Funny Faces: Pop-Up Board Books

I'm pleased I finally get a chance to show these off! They are a series of pop-up mask books published by Campbell Books. The spreads are masks with a little pop-up on each one.

Spread from Funny Faces: On the Farm   Modeled by my husband :-)

Spread from Funny Faces: On the Farm

Spread from Funny Faces: Fancy Dress    Modeled by yours truly. Hi there!

Spread from Funny Faces: Fancy Dress

So of course I had alot of fun with these! And seeing the final pop-up in the book was really satisfying. There will be two more books in this series coming in the fall- I can't wait to reveal those.

They are available on Amazon UK!

Easter Stickers for Target

This weekend, I found my Easter stickers! This set is sold exclusively at Target, thanks to Peaceable Kingdom Press. I wish it was displayed at a better location, it was hiding in the back of the card section. But of course its always thrilling to find my art at a store, especially at a big one like Target.

Peek Inside-It's Easter Time!

I have a new book for Easter, titled Peek Inside-It's Easter Time! published by Running Press Kids. It is similar in format for the one I did for Halloween by the same author, Megan E. Bryant. It is a story/activity/sticker book all rolled into one.

You can get it on Amazon or your local indie bookstore. Happy Easter!

Sunny Farm- Sticker Set

This is a sticker set I did for Peaceable Kingdom Press. Can I get a "cluck cluck" for chicken stickers?

There are three play boards and three sheets of vinyl cling stickers. I'm always happy to draw anything farm related.

You can get buy it here!

Muddle London

I got a chance last year to work with a UK publisher, Campbell Books. They are so friendly and easy to work with and I really had fun with their projects. This is a magnetic play book titled Muddle London, being released today! There are a set of magnets in which you can position onto the pages.

As much as I would like to think I'm a world traveler, I have never been to London before, so it was alot like doing research before a big trip. Now I know exactly where to go and what to do if I was to go there. Some day!

It was also a good challenge for me to do a spread with a map scene (something that is based on real info.) I've come to enjoy doing them and hope to do more of these.

Its available on Amazon.co.uk! Wish I could see this in the stores in the UK!

My Process: Lift-a-flap Books

I worked on this cute little paperback joke book for HarperCollins before I worked on Road Work Ahead. It was where I got the idea to start making dummies of the sketches. There were alot of lift-a-flaps inside to work out, and the art director had sent me this dummy that they did after I submitted the sketches to them. I thought it was really useful.

There were at least 2 flaps but 4 jokes on each spread. The biggest challenge was the layout. Leaving room for the text, but having the flaps work out too. Now I have a whole new appreciation for books with flaps (especially where there is art on the other side!)

Knock knock! Who's there? Ghouls! Ghouls who?

Ghouls and boys both love Halloween!

Overall, I love working on Halloween books, they give me a chance to do something funky and use a different color palette than usual. Grab a copy here :-)

Its October and a new book!

Its October and I'm happy to say I have another Halloween book out this year, this time its Halloween Howlers: Frightfully Funny Knock-Knock Jokes written by Michael Teitelbaum, illustrated by me, published by Harper Festival.

Its got tons of lift-a-flaps on every spread and I'll be showing more of that in another post. In the meanwhile, I want to thank Ann Arbor with Kids for a wonderful review of the book. 

You can also get it on Amazon, BN, or your favorite indie bookstore. More Halloween fun to come!

AADL Summer Reading Program

I had the honor to work with my local library, the AADL, to design and illustrate their summer reading games program. I'm a big fan of theirs. Ever since I moved to Ann Arbor 2 years ago, I had attended tons of interesting workshops and forums at the library. Not to mention, I gave my very own talk there. Check it out here.

And when they asked if I could do a Richard Scarry like town with many characters using the library in different ways- of course I'm on board! I initially did people:

And when I found out they were more interested in anthropomorphic animals- even better!

The final in color:

And speaking of libraries and anthropomorphic animals- I'm teaching a workshop! Its called Creating and Drawing Anthropomorphic Animals Characters with Jannie Ho. Its on Saturday, July 16th from 1to 2:30pm, at the Downtown Ann Arbor District Library. Its free for teens and adults to attend, so if you are in the area, hope to see you there.

Let's Do It!

I have been an admirer of Peaceable Kingdom Press' toys and products for a while now, and they've been on my client wish list. So I was very happy I finally got to work with them last year on this Game Time Activity book, Let's Do It! I received some samples recently and noticed its out on their website.

