Lupine Land
It’s been two weeks since the Reading Round Up, the annual conference of Maine Children’s Librarians held in Augusta on May 1. This event brings together those serving youth in a Maine school or public library and celebrates children’s literature while honoring individuals who have made significant impacts on the literary landscape. I drew this for my Rabbit rabbit rabbit good luck post before heading out the door wearing my best purple attire. A few weeks before the conference scheduled for April 4, I got a surprise phone call from Camden Public Library’s...
Read MorePutting the A in STEM
I was invited to be a volunteer exhibitor at the 5th Annual STEM Expo sponsored by Portland Public Schools and Envirologix last Friday. Since many of my children’s books are nature-themed, I brought my collection of nature objects and some life-like toy models for nature studies with students. The event was held at USM’s Sullivan Gymnasium, and it was like a trade show for careers in science. Over 50 exhibitors, ranging from ecomaine to Maine Total Weather to Engineers Without Borders to IDEXX Labs to the Electro Toy Company drew busloads of local students along with displays...
Read Morecha- cha- Charlesbridge
O October, how I love thee! This month has been super full of everything: deadlines, events, travels. And the San Francisco Giants just won the World Series. How much better can it get? Well, today my advance copy of John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall arrived from Charlesbridge Publishing. This non-fiction picture book details a single episode in Muir’s youth. I learned a ton about him, and sharpened a pile of pencils illustrating it. Last week I received a new version of the book jacket for Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins due out in spring 2015. I wrote about the cover process here. This is...
Read MoreSeven kickers
1- With yesterday’s news that I am on the New York Public Library’s first Top 100 books of the last 100 years, I am OVER THE MOON. Hooray for Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins! To see what amazing company I am in, see the full list here. This chapter book was my first children’s book published, and Mitali remains an amazing mentor for me in the field of children’s books, leading the way in my first outings at schools and libraries. My portrait barely catches her brilliant smile. 2- Cool news: I will be illustrating another Mitali title, Tiger Boy, still in the...
Read MoreRickshaw Girl rides in India
Wow! I received my Marathi (India) copy of Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins. I love it! The reproductions of my illustrations are good, and they pair nicely with the text I can’t read. I have a cool book with typefaces that I turned to when working on the book 5 years ago. This was one sketch for the cover that didn’t fly. Anyway, I’m proud to see the cover in all it’s variations, especially the Korean, Japanese, and Indian versions: Bravo, Mitali, for bringing this story to life!...
Read Morelabors of love & seaweed soup
What a fast summer, full of sunshine and seaweed soup. Thanks to the brilliant bookings of Curious City, I had the honor of visiting another round of libraries, including my very own, the small but mighty Peaks Island Branch. A pretend delicacy from Seven Days of Daisy made it’s debut: jellyfish sandwiches! You can make yours with graham crackers, vanilla icing, red licorice string, and peach gummies. Yummy! It was the final evening of the Summer Reading Program, and the esteemed Pat Crowley Rockwell was a major addition, providing piano music and a song (days of the week, what...
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