Betsy Snyder: February 2009

Yesterday was a fun day because 2 boxes of samples arrived (which is rare, so it's crazy to get 2 boxes in one day!). It's always nice to get those surprise packages in the mail and see your work in print. Sometimes you don't even know the product is on the market until your samples arrive.

I have a new pop-up book available now called Dinosaur Days (by Matt Mitter, Reader's Digest Children's Publishing). For some reason, it often doesn't come up if you just type in my name, but you can find the book online here or here. This book is unique in that the pop-up and dimensional elements are made from printed foam pieces.

In addition to my Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger? book coming out at the end of May (Random House), I also have a book called Don't Throw That Away! (by Lara Bergen) coming out in September. It's part of a new imprint called Little Green Books, which is Simon & Schuster's eco-friendly approach to books that I am so excited to be a part of (more info here and here and here). Not only are the materials eco-friendly but the themes are too. I hope to do more projects like this because I think they send a good message to kids and consumers and I like the challenge of creating using recycled paper stocks and other materials. I think it's really fun to just embrace the materials' intrinsic qualities and make the best of them.

AND...here are a few cards that I did for Peaceable Kingdom Press. It's been a good company to start working with and there may be a few more projects to come with them.