kevin sylvester

check it out!

2012-02-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

My suit

2012-02-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

In case you think authors are all sweats and hoodies, I present my new suit, worn to the Book Lovers Ball 2012. Thanks to JJ Lee's Measure of a Man for all the advice.

New York, sigh

2012-02-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

Not a finalist for this year's Eustace Tilley contest... but still like my pic.

OLA!

2012-02-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing week at the OLA superconference. Check out my twitter account (@kevinarts) for lots of pics. AND I got my very own Advance Reading Copy of Neil Flambe #3!

OLA

2012-01-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

The OLA superconference is one of the great events of the year and I'll be there a few times.
Thursday Morning I'll be part of the Forest of reading/Silver Birch breakfast.
Following that there's a panel discussion of SB winners and nominees.

And I'll be signing the Neil Flambe books Friday at 11at the Simon and Schuster booth!

new covers

2012-01-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

I've updated the little book cover thingy on the side to reflect the new Simon and Schuster covers for the Neil Flambe books. Waddya think? He's a touch younger looking.... but still a pain.

awesome presents!

2012-01-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

I've now handed in the revised ms. for Neil's #3and#4 and am getting around to finally fixing up the studio. These are AMAZING Splinters characters that the kids at Sedgewick Child Care made for me. Aren't they cool! They were on a rink originally, but I've got them floating on my ceiling.

Recycling

2012-01-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

My daughter and I are having a kind of "who can have a cooler workspace" battle. I've repurposed my old coleman cooler as a bookshelf AND drafting table. Love that red!

Great times...

2012-01-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

I've been cleaning my attic studio this week and came across a disk of pictures from the CBC lockout radio show. One of my proudest moments was getting to co-host our show on CIUT in Toronto with the great Andy Barrie. Thanks to Jim Maloy for the pics.

placemat mania!

2011-12-05T13:37:00.001-08:00

Printing has begun!

2011-11-29T13:22:00.000-08:00

Here are the first few lino-prints, pressed onto mulberry paper and hanging in my living room to dry. Donate 100 bucks to the food bank and I'll say thanks with a print. See the CBC Sounds of the Season webpage for details.

My rough sketch for the 2011 linocut.

2011-11-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

Here's the rough sketch for this years lino-print for the CBC Radio Sounds of the Season show. It's the Soldiers Tower at Hart House. I made the first sketch during Remembrance Day ceremonies there. The deal is - donate $100 or more to the food bank, and this is my thank you to you. This year's show is a little later than usual - December 15th.

Neil Flambe website!

2011-11-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

The new Neil Flambe website has launched! There will be more fun stuff to come. This is a slightly re-jigged pic of Neil that's on the new #1 cover. Enjoy!

Neil Flambe #3 hint....

2011-11-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

I was on a recent survey trip to a little place called Paris. This is a hint of a very important place in Neil Flambe and the Crusader's Curse. Look for it in May 2012!

More "restaurant" doodles

2011-11-10T09:05:00.001-08:00

Love those place mats!

Family Circus

2011-11-09T10:26:00.001-08:00

Bil Keane has died. 89. Every cartoonist wishes for a long and fruitful life like that. Will his funeral route have dotted lines to follow?

halfway!

2011-11-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

It's nice being a dual citizen... just when the last of the frozen Canadian turkey soup is gone... I can start looking forward to the US version.

This is this year's bbqed bird from a few weeks back.

Children's Book Bank

2011-11-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

I had a great visit to a great place today - the Children's Book Bank here in Toronto. Just look at how warm and inviting the space is! It's like the library of your warm and fuzzy dreams.

The amazing staff take gently used books and hand them out to readers who can't afford to buy their own.

I talked about Neil Flambe to a group of grade 6ers who actually like the obnoxious ginger chef. This is me giving them a quick cartooning lesson.

And there's a great student-run trivia night fundraiser coming up in TO on November 21st. Emceed by the great Robert Paul Weston.

Click here for more details!

Some pics of the tardis porch

2011-11-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

WOW! A little Neil!

2011-11-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

So.... we did a Dr. Who themed porch yesterday (pictures will be posted later)... BUT the coolest thing was that there was a young man dressed as NEIL FLAMBE!

Look at the hair!

He didn't even know that I lived in the hood... so it was a totally unexpected and COOL!

I am very touched.

Tintin

2011-10-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of Tintin news these days (can't wait for the movie!).

Here's a flight of fancy. Tintin as a Canadian saving the Stanley Cup.

I mean, his dog is named Snowy (at least in English)... shouldn't he be Canadian?

