Hey, friends! Thank you so much for your ideas and encouragement during February's Picture Book Marathon! I'm deeply interested to hear what books you liked best! Please take a second to vote for your favorites on the survey in the left column of the blog.

<----

If you have any specific remarks, please leave a comment! Thanks again!

Just some more cuteness to finish up the marathon.

As a kid, I always wondered what it'd be like to take old George Washington on a tour of his country. What would he think of the place?

After seeing the crazy success of Fancy Nancy and the Pinkalicious series, I decided to dive into the saccharine pink pool of frosting myself.

Honestly, I have more fun drawing unicorns and dolphins than most things. They're almost as cool as dinosaurs.

I'm playing catch-up to make it to the finish line, so today is a threefer.

First book:


In this book, a girl travels all over the world, and tries to bottle up the whole experience. Conversely, all that luggage just weighs her down in the end, and she has to choose between keeping all her junk, and going to have new adventures.

Second book:


I'm still trying to figure out a twist on trains. Kids love trains. Unfortunately, I might have gone a little too scary on this one.

My monster train is HIGHLY inspired by the Cat Bus from "My Neighbor Totoro".

Book 3


Yeah, this is more of a fun drawing than it is a book idea. :)

Tiger is a tame cat, down to his last stripe.
He eats his peas, and plays nice.
He takes naps and never fusses.

But every once in a while, he goes jungle-running, scramble-scratching, TIGER-WILD!

Hey, friends! The very fist book I ever illustrated, "Pick a Pup" came out yesterday!

I went and found it at the local book store, and it's GORGEOUS!


Check it out on Amazon!

It's been a bumpy couple days, and I've missed one more day than is allowed. For that, I apologize.

Back to work!

Here's a book with several appealing elements: Christmas, toys, trains, and candy! But what happens when mischievous mice try to ride the train too? I imagine it going a lot like The Nutcracker, only with less tights.

I illustrated a book a few years ago about how the Transcontinental Railroad was built, mostly by Chinese and Irish immigrants. It was fascinating to learn about the price these newcomers to America paid to create a life for themselves.

I'm technically allowed 2 rest days during the month of February. I declare today to be such a day.

I told you these last few miles would get messy! I guess I just wanted to draw a scary Russian cat pirate. Don't we all?

Day 17 - the picture book equivalent of Mile 17 in an actual marathon. This is where people start dropping in their own vomit. My graceful stride and my controlled breathing vanished miles ago. Now my goal is just to finish with as much dignity as I can muster!

Here's a fun idea to put some spring back in my step:



This boy's super power: SUPER WORDS!

COMPLIMENTS make even the grumpiest villains smile.

LONG SCIENTIFIC WORDS make my big sister's friends think I'm smarter than her! Even if you don't know any, just make them up. COAGULATE! INFERNAL COMBUSTION! GARBANZO!

Words like I'M SORRY can turn foes into allies.

ENDLESS QUESTIONS melt my parents brains into goo. Why is blue fire hotter than red fire? Why are there penguins at the South Pole, but not at the North Pole? Why can't dogs see color?

And don't forget, lots of PLEASE and THANK YOU.

Dr. Dog and Cat, M.D. use their scientific training to determine opposites.

They're still just as clueless as when they tried to pin down emotions.

Ok, so my brother is just their publicist and marketer. But this could be a huge break for all of them!

Give their music a listen, and rate it FIVE STARS, please! :)