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Second in the series, Fidget's Folly illustrations
almost finished!
Order Directly From
Publisher.
June 12, 2006 Denver: After a five and a half year peregrination,
our
Fidget's Freedom project has produced the finest product
in the children's genre dealing with one of the few
success stories about restoring an endangered species back to viable
levels. Follow the development of this project below.
Congratulations to Stacey Patterson, the author for her great
story, and Vadim Gorbatov for his exquisite illustrations.
The three eggs represent the trilogy in the Fidget series. The
second book, Fidget's Folly, has already been story-boarded and
final illustrations will begin later this year. The final book,
Fidget's Family, brings Fidget's story full circle as she becomes a
parent and raises her own family. The main shipment of Fidget's
Freedom, should arrive in America in about 3-4 weeks and be
available in book stores nationwide by August 1, 2006. Early
orders available now at Amazon and the Raptor Education
Foundation. Psst- the three eggs are, of course, peregrine
eggs. Congratulations to all who parented this project from its
early beginnings!!
Cover: Early
Praise for Fidget's Freedom
Second in the series, Fidget's Folly illustrations almost finished!
June 12, 2006 Denver: After a five and a half year peregrination, our Fidget's Freedom project has produced the finest product in the children's genre dealing with one of the few success stories about restoring an endangered species back to viable levels. Follow the development of this project below. Congratulations to Stacey Patterson, the author for her great story, and Vadim Gorbatov for his exquisite illustrations. The three eggs represent the trilogy in the Fidget series. The second book, Fidget's Folly, has already been story-boarded and final illustrations will begin later this year. The final book, Fidget's Family, brings Fidget's story full circle as she becomes a parent and raises her own family. The main shipment of Fidget's Freedom, should arrive in America in about 3-4 weeks and be available in book stores nationwide by August 1, 2006. Early orders available now at Amazon and the Raptor Education Foundation. Psst- the three eggs are, of course, peregrine eggs. Congratulations to all who parented this project from its early beginnings!!
Cover: Early
Praise for Fidget's Freedom
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History: Fidget's Freedom, written by
Stacey Patterson, a falconer, and
REF supporter for many years, tells the story of a peregrine falcon going through
the hacking process and taking its first flight into freedom. The book was
accepted by REF's publisher several years ago, but we (REF) have had the duty of
getting this children's story illustrated properly. The story runs a little
over 1,000 words, and introduces young children to the difficult concept of
"hacking", which is one of the most important developments responsible
for raptor recovery worldwide. Stacey's words do an excellent job
in communicating the idea to very young children,
however, to really work well, superb illustrations are
imperative to complete the book and tell the story of Fidget's freedom.
Meet the
author. We are very pleased to announce we have engaged the services of (arguably) Russia's best wildlife artist and illustrator, Vadim Gorbatov. Twenty two illustrations have been produced to bring Stacey's words to life, in a truly international collaboration. REF editors traveled to Moscow October, 2004, to complete art direction for the book, and discuss illustrations for the next two in the trilogy about Fidget, her freedom, folly, and family. May 11, 05 Update: We have just received high resolution scans of all the art with only 3 illustrations still requiring a few minor alterations. Vadim will also be adding one or two small black and white sketches to be used as part of the design element connecting various parts of the book. Pre-sales should be available in mid-November or December of 2005. Early comments on the illustrations from professionals in the field of peregrine recovery have all had similar sentiments: "beautiful,... superlative...this is for a kid's book, WOW..." Fidget's Freedom is being peer reviewed by leaders in their respective fields. Quoting Jean Craighead George, "What a glorious book Fidget's Freedom is! The story and the illustrations are both powerful and endearing. I can not praise Vadim Gorbatov's illustrations enough. His work is on a par with that of Louis Agassiz Fuertes with added drama. Stacey Paterson's story telling is warm and perceptive." Ms. George, to those who do not know, is the sister of the famous biologist researchers, the Craighead brothers. She is a famous children's author whose early writing gifts were displayed with the book, "My Side of the Mountain." Ms. George has written over 50 books, with a new book coming in 2006, entitled, Luck, the Story of a Sandhill Crane. Fidget' Freedom has also been
endorsed by Alan Tennant, author of the bestselling On the
Wing: To The Edge of the Earth with the Peregrine Falcon, soon to be
a major motion picture starring Robert Redford. "Fidget's
Freedom is simply a great children's' book. Its perfectly detailed,
soft-hued drawings -- by esteemed Russian wildlife artist Vadim Gorbatov
-- capture the wryly humorous, often -rumpled look of these amazing, yet
not always swift and sleek birds of prey. Likewise, Stacey Patterson's
text successfully negotiates the difficult narrative line between over
humanizing wild things and the equally erroneous, empathy lacking data
of scientific papers." Our New Crafts Gallery is Open
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Publisher. |
many of his paintings during a visit to his studio in Moscow.