Sneak Peek Neil Flambe #4

2011-10-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

I handed in the pics for Neil Flambe #4 yesterday. NF and the Tokyo Treasure. It's due out next year but I can tell you there will be some manga... here's a sneak preview.

Golly

2011-10-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm up for the Silver Birch Award again! Multiple times, as it turns out.... which is completely mind-blowing.

Neil Flambe #2 is up for fiction. Neil #1 won the award this year (thus the picture). And as with last year, great co-nominees. It is honestly an amazing honour to be included with all these amazing writers.

Canadians are so lucky to have such a great kid-oriented literary culture and we authors are so lucky to have such amazing librarians and educators... and readers too!

Game Day is nominated in the non-fiction category as is Cathy Rondina's Don't Touch that Toad! which I was honoured to illustrate.

See everyone in May!

See ya tomorrow!

2011-10-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm giving a talk on non-fiction tomorrow at the Young Writer's Festival... at the North York Central Library.

It is definitely a different challenge than writing fiction.... and is often more rewarding.

I loved giving the people in Game Day a chance to shine. The book is a series of stories about all the people behind the scenes in sports.

They inspire me. They have to do their jobs just as well as pro athletes... or else the athletes are not going to be able to do anything.

Do they get the recognition? The money? No.

Are they happy? Yes.

School visits

2011-10-05T14:53:00.001-07:00

I'm gearing up for another busy year of visiting schools.

Interested?

Just send me an email (look over to the right for the contact info.)

WOTS Toronto!

2011-09-28T06:40:00.001-07:00

Here's a peak at my booth at WOTS - with lots of friends and family.

I'm drawing (by request) a ninja cat. The dragon hockey pic was my morning doodle. All available for 5 bucks! Just send me an email...

final preview

2011-09-23T11:40:00.001-07:00

See you all Sunday at WOTS Toronto!

And even more bookmarks!

2011-09-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

See you Sunday at WOTS Toronto.

more bookmarks

2011-09-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

and the originals are available at Word on the Street this Sunday.

Check out my booth. KS 13!

Word on the Street

2011-09-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Every year I have my own booth at Toronto's Word on the Street. I make bookmarks and sell them cheap (5 bucks for an original Sylvester!)

Here are some of this year's crop.

See you Sunday, September 25th!

First edition of Neil Flambe

2011-09-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Interesting to see booksellers on amazon put up first editions of Neil Flambe for $200 (must be a joke?).

Here's the REAL first edition. JJ Lee and I handed out this handmade version of the old radio play back in 2007. If you were lucky enough to be at the Harry Potter 7 release party in Vancouver you may have one. How much are those worth? Hmmm... millions?

And I'm just finishing the edits on Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure before handing it in... then getting the pics finished.

WEAR A HELMET

2011-09-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is why you should ALWAYS wear a helmet when you are on your bike.

People who know me know that I never go anywhere on my bike without my helmet - except for last night when I biked to the end of my alleyway, hit a speedbump, lost control and smashed my face into the asphalt.

Idiot.

I have gotten into discussions with helmetless cyclists who say the helmet won't protect them from collisions. Yes, but the real reason to wear a helmet is to protect your head from minor cockups like mine last night.

@arthurslade

2011-08-24T06:19:00.001-07:00

I had a chance to interview the great Art Slade for The Sunday Edition on CBC Radio this week.

Here's a pic Art took of the two of us at this year's Silver Birch ceremonies.

You can listen to the interview here. It's in hour one of the show.

more doodles

2011-07-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

From time to time I post the doodles I do during story meetings when I'm wearing my radio hat. I love ball point pens. Here's the latest.

ME in triplicate... yikes!

2011-07-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

This is from Lakefield. Adam and Chris played younger and older versions of me in the intro to my reading. COOL!

Lakefield

2011-07-21T15:14:00.001-07:00

I had an amazing weekend in Lakefield for the literary festival there. It's a town obsessed with books (Margaret Laurence, Susanna Moodie and her sis all lived there). They treat authors like royalty. Here's the display in the local Hardware store for Splinters! WOW

great news!

2011-07-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the story on the Quill and Quire blog about Neil Flambe's new home.

I'm over the moon-cake thrilled.

Book Three is called NF and the Crusader's Curse. Here's a pic from my trip to Rye, Sussex and the Rye Museum.

Scared?

The Award!

2011-06-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never posted this year's actual Silver Birch Award (on the right). A young TDSB student won a contest to design this year's award!

Game Day

2011-06-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Game Day - my behind the scenes look at the world of sports - is a starred recommendation in Canadian Children's Bookcentre Booknews "Best Books 2011". :)

cat d'oeuvres

2011-06-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is my mood today.

