Author Archives: Jeff Diteman

September is World Kid Lit Month, so it seems like a good time to acknowledge the remarkable work being done over at Lunii to produce positive audio stories for children. Each Lunii album is composed of a set of interrelated narratives that can be listened to in any order. These albums are played on aContinue reading “Lunii publishes positive audio stories for children”

Yesterday in the last sun before Henri not a scorcher but a steamerthe maiden voyage of the new lawnmowerand then out back tacking plastic over spongy windowsdonating blood to the swarm, before friends gathered in the hot gloomof dissipating empire:eggplant, sweet peppers, summer squash,ground beef and chicken shawarma,in plodding silence rimmed with exhaustion. “Have youContinue reading “Salut Henri”

Here’s a copy I drew of an image of Ferdinand the bull by Robert Lawson. This is one of my favorite children’s books, both for its wonderful illustrations and its message of strength and pacifism. This is the moment just after Ferdinand has been stung by a bee.

I’ve been drawing animals to prepare for a children’s book. The final characters will be fairly cartoonish, I think, but I like to take nature as my starting point.

The following is a translation of the introductory chapter to the Généalogie de la Famille Poissant, written by Dr. J.C. Poissant, published in Montreal in 1909. This translation is a work in progress, a labor of love, my contribution to my family’s history. My grandmother, Lorna Diteman (née Fish), was a daughter of the PoissantContinue reading “Biography of Jacques Poissant”

A crossword puzzle on the theme of translation:Translation Matters

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Isn’t that A Tale of Two Cities?” says my dad over the phone. “Yeah, that’s the first line.” “Well, it sure is these days.” “You got that right.” In these frightening times, I feel very lucky to be taking one day a weekContinue reading “In the studio”