Yes, that day has finally arrived... the day the UPS box arrived on my porch with copies of Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle. So it's not hard to imagine how exciting that book launch party must have been! I even took a picture to commemorate the event. When it's unlikely anything will ever happen again, at least there'll be a picture.
The reviews so far have been good. I'm especially flattered that they liked the writing. That means a lot to me. I wanted this non-fiction book to read like fiction, so the best notice I could imagine was a comment from Kids Lit Blog who wrote: "The picture book has a real period feel with the author throwing in turn-of-the-century terms to evoke the time. The illustrations too offer a sense of history. I especially enjoyed that it is not until the afterword that you discover that this is a true story."
I'm always afraid that many kids might think old fashioned stuff is a bore. I hope not, since I think the subject of the age of early aviation is fascinating. I tried to cast the whole book more along the lines of Jules Verne.
This was the first book I've done entirely as a hybrid of real and digital mediums... so that was challenging. And I'm very happy with the outcome in print. I made up a mini-website about the book at cromwelldixonsskycycle.com
John, it just looks fantastic!!!!!! I wish you lived closer so I cold get an autographed copy. I think this book is a winner for sure.
Posted by: Barbara | May 29, 2009 at 09:53 PM
I really enjoyed your website! Your book reviews are wonderful reading. Have you heard of Danny the Dragon? It’s worth a review: http://DannyTheDragon.com Please let me know if you are interested in reviewing this nominee for Best Children’s Book of 2009! info@DannyTheDragon.com Thank you, Rosie
Posted by: rosie | November 30, 2009 at 11:21 PM