I know what you’re starting to think. You’re starting to think I must be some sort of geek. This is the second post in a week where I’m mentioning Star Wars. But if you read that post and you really are a Star Wars geek, you probably already contacted me to let me know of any inaccuracies in the post (there were some).
So maybe that doesn’t make me a geek. Maybe it just makes me a nerd. I’m not really sure the difference. But one thing is for sure…
I am a dork. But a lovable one.
I am teaching my son all the ways of the world but I’m teaching them with love and humor and just a touch of pop culture. And his interests in the world are shaping up quite nicely.
Last year, I took him to see the movie, Winnie the Pooh and he loved it. I since dug out my stuffed Tigger from childhood and my stuffed Piglet from adulthood and paired that with a brand new Winnie the Pooh. But his love for Pooh didn’t really come until the Easter Bunny brought him a stuffed Eeyore. That donkey is his pride and joy.
And then something else happened.
We showed him Star Wars, followed by The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi. He liked them alright. I bought him a light saber. And that was the end of that.
When we moved a few weeks ago, we had to wait forEVER (maybe like a week) to get our internet hooked up so we had no TV to speak of. That’s when we put the Star Wars trilogy on the iMac and let him enjoy again. And again. And again.
And then we progressed to the Star Wars LEGO game for the Wii. And then it was the Clone Wars character handbook. And now, I’m bordering on Star Wars geekery myself.
But being a dork, I can fully appreciate all of that stuff. And James Hance.
James is a fantastically gifted and incredibly creative artist. I’ve already fallen in love with his geekable artwork. He’s also an author and I had the lovely pleasure of reviewing his book, Wookiee The Chew, or what I referred to as the “lovechild” in the title of this post.
‘Wookiee The Chew – The House at Chew Corner’
‘Wookiee The Chew’, in the style of the original Pooh books tells the adorkable tale of the little biped that belonged to Chrisolo Robin (and Chrisolo Robin belonged to him). 24 pages of affectionately crafted adventure, brand new b&w illustrations and sneaky Star Wars references- a tribute to the combined genius of George Lucas, A.A.Milne and E.H.Sheppard. Suitable for jedi apprentices of all ages!
As soon as the book arrived, I snuggled in with Evan and we read it cover to cover. It’s a longish book and probably good for ages 7 and up unless you have a really smart 5 year old like mine. I explained a few words but he caught almost every reference.
Wookiee the Chew = Winnie the Pooh + Chewbacca the Wookiee
Chrisolo Robin = Christopher Robin + Han Solo
Droidlet = R2D2 + Piglet
Owlbi Wan = Owl + Obi Wan
You get the idea. And the illustrations are just as clever. We immediately recognized the tallest tree in the dark side of the forest.
Death Star, anyone?
And to top it all off, we got to select three pieces of James’ relentlessly cheerful art. I had Evan pick them all out. I might have steered him a touch. We picked out ‘A Most Bold Adventure’ (companion print to Wookiee the Chew), ‘A Dark Starry Night’ (think Batman meets Van Gogh), and this…
We are hoping for and anticipating a sequel to the book because this story made no mention of who we affectionately refer to as Darth Tigger. There must be more. We hope there’s more. If not, we’ll just keep buying the artwork.
Where you can find James Hance:
Website: http://www.jameshance.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtByJamesHance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JimJeroo
Tumblr: http://jameshance.tumblr.com/
Disclosure: I receive a complimentary copy of Wookiee the Chew along with three prints but this review is entirely my own opinion. You may, however, borrow that opinion if you like.
76 comments
My husband (and kids, probably) would love this! My favorite prints:
“A biped and his boy”
“A Most Bold Adventure”
“MEEP”
“The Girl Who Waited”
“Firefrog”
I love MEEP. I was always a huge Beaker fan on the Muppet Show!
I love the Gentle Sith 1 and 2 and the Flower of the Force 1,2, and 3. Now…if I win…you can’t make me take those. My son would be crushed! I’ll let him pick the ones he loves…but you asked which ones I like–and those are then!
I love that you picked those! No, I won’t hold you to it. I don’t think little boys would be crazy about *those*.
I’m not gonna lie, I squealed like a little girl when I saw this. I just finished making a Star Wars quiet book for my nephew and this book would be GREAT for him when he gets older! I love all of the prints, but if I had to pick, my favs are:
“A biped and his boy”
“A Most Bold Adventure”
“Dooze the Force”
I know. It was SO hard for me to pick the prints. That’s why I had Evan pick them!
