Ryan Sias

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems and Jon J Muth review

Ryan — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:43:54 +0000

City Dog, Country Frog

Okay, so I’ll admit I’m a BIG Mo Willems fan- it still makes me giggle that he recognized me! But this book is not your average Willems story. It’s about life and death, which is a journey we all take, even kids, when a pet or relative passes. While that sounds super heavy, he handles the subject matter with a light and funny touch.

In the book, City Dog moves to the country and becomes friends with Country Frog. They play and learn from each other, but as the year passes the frog gets older. When City Dog goes to find Country Frog in the winter, he is gone. I found this book to be extremely powerful, and its theme makes me smile and remember the importance of loving those around you now.

I read an interview where Willems said he didn’t feel his illustrations were right for this book, and I agree. His work is so comical, it might have lessened the impact. Jon J. Muth’s watercolors are beautiful and sweet and are serious enough to pull off this story.

The fantastic writing and beautiful colors that totally capture each season win this fun-but-serious book my enthusiastic recommendation!

Liberty Porter First Daughter by Julia DeVillers: Ryan review

Ryan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:37:51 +0000

Liberty Porter, First Daughter by Julia DeVillers

Last week I was at a get-together and met Julia DeVillers. She was super nice and had the best stories, but I had never read any of her books! So I got “Liberty Porter, First Daughter” and I’m happy to say it was as awesome to read as Julia was to meet.

It stars a girl whose father has just been elected President. The story is about the day they move into the White House. Liberty is a great character, full of quirkiness and fun. She knows a lot of strange facts about the White House, which I greatly enjoyed: “Did you know that there have been many strange pets in the White House? Like a badger named Josuah, lion clubs, alligators and a pygmy hippopotamus?”

This is a great book for any kid interested in the White House. The characters and writing are fun and engaging. Ryan recommends!

Sumie Bear part 2

Ryan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:43:24 +0000

Here is another new illustration- same bears but flat color in the background!

Sumie Bear illustration

Ryan — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:41:56 +0000

Recently I’ve been painting with a Sumie brush. I like how it’s controllable, but gives all this crazy texture to the line-work. When I was a kid I loved cutting and collaging, so I painted up some paper and used that as the bear’s body! Kinda like Eric Carle, but with fat line work!

All the textures in the background are from photos off grubby stuff on NYC streets!

My Christmas monkey puppet show!

Ryan — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:45:24 +0000

Before I got into picture books, I did large puppets professionally. Every holiday season I’d put on shows at the Fort Worth Zoo. ( I was living in Dallas at the time.) My favorite show from those days was a Christmas production that starred a monkey! We even made it on the local news. Here is a video.

I put up a bunch of clips from my puppets over the years. You can see them all on my website.

Happy Holidays!

Frankie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace Ryan Review!

Ryan — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:41:54 +0000

Frankie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace by Eric Wight

I met Eric once at BEA and then hung out with him down at ALA, and yet had never read a Frankie Pickle book. So I got one and I only wish I had read it sooner. I FREAKING LOVED IT! It’s the perfect blend of chapter book and comic. The story’s is centered around Frankie’s math problems; these sections are in chapter book form. When he starts to daydream and imagine the numbers as monsters, it becomes a comic book. This worked great and made for a easy transition from reality to fantasy.

The story is simple but fun, and the art was great. The comic pages had great rhythm and action.

I wish I had books like this when I was a kid! If you have a young reader this book is for them. LOVE IT! I highly recommended it and can’t wait to read another Frankie Pickle!

Dog love = Abby

Ryan — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:39:23 +0000

When I was kid I was a paper boy and got bitten by a dog more than once. That led me to develop a fear of dogs, which lasted all the way into my early twenties. When I moved down to Dallas, Texas, for a job, the couple I lived with had a Chocolate Lab named Abby. I was scared of her at first, but I learned to love Abby. She was the dog that got me over my fears. Last month she passed away, which was hard for me. I’m working on a new book that I plan on dedicating to her. Here is my drawing of my first dog love, Abby. <3

New Cat illustration

Ryan — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:37:22 +0000

I’ve been playing around with making my style a little looser. Here is my cat experiment; I think it came our pretty cool! Now I need to try a full illustration with this style!

Enjoy

Birthday party Zoe and Robot reading!

Ryan — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:31:43 +0000

Back in November my favorite little person had her 4^th birthday. I did a Zoe and Robot reading and then we made some Robot masks! Here are some fun photos from that afternoon.

Zoe and Robot review from “The Unshelved Book Club”

Ryan — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:24:08 +0000

Zoe and Robot got a great review from ‘The Unshelved Book Club”
(It’s a the bottom of the page)

ROBOT says: Thank you Unshelved Book Club, Robot appreciates the review!”