Two charming children’s books: “Kindness Pie” and “C is for Camp”

My former co-worker Rebecca Thompson has illustrated two charming children’s books. Both books were written by Kirstin Dias.

C is for Camp

The first book, published in 2021, is called “C is for Camp”. It’s an alphabet book that describes the journey of a family of bears to their cottage, or “camp”, in the woods. It is utterly charming and makes me intensely miss going to the cottage. Running off the end of the dock into the lake… the way the waves sorted the beautiful multicoloured sand of the beach… the smell of the woods… I miss it intensely.

But I was thinking… we always called it ‘the cottage’, not ‘camp’. To me, a ‘camp’ is an organized thing for public-school students. However, my sister lives in Sault Ste. Marie and calls it ‘camp’. Imagine my joy when I saw that Kirsten Dias, the author of “C is for Camp”, is from Sault Ste. Marie!

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Toki Pona translation off to be checked!

A page from the Toki Pona translation.

I just sent the interior of the Toki Pona translation, complete with text and pictures, off to the translator to be checked!

Once that it okayed, I will assemble the book files, create the ebook, and make them ready for uploading to IngramSpark! Then we only await the printer’s e-proof.

I Love Filth & Grammar!!!

Today, it came. Well, the first part, anyways.

Let me back up a bit. Last July (2021), I backed a Kickstarter by Shelly Bond called Filth & Grammar: The Comic Book Editor’s Secret Handbook.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sxbond/filth-and-grammar

Today I got an update. The books have been printed, but have not been shipped yet. In the meantime, the promised digital copy was made available (early!) to backers.

I was flipping through it on my phone at lunch at work. And even in those few minutes, I found three things that help with my children’s book projects, as well as with characters I am developing for other projects!

Now I am going through it and realizing there is so much more to learn… and my next projects will benefit enormously from the organization of the production process that this book teaches.

This book will have pride of place on my comics-creation shelf next to works like Kevin Tinsley’s “Digital Prepress for Comic Books”, Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” series, the Etherington brothers’ “How to Think When You Draw” series, and Duc’s “L’Art de la BD”… not to mention all the books about actual drawing and writing.

I am so excited by this!

Filth & Grammar is by Shelly Bond
with Imogen Mangle, Laura Hole & Sofie Dodgson
edited by William Potter & Heather Goldberg
proofread by Arlene Lo
cover by Philip Bond

Off Register Press, Los Angeles, 2022

ISBN 979-8-9855622-0-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 979-8-9855622-1-7 (softcover)

And Now: Sequels to The Lonely Little Fridge!

Yes, today a passing remark from a co-worker crystallized a lot of stuff in my head, and now I have titles and ideas for the first two sequels to The Lonely Little Fridge!

I give you…

The Lonely Little Fridge: Spin Cycle

Little Fridge is settling into his new home, in the apartment with the guys. He starts to connect to the community of appliances and other devices in the apartment. But one day he is covered in damp clothes! The apartment is crowded with hanging damp clothes placed everywhere! It seems the apartment clothes washer and dryer has broken down.

Little Fridge sees the repair tech arrive. He’s afraid. Will the washer/dryer be thrown away like he was? And then the tech opens up the washer/dryer! What is this frightening event?

But then suddenly the washer/dryer is put back together, and starts operating normally. The guys rejoice and start gathering up the clothes to re-wash and finally dry them. Little Fridge can feel the joy of the washer/dryer, knowing it has been cared for and saved.

The Lonely Little Fridge: Spin Cycle will be followed by The Lonely Little Fridge: Rest Easy.

This story will be about the guys rescuing an abandoned chair. It’s inspired by the picture nearby, which was forwarded to me by another co-worker with the words, “This reminded me of you.”

Meet Our Translators!

I am very grateful to the people who have offered to translate my texts or check my translations.

Esperanto: Detlef Karthaus

Detlef Karthaus diplomiĝis pri tradukado ĉe Laurentian University. Li esperantigis kelkajn romanojn: nome “Demian” kaj “Sidarto” de Hermann Hesse; kaj “Dudek kvar horoj el la vivo de virino” de Stefan Zweig, ĉiuj tradukitaj el la germana. El la angla, li tradukis “Telenio” de Oscar Wilde. Dum multaj jaroj Detlef estas korektanto de la 10 leciona “Free Esperanto Course” por anglalingvanoj.

Detlef Karthaus has a degree in translation from Laurentian University. He has translated several novels into Esperanto: “Demian” and “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, and “Twenty-four hours in the Life of a Woman” by Stefan Zweig, all translated from the German. From English, he has translated “Teleny” by Oscar Wilde. For many years Detlef has been a moderator of the Ten-Lesson Free Course for English-speakers.

Portuguese: Joe Bazilio Costa

Joe Bazilio é artista multimídia e mora na pequena cidade de Formiga, no interior de Minas Gerais, Brasil. É autodidata em artes, além de músico profissional, poeta, desenhista gráfico, fotógrafo e cineasta. Foi o realizador dos filmes na língua Esperanto, Gerda Malaperis e La Patro.

Joe Bazilio is a multimedia artist and lives in the small town of Formiga, in the interior of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is self-taught in the arts, as well as being a professional musician, poet, graphic designer, photographer and filmmaker. He was the director of the Esperanto-language films Gerda Malaperis and La Patro.

