win a hoot owl hoot! game

Post your child's drawing of an owl by Monday, March 19 to Peaceable Kingdom's facebook page to be entered in a random drawing for a Hoot Owl Hoot! game. Click here for more info.

Happy St. Patrick's Day...may the luck of the Irish be with you!

in like a lion

This year has been a blur so far. Lots of good things, just so, SO busy. I do kind of hope March goes out like a lamb. I'm hoping for a lull in April, just in time for spring, to help me catch my breath.

Since last fall, I've been mostly working on my new picture book for Random House, which I will be finished with soon. It's different from anything I've done before—I feel like I've grown so much working on this project. I got over a big writing hump with this book, thanks to an amazing editor who sees things in me that I don't even know are there. And I've evolved my art style and process quite a bit for this book as well. And this book is all kid characters, which I haven't done a lot of. I can't wait to share more, but it's not time yet. Maybe just a snippet of what I have in-progress on my studio wall...

In other book-related news, in January I attended the Kindling Words Vermont writing retreat, focused on the art of creating books for children. Three-time Caldecott winner David Wiesner was the illustrator presenter, so you can guess that was uber inspiring. I also found it so motivating and affirming to connect with other author-illustrators doing the same thing I do. It's nice to feel that sense of community and be able to help each other along the way because we are all in this together. I found that some of the things I've struggled with over the past few years are commonalities, and knowing I'm not alone in this journey makes all the difference.

I'll leave you with some new product I've done for Peaceable Kingdom Press, one of my favorite companies. They plan to feature me on their facebook page this week. Thanks Peaceable Kingdom!