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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Read and Rise


I was asked to do this piece for Scholastic's Read and Rise Magazine.
This was a the cover for the parent guide. In this guide was information about
what books your child should be reading and what was good for what age group
and other very important information to help parents get their kids reading.
Read and Rise was a publication that was given out to innercity kids who
didn't get lots of books to take home. The magazine was a beautiful
one with lots of stories and fabulous illustrations. I loved that fact that
it was given away for free to families. Sadly Scholastic cut this magazine this year.
No more Read and Rise. I hope that one day they will bring it back. It's so sad that
a great program like this had to be cut.

29 comments:

Owl Eng said...

your beautiful illo tells us how happy and blissful reading is for kids and parents!!
hopefully this nice magazine will be brought back to serve the community again!!

Debra Keirce said...

Great illustration! I love the buildings in the background - all tall and lanky. We've got kids in grades 6, 8 and 10, and I have never heard of this free parents mag...pity!

Flor Larios Art said...

Congratulations! Such a happy illustration. I saw your illustration on Every photo tells a Story and left a comment there.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Flor

Laura said...

What a gorgeous illo Vanessa!! And that's so sad about the magazine being dropped - it's unfortunate that when budgets run short, they start cutting things that can make such a difference..

Hugs,
Laura

Edrian said...

This is a beautiful illo! It's unfortunate about the magazine, but hopefully it is a short-term decision!

tanaudel said...

They all look so cheerful! It's lovely.

flower girl said...

What a fun and great illustration!I really like this.Dear vanessa I have a "tag" for you in this link
http://friendsinglove.blogspot.com/2009/03/tagged-by-yoon-see-again.html
hope you have fun :)

ladyd210 said...

It is a shame when important programs such as literacy get cut but hopefully with more money being allocated for education it can be brought back and YOU can continue to share your gift. YOU are truly amazing in your avenues!

Sabbio said...

Such a pity it had been cut... reading is so precious as well as bringing books to children.

Anywaybyour cover is a treat ^^

Maldito Columpio said...

Is a great illustration! I love the city around the beautiful family.
I'm sure the magazine was so great.
Thanks for your kind comment :-)

maclancy said...

wow! love this illustration! I love the cityscape and the kids.. Maybe our new Prez will be encouraged to help out kids in inner city so they can read more books and their parents to help guide them with this wonderful magazine. I will say it again Vanessa..you are an amazing artist and human!

Vanessa Brantley Newton said...

Thank you all for your very kind comments. Hopefully when things get better they will bring it back. Let's keep hope alive!!

Kelly said...

Oh, I love the treatment of this! The color, the expressions, the city. All of it. Perfection!!!!

yoon see said...

Your illustration is so moving and beautiful!
Vanessa, you always have an eye for attentions & details in all topics. Nothing is too hard for you! I love your creativeness.
I am sure the magazine will be back to fuction if we are willing to pray for its existence:)
You are having a great mission sending informative gesture through your creative illustarion.
This will cultivate good reading habit!

Eric Barclay said...

Incredible work- I can tell you put your heart in this illustration. Stay warm today my friend.

Debra Keirce said...

I tagged you! (Michelle made me do it!)

Every Photo Tells A Story said...

You create such beautiful artwork, Vanessa. It's a shame that whenever the economy suffers, so do the children and the poor. Too bad they aren't able to get sponsors, but there's always hope!

Bella Sinclair said...

Now if this doesn't tell you that reading is fun, I don't know what will! This is absolutely marvelous. Love the kid riding on his dad's shoulders. And all the buildings in that happy reading city! Yay!

It's a shame good programs like this have to be cut. At our school, there were boxes and boxes of old children's books that they just could not sell at the fundraiser. Most of them were several decades old, but still lovely stories and illustrations. I nabbed many myself, but in the end, they didn't know what to do with them all. They tried to donate them, but the cost of shipping was too expensive. They eventually got a third party vendor to take them away. I wish there were easier ways to get free books to kids who need them.

I'm reading about the awful snowstorm that hit the east coast. Brrrrrr. Hope you're nice and toasty with that Ooh La La hot cocoa. :)

Roberta said...

Cute... I love the city scene in the background!

I'm sure it made an wonderful cover!

Bella Sinclair said...

Vanessa, if you ever start a program, you can count on me to donate!

Catalina Alvarez said...

Hello Vanessa!
I love the city around the family!
Speciallly the car, so cute!
Cata

Kristi Valiant said...

Oh Vanessa, this is so fun. I love the colors and textures and varied shapes. Just beautiful.

Francisco Martins said...

This is really cool...love the collors!

Francisco Martins
www.subversivetales.blogspot.com
www.subversivetales.com

froggie is... said...

wooo hooo!!! i LOVE LOVE LOVE this piece! dunno if it's the family, or that WONDERFUL CHEERY CITY-SCAPE you built for them! oh vb! too too inspiring here! the lines on the ground...they just tie it all in!

Angela Matteson said...

This is spectacular! I love how those colors dance around this fun scene, and all the details are wonderful!

Tomás Serrano said...

What a great background! It´s fabulous.

Kay Aker said...

Loving the retro flair! What a worthwhile endevour to be a part of.

Jannie aka Chickengirl said...

Hey! This is an awesome illustration. Your style is really fresh yet with a vintage-y feel at the same time. Too bad the magazine folded. I know scholastic has alot of little magazines..I'm wondering what will happen to them....

Oh and thank you so much for asking about my wedding stuff :-) Its next month...yikes! I'm hanging in there!

Scooter said...

Hey Vanessa, Sorry I've been lame at commenting lately- it's been crazy. I'm loving this illo, especially the background cityscape. It's all fun and loose with yummy colors. I also dig the Scholastic illo- I was looking to see if you drew yourself in there- reading a book. Your watercolor illos are cool too. I like the way you did the hair on the illo with the 3 kids- very nice. Have a great Sunday...