Crafty Wonderland this Saturday, booth 152! Hope to see you there! 

Crafty Wonderland this Saturday, booth 152! Hope to see you there! 

We're expecting a new wee one in the late summer! Lots of changes around here, more soon!

We're expecting a new wee one in the late summer! Lots of changes around here, more soon!

Happy May, friends!

Happy May, friends!

With the help of my little assistant, I've been going over (and over) each spread for my new book, Orchestra Pit (Roaring Brook, 2014) along with the super fun task of peeling the protective tape of the edges, ( a two year old's dream job, btw.) 

I'm shipping the art to NYC this morning. I'm excited and relieved and wildly nervous all mixed together. I'm sure I'll do my share of obsessive package tracking over the next 24 hours. After that, brain break. 

Good luck, Orchestra Pit! 

With the help of my little assistant, I've been going over (and over) each spread for my new book, Orchestra Pit (Roaring Brook, 2014) along with the super fun task of peeling the protective tape of the edges, ( a two year old's dream job, btw.) 

I'm shipping the art to NYC this morning. I'm excited and relieved and wildly nervous all mixed together. I'm sure I'll do my share of obsessive package tracking over the next 24 hours. After that, brain break. 

Good luck, Orchestra Pit! 

(Photo by Amy Baskin. A colorful collection of author and illustrator signatures on Bridget Zinn's novel, POISON, along with Bridget's stamped signature.) 

There are few things in this world that I love more than books, being with friends and eating treats. Luckily enough, all three of these things collided last Saturday eve at A Children's Place in Portland, Oregon for the book release of Bridget Zinn's, POISON. The evening was a flurry of colored pens, cupcakes, warmth and, love. So. Much. Love. A dizzying kind of love that made me feel so lucky to be a part of this community.

The only thing that would have made the night truly perfect, is if Bridget herself was there to see it. (For those of you that missed my last post, you can read more about the amazing Bridget, right here.)

Now, down to POISON! Ahhh, I'm enjoying this book so much. Yes, enjoying it, as in, still reading it. And believe me, taking my time with this book is taking incredible restraint. The kind of restraint that I equate to really special things that I want to savor, like chocolate Easter bunnies. We always got a chocolate bunny in our Easter baskets, but unlike the jellybeans and marshmallow peeps that I devoured right away, the chocolate bunny lingered for days. Sometimes weeks. I would nibble a little bit here and there, setting time aside every day to bask in its awesomeness.

POISON is my very own chocolate bunny. Every day I look forward to reading it. To learning more about the feisty and lovable heroine, Kyra, her adorbs sidekick, (a piglet!) and their wild and twisting adventures. I sit with my tea or hot chocolate and treats (always, treats!) to read this book. Little by little. I don't want it to end...

Purchase your copy here: 

(Photo by Amy Baskin. A colorful collection of author and illustrator signatures on Bridget Zinn's novel, POISON, along with Bridget's stamped signature.) 

There are few things in this world that I love more than books, being with friends and eating treats. Luckily enough, all three of these things collided last Saturday eve at A Children's Place in Portland, Oregon for the book release of Bridget Zinn's, POISON. The evening was a flurry of colored pens, cupcakes, warmth and, love. So. Much. Love. A dizzying kind of love that made me feel so lucky to be a part of this community.

The only thing that would have made the night truly perfect, is if Bridget herself was there to see it. (For those of you that missed my last post, you can read more about the amazing Bridget, right here.)

Now, down to POISON! Ahhh, I'm enjoying this book so much. Yes, enjoying it, as in, still reading it. And believe me, taking my time with this book is taking incredible restraint. The kind of restraint that I equate to really special things that I want to savor, like chocolate Easter bunnies. We always got a chocolate bunny in our Easter baskets, but unlike the jellybeans and marshmallow peeps that I devoured right away, the chocolate bunny lingered for days. Sometimes weeks. I would nibble a little bit here and there, setting time aside every day to bask in its awesomeness.

POISON is my very own chocolate bunny. Every day I look forward to reading it. To learning more about the feisty and lovable heroine, Kyra, her adorbs sidekick, (a piglet!) and their wild and twisting adventures. I sit with my tea or hot chocolate and treats (always, treats!) to read this book. Little by little. I don't want it to end...

Purchase your copy here: 

Guys! 

Guys! 

Hi guys! I'm giving a portfolio shape-up workshop on March 16th at Tabor Space in Portland, Oregon. It's designed to help illustrators prep for the Oregon SCBWI conference, but will be useful to anyone who's putting together a children's book illustration portfolio. Registration ends on March 13th. You can follow this link to learn more about it. Hope to see you there!  

Hi guys! I'm giving a portfolio shape-up workshop on March 16th at Tabor Space in Portland, Oregon. It's designed to help illustrators prep for the Oregon SCBWI conference, but will be useful to anyone who's putting together a children's book illustration portfolio. Registration ends on March 13th. You can follow this link to learn more about it. Hope to see you there!  