I need to do some (a lot) of restructuring before I can turn this into a finished piece, but it's where my brain is at I'm afraid.

a preview of Neil #3

2011-06-10T14:10:00.001-07:00

I've been working away on Neil Flambe #3 (The Crusader's Curse) and here's a preview of Isabella's new haircut.

You may remember from Neil #2 that she lost her normally long curly locks... now it's more of a bob.

I always like drawing Isabella. She's confident, nice... but always seems to be looking back at me with wry disapproval.

Award winner!

2011-05-27T07:27:00.001-07:00

Splinters was named a Nautilus Silver award winner!

Wow.

2011-05-15T06:46:00.001-07:00

I was absolutely blown away this week. My book Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders was the winner of the Silver Birch award for Fiction. This award is an author's favourite - because it's voted on by students in grades 4-6 all across Ontario. The finalists are always amazing, and the list this year was great.

This is me at the ceremony on a windy day at Harbourfront.

(That's Eric Walters to my left wondering why I'm dressed like a goof... I mean chef).

Too loong...

2011-05-06T13:40:00.001-07:00

Boy has it been a long time since I posted. OOPS. I've just wrapped up an amazing week in Quebec touring as part of the TD Bookweek! Something like 18 school visits over 5 days. I'll be at Pages in St. Leonard tomorrow. I hope to have some pics up soon. In the meantime, here are some pics from my recent research trip to Paris. I drew little Neil Flambe pics on all the placemats... did the staff throw them out? burn them? keep them? Dunno....

2011-02-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

A while back I blogged about a wolf logo I designed for my friend Sean's School. Well, now they are painting an official version on the gym wall... so COOL

Feeling honoured

2011-02-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Both Neil Flambe books AND Splinters made the Resource Links top books of 2010 list. Wow.

Canada Reads Reax

2011-02-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

I was the backup for Jian for this year's Canada Reads. Thank goodness he didn't get sick. But I got to read all the books as prep.

Here's my personal ranking, for what it's worth.... (next to nothing really)

1. Essex County. Loved the use of the form and found the deepest characters in this work. It was moving. Too bad the graphic novel is still hampered by pictures. My goodness - does anyone prefer Alice in Wonderland or Dickens without the pictures?

2. Unless. I had tried this novel before and stopped - so I sympathise with the voters who found it a grind. I'm glad I finished it. It was actually a very sweet meditation on personal loss and losing your own sense as a person. Shield's prose can get a little twee sometimes, but at others she lifts your brain as she moves your soul. (yes, that's twee as well)

3. Best Laid Plans. THE WINNER. I was ready to dis the book after the first chapter but it's a worthy champ. The book makes a real change away from puns to some beautiful . The letters Angus writes to his wife anchor the flights of fancy that push the humourous side of the work.

4. Bone Cage. This was surprisingly strong. It should be mandatory reading for all the people who watch the Olympics and then whine when Canadians don't "win" medals. But it's much more than that. Abdou is a good writer and you can physically feel what the characters in the book are going through. That takes skill. I think she did a good job of making the reader consider decay and pain, and how they tie humans together.

5. Birth House. Not a fav. I liked many of the passages but then felt like I was reading a 1917 melodrama. I half expected Nora's husband to reveal he was really Snidely Whiplash and then tie her to a railway track while twirling his moustache. And the minister and the head of the temperance society are really "getting it on" in the church. Hmmmm.

nice nod for my friends and Neil Flambe

2011-02-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

Neil Flambe gets a nice honourable mention nod from the OLA.

another

2011-01-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

Neil Flambe heads to Tokyo in Book #4 (if it ever gets published) so this one seems to have a slight Japanese bend to the chef hat....

cooking up a doodle

2011-01-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

I've blogged before about doodling when I'm on air. I've been drawing a lot of chefs recently.

Splinters!

2010-12-28T07:26:00.000-08:00

It was nice to see my picture book on subway ads in Toronto all holiday season. SPLINTERS is on the top row!

cool!

2010-12-14T22:51:00.000-08:00

The Purple Cow book store in Utah is doing a Neil Flambe celebration in January. Don't miss it!

Pope Stephen

2010-12-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Colbert's looking for a new portrait? Here ya go... no papal bull!

whodunit 2010

2010-11-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

I referred to the OCAD whodunit fundraiser in an earlier post. The gala was held this weekend so here are the two anonymous pics I submitted.

What can I say. I like dragons and chefs!

Gordon and me (he said "call me Gordon")

2010-11-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

Here's me looking a little shell shocked getting my picture with Gordon Ramsay. I wanted to give him copies of my Neil Flambe books (he'd read an advance copy and gave me the blurb GOOD FUN - only Ramsay F-word I could use on a kids book!) and some bookmarks I made for his children

I wasn't expecting the photo really. I would have worn platform shoes!

