New book, kids, crafts and museums, oh my!

It's always exciting to get copies of a new book. Even after you've spent months reading the manuscript as it goes through numerous revisions, researching and illustrating art spreads, have proofed it through several generations of design, layout and printer proofs. It's great to hold the actual book, all shiny and new, in your hands. I hope kids will enjoy it.

Baby on Board's official release date is March 1, 2017. I didn't plan a book release party, but I'm working on a gallery exhibit and talk at the Red Feather Lakes Community Library for the month of March. Also, I'm working with the folks at Where Women Create BUSINESS on an article coming out this summer. So there'll be more about Baby on Board and what goes into being a children's book illustrator.

Copies of Baby On Board arrive in mail!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that In A Nutshell finds a good home. The author and I are both submitting to literary agents and publishers. For the most part we've been sending PDFs through email, but some publishers want physical copies so we have those as well. I learned how to saddle stitch to create printer spreads for the book dummy. Thanks to the Fed Ex/Kinkos lady who told me that was what I needed to do and thank you to YouTube for walking me through the process.

In A Nutshell by Barb Ciletti, illustrated by Cathy Morrison 

Interior spreads for In A Nutshell

More saddle stitched and paginated spreads...

On Thursday, February 2 we read Over on the Farm as part of Storytime in the Dome at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. I hadn't read this book in a while so practiced by reading to Crowley. As you can see he loves the story, begging for his next walk to be over on a farm. He's fascinated by the sounds of the owls.

During our actual Storytime we had lots of audience participation. The kids counted the animals, made turkey gobbles, cow moos, pig snorts and found the hidden rooster on each page. Next book I'll have to figure out better hiding spots.

Over on the Farm by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by me, published by Dawn Publications

Here's Amy, another museum volunteer helping out with Rooster Puppets down stairs in the Learning Lab. We had five tables full of parents and kids making crafts, such a fun group!

And here's an image from The Prairie That Nature Built used for a display at the Prairie Heritage Center in Peterson, Iowa. I got a call from them one day asking to purchase rights to an image from the book. As a museum geek, this is a big honor!

O'Brien County Conservation Board's Prairie Heritage Center

Clicking on the images will enlarge them for a better view.
Thanks for taking time to look through my blog!
Cathy