The Big Wet Balloon Press Kit

Press Kit for "The Big Wet Balloon" by Liniers

Return to The Big Wet Balloon book page.

About The Book

When her little sister, Clemmie, refuses to go out in the rain, Matilda sets out to teach her all the delights of a wet Saturday. But after her enthusiasm leads her to make a big mistake, it’s Matilda who will end up learning an unforgettable lesson. The world-renowned cartoonist Liniers gives us a funny and sweet portrait of his daughters that is sure to become every beginning reader’s favorite story.

Pages: 32
Dimension: 6" x 9"
Release Date: September 10, 2013
English Hardcover: 978-1-935179-32-0
Spanish Hardcover: 978-1-935179-40-5
Spanish Paperback: 978-1-935179-39-9

View sample pages

Biography

Ricardo "Liniers" Siri lives in Buenos Aires with his wife and daughters, Matilda and Clementina, who inspired The Big Wet Balloon, along with Emma, the most recent addition to the family. For more than ten years, he has published a hugely popular daily strip, Macanudo, in the Argentine newspaper La Nación. He also tours the world drawing on stage with musician Kevin Johansen. His work has been published in nine countries from Brazil to the Czech Republic, but The Big Wet Balloon is his first book in the United States.

Liniers on Social Media

400,000+ Fans

200,000+ Followers

Press Releases

11/6/13 - Parents Magazine Names The Big Wet Balloon BEST Early Reader of 2013!

10/2/13 - Kids Line Up for Comics and Red Balloons at The Brooklyn Book Festival: Liniers Gives Dual Language Presentation at The Children's Tent

9/30/13 - Cartoonists & Fans Gather to Celebrate Liniers at the Comics Extravaganza | Liniers paints live at Brooklyn's BookCourt to launch the U.S. Debut of The Big Wet Balloon

9/13/13 - Beloved Argentine Cartoonist to Read to Bilingual Students at Elementary Schools in Washington DC & New York

9/11/13 - TOON author Ricardo Liniers to appear on September 16th at the wonderfully fantastic Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, DC

9/10/13 - Liniers' US Debut: The Big Wet Balloon from TOON Books | Argentina's Most Famous Cartoonist Publishes His First English-Language Book

Book Review Quotes:

"This adorable comic-like tale wooed our kid reviewers"
--Parents Magazine
10 Best Children's Books of 2013
and Best Early Reader

“Sure to be a favorite"
--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"Tender...Satisfying"
    --The Horn Book Magazine (Starred Review)

"Loving and thoughtful"
  --The New York Times

"A simple, funny slice of life"
  --School Library Journal

"Intimate ink-and-watercolor vignettes."
--Publisher's Weekly

"Great for parents to share with their kids."
--Booklist

"Extraordinarily special"
  --Diamond Bookshelf

"It's simple, elegant, playful and beautiful."
--Comic Book Resources

Videos

A Message from Liniers:

Liniers at SPX

Liniers at US Bilingual School Visits

Photos

Liniers

Liniers in the USA

Vines

Book Signing at SPX:

Painting LIVE at Launch Party in NYC:

Brooklyn Book Festival...BALLOONS!

Liniers in his own voice...

How did you get started in cartooning?
At school... If you drew cartoons in class it kinda looked like you were paying attention. Math classes were Star Wars comics classes for me. Then growing up I started reading Crumb, Spiegelman, Pratt, Hergé, Watterson, Fantagraphics books, Drawn and Quarterly books...and whatever I could find in comic format. Then, I guess I must've thought... "Hey, I can do that."

Who are your favorite (American) cartoonists?
Art Spiegelman. R. Crumb. George Herriman. Dan Clowes. Chris Ware. Sacco. Kaz. Gorey. McDonnell. Watterson. Breathed. Burns. McKay. Segar. Katchor. Panter. Jeff Smith. Kochalka. Mark Beyer. Eisner. Kurtzman. And so many more...

Has your cartooning changed since having children?
Everything changed... the way I eat pizza changed. I have been revisiting my childhood ever since I started working with a few of my characters and books... Now I get to watch these little girls experience their childhood right in front of me. As I write this, a balloon is tied to my office chair, and Clementina is reading intently about some princess or other on a couch next to me.

