Cover image from www.amazon.com

Johnny Yanok (CCAD ’98) supplies the illustrations for the newly-released Just Too Cute: And Other Tales of Adorable Animals for Horrible Children.

The book for young readers, a collection of stories and poems that emphasize mischief, is authored by Mike Reiss, a television comedy writer whose credits include The Simpsons.

A review in Publisher’s Weekly describes Yanok’s illustrations: “In cheerful cartoons that recall 1950s animation, Yanok keeps up with the madcap plots while adding whimsical details of his own.”

To see more of Yanok’s work go to www.johnnyyanok.com.

For information about ordering the book go to www.amazon.com.

Cover image from www.amazon.com

C. F. Payne, chair, Illustration, teams with celebrated writer and performer Steve Martin to tell the adventurous, dangerous and hilarious story of one youngster’s journey to school. Late for School includes a bluegrass CD of Martin singing the book’s story and playing the banjo.

Excerpts from Publishers Weekly review of the book, which was released Sept. 8, state “in Payne’s hands, Martin’s goofy verse achieves its comic impact on a cinematic scale” and “kids will relish . . . especially the image of the boy elbowing his grandmother face down into her pie as he rockets out of the house.”

To see video of Martin performing the book’s story that includes footage of Payne’s illustrations go to Good Morning America’s website. For information about ordering the book go to www.amazon.com.

To see more of Payne’s work go to www.cfpayne.com.

Cover art by Stewart McKissick

Stewart McKissick, professor, Illustration and Graduate Studies, is bringing film and animation history to light and preserving it for the future. After nearly eight years of research, the CCAD alumnus (Illustration, ’79) has contributed to Stop Motion Marvels!, a DVD and 12-page booklet chronicling vintage stop-motion animation shorts.

McKissick’s interest in animation and the imagery of classic cartoons has long influenced his style of illustration and his collection of 16mm animation films. His interest lead him to attend and eventually begin coordinating Cinevent, an annual three-day classic film convention begun in Columbus in 1969.

Steve Stanchfield, another collector and instructor at College for Creative Studies in Detroit, gave McKissick some silent stop-motion shorts made by Kinex studio to show at Cinevent in 2002. Although the two enthusiasts knew very little about the shorts, they proved to be popular with Cinevent’s audiences. A collaborative effort to learn more began.

Stop Motion Marvels! features Kinex films as well as other vintage stop-motion animation shorts. The DVD includes commentary tracks with leading stop-motion animators and a booklet McKissick wrote of the history of the Kinex films. McKissick also did the artwork and packaging while Stanchfield mastered the disc and cleaned up the films. CCAD provided McKissick a faculty enrichment grant to help with the production costs.

Premiered at the most recent Cinevent, Stop Motion Marvels is now for sale on Amazon’s website. To read some reviews of Stop Motion Marvels go to http://www.cartoonbrew.com and http://www.dvdtalk.com.

thebutchersthumb.blogspot.com

The Butcher’s Thumb, a novel by Robert Loss, adjunct instructor, Liberal Arts, is now available on Amazon in hardcover and softcover versions.

The political thriller was written in collaboration with Greg Haas.

For more information check out the authors’ blog at http://thebutchersthumb.blogspot.com or go to Amazon’s website.