>>> NEVER ABANDON IMAGINATION IS NOT ONLY THE TITLE OF THE
CALDECOTT AWARD WINNING CHILDREN'S AUTHOR AND
ILLUSTRATOR TONY DITERLIZZI'S CURRENT EXHIBITION AT THE NORMAN
ROCKWELL MUSEUM, IT'S ALSO HIS PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT.
STORY TELLING HAS BEEN HIS PASSION SINCE CHILDHOOD, AND THE
AMHERST-BASED ARTIST BELIEVES FIRMLY THAT ONE IMAGE IS WORTH A
THOUSAND WORDS.
HE'S CREATED THOSE IMAGES FOR FANTASY ICONS SUCH AS DUNGEONS
AND DRAGONS, LUCASFILM, AND MAGIC: THE GATHERING, AS WELL AS
FOR HIS OWN CREATIONS LIKE HIS WONDLA TRILOGY AND THE BEST
SELLING SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, IN COLLABORATION WITH AUTHOR
HOLLY BLACK.
"CONNECTING POINT" PRODUCER ANTHONY DUNNE CRACKS OPEN THE
BOOK OF TONY DITERLIZZI'S PERSONAL STORY, AND FINDS
CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION ON EVERY PAGE.
>> THE EARLIEST MEMORIES THAT I HAVE ARE MY MOM READING HOUSE O-
OF CORNER, AND LOOKING FEN DRAWINGS.
AND AS TIME GOES ON, I THINK OF THIS ENORMOUS COFFEE TABLE BOOK
WHAT SEEMED ENORMOUS TO ME AS A KID THAT MY PARENTS HAD
PURCHASED OF ALL OF NORMAN ROCKWELL'S SATURDAY EVENING POST
COVERS.
AND WE'D LOOK AT THESE ILLUSTRATION, AND OF COURSE
EVERY ILLUSTRATION WAS A STORY.
I LOVED THE IDEA THAT A DRAWING COULD ALSO TELL A STORY.
MY MOM TELLS ME THAT WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND I WOULD DRAW AT THE
KITCHEN TABLE OR IN MY BEDROOM I WOULD MAKE A LOT OF SOUND
EFFECTS.
IT'S BECAUSE THERE WAS A STORY UNSPOOLING IN MY BRAIN.
WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, A SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL, I'M LIKE I WANT
TO CREATE CHILDREN'S BOOKS, IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER SAID THAN
DONE.
I HAD TAKEN EVERY ART COURSE YOU COULD TAKE IN HIGH SCHOOL.
AND MY ART TEACHER WAS LIKE I WANT TO YOU DO ONE ASSIGNMENT
FOR THE ENTIRE SEMESTER.
SO I WENT HOME AND MY YOUNGER BROTHER WAS READING ALICE'S
ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND AND I COME EXPWAK SAID I WANT TO DO A
VERSION OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
IT WAS THE 80'S, ELTON JOHN HAD HAD A HUGE COMB BACK WITH?
I'M STILL STANDING."
AND I USED A HIGH LIGHT SORRY THAT WHEN YOU
LOOKED AT A BOOK UNDER A BLACK LIGHT, THE BOOK WOULD GLOW.
THEN THIS KID IN CLASS SAYS, HEY I HEARD YOU DID SOME VERSION
OF -- A PERSON MO WOULD NEVER TALK TO
ME.
CAN I SEE IT?
HAND HIM THE BOOK, THEN A BLACK LIGHT.
AND NEXT THING YOU KNOW THERE'S A CROWD LOOKING AT THIS THING.
AND I GOT THIS INCREDIBLE VALIDATION, AT SUCH A CRITICAL
JUNCTURE IN MY LIFE.
I FELT IF I COULD DO IT IN THAT BRUTAL WORLD OF HIGH SCHOOL,
WHERE WHO YOU AND WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE AND WHAT YOU DO IS SO
IMPORTANT, THEN I GOT THIS, I CAN DO THIS.
I THINK THE PRECONCEPTION IS THAT CREATING A CHILDREN'S BOOK
IS EASY.
EVERYONE HAS AN IDEA FOR A CHILDREN'S BOOK.
HOW HARD CAN IT BE?
THERE'S 300 WORDS IN THIS THING TOTAL, SHOULD BE A PIECE OF
CAKE.
AND THE TRUTH IS, IT'S SO INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT.
THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THE BEATLES, YOUR FAVORITE SONG,
LIKE "YESTERDAY," SO SIMPLE, OH, I COULD WRITE A SONG LIKE THAT.
NO YOU CAN'T.
NO, YOU CAN'T!
THAT'S WHAT MADE THE BEATLES THE BEATLES.
IT'S NOT JUST THE LYRICS AND THE MELODY, IT'S HOW THEY SANG IT,
WHAT THEY CHOSE TO USE, AND MAKING A BOOK IN MANY BASIS
SIMILAR.
