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Sheraton Meadowland Hotel & Conference Center
2 Meadowlands Plaza, East Rutherford, NJ

GRAPHIC NOVEL NIGHT AT THE READING BUG!
Friday Feb 17th at 5:00 PM
Featuring a team up of kids’ graphic novel creators Jennifer Holm (Babymouse), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), and Dave Roman! Interactive comics reading, live drawing, and booksigning!

THE READING BUG
785 Laurel St
San Carlos, CA
94070

In February Raina and will be traveling to the San Francisco Bay Area for several great events!

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Our first stop is the Charles M. Schulz Museum, in Santa Rosa, where we’ll both be Cartoonists-in-Residence! If you can make it up to the North Bay, this should be so much fun. As a life long Peanuts fan, I can’t tell you how excited I am about this! Raina and I will definitely be eating at the Warm Puppy Cafe and hopefully do some ice skating at Snoopy’s Home Ice!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Master Class for Young Adults
10am–12noon
Join Raina Telgemeier, creator of Smile, and Dave Roman, creator of Astronaut Academy, to explore the art of making comics and writing stories. Participants will learn about thumbnails, layouts, balloon placement, panel variation, and the mechanics of sequential art, and will have a chance to create their own 4–8 page short comic. Recommended for aspiring cartoonists ages 10 and up. Cost: $35 for members; $40 for non-members.
Advance reservations required: (707) 284-1263.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Second Saturday Cartoonists
1–3pm
As part of the Cartoonist-in-Residence program, visitors can meet, watch and talk to cartoonists Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman. The meet and greet is free with Museum admission and open to the public, and advance reservations are not required.

CHARLES M. SCHULZ MUSEUM
2301 Hardies Lane
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
http://www.schulzmuseum.org

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The next day, I’ll be in the East Bay! Come say hello, get signed copies of Smile and Astronaut Academy, and get to know a great independent local bookstore!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Bookstore Event & Signing
11:30 AM
Featuring Raina Telgemeier & Dave Roman!
A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS
6120 LaSalle Avenue
Oakland, CA

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Later that week, join me for a very special event on the Peninsula!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
GRAPHIC NOVEL NIGHT AT THE READING BUG!
5:00 PM
Featuring kids’ graphic novel creators Jenni Holm (Babymouse), Raina Telgemeier, and Dave Roman! Presentation, live drawing, and booksigning!
THE READING BUG
785 Laurel St
San Carlos, CA
94070

I’m also crazy excited for this team up! I think Babymouse is one of the funniest comics out there and Jenni Holm is just the best. She’s also a multi-Newberry Award honoree for her novels including Penny from Heaven and Turtle in Paradise.

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I’ll also be speaking at schools and libraries in Oakland, San Francisco, Pleasanton, Alameda, and Berkeley, but those are all private visits, so they’re not on my official calendar of events. Raina and I tried to spread our appearances out so that no matter what part of the Bay Area you live in, something will be convenient! I hope you’ll come nerd out about comics with us!

I wrote the entire script for book 2 in this fashion. If you’d like to see the full page, plus what the final version looks like inked and toned, head over to the webcomic Friends With Boys by the talented Faith Erin Hicks. I did a short interview with Faith talking about Astronaut Academy, X-Men and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Friends With Boys will be coming out as a graphic from :01 books but you can read it online totally free!

Since I’m such a huge nerd for Christmas cartoons (both old and new) I thought it would be fun to try and put all the major Rankin/Bass holiday specials into an imagined timeline complete with continuity notes and contradictions.

Check out the complete list here: Christmas Cartoon Timeline

This is a holiday message to myself more than anyone else.

It’s a reminder to step back and try to keep things in perspective. To appreciate life, and all the amazing things in our world. To not waste any opportunity to let friends and family know how important they are. And pass on compliments and good tidings to complete strangers. To make a more concerted effort to contribute something positive to the world.

I know a lot of people who are justifiably cynical about the holidays, especially now when times are rough both financially and emotionally. But as bad as things get, I know there can still be hope and a reason to live for a better tomorrow. So, I’ve always tried to get into the “holiday spirit” even if I make a fool of myself in the process. I was raised with no religious affiliation, but for me Christmas is a great time to disconnect from instincts of knee-jerk negativity (which is most prevalent on the internet) and embrace a little bit more sincerity. Nerd out on Christmas, if you will.

So, a very sincerely happy holidays to all of you out there. Hope it is filled with warm hearts, memories and snacks.

We’re having a holiday T-shirt sale over at the Comics Bakery! Includes original designs by myself, Raina Telgemeier and John Green for as low as $10 each! Limited time only!

http://www.yaytime.com/bakery/store.htm

And of course, don’t hesitate to send great songs my way! Even if we overlap, it’s fun to see how people arrange their choices on a mix!

Funny Ha-Ha: Humorous Books for Kids
Hosted by Betsy Bird, Children’s Literary Salon continues our series where we explore amusing books for children, we look at funny books in a myriad of forms: funny picture books, funny graphic novels, and funny early chapter books. Join Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Nick Bruel (Bad Kitty), Laurie Keller (Arnie the Donut) and Jules Feiffer (Bark, George) as we look at finding the funny for different ages of kids.

Saturday, December 3rd at 2:00 p.m. in the main branch of the library (the big stone lions one, on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue). Second floor in the Berger Forum. See you there!

Since getting back from France, it’s been crunch time, catching up on Astronaut Academy 2 and helping Raina finish up her new book, DRAMA. To help unwind, we’ve re-watched the three original Muppet movies to help build excitement for The Muppets.

I also got to see one of my favorite movies of all time, The Dark Crystal on the big screen at BAM as part of their Puppets on Film festival! I was too young to fully appreciate experience of seeing The Dark Crystal in a theater when it was released, but went on to watch it hundreds of times on HBO, VHS, DVD and wherever else I could. Every time I see it, I find new things to appreciate and my respect for all the filmmakers grows and grows! So seeing it in a theater was a big deal for me. The event was extra special because they played a puppet short film called “Yama’s Song” by Sam Hale beforehand and Cheryl Henson, president of the Jim Henson Foundation introduced it! I also got to briefly meet Heather Henson in the lobby afterwards, who was promoting a touring project called Handmade Puppet Dreams. So a magical night all around!