Well, that seems perfectly timed what with having to set up a nursery in the next few months …
Lunch Atop the Half Constructed Death Star
Bounce Them Out All Of Them
Shadow Of the Snuffleupagus
Up & Far Far Away
The Fraggleship Of the RaddishNeedless to say I’m following Mssr. Hance on twitter now as well.
Isn’t his artwork so awesome??? I’m actually friends with the co-author of his next book (hint: it’s for Dr. Who fans). And a nursery? BIG TIME CONGRATS!
My son would absolutely love this book. Thanks for introducing it to us!
James Hance is an amazing discovery! Thank you for introducing me to his world. This is also an amazing giveaway. I love ‘The Kiss’…..and the stormtroopers as Beatles…and the ATAT unicorn…and the….
Aha – I’ve got your style down. Nice choices!
I enjoyed perusing James’ site. Love the artwork; got all nostalgic.
Hard to pick favorites but here goes:
Oh Bother
Bounce Them Out, All of Them
A Most Bold Adventure
Til Luke Said…
Kermit Calling
Even if I don’t win, I think I’ll be getting the book. Hard to beat the price or the cause.
It’s like he snuck up inside my childhood brain. And yes, the book is a great deal no matter how you look at it!
Oh man these are awesome~! I love these:
‘Smugglers of the Labyrinth”
“Boo & Chewy”
“a Most Bold Adventure”
“A Biped And His Boy”
“Up & Far, Far Away”
“Little Rebels”
and oh so many more.
Joe would totally freak the geek out over these!
Have you ever heard of him before?? I LOVE his artwork. So excited to be working with him!
‘Shadow Of The Snuffleupagus’Calvin & Hobbes
‘The Eleventh’
‘The Lost Boys’
‘The Girl Who Waited’
There are too many favorites for just five!
Someone Who Loves youThe Doctor of Steel
Amy Pond
Firefrog
A Most Bold Adventure
A most bold adventure
The girl who waited
A biped and his boy
A dark starry night
Lunch on top of a half constructed death star
Email is [email protected]gmail.com
“Electric Submarine”
“Help”
“Firefrog”
“Stormtrooper Fields Forever”
“Grover”
My favs would have to be
Bounce Them Out All Of Them
Fuzzy And Red White And Blue
Masters Of The Universe
Doctor The Future
The Man And Muppet Of Steel
My absolute fav is the stormtrooper flower series. Amiafunnygirl sent me, thanks for hosting.
Mr. Hance has captured my favorite “universes” from childhood in such an enjoyable, unique way. *Love* his work!
Here are my favorite prints:
‘Bounce Them Out. All of Them.’
“A Most Bold Adventure’
‘The Meep’
‘The Lost Boys’
‘Calvin & Hobbes’
It’s really hard to choose but here goes
My favorite prints in no specific order
‘Someone Who Loves You’
‘The Meep’ ‘The Man & The Muppet Of Steel’
‘A Tatooine Explorer Is A Friend To All!’ ‘A Most Bold Adventure’
‘It Is I!’ (Super Grover)
How can I pick my favourites when I love everything! If you twist my arm…
Firefrog
Doctor The Future
Someone Who Loves You
Up & Far, Far Away
Calvin & Hobbes
Lunch Atop The Half Constructed Death Star
A Most Bold Adventure
And pretty much all the rest of them, too!
I can’t wait to read this to my niece.
Title: ‘The Kiss’ (Han & Leia)
Size: 17″x11″
Title: ‘Someone Who Loves You’
Size: 18″x12″
Title: ‘Little Rebels’
Size: 16″x12″
Title: ‘A Most Bold Adventure’ (Wookiee The Chew)
Size: 16″x12″
Title: ‘Wokstock’
Size: 14″x11″
My favorites have always been the Flower of the Force series. They would look great in my daughters room. I also love any print that has to do with the Doctor.
So hard to pick. All of the wookiee the chew are awesome. I’d wallpaper my living room in them. My favorites are probably the force and biped of little brain.
But then you.cant go wrong with firefrog, either. and I love the look on the face of the Doctor in tenth.
James work is stunning! Geek art always has my heart!
‘Someone Who Loves You’
‘Little Rebels’
‘Up & Far, Far Away’
‘Wokstock’
‘The Fraggleship Of The Radish’
James Hance is amazing – his Totoro/Star Wars mash-up earlier this year was gorgeous! My favourite prints are:
‘Till Luke Said…’
‘A Tatooine Explorer Is A Friend To All’
‘Calvin & Hobbes’
‘A Most Bold Adventure’.
I don’t see it on the page, but ‘Oh Bother’ is completely adorable too.
I love “Bounce them out, all of them”
“A most bold adventure”
“The Doctor of Steel”
Of course, it goes without saying that they are all great, and it’s so hard to select favourites!