Klingon: Michael Lubetsky

Toronto Dabbogh chut qeSwI’ ghaH may’Iq’e’. pIj bo’DIj qaDDaq ‘ap DIlwI’pu’ ‘oS ‘ej chut Ho’DoSmey pIm HaD ‘e’ tIv. bo’DIjDaq qum qaDbe’DI’, bridgeQuj, Holmey HaD, ‘ej HatlhDaq yIt ‘e’ tIv. tlhIngan Hol yejHaD vInDa’ ghaH ‘ej Hoch patlhmoHmeH qaDmeyDaj’e’ Qapta’mo’, po’wI’ patlh bajta’. ghItlhvam DI’ta’mo’ tlhIngan Hol po’wI”a’ DeSDu’, tlho’qu’.

Michael H. Lubetsky (may’Iq) is a lawyer living in Toronto whose practice focuses on tax litigation and who has a particular interest in comparative law. When not in litigation against the government, he likes to play bridge, study languages, and go hiking. He is a member of the Klingon Language Institute and has passed all their certification examinations, earning the rank of po’wI’. He thanks master Klingonist Jackson M. Bradley (DeSDu’) for checking thie translation of The Lonely Little Fridge.

Toki Pona: Abigail L.

mi jan Apikela · lili la mi awen lon lipu lon lawa · mi kama lukin e ni · ma lon la pona pi wawa kin li lon · mi wile sama jan lili · mi wile tawa e nasin mi lon pilin pona wawa pi monsuta ala

tenpo ali mi la· nimi en toki ante li pona tawa mi · lawa mi la toki Inli en toki Epanja en toki Kanse en toki Italija en toki pona li lon tenpo sama a

tenpo la · mi tawa sewi e kiwen· li lukin insa e nasin sama lon ijo ali lon jan ali · li toki wawa e sona musi · li tawa pona e pipi linja tan nasin seli suno

o lukin e nasa pona mi lon ilo Yutu (YouTube: Abigail Sarah) · sina wile pana e pali esun· e sona nasa · e sona pi tawa kiwen · e sitelen pipi suwi · la o toki a tawa mi lon ilo Siko (Discord: #9031)

After a childhood isolated in books and the recesses of her own mind, jan Apikela (Abigail) discovered that this world is even richer in beauty and love. She wants to live as fearlessly delighted as a kid (which isn’t everybody, in the grand scheme of things).

She’s always been drawn to poetry & languages, and these days thinks with some kind of hybrid of English, Spanish, French, Italian, and toki pona. She can be found rock climbing, pondering the fractal patterns of the cosmos, gesturing enthusiastically about the liturgical cycle of Chipotle, and saving worms from the sidewalk.

You can participate in the beautiful chaos of her life on YouTube (Abigail Sarah) — or reach out on Discord (#9031) with any freelance projects, random philosophical thoughts, climbing tips, or pictures of snails.

ISBNs and Versions

The Lonely Little Fridge is available as a hardcover, a paperback, and an ebook. Translations are ongoing. So far, here are the different versions (as of 2022-07-24):

English (released)

ISBN 978-0-9689795-7-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-9689795-8-7 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-1-1 (paperback)

Esperanto (released)

ISBN 978-0-9689795-9-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-0-4 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-2-8 (paperback)

Portuguese (released)

ISBN 978-1-7778198-3-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-5-9 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-4-2 (paperback)

Klingon (hardcover and ebook released; paperback to come)

ISBN 978-1-7778198-6-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-8-0 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-7-3 (paperback)

French (to come)

ISBN 978-1-7778198-9-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-1-5 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-0-8 (paperback)

Toki Pona (hardcover released; ebook and paperback to come)

ISBN 978-1-7781804-2-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-4-6 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-3-9 (paperback)

Just about to publish! Translations!

So, I’ve written a book! Anyone want to translate it? ?

“The Lonely Little Fridge” is a children’s story, based on an idea I had in a children’s-lit class at Durham.

A few editorial adjustments remain, and it will be ready! I will be setting it up to be distributed as hardcover, paperback, and ebook through one of the online publishing platforms, as well as getting a few copies printed locally.

But I very much want it to be translated. I’m working on the Esperanto translation, with other languages to follow. I would love to see it translated into Indigenous languages, but I’m honestly not sure whether it would make sense in an Indigenous context. The most I can do is offer it.

Is there anyone out there who would be interested in translating it into French? The total text is around 1 page, spread out among the pictures.

Another Stop on the Journey to Social Media Art Posts…

It turns out that Facebook does not allow external plugins to display posts from a personal Facebook tiimeline. Only posts from a Facebook page or group can be selected and displayed remotely. This is apparently for privacy reasons.

I picked up a Custom Facebopok Feed plugin from Smashballoon to display selected Facebook posts on my WordPress blog. Its FAQ mentions this restriction.

So I may have to make a proper SRD Books Facebook page, and post art things to that. Since many of these would be various stages of artwork and book preparation, that makes sense. But general sketchbook posts like I’ve been doing lately? I’ll have to think about it. Maybe I can sort and redisplay them on my personal page and then link to that.

A proper FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc page for SRD Books is something that Orzala would probably recommend anyways…