How to Start First Grade

  Four and a half days without the internet is probably enough to make you want to write a blog post or something when it comes back on, right?  The sheer gratitude of  having  a connection can be an inspiration.
  The weather is turning cooler, kids have already been back at school for a while spreading new virulent strains, and recently the nice people at Random House granted me permission to show some of the final illustrations from my latest book,  a 32 page leveled reader featuring a first grader who struggles to come to terms with his waning popularity when a new girl comes to  school. The title is How to Start First Grade, and it is scheduled for release on 6/9/20.
 I really enjoyed the playground chalk art scenes, drawing kids yelling at each other, (anger is so much fun) and the challenging scenes which required me to draw the backs of kid's heads.
 I have a strong aversion to looking at my work after it is finished. I'm sure I'm not alone in that feeling. I think enough time has passed since I finished these in July and August, that I can look at them; even if it's through slightly parted fingers. 
A postscript: after I wrote this, the electricity went out for a few hours.  But now I'm back, and with a little luck I may actually get a blog post out for Monday morning.

Cover. The blackboard is obsolete, but the bulletin board lives on.

Steve and family and Dad the waiter getting fortified for the first day of school.

All of his friends are happy to see him again.

How to Start First Grade

  My blog posts have been getting a little sparse!
  It's not for a lack of activity on the illustration front, but maybe it's for a lack of an exciting personal life, I'll admit to that.  I've been spending alot of time on Instagram lately,  so feel free to check out my work there.
Spring and summer always presents me with plenty of household errands encouraged by the light and air opening up the house.  And the front porch is always beckoning!  The roses are in bloom despite not tending them at all.
  But I'll leave the new geraniums sitting there unplanted for one more day, so I can show what I've been up to in the past few weeks.
  This is my 5th reader with Penguin Random House featuring the antics of Steve.  The previous book, How to Start Kindergarten, is available for pre-order here.
  I've just completed the sketches for this 32-page book about entering First Grade, or as Steve puts it, "REAL school." As with any book about school, there are plenty of kids. The one new kid in town that is unintentionally stealing Steve's spotlight is Hanna, a girl from Alaska, who has arrives on a dogsled and has a gold nugget in her pocket.
  I  sometimes provide only one sketch for a cover, but this time I supplied 3.
  I think the chalk drawing scene is my personal choice for the cover.  I'm looking forward to starting the color on these soon! 

Cover #1

Cover #2

Cover #3

Breakfast

  Everyone is glad to see Steve again...

until they set eyes on the new girl Hanna's gold nugget.

          To  regain his fanbase, Steve invents a rocket ship that doubles as his house.  But even his best friend is skeptical.             

Hanna draws her Alaskan house with snow up to the roof, Steve calls her a liar, and the shouting match begins.

And it ends up where all good schoolyard fights end, outside the principal's office.

The Reading Nook

  A few weeks ago I was asked to illustrate a Highlights Workbook cover; kindergarten level. The original sketch was done for a cover layout, but it ended up as an interior with hidden objects.
 

cover sketch

A few adjustments were made.  I contained that guinea pig; added book baskets, more books, and 10 objects were hidden. There was some debate between editors, but the fish got to keep his book.

final art

Hidden objects: wooden spoon, ring, comb, fried egg, ruler, drinking straw, lime, waffle, fan, toothbrush.

detail

 Happy reading and finding!

Ratty

  For an upcoming  feature on water voles for Ranger Rick magazine,  I was asked to portray "Ratty" or "Rat", one of the characters in The Wind in the Willows.
  I loved that book as a child, and hope to revisit it.
  I looked at many wonderful illustrations, including EH Shepard, Robert Ingpen,  and Inga Moore ( her version is my favorite, although I do not own it; must get).
  Then there is this comprehensive ''best-illustrated'' reference book.
  For those who have not read this classic,  Mole decides go out to the river, and meets Ratty (a water vole), who at this time of year spends all his days in, on and close by the river. Ratty takes Mole for a ride in his rowing boat. They get along well and spend many more days boating, with Ratty teaching Mole the ways of the river.
  Water voles used to be common over all of Great Britain, but  in the 90's began to disappear. People brought American minks to Great Britain to raise them for their fur. Many escaped and were so good at hunting voles for prey, the numbers of voles dropped fast.  More of their habitat was ruined when livestock trampled their banks and ate the plants that the voles needed. Conservation groups are working hard to reestablish their numbers, and hopefully they will not only live on  in the pages of a book!

Look out, Ratty! Rapids ahead!

 I love being able to merge illustration with an actual photo. Great fun!

 Hi; I'm  Ratty, your river guide.

Goodbye, little voles!

Nesting in Style

  Maybe it's because the snow is going to fly, that I've finally found the time to get this illustration on my blog. Nesting instincts are kicking in, and birds are fluffing up their downy feathers. About a month ago  I was fortunate to illustrate a piece for Highlights  called Spring Search, which will come out in....wait for it... the spring! The challenge for the young readers is to find as many shiny, sparkly things as they can, just like the bluejay has.

  But  they shouldn't actually try to steal people's jewelry. They can climb a tree and make a nest though, and surround themselves with their own possessions, and look down on the passersby on the street and make bird calls at them.  That would be fun.  But later.  Now it's winter, so they will have to fluff up their feathers and wait.

photoshop color

 

base drawing: graphite pencil and white pastel pencil