Here's a great picture of The Magnificent Me illustrator Joel Schoon Tanis, with the popular singing group Hansen:
Monday, December 3, 2007
Joel Schoon Tanis meets Hanson
Rock ’n’ read: Performer man of many talents
Here's a great article about Dan Haseltine, Jars of Clay and the new book:
"Dan Haseltine can add another line to his resume. The lead singer of the enormously successful Christian band Jars of Clay is now a published author. Haseltine penned a new children’s book, “The One, The Only Magnificent Me!” And it probably won’t be his last. . ."
To read the rest of the article, click here.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Press is Talking About Magnificent Me
Here's a collection of articles all about The Magnificent Me.
Christian Vocalist Is Now Also A Children's Author - From the San Bernadino County Sun
Bedtime Storytelling Creates Best-Selling Children's Book - From the Santa Maria Times
Dan Haseltine from Jars of Clay Writes Children's Book - From The Press-Enterprise
Creative Team Tells Kids, "You're Magnificent" - From www.mlive.com
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Duffy Interviews Lead Singer, Dan Haseltine
Duffy interviews lead singer, Dan Haseltine, from the group Jars of Clay about his new book, The One, The Only Magnificent Me!
Check out the complete interview here. It's audio and can be downloaded in a number of different formats:
Amy Loves It!
"I had the opportunity to see a PDF of the book. It’s absolutely adorable with bright, color illustrations, a cute plot, and well-written text. I would definitely pick this up for your children or grandchildren. I’m thinking of buying one myself, just because the book is that good. My mom taught kindergarten for over 30 years, so I’ve read hundreds of children’s books. Dan Haseltine’s new book definitely goes to the top of my list of Must-Read Books for Kids."
http://www.ymexchange.com/Resource-Reviews/Review-of-The-One-the-Only-Magnificent-Me-by-Dan-Haseltine.html?ed=1
The Tennessean: Jars of Clay Singer Pushes His Pen to Children's Lit
Listening to Jars of Clay's music, you can't help but pick up the influence of artists like U2 and Radiohead in the band's arching melodic swoops.
But singer Dan Haseltine's early creative impulses, he admits, came from places fans of the longstanding Christian rock band might not have noticed.
"One of my first books that I learned to read with was (Shel Silverstein's famed children's work) Where the Sidewalk Ends, and since then I've always had such a love for children's books," Haseltine says. "As a songwriter — as somebody who cares deeply about trying to use vivid word pictures and cares a lot about meter and the way words flow — it seems like children's books, that's where you actually see the masters at work."
The Nashville singer/songwriter took his first foray into those masters' world, releasing on Sept. 15 a work of children's literature called The One, The Only Magnificent Me, which mixes the dream-like, fanciful aesthetic of Shel Silverstein's work with the approachable, lyrical rhyme schemes (and similarly fanciful ideas) in Dr. Seuss'.
Haseltine's longtime children's-lit fandom certainly played its part in his latest creative outlet, but the singer might not have given it a go without the influence of his two sons, 6-year-old Noah and Max, 4. The boys' bedtime ritual includes nightly story time with Dad, and Noah and Max are all about original work.
"Depending on how tired I am from the day, the stories can be good or really terrible," Haseltine says. "And they're great about critiquing me — they're usually really good about going, 'Oh Dad, that was terrible.' And then a few times they've said, 'You know Dad, you should write that down.' "
The One, The Only Magnificent Me was, indeed, one of those written-down bedtime creations. But the story — which focuses on a young boy who wishes to grow a grab bag of animalian features, in hopes of becoming unique and special — has roots in both Haseltine's childhood experiences, and the ones he hopes his sons will have.
"I remember as a kid always wrestling with that idea that I didn't measure up," he says. "I think for me what (the book) did was it just presented the opportunity to speak that for my kids — to say, 'You really are special, and it doesn't really matter if you're the fastest bike-rider or the highest jumper. You've got a gift for just being who you are.' It's autobiographical, but it's also something I'm seeing that most kids need to hear pretty regularly."
Haseltine is staying plenty busy with his main gig: Jars of Clay released a live album called Live Monsters earlier this month, and next month launches its own label, Gray Matters, with a debut holiday release, Christmas Songs. But he doesn't see his new book endeavor as moonlighting, or a one-off goof. He hopes it will be a new direction in his career that'll carry on if and when the band finishes its run.
And at the moment, the two outlets work in tandem.
The process of writing rock lyrics and children's literature differs, certainly. Haseltine says he felt more free writing The One, The Only Magnificent Me, because it gave him the opportunity to stretch from the realistic, and "step outside of what I normally think are the bounds" of creative wordplay.
Jars of Clay for more than a decade has crafted melodic rock songs with an inward-looking but largely uplifting lyrical slant. Similarly, the book allowed Haseltine to share a positive message with his audience: "that we only have to be to be magnificent."
"But the reality in most of our stories is that there's so many things telling us that that's not true," the singer says. "So yeah, I think I do enjoy kind of playing in that, sort of saying this is the reality of the world, but this is what I think is also very true. And we just have to figure out which truth is gonna be the loudest, or most vivid and colorful."
. . .
Friday, September 7, 2007
Magnificent Me Press Release
DAN HASELTINE, LEAD SINGER OF MULTI-PLATINUM, GRAMMY WINNING JARS OF CLAY, READIES FOR RELEASE OF FIRST CHILDREN’S BOOK
HASELTINE PARTNERS WITH ILLUSTRATOR AND EMMY WINNER
JOEL SCHOON
“THE ONE, THE ONLY, MAGNIFICENT ME!” SEPT. 15
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“I wrote Magnificent Me because there is nothing more rewarding than fostering the imagination of a child,” shares an enthusiastic Haseltine. “It is so important in setting up a person’s capacity to dream bigger and live more passionately. Ideas that change the world come from people who have been given permission to think about a world far beyond our physical limitations. I wanted to write a book that reminded children that they are amazing and wonderful, and it has everything to do with them being alive, and having a heart and a mind and a soul. All children need to know that they are magnificent – with or without feathers.”
Award-winning artist Joel Schoon Tanis agrees that the story shares such a poignant message, and was excited to be able to use his passion for art to make the book come to life. “I’ve loved and respected Dan’s writing for years, and often paint to his music. To be able to create with him is amazing. Magnificent Me was written with such visual possibility that it allowed me the space to sneak in all sorts of fun details. It let me lose myself in imagination much like the child in the story – and when a kid loses themselves in their imagination, it is truly magical. It is also about strengthening a child’s self-esteem, which can open a world of possibilities to them, just like my parents’ encouragement did for me.”
Publisher Anne Margaret Lewis is very pleased about the pre-release response to the book, which will be distributed in venues all across the country, including 1100 Target stores. “When we first saw Dan’s manuscript and the artwork by Joel, we felt this was something special. We have been showing sneak previews and everyone who has seen it also feels that Magnificent Me is just that – magnificent. This book will give kids the confidence to be secure in their individuality. There is no doubt Magnificent Me will be a very popular book, but it will also be a book that will have the same significance in young people’s lives 10, 20, and even 30 years from now, and that is truly the test of something great.”
In fact, one admirer who experienced the book has said: “It’s a combination of Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss. You can tell the writer is a musician because there is a definite rhythm to the words. In addition, I love the splash of color in the illustrations because it shows the way the young boy’s imagination accents his world. And, of course, the message itself is something that everyone needs to be reminded of from time to time. I LOVE this book.”
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