Are your daughters coming up with gags for you?
Oh... yeah. It's hard for me not to include them in each daily strip... So, since my wife's first pregnancy, I began drawing a book just for them... The other day my 3 year old daughter wanted a piece of chocolate, and I said "If you make me laugh, you get the chocolate"... she looked me in the eye and said a very long: "RRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIICARDOOOOOO" ... She got the chocolate.

How old are your girls now?
Five, three and minus two months. The last one, also a girl, will join us in October 2013.

What has surprised you most about being a father?
The scary part. If they have the least hint of a fever, I'll hate the world and everyone and everything on it.

If you could go back in time to give 5-year-old Ricardo advice, what would it be?
Remember to keep drawing as freely as you do now. Also, don't burn the carpet when you're seven.

Is it true you used real rain drops in the artwork for the book? What was the process?
I watched them play in the summer rain and I started doing the sketches for the book while they were still playing. And taking photographs. Just then, I realized that there was a book. I think I remember them saying to me: "Daddy, we're cold, we want to go back in," and me answering: "No! Daddy is inspired! Keep at it!" Ha, ha! Just kidding.

Was the film The Red Balloon an influence on the book, and if so, why?
I remember watching it when I was very young. It probably is an influence on all my comics in general. I draw a lot of balloons for some reason.

How many of your daily strip Macanudo have you created? How would you describe it?
I have been doing a daily strip for ten years, so that adds up to more than 3600 strips. Not all of them good, mind you. It's a little schizophrenic daily strip. Sometimes its humor is observational, dark, absurd, sweet, strange. Some are recurring characters that you eventually get to know... some are just one-offs... and every now and then I'll even do a whole story. When I started doing the strip I wanted to find a way to have as freedom as possible within the natural confines of the comic strip format. I can't imagine committing to just one character or one only type of strip... I don't have that much imagination. So whenever something takes me by surprise, I follow the idea... Sometimes a character will develop, sometimes just a chuckle. I have great faith in intuition.

Newspapers are disappearing in the US, yet you're thriving as a cartoonist with a daily strip. Are newspapers still widely read in Argentina?
Newspapers are trying to cope with the competition that internet presents. But, oddly enough, in the last year only two newspapers grew in the world: One in China and La Nación, the Argentine paper that carries my strip. Is it because of my drawings?... Probably... probably.

When you are working on a drawing, do you listen to music or do you prefer silence? If so, what do you listen to?
Every cartoonist that I know loves music. Our line of work is very solitary; some would say antisocial. We're generally on our own, with our noses stuck in a piece of paper, so it's only natural that we often turn to music for a little company. I'm generally inclined to the Dylan types: the singer-songwriter with a guitar and some attitude. I guess that's how I ended up working with a musician from Alaska (Kevin Johansen), touring Europe and Latin America and living a nerd's version of the rock-and-roll lifestyle.

Do you have fans in the US? Where do they see your work, and how do you hear from your US fans?
I hope so... I generally hear from them through my twitter or facebook accounts. There's a huge Latin comunity all over the US and my strip is widely read in Latin America. I hope some of them show up for the launch of The Big Wet Balloon.

You're a superstar in Argentina, but this is your first book release in the United States, where you're little known outside of the Spanish-language community. What do you want Americans to know about you?
Macanudo has been published in many countries, many of them non-Spanish-speaking. France, Italy, French Canada, Brazil, Czech Republic... My influences in all areas of the arts are very American and I think it shows in the comic strip where you might find references to Calvin and Hobbes, To Kill a Mockingbird, Woody Allen, Seinfeld, Vonnegut, Elliott Smith, Salinger, Basquiat, etc. So I'm hopeful that American audiences will connect with my work.

Why do you want to be on The Colbert Report and what would you like him to ask you about?
I could enlighten him about the mysterious psyche of the Argentine Pope... We could also talk a little bit about my work, the new Big Wet Balloon book by TOON Books, the time I did 5000 book covers by hand, the time I painted with soccer superstar Messi (not a great painter), my relationship with Kevin Johansen (the other Alaskan export besides Sarah Palin) or why an Argentine newspaper runs a daily strip (Macanudo) that boasts a character named Esteban Colberto (not to be confused with Esteban Colberto from The Colbert Report) in his everlasting search of "Guess who's honoring me now?"