I DON'T WANT TO CREATE A 32-PAGE GREETING CARD.
I WANT TO CREATE A 32-PAGE STORY THAT RESONATES, NOT JUST WHERE
THE CHILD, BUT MAYBE WITH EVEN THE ADULL THAT'S READING THE
BOOK WITH THE CHILD.
BEFORE I HAD A KID, I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT A GOOD KIDS BOOK WAS.
WHEN I'M CREATING ANYTHING, PICTURES, STORIES, BOOKS, ET
CETERA, I'M ALWAYS MEASURING IT AGAINST THE 10-YEAR-OLD VERSION
OF ME OR THE 12-YEAR-OLD VERSION OF ME.
WHAT CAN OLD MIDDLE AGED TONY MAKE THAT WOULD IMPRESS
10-YEAR-OLD TONY.
OBVIOUSLY WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND THE STUDIO, I'VE KEPT ARTIFACTS
FROM MY CHILDHOOD TO KEEP ME IN TOUCH WITH THOSE MOMENTS IN MY
LIFE SO I CAN RETURN BACK TO THEM MUCH EASIER.
WHEN SOPHIA WAS BORN, I REALIZED HOW MUCH I HAD FORGOTTEN.
IN BEING A KID.
THAT WHAT I HAD HELD ONTO AND THE THINGS THAT WERE IMPORTANT
TO ME WERE JUST FRAGMENTS OF CHILDHOOD.
BUT THE DAY-TO-DAY LIFE OF BEING A CHILD, IN SOME WAYS HADN'T
CHANGED FROM ME GROWING UP IN THE 70'S.
I NEVER TRY TO TELL ANY KIND OF LESSON.
BUT I LIKE TO ASK QUESTIONS.
AND THOSE ARE THE BOOKS THAT I ALWAYS LIKE, THOSE ARE THE TV
SHOWS AND STORIES THAT I ALWAYS LIKE, THE ONES THAT ASKED REALLY
BIG QUESTIONS AND MAYBE OFFERED SOME SOLUTION.
BUT NOT ALL.
THOSE TWILIGHT ZONES ARE GREAT EXAMPLES, BECAUSE THEY OFFER A
SLIVER OF A WHAT-IF CONCERN ARE YOVMENT ONE OF MY FAVORITES WAS
ON THE AIRPLANE AND THEY HIT A STING WHERE THEY GO REALLY FAST
AND WHEN THEY GO TO ENTER LAGUARDIA IT'S NO LONGER THERE
AND THERE'S DINOSAURS WALKING AROUND ON MANHATTAN.
THE EPISODE ENDS WITH HIM CONSTANTLY TRYING TO FIND THEIR
TIME AGAIN.
AND THEY WERE STUCK IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
THAT'S THE STUFF THAT ASKS QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW.
AND THEN YOU CAN PLAY OUT, WELL WHAT WOULD I DO.
YOU GO THROUGH A LOT OF EMOTIONS WHEN YOU'RE MAKING, TELLING
THESE STORIES, AND THEN YOU SET IT OUT IN LIKE A LIMB PAPER BOAT
ON THE WAVES.
AND YOU HOPE IT DOESN'T SINK.
SOMETIMES THEY SINK, AND SOMETIMES THEY GO AND DO AMAZING
THINGS.
AND YOU CAN'T REDICK IT.
THE THINGS THAT I THOUGHT WERE GOING TO BOMB, LIKE THE SPIELDER
AND THE FLY, A PEOPLE WHERE THE SPIDER EATS THE FLY, AND WE'RE
LIKE LET'S DO A BLACK AND WHITE, LIKE A CHAZ ADAMS CARTOON, WE
THOUGHT NO ONE IS GOING TO BUY THIS.
AND IT BECOMES MY FIRST BEST SELLER AND WINS THE CALDECOTT
HONOR.
IT WAS NOT PLANNED, WE WEREN'T LIKE THIS IS THE ONE.
NO, NOT AT ALL.
SO YOU CAN'T PREDICT IT.
FOR ME I JUST DO THE BEST JOB I, CAN PUT AS MUCH LOVE AND HONESTY
IN THE CHARACTER AND THE STORIES THAT I'M TELLING, AND HOPE FOR
THE BEST.
WHEN I HEAR THAT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF KIDS LOVE MY BOOKS
AND STORIES, AND THAT A PLACE LIKE THE NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM
IS GOING TO HANG A RETROSPECTIVE OF MY WORK AND I'M NOT EVEN 50
YEARS OLD, WE'RE WAY PAST THE I WISH ONE DAY OR I DREAM ONE DAY.
SO THAT'S EXCITING.
I FEEL LIKE IT'S ENCOURAGED ME AND INSPIRED ME TO EXPLORE EVEN
MORE WHAT I CAN DO WITH STORY TELLING.
>> TONY DITERLIZZI'S EXHIBITION AT THE NMR RUNS THROUGH MAY