2010 linocut

2010-11-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

Here's the rough sketch for this years CBC Sounds of the Season linocut print. I'll print about 300 or so.

Many people asked for an image that could hang all year on the wall - so an apple pie seems like something both festive and year-round.

Donate 100 (or more) and then email me with your address. I hope to start printing next week and mailing the week after that.

Links will be up on the cbc site soon.

wolfman

2010-11-10T06:45:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted in a while as I've been busily trying to finish Neil Flambe #3 (first draft is now done). I did take some time this week to design a logo for my friend Sean's school. They held a contest to pick a mascot and then asked me to do the drawing. Behold the Westwood Wolf!

School visits

2010-10-24T11:32:00.001-07:00

I love doing school visits and was recently at the Country Day School in King City.

Beautiful fall foliage outside and a chance to talk about my books to lots of students. I always try to end my chats with my patented 5-second cartooning class.

VIWF

2010-10-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

I will post some pics tomorrow, but had a great day today at the Vancouver Writer's Festival with fellow author Shauntay Grant... she brought her own drums!

2010-09-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

The launch for Don't Touch That Toad (kids can press) was a few days ago. Here's author Cathy Rondina and I cutting the celebratory cake. Yes, that's my illustration on the cake... it hurt to cut such a nice picture! (Usually I burn them...)

Here's me on TVOkids!

2010-09-18T15:41:00.001-07:00

With Kara and Neil!

Doodles

2010-08-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

I doodle all the time and always tell kids this is the best way to practise drawing. It's also where weird ideas happen with no pre-planning... so for some reason I drew Stephen Fry as a punk Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as a drug-addict (House?) Wooster.

Neil #2 has arrived!

2010-08-27T10:59:00.001-07:00

Just got my box... wow.

Whodunit?

2010-08-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

One of the great fundraisers for OCAD invited alumni (such as myself) and celebrities (maybe some day?) to donate works of anonymous art. Patrons pay 75 bucks and choose a piece they like and then find out whodunit. I've done 2 a year for about the past 5. I just finished this year's. The fronts have to remain secret, but here are the backs.

Splinters review #1!

2010-08-06T08:13:00.001-07:00

Kirkus reviews has given Splinters a nice review! You need to subscribe to read the whole thing... but here's a sample.

"Sylvester's puckish (sorry) take on the Cinderella story is reflected in squiggly, exaggerated watercolor-and-ink pictures. Most of them float on the page as if on the ice, and this works wonderfully."

podcasts for Game Day

2010-07-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I mentioned that Annick had me in for a photoshoot and interview for Game Day (due out in the fall)

The podcasts are now up!

This one is a video!

The power of NPR

2010-07-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

I was interviewed by the wonderful Liane Hansen on NPR's Weekend Edition this past Sunday. My book immediately jumped from 1,800,000 on amazon.com to the top 100!

This struck me as cool for a number of reasons. As a broadcaster (CBC Radio) it's interesting to see how much people connect with public radio. The book was immediately all over twitter, getting bought and sold on ebay... amazing. It helped that Liane liked the book as well.

It's also amazing as an author to realize that there are millions of titles out there every day that scream for attention. There's a huge amount of good luck and good timing that helps a book jump off the shelf. The book has stayed in the top 1000 for the week which is a good indication of steady sales and the people at Key Porter say series need a good stretch of time to take off. That was part of the rationale for getting #2 out there asap (look for it in September)

Now me and the Neil team have set our eyes on Rachael Ray. We think the book would be a good fit for her show. Stay tuned....

More good comments on Neil #1!

2010-07-11T16:36:00.000-07:00

Another nice review!

portfolio

2010-06-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

At work at home...

2010-06-28T10:09:00.001-07:00

A nice feature on my house in the latest SUN newspapers. Look for it on p23 of the pdf.

Washington DC!

2010-06-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

I'm in Washington DC this weekend for the big American Librarians Association Conference. I've been here many times before and did the whole White House, Mall, Connecticut Ave. stroll last night. Today and tomorrow I'll be signing copies of my book at the Convention Centre. Stupidly I forgot my camera, so no pics. In a nice bit of timing I noted the Library Journals LLC gave me a good review. It's posted on the Amazon.com website.

Recommended!

2010-06-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Recommended!

A nice review for Neil in the Canadian Children's Book Centre Book News.
You can't read it on-line but Gillian O'Reilly calls it humorous and fun!

Bestseller!

2010-04-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

Neil #1 is right up there with some guy named Munch (Munsch?) and a scared little squirrel.

