On January 11, 2011 · Comments Off on Hereville interview on The Book of Life!
Heidi Estrin — a librarian who knows more about Jewish kids books than pretty much anyone on Earth — interviewed me for her podcast, “The Book of Life.” It was a really fun interview for me (and only the second interview I’ve done face-to-face, rather than via email or phone), and considering the depth of her knowledge, I’m super-flattered that Heidi has been supporting Hereville.
You can listen to the interview here, on Heidi’s website. It’s about 19 minutes long.
The Sydney Taylor Book Award is given once a year by the Association of Jewish Libraries for the best Jewish kid’s book. It’s given in three categories: younger readers, older readers, and teen readers.
The AJL blog has just announced the winners, and Hereville is this year’s winner in the “books for older readers” category!
This is the first time a graphic novel has ever won a Sydney Taylor, incidentally. I’m sitting here grinning from ear to ear.
My deepest thanks to the AJL committee — I am honored and thrilled. And moziltov to my fellow winners, Howard Schwartz and Kristina Swarner for their book Gathering Sparks (younger readers), and Dana Reinhardt for her book The Things a Brother Knows (teen readers).
From the AJL blog:
Deutsch will receive the 2011 gold medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s Older Readers Category for Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books. This is the first graphic novel to win the Award. Committee member Aimee Lurie noted, “Mirka is a clever, headstrong and imaginative heroine who will appeal to a wide audience. Teens who feel like they don’t fit in will have no trouble relating to her balancing what is best for her family versus her desire to fight dragons. Grounded in her religious beliefs, she is willing to put her fantasies aside to celebrate Shabbat. The illustrations strike the perfect balance of showing a realistic Orthodox community, while creating the perfect backdrop for a fairytale.” […]
A blog tour, featuring interviews with winning authors and illustrators, will take place in early February, with participation from a wide range of children’s literature, family interest, and Jewish blogs.
What a way to start a Monday morning!
On January 7, 2011 · Comments Off on A Bunch Of Fifty Dollar Sketches
I have an ongoing offer to do a $50 dollar sketch for people who buy a copy of Hereville from me. It’s fun for me to do, and I think people enjoy having a one-of-a-kind drawing done just for them.
With only a couple of exceptions, these were drawn entirely on computer, and then printed out with a high-quality art printer. (This is the same way I draw Hereville; I hardly ever draw directly on paper nowadays!). Some of these were requests (“draw Mirka in Tom Baker Doctor Who’s scarf,” for example, or “draw Mirka playing hockey”), others were just me drawing whatever I felt like (which turned out at least twice to be Mirka in a tree).
Click on any of the drawings to see them bigger.
On December 22, 2010 · Comments Off on Graphic Novel Reporter’s 2010 Favorites List!
Another “best of” list — Graphic Novel Reporter’s. I’m especially thrilled to see Hereville on this list, because it’s not a specialty list — it’s not for kid’s graphic novels, or Jewish graphic novels, but simply a list of their favorite graphic novels. And the other cartoonists on the list are simply awesome!
Here’s the list’s description of Hereville:
In a word: brilliant. Barry Deutsch’s webcomic about a young girl in an Orthodox Jewish community gets wider exposure in this collection. Hopefully, as broad an audience as possible will find its way to this utterly clever book, which follows Mirka as she faces a witch, a mean pig, and a troll in an effort to win a sword…and begin her life’s mission of slaying dragons. The explanations of Jewish culture and language that run throughout the book are always helpful and never intrusive. This is another book for kids that adults will love too.
Thank you so much, Graphic Novel Reporter!
On December 22, 2010 · Comments Off on Barry Intereviewed on Comic Geek Speak!
Comic Geek Speak, a terrific comics-yak podcast, has posted their newest episode, which includes a lengthy interview with me!
The interview with me begins at about 40 minutes into the podcast. This was a fun interview for me — just a bunch of comic book geeks getting together to discuss, well, me. Topics include fairy tale logic, my word balloons, Pogo, Eleanor Davis’ Secret Science Alliance, getting started as a cartoonist, the thousand pages, Dave Sim’s influence on Hereville, and lots of other stuff.
On December 10, 2010 · Comments Off on My Interview on KBOO
Here’s my interview on KBOO. Thanks to interviewer, host, and man-about-town SW Conser — I’ve done interviews before, but this was my first live interview, and he made it easy.
Click to hear the interview!
On December 8, 2010 · Comments Off on Barry to be interviewed on “Word & Pictures” radio show on Thursday
The press release from Words & Pictures, a Portland radio show devoted to comics:
Tomorrow morning (Thursday December 9th) from 11:30am to noon (PDT), Words & Pictures celebrates its seventh anniversary on the air by returning to its local roots. This month’s guest is up-and-coming Portland author Barry Deutsch, who’s just published his first graphic novel Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, the adventures of a troll-fighting eleven-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl.
Words & Pictures airs on KBOO community radio, 90.7fm, Not near a radio? You can listen to the real-time webstream at http://kboo.fm/listen via iTunes or Abacast. And look for the webcast version on KBOO’s home page shortly after the show airs.
More info and links to recent webcasts can be found at http://www.tooningin.com
Jake Richmond, Hereville’s colorist, will be there as well. Should be fun!
On December 7, 2010 · Comments Off on The Story of Hannukah, In PowerPoint Format
There are four slides in all — click here to see the whole thing in pdf format.
(Via.)
On December 6, 2010 · Comments Off on “Tablet” Magazine on Hereville: “Perfect Throughout”!
Marjorie Ingall has included Hereville in her annual listing of the year’s best Jewish books for kids! There’s also a mini-review of Hereville:
Perfect throughout is Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch. It’s a very weird, confidently drawn graphic novel about an 11-year-old Orthodox girl who fervently wants to fight dragons. Mirka Herschberg lives in a tight-knit community in an unknown time and place where boys have payos and married women cover their hair, but where the woods are full of trolls and witches and humongous crazed pigs. I love that the stepmother in this book is good instead of evil, and I love that Deutsch really knows how to tell a story in his chosen medium. Characters burst free of their panels; the interplay of image and text is flawless; the entire book is kinetic and action-filled, but thoughtful too. A must for graphic-novel fans.
Thanks so much, Marjorie! Check out her full list to see what great company Hereville is in!
On December 2, 2010 · Comments Off on Barry Interviewed On “The Enchanted Inkpot”
A new interview with me, conducted by Leah Cypess (author of the fantasy novel Mistwood), has been posted on The Enchanted Inkpot. Check it out!
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