When we hear words are we all seeing the same picture? I remember this Magritte painting from the cover of John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing”, a mandatory reading assignment for art students. This painting from his Key of Dreams series displays simple flash card type image word pairs. They appear to be accurate, yet they […]
With the release of my latest book Treasure, I think back on the inspiration for this story. There was the little girl in Seattle who left food for a neighborhood crow and in return the crow left her tiny gifts. But the true inspiration began long ago with a small broken crystal, a tiny tear […]
HOW RAVEN GOT HIS CROOKED NOSE is an ALSC Notable! Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable […]
The advance reader copy showed up for my new book, “Treasure.” The little square book features simple words and many lovingly drawn tiny treasures to help nature-loving kids learn to read. (Spring 2019) It started with a newspaper article about a Seattle girl and a neighborhood crow exchanging gifts. Here is an early sketch. A […]
CLASSROOM, LIBRARY & AT-HOME ACTIVITY KIT Reading = HOPE x CHANGE Jacqueline Woodson, novelist, poet, and the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature quotes, “I definitely believe that reading can change us and shape us in so many ways, and through it we can be exposed to people and places and ideas that we […]
“…the book’s creators have accomplished no easy task – a modern retelling of a traditional Dena’ina Athabascan tale that honors the story and makes it accessible to children both within and outside of the culture it comes from. How Raven Got His Crooked Nose is a teaching tale, as well as a story-within-a-story. Scenes with […]
There is a new book project in the works. In the meantime, I’ll be hanging out in the sunshine in my favorite spot collecting the treasures of summer. Did you have a special hide-out as a kid? A place all your own under a tree or in the woods? In the backyard or in a […]
The 99th annual Children’s Book Week – April 30th to May 6th Frederick by Leo Lionni was my favorite picture book. I loved the cut out shapes and textures and somehow related to Frederick before I knew I was an artist. I believe that a good children’s book should appeal to all people who have […]