I wanted to give you a sneak peek at a new book I'm illustrating for Sylvan Dell Publishing - my third book for them. The Author is Michelle Lord and I wasn't familiar with her work until now. I can tell you she's a wonderful writer and I'm so happy to be working on this book. It's scheduled for a Spring 2013 release, sounds far away but it'll be here before you know it.

Also I'm a presenter at the 2012 Colorado Council International Reading Association which I'm excited about. So there's a lot of behind the scenes preparation going on. More updates coming soon.

I Want A Pet! by Cathy Morrison

Hard to believe this year is almost over, but I've been busy and it's flown by. Here's one of the reasons I've been spending a lot of time working instead of blogging this past year - it's my first book as writer/illustrator!

Tiger Tales Books is the publisher and I really do feel honored to work with them. They cater to kiddos seven and under and in my humble opinion are the best.

So here's the cover artwork (looks strange to me not to be sharing the credit with an author) and a few of the spreads. Look for it spring 2012.

The Ultimate Allergy-Free Snack Cookbook

I get the most fun jobs from Square One Publishers in NYC. This time it's illustrating the interior of The Ultimate Allergy-Free Snack Cookbook by Judi and Shari Zucker.

So many great snack ideas for happy healthy kids here. Now there's no reason to have to say "no" when your child asks for a snack. These are all healthy as well as easy to make and delicious. And while it's mainly for people with food allergies, the recipes are also sugar-free and meat-free. Vegans, diabetics and cancer survivors will enjoy these yummy snacks as well.

The only problem about illustrating this book was that I was hungry the whole time I worked on it. So I did try a few of these and they taste as good as they sound.

Cat Calls, Wonderful Stories and Practical Advice from a Veteran Cat Sitter

I just received copies of Cat Calls by Jeanne Adlon and Susan Logan and couldn't be happier with how it came out. It's one thing to read through copy while illustrating a book but quite another to sit down after it's printed and really enjoy it.

There's lots of great cat-care tips but my favorite parts are Jeanne's wonderful stories about the various cats she's cared for and the famous people she's worked with and befriended over the years... who knew John Lennon and Yoko Ono were cat people? Here's a great review from Kirkus' Review with a lot more fun details.

Three Little Beavers

You know the old saying, "busy as a beaver"? Well I can relate because that's how I felt working on the illustrations for Three Little Beavers by Jean Heilprin Diehl.

Beatrix the beaver can't get a break. Her brother Bevan is an expert at building. Her sister Beverly is an amazing swimmer. Isn't there anything that Beatrix is good at?

Kids will relate to the plight of these busy little creatures as well. As Beatrix swims away, thinking nobody will care she finds herself trapped. Her siblings come to rescue her but become trapped as well. There's lots of adventures and kids will love reading and learning a lot about these busy little beavers.

Sylvan Dell Publishing also includes a creative minds section and teaching activities in the back of each of their books.

Denver's Very First County Fair!

The land was bought for a Denver County Fair in the 1800s. Suddenly that plan was interrupted by a little thing called the "Civil War" and no fair was ever launched... until this summer! It was a mixture of old fashioned fair goodness - think homemade goods, arts and crafts, carnival rides, pie eating competitons - with a twist of 21st Century sensibilities - fashion, green technology, drag queen competition, robotics, rocket building and launching, music and lots more.

So I was honored to win a First Place Blue Ribbon for Animalogy by Marianne Berkes in the illustration competition. Of course, I couldn't have done it without the help of my grandson, Konnor who posed for one of the illustrations in the book.

We're already looking forward to next year's fair.

The Three Little Beavers

Hopefully you like beavers because you'll be seeing them off and on for the rest of this year. Here's a preview for you, the working cover for The Three Little Beavers, for Sylvan Dell Publishing. The type will change - I just like playing around with type placement, mainly to see if I'm leaving enough room - otherwise I tend to fill in every inch possible.

This book is by Jean Heilprin Diehl and it's a very cute, fun story about guess what? Yes, the adventures of Beverly, Bevan and Beatrix, the three little beavers. Look for it spring of 2012!