Some interior spreads:

 

I was especially thrilled with the way the layout and graphics look; I love it when the designer and I are on the same wavelength and the whole book really represents my design aesthetics well. They were also a pleasure to work with!

Let's Do It Game Time! Write & Wipe Activity Book
published by Peaceable Kingdom Press
Ages 3-6
$12.99
Available on Amazon or at Peaceable Kingdom Press

You Can Draw Series

It was fun collaborating with Picture Window Books to create these two titles for their You Can Draw series, Zoo Animals, and Monsters and Other Scary Things.

They are simple how-to books for kids to learn how to draw, with basic shapes broken down. For me, it was fun sneaking a funky chicken in there. Just another little thing to help with my world domination with chickens.

My Latest Board Book: What Does Cow Say?

Its wonderful to kick off 2011 with the release of this board book I illustrated, What Does Cow Say? written by Joan Holub, published by Scholastic/Cartwheel books. It is a lift-a-flap book where you get to lift the mouth of the animals and see what they say.

I'll be talking a bit more about the process in making this book, but in the meanwhile, check out the author Joan Holub's interesting post on the 2 pg dummy she submitted to the publisher for this book.

And hey, this is the first time I have a rooster on the cover of one of my books. Possibly the beginning of my chicken world dominance?

My Better World Savings Bank

Last year, I worked on a fun project called My Better World Savings Bank. It is a high quality wooden house bank that has three compartments, and it teaches kids about spending, saving, and sharing. It comes with tons of stickers to decorate the house with and a passbook to keep track of expenses.


Along with founder John Weatherley and designer Alex Knowlton, I illustrated the stickers and the art work for the site. You can buy the bank online or check out some useful links to teach children to be financially smart!

High Five Magazine

Check out this month's High Five Magazine- featuring this spread I illustrated called Fix the Flat. Also in the same issue is my friend and fellow Illustration for kids member Anette with her awesome double page spreads- check it out here. Yay!

The Great Matzoh Hunt

I illustrated a board book that was just released a few days ago called The Great Matzoh Hunt, a companion to Light the Menorah, both published by PSS. A funny coincidence: this is the second book I've worked on in which the title starts with "The Great..." (the other, The Great Reindeer Rebellion.)

Anthropomorphic animals going around the house looking for the matzoh? Oh yes, I did like this job very much!

Its also a lift-the-flap book, and I had the freedom of coming up with where the flap was and what was underneath. I hope the kids will enjoy the fun little things I put there while they look for the matzoh with the animals.
If I can get away with drawing anthropomorphic plates and cups, I will do so!
I also sneaked in some chicken goodness in this book (which I actually try to do in all my books.) A little teaser for you to go and check it out in the bookstores at least! Also available on Amazon.

I spy my book...at Barnes & Nobles!

I know its not even Thanksgiving yet but stores everywhere are already displaying alot of Christmas items. This weekend, I went to my local Barnes and Nobles and sure enough, they have my new book there! Its called The Great Reindeer Rebellion, written by Lisa Trumbauer and illustrated by yours truly. Its a great companion to The Haunted Ghoul Bus, with the same format and embossed pages, both published by Sterling.

What happens when the reindeers go on strike? Santas and his elves enlist other animals to pull the sleigh for him!
Some interior spreads:

There are some funny and interesting stories I would like to share while working on this book. But I will save that for another post. For now, I just want to officially announce it here that this book is released! You can get it on Amazon or at your local Barnes & Nobles.

Cluck cluck!

New Book: Light the Menorah

Hello! I have a new book that just came out called Light the Menorah, published by Price Stern Sloan. I just got a bunch of samples last week. Its an interactive board book in which there are tabs on top to light the candles.
It was a bit tricky because of the tabs; the menorah needed to be in a specific place on each page. But I'm pretty happy in the end with this. I think this is my first interactive board book!
It is available now on Amazon, and should be out in the bookstores around the holidays. I'll be on the lookout for it for sure :-)

My First Graphic Novels-Stone Arch Books

I was feeling like I had nothing interesting to blog about lately and then this package came yesterday.
I worked on these two graphic novels for kids last year- T-Ball Trouble and Lily's lucky Leotard, written by Carl Meister, published by Stone Arch Books, both are available now. The designer did an amazing job with the cover....I love the look of them.
I've dabbled in comic books personally on my own but doing this job gives me a whole new appreciation for graphic novel artists out there. Each panel is a piece of art in itself...thats a whole lot of work.
There has been a trend of comic style/graphic novel format in children's publishing. Its alot of fun to see and I hope it sticks around for a while.