Leap Frog

I love collaborating with my island neighbor, author Rae Chalmers. Her newest Oxbow Island Gang story, Leap Frog, is the fourth book I’ve illustrated that has published this year. How lucky am I?!

Late last fall when she handed me the manuscript, she also gave me this little fellow to cheer me on.

frog toy courtesy of Rae Chalmers photo ©Jamie Hogan

It’s also the fourth book in her series, and we have our process pretty much down. She gives me a list of things to illustrate for each chapter and a month or so later I show her rough sketches.

She gave me this cup by McKone Pottery and I swear drinking her husband’s coffee from it helped my process:)

drawing by Jamie Hogan of McKone pottery cup

In the story, Bear and Olivia keep finding dead frogs. I no sooner read the manuscript and came across this poor guy on the very dump road that I would be illustrating. It was a sad harbinger of the threats wildlife face everywhere.

photo © Jamie Hogan

In fact, the story begins with drama. Bear encounters the fire boat in Portland, an alarming sight. I took this photo on Peaks, and wondered what the emergency was.

Portland fire boat docking on Peaks Island, photo ©Jamie Hogan

This is the illustration that opens Chapter 2.

illustration from Leap Frog © Jamie Hogan

We saw this frog a couple of summers ago during a stay at Mt. Chase Lodge.

photo © Daisy Braun

He became a frog on a log in Chapter 6.

illustration for Leap Frog © Jamie Hogan

I happened to spy this anchor at the Brackett Cemetery on Peaks, where I had roamed during my research for The Lobster Graveyard.

headstone in Brackett Cemetery, Peaks Island photo © Jamie Hogan

It inspired this illustration for Chapter 5.

Illustration for Leap Frog © Jamie Hogan

I decided to use it in some valentine cards, too.

valentine illustration © Jamie Hogan

The story also features a truck crash!

Rae asked me to find a particular vintage truck, seen here near the island dock.

photo © Jamie Hogan

After taking photos, I drove out the “dump road” for more reference seeking, plus potholes:)

Brackett Avenue, Peaks Island photo © Jamie Hogan

This illustration took some bluffing, but it captures the scene of the crash.

illustration for Leap Frog © Jamie Hogan

In another scene, Bear creates a mess making pancakes for his grandmother. Sometimes I need to get into the act, too! Pancake making is a perfectly yummy detour from drawing.

photo © Jamie Hogan

Here’s the illustration from Chapter 18.

illustration for Leap Frog © Jamie Hogan

I showed Rae my first round of sketches in early December. I had to take a little break for the holidays, but returned to the project in early January. I enjoyed a little solo retreat at their getaway in Lincolnville. Except for the fire I started in the kitchen, it was super peaceful! Look, I got all these revisions done!

revising sketches photo © Jamie Hogan

I also did rough sketches for the cover. Which one is your favorite?

When she’s not writing, Rae is an accomplished quilter. This one gave me so many color ideas!

I worked on the cover final back in my studio on Peaks. A fantastic picture book by April Pulley Sayre provided great inspiration as well. April was an acclaimed book creator of nature topics; we collaborated on Here Come the Humpbacks years ago.