Friday, October 29, 2010

Mr. Tone


This is the second version of Mr. Tone which replaces that which originally appeared here.


"Now, as we know," said Mister Tone,
This fish balloon seems blue;
And, in a way, you might say,
Like the Fish in the Moon!
But, when you see round things,
Don't you want to play catch?
No, I don't mean the fish;
I've got better things than that!"

Then, he opened his coat,
And his coat was full of stars,
And round things called planets
Named Neptune and Mars.
There was a ringed one named Saturn,
And tiny Mercury,
Which he flicked with his finger
And sent sailing straight to me!

- Dia Sobin, excerpt from One Day with Mr. Tone,
copyright 2010 (all rights reserved)

***

A little earlier this year, I was inspired to write some "read-aloud" verses for very young children about a magical character named "Mr. Tone" whom only children could see. The exact nature of Mr. Tone is never disclosed in the story. He simply appears in a park one day and entertains a toddler named Louise while she sits in her stroller, completely unnoticed by Louise's mom, who is sunning herself nearby.

Oh, and Mr. Tone also has several - equally as invisible to adults -animal companions.

Mac encouraged me to write for children... with hopes of collaborating with me one day. And, in a sense, he has, though not in a way which either of us could have foreseen. I'm not certain what the fate of Mr. Tone's story will be. The text is a done deal, but I've only finished the one cover illustration (sadly, a tad washed out in the .jpg above). This was inspired by a comment of my own regarding Mac's presence in Kauffman Garden, found here... Also, there was a later, related post, found here.

***

On the topic of book illustrations, and for another sort altogether, stop by Pink Tentacle and get a load of Tatsuya Morina's interpretations of some famous gothic horror tales, notably those of H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft!


8 comments:

  1. This is one of the most charming things I've ever seen. He'd blush so delightedly brightly we'd be able to see it from Mars 8)

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  2. Wow Kate - that was quick - I only just put this post up and was making corrections!

    Thanks so much, girlfriend, I need all the encouragement I can get!

    :-)

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  3. What a gorgeous illustration! Did you draw that with the computer or hand and scan?

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  4. Thanks, Bro'!

    Character & balloon: computer generated/drawn. Background: computer manipulated photo.

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  5. This is fantastic, can't wait to read more about Mr. Tone. Great job!!

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  6. Great art is this your art or is it macs. I didn't know Mac could draw.

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  7. Thanks, Anonymous; yes, it's my work.

    Mac, however, was a prolific cartoonist - his line-drawings can be found on this blog. his own blog, or his website - links can be found on the sidebar of this blog, or you can check out my post from November of last year:
    http://araqinta.blogspot.com/2009/11/four-drawings.html

    D

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