Stars, by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee. What a beautiful, beautiful book. No names are on the front cover. None. Which made me really want to explore this book and look for the answer to ‘why’ that decision was made? The jacket features just the word, “Stars” brighter at the …
A few weeks ago my family came home to a very grumpy me. Over the next several days my mood worsened. As I explained the magnitude of my situation to my compassionate loved ones, I became aware that most people don’t know the importance of something which is absolutely critical to an illustrator’s vocation— paper. My …
Charlesbridge Publishing contacted me in June, of 2013 to ask if I would illustrate a non-fiction picture book written by our very own, spectacular, Suzanne Slade. The book is titled, THE INVENTOR’S SECRET, WHAT THOMAS EDISON TOLD HENRY FORD. In this 48 page non-fiction picture book, Suzanne shares the story of Thomas Edison’s successes and Henry …
The first step when beginning a picture book project is to go shopping. I have only recently acknowledged this because I seem to be amassing quite a collection of, “stuff”, all in the name of my “craft”. I don’t recall learning this step in art school, so I began paying attention, noticing, contemplating this …
RED, A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall is wonderfully witty and clever and I’m excited to point out some of the smart choices that this author/illustrator has made. First, notice the cover (above), the crayon’s wrapper is red, but its color is not. Uh oh.. here-in lies the problem.
Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri is very dull. It’s also very funny. Meet the Dullards — they are a family who loves things dull and boring. But, the Dullard’s three children, Blanda, Borely, and Little Dud are straying from their parent’s quest for all …
You Nest Here with Me is a beautiful, lyrical picture book by the mother daughter team of Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple. Illustrated (perfectly) by Melissa Sweet. It’s a book about birds. What? You say that’s not enough? Okay then— It rhymes. It rhymes brilliantly. The back flap copy …
I’ve been reading and thinking about non fiction picture books a lot lately. One reason is that there seems to be quite an abundance of them. Which, I think is a good thing. But, getting a non-fiction story to work has added hurdles. Its subject matter is usually known to …
I don’t remember the last time I laughed out loud reading a picture book. So I bought it. Then I made my 20 year old and 17 year old read it. They chuckled and I laughed again and again. Sparky! By Jenny Offill and illustrated by Chris Appelhans is my idea of …
The medium in which an illustration is executed has an enormous impact on the style and feel of the entire book. Claudia McGehee is an illustrator who works in scratchboard. Her finished illustrations have the look of a woodcut, or linocut print, but the process is very different. Claudia begins …