| We are pleased to provide a sampling of Fidget's exceptional illustrations. |
 Order
Directly From Publisher. |
 Early
morning stretch, while brother Echo sleeps. |
 Fidget
with her brother, Echo |
 Hack
box attendants prepare for release... |
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Directly From Publisher. |
 Listen toauthor, Stacey Patterson, read from her book...Scroll along with Stacey for the next 6 illustrations. Order Directly From Publisher. |
 |
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Directly From Publisher. |
|
 Early
orders are now available on
Amazon |
 Early
orders are now available on
Amazon |
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| Note the exquisite use of reflected light on all of Vadim's illustrations....Early orders are now available on Amazon |
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 Early
orders are now available on
Amazon |
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Twenty two illustrations will set the highest standards
for natural history art in a contemporary children's book. Because
this will be issued in hardback with color throughout, pricing will be
higher than our current book, Raptors, however, we will make
special pricing available to any organization ordering multiple
copies. Stay
tuned and learn how you can get
involved to promote environmental literacy with Fidget's Freedom. Below: On June 24th, 2005 REF's editors took copies of all of Fidget's illustrations to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the Gerald Peters Gallery, had an opening for wildlife artists Tony Angell, Lars Jonsson, and Thomas Quinn and their show featuring nothing but raptors. Raptors in stone, in bronze, oil, and water color to name a few of the mediums in which they were represented by three of the world's leading painters and sculptors devoted to the natural history genre. The day after opening festivities, the featured artists named above plus sculptor Kent Ullberg, and writer Stephen Bodio assembled around all of Vadim Gorbatov's illustrations and made some general and specific observations for the editors to consider during the design phase of the book. |
 Early
orders are now available on
Amazon |
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| Top, left to right, Kent Ullberg, Lars Jonsson,
and Tony Angell examine Fidget's 22 illustrations before offering
commentary for the editors to consider during the design phase of the
book. Above (left to right): Ysbrand Brouwers, Director of the
Artists for Nature Foundation, joins Tony Angell, Stephen Bodio,
and Lars Jonsson, to get a sneak preview of this precedent setting work.
REF thanks everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules to offer
their comments and observations. Fidget begins to stretch her wings...Our
very popular book, Raptors,
has been reprinted with revisions, changes, and additions. A
new page with the history of falconry has been added, and the book is
available from all normal book sources. It's still the best raptor book
available for kids and beginning raptorphiles.
Stacey Patterson's next two books in the Fidget's Freedom trilogy are completed and awaiting an illustration schedule from the artist, Vadim Gorbatov. Fidget's Folly, the second book's illustrations are almost completed as of October 26, 2007. Falconry in Russia: After extensive market research, REF is pleased to announce another book under development. It will deal with the topic of falconry in Russia and the old republics of the ex Soviet Union. It will be the first book of its type to be made available to the English language marketplace. Both contemporary and historic practices and information will be covered in a coffee table edition. No doubt, you will also see illustrations from Vadim Gorbatov gracing its pages. The principle author, Stephen Bodio, is currently working up the outline. Mr. Bodio is one of the best living writers dealing with natural history subjects, especially falconry. He is respected world-wide with readers eagerly awaiting his next books. Thanks to all of the falconers, American and international, who completed our online survey. |
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Last revised:
November 16, 2007