'How?' It's here!

It's out!  Owl Kids Books has released my newest book called 'How? The most awesome question and answer book about nature, animals, people, places - and you!'
"How' was quite an undertaking with almost 100 spreads it took us about 14 months to complete.   Barb Kelly did the layout for the book and an amazing job of pulling it all together.  I have to admit I opened my first copy with a bit of trepidation because the whole process had been quite a challenge.  But after checking it out, and friend's telling me the book looks great, I've decided I'm happy too. I guess most of us are a bit more critical of our own work.
This is a follow up to 'Why?' both written by the talented Catherine Ripley. We have pretty big boots to fill since 'Why?' is still going strong after 10 years and has sold over 120,000 copies.  In fact the Chicago Tribune chose 'Why' as the holiday gift to give in 2010.
Other news to report is that I have a few books out at publishers now waiting to hear back. I've really pumped up the writing aspect of my work.  I'm primarily an illustrator but have enjoyed writing 6 books to date so here's hoping I can talk some publishers into doing more.
One book I'm working on with my good friend Kari Lynn Winters is proving to be a lot of fun.  I'll attach a rough sketch here... not sure it will make it into the book but I'm sure having fun drawing.

Sock Monkeys and Bologna

Well I guess I've been busy, can't believe how long it's been since I last wrote here.
Still looking forward to the release of 'How' the enormous q+a book I did with OwlKids.
Right now I'm working on a book on Sock Monkeys, which impresses some people no end. It's great to be working with Adams Media again. I have to say it's a lot of fun and I never thought I would be sitting around coming up with sock monkey puzzles.
I've started doing a cartoon with Daily Commercial News (http://tinyurl.com/7qawd5l). It seemed like a natural progression after the review of 'Look at that Building'
I'm sorry to be missing out on the book fair in Bologna this year but at least I have some artwork on display thanks to the great people at SCBWI - you can go here to see everyone's illustrations: http://tinyurl.com/7fprfx9 I plan to make it again next year for sure. Hope everyone who goes has a great time.

Newspaper interview

Thanks to a recent book I did, called Look at that Building, I was interviewed by the Daily Commercial News, an online news source out of Ontario. It's a publication covering the world of construction. It's great to see a publication like this take an interest in kid's books. It doesn't happen often but when it does it makes you realize what a great fit it is. Kids grow up to be adults so why not involve them in your business at an early age.

Thanks Daily Commercial News!

To see the interview please visit: http://tinyurl.com/85k623o

Touching base

I just wanted to keep in touch with friends and readers. The How books this close to being done... should be all wrapped up by next week. I'm now working with Scholastic on a fun new book about Hockey. Much to my surprise I got going on the roughs and it just came out. I think when the art director said I could be a bit loose with it that was a big help.

I thought I'd put this image up for now. It's an image I did as promotion and, since my promotion skills are not completely stellar, I thought I could at least show it off here. It's meant to be a game for kids to find the obvious and not so obvious. I think the great big Octopus is clear but you never know when you draw it. :)

How? with Owl Publishing coming soon!

Well it's probably the biggest book I've ever done which has certainly been a challenge but it looks like we're closing in on a finish date! The follow up book to Why?, which we've been working on for almost a year, is called How? It's another question and answer book (written by the talented Catherine Ripley) for kids to discover how things work. I have to say I do enjoy these kinds of books because of the things you learn. Hopefully some of that gets passed onto the kids. But I won't lie, this one has been quite a challenge due to the sheer size of it. It's still not done yet so I should get back to it but just wanted to give people a heads up. I'll keep you posted as to when it's on the shelves.

Other than that I've started on a French reader which will be lots of fun to do. Already talked to the author and it has me thinking I should get over to France for a long overdue visit.

There's a couple of more projects on the boil which hopefully will turn into something but it's bad luck to talk about them until they're signed and sealed.

21 Journeys Launch party

The launch party for 21Journeys was great. Have to say the book turned out really well too. You never know with these things when there are so many people and a wide variety of styles involved. The Ayden Gallery in Vancouver is a perfect location for this kind of thing too because there's other artwork up and there was a band (who sounded great by the way, guess I should have got their name)... definitely a community feeling for a collective effort. If anybody reading this is into comics or graphic novels check out: http://www.cloudscapecomics.com/ It's Vancouver related collective of artists and writers so you have to live here, have lived here or at least be in a close proximity. The art to the right is a page from my story. It's called A Day at the Beach and describes my attempt to keep a journal while traveling. I had the best intentions but got sidetracked very easily. But I guess it all worked out in the end since I got a good story from it.

Mazes and Puzzles

I got to do another puzzle and game spread which is something I really enjoy. This time with Know Magazine, coming out in the next issue. If you have young kids interested in how the world works this is a great mag. Getting to create your own little underwater world is always fun. I would love to see a puzzle done by one of my favourite artists. http://www.pbase.com/csw62/sempe