COOL!

another nice review!

2010-04-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

"Super Cute"

Game Day

2010-04-08T07:18:00.001-07:00

I just handed in the ms for Game Day.

I interviewed lots of great people "behind the scenes" in the world of sports. Scouts, anti-doping testers, baseball organists - and Jimmy "The Iceman" MacNeil. He was named the Best Zamboni driver in the world in a big contest a few years back. I went out to visit him at the Brantford Civic Centre and took this quick-pic of Jimmy and the ancient freezing equipment in the rink (all getting replaced soon.)

Look for the book in the Fall!

Another nice review

2010-03-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

It's interesting to see your book go out into the world (like a child leaving for a life of her own) and meeting people who are complete strangers to you.

Nice when they like your book as well.

Jackie says she can't wait for Book #2... see below.

The Next Chapter

2010-03-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've handed in Neil #2 - and here's a rough design of the cover.

And I had a nice little nod from Shelagh on The Next Chapter. It's not on the show list, for some reason, but it is the audio.

4-star review!

2010-03-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mary Thomas!

She writes......

Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders is a giggle from beginning to end. Only food is taken seriously and that only by the chefs and the customers prepared to pay through the nose for a true gastronomic experience. The murders are outrageous, each shedding a new batch of red herrings with which to mislead the reader. It may be a bit sophisticated for your average teenager whose gastronomic heights are likely to be pizza and poutine, but any adult who picks it up will find chuckles and belly laughs on every page.

rejected album cover

2010-03-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

This was a proposed CD cover for "20 pieces of music that changed the world" the great CBC series with Robert Harris (as Elvis) and Michael Enright (as Beethoven). Alas, didn't make the cut. They wanted photos! Can you believe it?

Back from Vancouver

2010-03-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a nice gig in Vancouver, emceeing The Ice Age 2010 for The Hard Rubber Orchestra.

I also dropped by the great bookstore Kidsbooks and signed some copies of Neil #1 for them (it's sold 40 copies in three days there ... wow.)

publishers weekly!

2010-03-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

A nice review for Neil today in Publishers Weekly

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/452779-Children_s_Books.php

Come say hi tomorrow

2010-03-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

I'll be at the Yonge-Eglinton Indigo store tomorrow!
2pm on the second floor.
Everyone who shows up gets an autograph or cartoon of some kind.

cheers!

the cat lady sings

2010-03-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

hey goof looking

2010-03-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

Here I am signing one of about ninety books. I also got a nice review in Publisher's Weekly and on a couple of blogs in the US. And I'm sold out on Amazon.ca! COOL!

thoroughly enjoyable

2010-03-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

Thoroughly.

That was a nice day for a book launch.

About 100 people showed up! Mable's Fable's sold lots of books. I'll post some pics when I get them.

I even got some original artwork from some of the kids who came!

Cheers!

today's the day

2010-03-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

more hero worship

2010-03-01T16:43:00.000-08:00

And speaking of hero worship it was a bittersweet day saying goodbye to Andy Barrie this morning.

I loved doing the sports with Andy. This is a caricature I gave him (riding his Aussie Shepherd Wrigley)

hero worship

2010-02-25T17:59:00.001-08:00

Interviewed Stephen Fry!

One of my absolute heroes.

Catch it on The Sunday Edition this Sunday!

revenge

2010-02-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

And it's on bookshelves!

2010-02-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

thanks to Sarah D for the pic!

Neil #1 has arrived!

2010-02-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Here's the disheveled author and his 10 copies!

LAUNCH PARTY!

2010-02-01T12:10:00.001-08:00

award for Olympic work!

2010-01-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

I have been the writer for the COC's Olympic Schools project, writing profiles of such amazing athletes as Clara Hughes (flag-bearer for the 2010 team).

We recently won a big award (from Coke of all people).

It's a good resource for school kids.

Canadian Living

2010-01-29T09:41:00.001-08:00

Neil #1 is an editor's choice in the March issue of Canadian Living magazine!

Thomas Hardy

2010-01-25T10:37:00.001-08:00

Steven Gettis collects caricatures of great literary figures and posts selections on his blog heyoscarwilde.com

Drawn.ca posted a link and I contacted Steven with some of my stuff and he liked it!

cat burgled

2010-01-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Neil's PR shot

2010-01-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

I met with Key Porter sales reps before Christmas and prepped a shot of Neil, the kind he might send out to fans in a fan club. Each rep got a hand-signed Neil pic.

The Caterhorn

2010-01-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

horror movies for cats

2010-01-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

cats by the ocean, birds far from shore

2010-01-05T06:17:00.000-08:00