Cover Reveal: The Broken Ornament by Tony DiTerlizzi

I remember smiling when I read about a broken ornament on Caldecott Honor artist Tony DiTerlizzi's Facebook page on November 22, 2015. He told his daughter that every time an ornament breaks, a fairy is released and grants a wish. Thankfully, his brilliant explanation inspired The Broken Ornament. 

Tony dropped by to chat with me about The Broken Ornament's cover, Tinsel, and school libraries. I wrote the words in purple, and Tony wrote the words in black. Thank you, Tony! 

“Here, Jack is trying to persuade his mom and dad to get a larger tree so Santa will have more room to leave more presents. The artwork for this book was painted traditionally (gouache on board) and composited in Photoshop where dramatic lighting effects were added.” -Tony

The Broken Ornament’s cover (hopefully) captures the magic and mystery of what happens when Jack accidentally drops an old glass Christmas ornament.

One of my favorite aspects about the holidays are the characters we celebrate: snowmen, elves, reindeer, nutcrackers and Santa Claus. Somehow I was able to fit all these festive folks into one story.

“The fairy that emerges from the broken ornament grants Jack’s every Christmas wish." -Tony

Tinsel is the Christmas fairy that emerges from the broken ornament and was inspired by my wife, Angela.

School libraries are where I spent many lunch periods. I would run my fingers across the spines of shelved books searching for my next exciting read.

“This is crammed with my favorite holiday characters such as snowmen, reindeer and nutcrackers. In this scene, each pose for the snowmen was referenced by MLB pitchers.” -Tony

Mr. Schu, you should have asked me why I make books for children.

Look for The Broken Ornament on September 18, 2018.