On the drawing table: MANY bears and a tortoise!

SPEEDY TORTILLA COMING SOON!

Polar Polka Makes a Splash!

Chérie Stihler, the author behind Polar Polka, has been sending me lots of publicity updates. Good news all around!

First, it appears that the book is on a tentative list for the 2009-2010 Alaska Battle of the Books. Subject to certain "verifications of supply" kids k-2 all across the great Alaskan frontier will get a chance to count some bears and look for lemmings :)


Second, the BP World Ice Art Championships Multi-Block Classic in Fairbanks featured a very Polar Polkaesque saxaphone playing bear. The carving's official name was: "50th Celebration by the Sourdough Band". It took 4th place in Realistic and was the Artists Choice Award winner in the Realistic Category. Congrats to the carvers. Extra cool: this sculpting team was from China!

Apparently, there is a time-lapse video of the carving here. I haven't seen it because my internet connection is far from adequate. Enjoy at your own risk!

On location: Leavenworth, WA

After an excellent early summer break, I returned to work and to Book Camp. Amy and all of the good folks at A Book For All Seasons invited me down for a Sunday book signing and a Monday morning of fun with their 7-8 year old campers.


A great day, with fantastic kids, in a sweet spot on the back porch! Since Edgar Allen Poe and Mystery were the theme of the writing camp, we spent a little time with my own mystery book, Octavius Bloom and the House of Doom -- complete with some Octavius disguises of our own.


Since Leavenworth, WA is also a great polka town, I also finally got around to creating this coloring book page for Polar Polka. Enjoy!

Click the image to enlarge. Print as many as you'd like!

School's Out!

School is out (or almost anyway) and I have just a few updates to share before you hit the pool, the park, or the local library.

For starters, my school visit year for 2007-2008 closed out in style. I took a 3-day mini-tour from June 3rd to June 5th visiting John Newbery Elementary in Wenatchee, Wa, Eagle Rock Elementary in Duvall, Wa, and Silver Ridge Elementary in Silverdale, Wa. Awesome kids, teachers, and librarians in every location! But alas, I was a lame visitor when it came to taking pictures... sigh :(

For those involved, send me some photos and I will post them here.

As usual, we talked about my work as an author/illustrator, but I also imparted some illustrator "wisdom" with a custom art lesson or two in both the Duvall and Silverdale locations. Kids, you'll have to let me know if that was actually worth your time, but thanks very much for the opportunity and I can't wait to see some of your own summer artwork!

Last but not least, a few book sightings. Its alwasy good to see your stuff when you least expect it (and even when you do!)

I haven't technically seen this one yet, but a friend just e-mailed to say that POLAR POLKA is reviewed, or at least mentioned in the current Alaska Airlines in flight magazine. Check it out when you take to the sky this summer, and I will scan in a copy when I have one to share.

And this is the Barnes & Noble book display from my recent trip to Silverdale, WA. It's not everyday that you get a few precious feet of display space in the children's section like this, so I've got it captured for posterity. Thank you as well for helping with the Silver Ridge book orders!

Also from the Silverdale Barnes & Noble: Mama's Little Duckling by an illustrator friend, Mike Wohnoutka. Mike does really great work, and it was cool to see his book front and center several thousand miles from Minneapolis. He was NOT doing a Silverdale school visit, which makes this even cooler :)

Strike up the band!

POLAR POLKA, written by Chérie Stihler debuts today!

Thank You Wenatchee!

A huge THANK YOU to all of the Wenatchee Schools, students, teachers, PTA and other volunteers that made my visits last week so welcoming and fun. The kids were fantastic, the schedules bustling, and the energy levels catching. Here are just a few photos from the day at Lincoln Elementary. Tomorrow, I'll post the answers to a few of the student questions. I can't wait to be back in February to visit a few additional schools!

A very cool penquin drawing by Carolina. One small part of the amazing first grade "Thank You" card that was presented to me at Lincoln Elementary.

Mrs. Wilson's Second grade class AND the next book-to-be, Chérie Stihler's POLAR POLKA. PP comes out in February, so a few of the classes got a sneak peak!

A closer look at some POLAR POLKA smiles.

Hot Off the Presses!