Someone Who Loves You
Dooze the Force
Till Luke Said
The Creation Of Muppet
The Meep
Thank you for this opportunity and for sharing!
I ADORE James Hance! His books, his artwork, HIM! Oh MY! When I attended the Albuquerque Comic Expo in June, I just kept going back to his booth and staring at the prints. I knew I had to limit myself as I couldn’t buy them all but the decision was so hard! I finally decided on a Wookie the Chew print and would love to add to my collection. I’m picturing an entire wall of nothing but James Hance prints.
Here are my picks, in no particular order:Doctor TeethFuzzy Red, White, & BlueAmy & DocElectric SubmarineSomeone Who Loves You
I love the idea of a James Hance wall. Hope I can help you out!
So hard to choose; I love all of his work so much! My top 5 picks: “Bounce them out, all of them.” “‘Till Luke said””The Last””The Mechanical Giant””The Lost Boys”My household agrees that Darth Tigger needs a book, too. We cannot wait for the next Wookie the Chew book!
Oh, my. So many amazing mashups to choose from!
I’d have to say ‘Bounce Them Out’ is the most mind boggling, then ‘A Most Bold Adventure’ ‘A Tatooine Explorer Is A Friend To All’ ‘Taking Their First Steps Into A Larger Forest’ and because I’m a sucker for Muppets and Whedon, ‘Firefrog’
So good.
I have so many favorites. Some of them are:
‘A Biped And His Boy’
‘A Most Bold Adventure’
‘Shadow Of The Snuffleupagus
‘The Last’
‘Up & Far, Far Away’
‘The Fraggleship Of The Radish’
‘Prince Adam’s Cringer’ (I know this one is out of stock, but I HAD to put it)
‘The Lost Boys’
‘Smugglers of the Labyrinth’
‘Firefrog’
The Kessel Run (Ditto)
‘Till Luke Said…’
‘Masters Of The Universe’
‘At-Ore’
Gee, I’m starting to think you’re a real fan 😉
I’m very close to buying this to keep on hand for when my husband and I (Gd willing) have children. That being said, my favorites are:
“Wokstock”
“At-Ore”
“The Girl Who Waited”
“Electric Submarine”
“Firefrog”
Children? I think YOU’LL both enjoy it!
There are so many great prints! I love them all!
Here are some that are perfect for our nursery:
“A Most Bold Adventure”
“Little Rebels”
“At-Ore”
“A Biped and His Boy”
“The Last”
I love these as nursery artwork. Raise your baby right!
LOVE our Mr. Hance ever so much. I’ve been lucky enough to watch his painty cam and chat with him before. Wonderful man and ever so talented. I think this is a great idea. I would love to own some of his work, but just having a baby I don’t have the extra monies.
And so, on that note here are my top 5 picks:
1. ‘Bounce Them Out. All Of Them.’
2. ‘The Last’
3. ‘Help’
4. ‘The Meep’
5. ‘You’ve Got Green On You’
Ah yes. Those babies can be quite expensive can’t they? Hope your number is the lucky one!
I love all his work, it’s hard to pick favorites but I’m pretty sure these are my top five:
The last
The Lost Boys
Help
Lunch atop the half constructed Death Star
The Gentle Sith
So many to choose from, sigh. But to narrow it down to five:
‘Till Luke Said…
The Man and the Muppet of Steel
Destroy All Monsters
Force by Northwest
Help
So awesome, all of them!
So awesome? YES!
My fav artists and an inspiration to kids in my classes
Dark Starry Knight
Til Luke Said
Fuzzy&Red, White, & Blue
Someone Who Loves You
Little Rebels
Ooh! I love the idea of these in the classroom!
Having found Mr. Hance a couple of months ago, my husband and I have been arguing over which prints to order for the nursery (and are quickly running out of time to decide on only a few lol).
My current faves are:
‘Someone Who Loves You’
‘Dooze The Force’
A Biped Of Very Little Brain
The Promise
The Hunt
I love these as nursery prints (but you’re on your own for any decision making!)
I love all of his stuff, but my favorite prints are:
A Most Bold Adventure
At-Ore (‘cuz Eeyore is my favorite!)
Flowers Lead To Friendship
Oh Bother
The Promise
I want my own copy of Wookie the Chew…because I am a geek.nerd/dork too!!
Us geek/nerd/dorks have to stick together!
This is awesome
Someone Who Loves You
Doctor Teeth
Falcon Girl
Amy & Doc
‘At-Ore’ (Wookiee The Chew)
‘Dooze The Force’
Or ALL OF THEM! 🙂
Ha ha! I’m with you!
