Eula Square Cat: 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Monday, December 27, 2010

Monday, December 20, 2010

A flurry....

Wishing all of my friends a flurry of peace, hope, wonder, joy, happiness and love!

Squarely yours,

Eula Square Cat

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Floating in a state of blissful happiness......

A wonderful review from the School Library Journal!
Thank you, School Library Journal!

SCHOONMAKER, Elizabeth. Square Cat. illus. by author. unpaged. CIP. S &

S/Aladdin. Jan. 2011. RTE $14.99. ISBN 978-1-4424-0619-3. LC 2009039884.

PreS-Gr 1–Playing off the square peg in the round hole theme, this title

gently packs a powerful message about self-acceptance and friendship. Eula,

a square cat, laments the difficulties she faces in a world of round cats.

When she tips over, it’s difficult to get up. Living in a city surrounded by

square buildings renders her invisible. Circle skirts or outfits with

stripes are a “fashion don’t” on a square cat, and trying to “make it work”

is not an option. Her round feline friends, Patsy and Maude, try to help sad

Eula get her “purr” back. After a makeover including round hoop earrings, a

beehive hat, rouge painted on her cheeks, and a doughnut party, Eula falls

again, and....you get the picture. Her friends put themselves into square

boxes and show her the possibilities and upside of living the square-cat

life. Ink and bright watercolor illustrations using basic shapes with simple

and engaging facial expressions steal the show. Schoonmaker uses the shapes

of these clever cats’ mouths, eyes, and eyebrows to communicate their

emotions. Eula changes from skeptical, to happy, to confident. The support

of loving friends and her experience figuring out how to “make it work” for

herself are the catalysts. Plentiful white space is used to help the

colorful blue, orange, and yellow cats pop off the page. This delightful

book with its spare and simple text is perfect for storytime or sharing

one-on-one.–Anne Beier, Clifton Public Library, NJ

Friday, December 10, 2010

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

Thanksgiving!

Apron by Winter Session

http://www.winter-session.com/home.html

Happy Thanksgiving!

Your Square Cat,

Eula

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

In celebration of the release of my book, Square Cat, the Burlington Flats, N.Y. Post Office made an official cancellation stamp in my honor! If you are in the area, please stop by the P.O. to have your post personally hand stamped with my image! How good is that? It’s Eularific!!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

My first review!

Look what I found while reading Publishers Weekly!

November 12, 2010

Square Cat
Elizabeth Schoonmaker, S&S/Aladdin, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4424-0619-3

Eula is square in the literal sense--she's drawn as a box with cat features. Her round, bubbly friends Patsy and Maude work hard to help Eula feel better about her shape. They try thinking round thoughts, but singing "Oooooooooooo..." while skipping in circles and eating doughnuts only emphasizes Eula's essential squareness. Next they dress as squares themselves, wearing boxes, tipping over when Eula does (Eula's always tipping over), and dressing Eula in flattering clothing (a checkerboard sweater and pillbox hat). Schoonmaker, in her debut, readily grasps the comic interplay of words and pictures. "Eula was invisible in a city" is accompanied by a drawing of Eula sitting in front of (and blending in with) a group of skyscrapers; "And her favorite circle skirt didn't quite fit right" shows Eula with the same aggrieved expression awash in swirling red fabric. The focus is on physical appearance, with an emphasis on clothing and accessories that's most likely to appeal to the fashion conscious, yet Eula's feelings of difference make a ready metaphor for other ways in which readers might feel like the odd person out. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

http://new.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/childrens.html