My bound advance copy of POLAR POLKA arrived in yesterday's mail! It really looks great, so thank you to everyone at Sasquatch for taking my pictures and putting them in their best light. I'll be very excited to start sharing this book when it hits the shelves in February.

Covert Art!

The POLAR POLKA cover art showed up on amazon.com today. I haven't even seen a proof yet... but I guess the book is moving right along!

There is a special pre-order discount of an extra %5 for those that act soon :) Count those bears while you still can...

Mid-September News Updates

Lots going on of late, but here are few recent happenings that I would like to bring to your attention:

• Slow Days, Fast Friends (Albert Whitman, 2005) is officially an Accelerated Reader title -- It joins both of my other author-illustrated books in this program and is Quiz No. 104937 EN for all of the curious students and teachers out there :)

• Polar Polka by Chérie Stihler (Sasquatch) is starting to show up on amazon.com and gives a release date of February 28, 2008. Just a little too late for Valentines day...In any case, Yahoo! After spending the better part of 2007 painting this book (at least that's the way it felt) I am super happy to see it come to fruition. Prepare yourselves for some mad polka fun!

• After at least a couple of hardcover print runs and an audio book release, Boo's Dinosaur by Betsy Byars (Henry Holt, 2006) will be coming to paperback in Spring 2008 as well. This is another first for me (confoundit Winslow Press...) and is thusly very exciting.

• And finally, some presentation news: I had a blast this past Saturday as a presenter for SCBWI's Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho SCBWI Regional Conference in Spokane, WA. A big thanks to Deby Fredericks for inviting me back, and to fellow presenters Chris Crutcher, Kenn Nesbitt, Kelly Milner Halls, and Chronicle Books Editor Traci Todd, for making me feel welcome and inspired. It was great to meet all of the Conference attendees as well and I sincerely urge you to keep up the good work. Many of you are just that close!

In October, I fly south to the Author Festival in Humbolt County California. This long-running author-illustrator gala event will be tons of fun and I am very excited to make the trip. In conjunction with the Oct. 17-20 festival, I also have 5 pieces of original art from various books on display at the Morris Graves Museum of Art. I'll give a full report upon return.

Write on!

Chaos Reigns!

I've posted studio pictures before, but not since we moved into our new place about 18 months ago. It is very much an organized mess -- especially in the midst of a project like this -- but the following 3 pictures give a pretty fine idea of where I work!

The panoramic view, as taken from the lofty heights of our guest/dog futon. Writing, email, financeering happen on the left. More colorful pursuits on stage right... Lots of things hanging on the walls, tucked into/onto shelves etc. etc..

A tighter shot on "stage right". The table is quickly consumed by pencils, paints etc. and my attempts at good posture fly out the window. I hunch over the boards/paintings craddled in my lap. It is bright, however. No squinting in the dark.

And finally, the heads-up view from my chair. A few POLAR POLKA pics (mostly finished I think) clipped to the wall for reference. Note as well the pastel polar bear near the bottom right. This is one of my favorite experimental images from my first polar bear book. Much as I like the watercolor and ink that I've been using of late, I'd love to get back to that much looser pastel medium at some point!

Sinking Fast

Hopped-up on caffine and altogether distanced from REM cycle no. 2, I am sinking fast but nearing completetion on the POLAR POLKA project. Stay tuned for a virtual whoop it up when I put both the project AND myself to bed, but the light is glowing faintly at the end of the tunnel. A short vacation awaits!

Polaboratory 2

For those playing along, here are just a few additional cover sketches in the mix. Compare at your leisure and I'll reveal the final art when it has achieved such status...

The Polaboratory

Work ensues at a soon to be feverish pace for POLAR POLKA (Sasquatch, Spring 2008). There are other books to draw as well, but the PP deadline is fast approaching. Here is a cover mock-up that will not likely make the cut. I like it very much, but it's hard to know how these things will go...

Sasquatch has gone completely freelance with it's design staff of late, so no one aside from little old me will really "design" anything until they have all of the final art? I like having mucho influence in such a process, but then again it's also VERY nice to have some help. I'd love to hear what some opinions on this particular option. Cheers!

PS It's kind of a count down book for the pre-k set, thus option No. 2 with the screened-in numbers.