When I sit down to write a blog post these days, my brain starts spinning. I want to write about everything. Like the fun overnight adventure that we had at the Kennedy School this weekend, or the new pile of middle grade books that I bought at Green Bean the other day, (devouring, one by one. Yum.) Or how I went to Collage to buy two tubes of paint for the finishing touches on the Orchestra Pit book, only to leave with armloads of craft supplies. Or the little talk that I gave at the Oregon College of Art and Craft the other night, and all of the great folks that were there, sharing their awesome ideas and work. Or the new (new!) book idea that's spilling out, and even though it's different and blobby at the moment, feels exciting and full of color and possibility. Spring is popping up, and with it, a million little inspirations and ideas and projects....ack! I'm excited, guys. After a long and weird winter, this feels good.

When I sit down to write a blog post these days, my brain starts spinning. I want to write about everything. Like the fun overnight adventure that we had at the Kennedy School this weekend, or the new pile of middle grade books that I bought at Green Bean the other day, (devouring, one by one. Yum.) Or how I went to Collage to buy two tubes of paint for the finishing touches on the Orchestra Pit book, only to leave with armloads of craft supplies. Or the little talk that I gave at the Oregon College of Art and Craft the other night, and all of the great folks that were there, sharing their awesome ideas and work. Or the new (new!) book idea that's spilling out, and even though it's different and blobby at the moment, feels exciting and full of color and possibility. Spring is popping up, and with it, a million little inspirations and ideas and projects....ack! I'm excited, guys. After a long and weird winter, this feels good.

This morning I woke up at 3am, with a noisy, chaotic, brain. There is really only one thing that soothes me in times like this. Lists. Oh, sweet lists. 

And because it’s Valentine’s Day, and because I’ve been in a bumpy brain space the last few weeks, I’m going to make a list of ten lovely things that have been shaking around here. Happy heart day, lovies.

LOVE LIST

1. Lounging in blanket forts and listening to records with Juni. Extra bonus when she sings along in her sweet two year old voice. 

2. On Monday, Bunnies on Ice was the School Library Journal’s pick of the day!

3. Listening to Gabe sing his beautiful songs.

4. Bunnies On Ice got a stellar review in the ‘On the Radar’ section of the School Library Journal, by the folks from the Junior Library Guild. (Also, did I mention that Bunnies is a Junior Library Guild pick? Yeah!)

5. Pinterest Fail. Ah, quite enjoyable. Kind of like the regretsy of yore. 

6. Finishing up Orchestra Pit spreads. Been a great project, sad to see it coming to an end. Excited for what’s next.

7. Time to hash out new book ideas, quiet moments for writing and painting. Bliss. 

8. Valentine making and cookie plotting with Juni and Gabe.

9. Swimming with Juni and Gabe and taking Juni on her first giant water slide.

10. Night out eating amazing pho and hanging with old fantastico friends.

I've been craving camping and stars and sleeping on warm dusty pine needles. Floating on a lake or down a river. Singing around a campfire. In a word, summer.

This winter has felt like a bit of slog. Also, I'm in the love the word slog. It's such a lazy, depressed word. Slog. What a slog. Anyhow, painting un-sloggy things cheers me up immeasurably, so lookout for more of the same. Stars and campfires and such.

Also, in other starry news, Bunnies on Ice got a starred review in February issue of the School Library Journal! You can check it out right here. 

Here's to an un-sloggy February!

What? What's that? I haven't returned your phone call/email/text? You think I might be trapped under something heavy? Or, wait, what? You saw me stumble into the coffee shop with matted hair, a giant parka, and mismatched shoes?  Uh, yeah. That was me. The pile of doughnuts I was snarfing down in the corner? The growler of coffee that I stuffed under my arm on the way out? Yeah. Mine too. Not to fear concerned friends. I only have a book deadline, everything else is under control. Seriously. Ok, maybe not totally under control. Maybe I've stopped doing things like showering and using complete sentences. But the book is nearly there. You see? Here's a spread right here. It's looking pretty done-y don't you think? Only 15 more spreads to go, and they're all pretty much finished. What's that? I said that last week? Well, now it's true. Really. Just leave me to my messy studio cave, my 14 pound bag of gummi bears and trashy tv streaming on netflix, just like the artists of yore. Isn't that what got Michelangelo through the Sistine Chapel? Episodes of Bunheads and a million slices of pizza?  I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere. Or maybe hallucinated it in a sleep deprived, gummi induced vision...

Yahoo, Bunnies on Ice has been released into the wild! Thank you so much for all of your support and kind notes. 

To celebrate, I'll be at Green Bean Books in Portland, Oregon on Saturday at 2pm. I hear there'll be hot chocolate and I'll be bringing bunny cookies and a sweet little rabbit puppet that I got just for the occasion.

Well, hopefully the bunny puppet will be there, if I can wrestle it away from a certain two year old. It arrived in the mail the other day and Juni immediately nabbed it and took it to the couch where she whispered sweet nothings to it for a full twenty minutes. Who can blame her? Bunnies are irresistible! 

Hope to see you tomorrow!

You may have noticed that my website has a new look! I’m incredibly grateful, it feels like a great beginning for a new year, a little blanket of snow on an old soggy site.

A big thanks goes out to a certain web developer who made this shiny newness happen. It takes an especially skilled person to transform suggestions like, ‘more rainbows’ and ‘world domination’ into a functioning website.

Here’s to snow, magic, and an amazing 2013!