and author of Scanimation books, was recently interviewed on WBCL, a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based radio station.
Rufus talked about his amazing Lifetiles moving murals, the inspiration and innovation behind Scanimation, his newest toy, the Strobotop, and what’s next for Scanimation. Listen to the entire interview below!
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I’ve always heard that kids absolutely love the animal noises and motion in Gallop!. I had no reason to doubt them–after all, I love Gallop and animal noises are pretty fun–but I don’t think I ever truly understood just how much interaction it can inspire until I saw this video of an enthusiastic reader galloping all over a bookstore!
BookExpo America, (BEA) an annual booksellers and publishers convention, is a great time to see what everyone else is up to while showing off what we’ve got lined up for the new year. Our booth always attracts a lot of traffic, and this year was no exception.
We brought in authors Anne Byrn, Rufus Butler Seder and Amy Saxton to greet eager fans and sign books. Our booth served cake from The Cake Mix Doctor Returns along with copies of Don’t Forget to Sing in Lifeboats—an optimistic book full of “Uncommon wisdom.” We presented the hottest new idea for children—Indestructibles books, and announced BananaGrams!, a book version of the popular game.
But the BEA fun didn’t stop at the convention center—we held a 400-person cocktail party at the Workman offices!
Even though many predicted a smaller-than-usual show this year with scaled-down booths and events, this BEA had a few twists, but with all of the excitement of years past.
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