{"id":1701,"date":"2025-01-22T12:01:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=1701"},"modified":"2025-01-22T12:01:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:01:15","slug":"boredom-and-idleness-essential-elements-for-creativity-by-marcelo-tolentino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=1701","title":{"rendered":"Boredom and Idleness: Essential Elements for Creativity by Marcelo Tolentino"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSome time or another, we all experience that feeling that every day is the same, the same people and places, the same conversation, the same food \u2013 and wonder about what if it wasn\u2019t?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent nearly half my 38 years living in the house where my picture book\u00a0Sunday<\/em>\u00a0takes place, in a small townhouse in S\u00e3o that belonged to my maternal grandparents, home to my great-grandmother, my grandparents, my parents, my brother, and me\u2014plus a host of animals. The last of these was a large, golden Labrador named Spike, who inspired the dog in\u00a0Sunday<\/em>. It was a bustling household, rarely quiet, yet it often allowed for moments of individuality. While the adults were busy with their tasks, my brother and I were free to play, either with each other or with neighborhood kids.<\/p>\n

From a young age, I discovered a love for drawing and, whenever I had time to myself or felt bored, I would bury myself in sketchbooks, drawing characters, animals, people around me, and even copying illustrations from my favorite picture books. (My mother still treasures a drawing I made of Shel Silverstein\u2019s\u00a0The Giving Tree<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

I fell in love with children\u2019s literature, especially picture books, and turned to childhood\u2014my own memories and the future I imagined for my child\u2014as I created my own.<\/p>\n

One day, I envisioned a little boy examining the palm of his hand, imagining it as a map, and embarking on an imaginary journey. I sketched the hand-map and began brainstorming other parts of the human body that could symbolize a journey: \u00a0my brother\u2019s beard as a dense forest, my father\u2019s bald head as a desert, and my grandmother\u2019s iris as a galaxy.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, I was deeply inspired by the story of Amyr Klink, a Brazilian adventurer who, in the 1980s, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean. His journey\u2014a 100-day solo trip from the coast of Africa to South America\u2014added another layer of inspiration. Gradually, these ideas blended into the story of Martin, a boy who goes on an extraordinary journey around the world without ever leaving home, transforming boredom into adventure with the help of creativity and his dog.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know where boring days will take you.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some time or another, we all experience that feeling that every day is the same, the same people and places, the same conversation, the same food \u2013 and wonder about what if it wasn\u2019t? I wouldn\u2019t trade anything from my childhood. I look back at those Sundays with the same people, the places, and food and am thankful \u2014 and hope kids recognize the magic that can come from ordinary aspects of daily life. You never know where those boring days will take you.<\/p>\n

Very first sketches<\/p>\n

First script<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the story behind\u00a0Sunday<\/em>. I hope it\u2019s inspired you to pack your bags and join Martin and his dog Maize on their creative adventure.<\/p>\n

Marcelo\u00a0Tolentino<\/strong>\u00a0is a visual artist and art educator from S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil and studied graphic design at the Panamerican School of Art and Design.\u00a0SUNDAY<\/a>, which he wrote and illustrated, was selected as a\u00a0School Library Journal\u00a0<\/em>Best Book of the Year, received starred reviews from Kirkus and SLJ, and is his first picture book to be published in the US. Look for it January 22nd\u00a0from Blue Dot Kids Press. Download a\u00a0Boredom Busters Activity Kit<\/a> and Educator\u2019s Guide<\/a> for book extensions. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSome time or another, we all experience that feeling that every day is the same, the same people and places, the same conversation, the same food \u2013 and wonder about what if it wasn\u2019t?\u201d I\u2019ve spent nearly half my 38 years living in the house where my picture book\u00a0Sunday\u00a0takes place, in a small townhouse in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}