Without doubt ‘Til Luke Said..’ is one of James smartest of James mashups with the glory of Maurice Sendak and Star Wars, only followed by ‘The Girl Who Waited’ the now wonderful prelude to the new book ‘Goodnight Pond’
I have to admit that “Til Luke Said” is one of my very favorites too. Nice choice!
I would love to read this book, huge Star Wars fan (really I’m just a huge geek..lol). The fact that he was able to bring together two such classic stories, one sci fi and the other childrens fantasy is AMAZING.
My favorite prints have to connect with my childhood and interests as an anime fan.
1) Firefrog
2) My Neighbor Colossus
3) Bounce Them Out. All Of Them
4) Someone Who Loves You
5) Smugglers of the Labyrinth
PS. They are all beautiful prints and I wish I could get them all, but these are my ABSOLUTE favs.
They are all beautiful, aren’t they? Such heart in them.
Someone who loves you
Little Rebels
This would be an anniversary gift for my husband. I love Star Wars and he loves Up.
Oh, that’s SO sweet! I hope you buy it even if you don’t win!
Love this guy! My favorite picks are:’The Doctor Of Steel’
‘Firefrog’
The Dark Starry Knight
‘A Most Bold Adventure’
This book has been on my to-buy list for a while now. We are all big nerds in my house. It was hard to pick my favorites. But once I saw you weren’t holding people to
their picks, it was a little easier.
“Up & Far. Far Away”
I love “Little Rebels” – it made my heart hurt.
“Up & Far. Far Away”
“A Most Bold Adventure”
“The Man & the Muppet of Steel” – two of my childhood
loves.
Oh, and “Firefrog”
Only if you win, you’ll have to really decide!
I adore James Hance! I discovered him about two years ago and his art is so terrific. When I first saw his Wookiee the Chew stuff, I was delighted. Being an absolute Star Wars nerd (I have an entire room in my house just full of Star Wars memorabilia), I’ve always appreciated James Hance’s quirky style of combining genres I love. I wish I could afford to have him commission a painting for me. These prints would be the next best thing. Please randomly choose me. lol
My picks:
A Most Bold Adventure (Wookiee The Chew)
Little Rebels
Someone Who Loves You
The Man & The Muppet of Steel
The Creation of Muppet
I’ll be randomly choosing shortly and hope it’s you 😉
I don’t know why he isn’t huger than he is. His work is amazing!
I love this guys website! Thanks for the intro!
Isn’t his stuff amazing? I’m so glad this giveaway introduced ME to his work!
Love love love the cheer and humor captured by James. My husband and I and our lil three yr old girl are huge fans of Pooh, Dr Who, Fraggles, Star Wars, Disney…..pretty much everything that JH is able to capture and meld together. Here are some of my favorites…my hubby and daughter may disagree but….
At-Ore
The Girl Who Waited
Amy and Doc
Princess and The Beast
The Eleventh
The Tenth
Amy Pond
The Doctor of Steel
Doozie The Force
Litte Rebels
A Most Bold Adventure
A Biped and His Boy
I love this, I am ordering a book for my cousin’s kid, my roommate’s nephew…. okay and one for me too cause it’s that cool anyway but another book would be awesome too..
My favorite prints:
‘Bounce Them Out. All Of Them.’
‘A Biped And His Boy’ (Wookiee the Chew)
‘A Most Bold Adventure’ (Wookiee The Chew)
‘Little Rebels’
‘Firefrog’
I really like The Kessel Run, but I see that its out of print so thats why its not on my list.
I totally agree with you. How could he possibly know I love Star Wars, Winnie the Pooh, the Muppets… It’s like he’s inside my brain!
Yay!
“Falcon Girl”
“Up & Far, Far Away”
“Til Luke Said…”
“A most bold adventure”
“Doctor of Steel”
Oh, I want them all! A boy and his biped, Firefrog, A most bold adventure, the dark starry night, a most gentle sith…
Thank you for introducing me to this site! It’s Christmas gift heaven for the people in my world.
I thought the same thing about Christmas shopping this year. It will be so easy!
This is AWESOME!!! I am a lifelong fan of both Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars, and I love any excuse to share my geeky/nerdy/dorky inclinations with my own daughter 😉
My favorite prints (as if I could choose just five): Princess & The Beast | Little Rebels | A Biped And His Boy | The Gentle Sith II | A Most Bold Adventure
Thank you for offering such an amazing giveaway!
[…] For true geeks, if you’ve never been introduced to the world of James Hance, you’ll thank me. His prints are clever, touching, funny, sweet and the sign of a talented artist in the field of geekery. Look for multiple references to Star Wars, Dr. Who, Muppets, and more. And he also dabbles in book writing. […]