My Latest Book: The Sunrise Band

 I received my advance copies of The Sunrise Band a little while ago! The books turned out great, thanks to Jeff Dinardo of Red Chair Press; author and art director. Their Funny Bone Readers  series combine humor with gentle lessons about character development and healthy living. The books will not be available from the publisher until January.

  This story is all about cooperation.  Owl plays her classical violin at night, keeping Lizard awake. Lizard's jazzy sax keeps owl irritated in the daytime. What will they do?  (Throwing rocks or sand is not an option!) 

  I made postcards and bookmarks which I will send out soon. 

  Some of the illustrations are here:  

Lizard Beach

After the brutal heat most of the country has endured in the past week; I thought it was time for everyone to get to the beach. If you see lizards there, maybe you have had too much sun. If you see 5 donuts hidden in the scene, maybe you are hungry!
One cool thing I learned about chameleons is that they can move each eye independently. They don't really like donuts though; so they have no desire to look at them, no matter how many there are.

I had fun making this cover image for High Five Hidden Pictures, a new magazine for younger kids.

The Sunrise Band

 I recently had the pleasure of working on a reader for Red Chair Press. The art director and author, Jeff Dinardo, has extremely high standards and wanted a trade look for the books; so I was delighted to be included. The books, "Funny Bone Readers", all have life lessons and this one centered on how to get along despite being total opposites. And, of course, the power of music to connect.
 It's a 24 page book. I took a few other assignments during March and April but mostly worked on this. It will be released some time later this year; and since I have permission to post the illustrations; here is The Sunrise Band. Desert owls are called elf owls and make their homes in cacti. They have no ear tufts, just roundish heads, so she needed some owlish glasses. The lizard is loosely based on a collared lizard. It was fun immersing myself in the desert with these characters for a while. I'll keep you posted on the publication date.

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