Category: Children’s Art

Library of the Early Mind

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I finally got to see Library of the Early Mind, which was shown at The Rhode Island School of Design auditorium this week. It was made by Edward J. Delaney and produced by my friend Steven Withrow, and it did not disappoint! Whether you are endlessly interested in children’s books and their makers like I am, or someone who hasn’t given a thought to how and why they are made, you will find this an interesting show.

Robert Brinkerhoff, the Head of Illustration at RISD, opened the screening.

The movie itself was a montage of creators talking about the many facets of creating children’s books- from audience, motivation, and the current state of affairs in the publishing industry. It had a sort of meandering, dreamy feel as it featured different authors and illustrators talking about what led them to pursue books, what books mean in the greater sense, and where publishing is heading. I enjoyed the tone of the film and getting to personally hear from such a great array of creators.

Some of the author/illustrators in the film were on hand for a panel discussion afterwards.


Robert Brinkerhoff, Edward Delaney, Chris Van Allsburg, Steven Withrow, Natalie Babbitt, Mary Jane Begin.

We are lucky here in RI to have these local creators available and willing to be involved in an event like this!


Natalie Babbitt speaks about her experiences of having a book turned into a movie. (No, she wasn’t thrilled with the results!)


Chris Van Allsburg fields a question about one of his lesser-known books, The Wretched Stone.

Follow the link above and see if the film is coming to a screen near you- it’s well worth checking out!

New stuff from Brimfield…

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As I said, I picked up a few things at the Brimfield show last week, because you can’t go there and NOT find anything, that would be impossible.
For me, anyhow!
Old stuff is aesthetically more interesting than most new stuff.
Again, for me, anyhow!

Some of the things I am a sucker for are vintage children’s books:


This coloring book is from 1934, and was never used. Why is that a little sad?


These are from 1950- I especially love the alphabet one!


These are teeny- about 3″ each. Wee stuff is always extra cute!

A little salute to Belgium and Holland:


That’s a wine label, I think…plus some sweet wooden shoes.

I always manage to find at least a few “new” old fabrics…

New-old stock Easter candy box= LOVE!

Another mysterious love- old, unused stickers, preferably the gummed paper kind, and especially if they’re in their original package!


Also an unused decal from one of our favorite meccas…Santa’s Village in NH!

And a little something more medieval, too:


Rampant unicorns! Huzzah!

That’s most of what I picked up. I guess I am generally an ephemera lover!

Let’s play catch up, shall we?

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Did you have an awesome summer? Didja?

I have been having a good amount of fun coupled with a lot of work, both in and out of the studio. So, I let my blog languish a bit for summer. Now is the time to bring it up to speed as we go into FALL!

Going back a couple of months, I don’t think I ever showed you this fabulous new book called lllustrating Children’s Picture Books:

It’s by my friends Steve Withrow and Lesley Breen Withrow, and I was most happy to contribute a couple of articles to it. This one is about writing and illustrating board books, which is truly one of my favorite subjects:

This page is about the “other” markets you can pursue with your children’s art. If there’s one thing I do know a lot about, it’s “other” markets! This encompasses toys, fabrics, magazines, and stuff like that.

Let’s see… what else? Ah, I have been illustrating almost monthly for Highlights High Five, mainly little snippets of recipe ingredients.

I am continuing to create the Newport Creamery children’s menus. The current one is summer-themed and has Newport’s Cliff Walk on the cover. Next time you’re there, go ahead and ask for the kid’s menu!

I haven’t managed to update my website in a while (it’s on the list), so for now I will show you a few of my recently designed Fred items, now available at a store near YOU! Keep your eyes open for:

Salt ‘n’ Pants! Oh, how happy it makes me to see this one on the market! The little guy is salt, and his pants are pepper. I know it’s weird, but I’ve been trying to get it made for a couple of years now. Huzzah! Hooray for pants!

Another item I am glad to see out there is the Candy Stash. It’s a zip-up wallet shaped like those candy buttons stuck on paper. Mmmm, paper…and candy!

Fresh into the world is the Desk Daisy– a little potted plant that has 3 stems full of paper clip “petals”, held in place by magnets. Perky, huh?

Also new to the market are Chewdrivers…little interchangeable tool handles that can be fitted with a knife, fork, and spoon. This one was challenging to figure out, but it came out well and works like a charm.

Last but not least, I spent a good part of summer ferrying kids to and from the Swamp Meadow Summer Children’s Theatre. They did a very fun musical called “Olivia”, which was something like a female “Oliver” but with all new songs, and a totally different plot. Anyhoo, I did the art that was used for the playbills, t-shirts, and media stuff.

That’s all for now… we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts!

Pewter Plate Cover of the Year Award!

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I received an unexpected package from Highlights the other day. I do a lot of work for them, but I couldn’t figure out what might be in this mysterious box.
It was THIS!

It’s the 2009 High Five Cover of the Year Award, a.k.a. a Pewter Plate Award. I know you can’t see it in the picture, but it’s all specially engraved for me, mentioning the specific cover shown here, “Let’s Read!”

I am very honored to receive this, because frankly, there is a LOT of beautiful art on and between the covers in any given Highlights/ High Five issue. Thank you, Highlights staff!

Whispering Pines 2010

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Arrival at sunset.

Once again, the marvelously beautiful acreage of the Alton Jones campus welcomed us to the Whispering Pines Writer’s Retreat! It is always such a treat to head into the woods and live amongst authors, illustrators, and book lovers of all kinds for a few days.

We were swept into the experience right away with good food, drinks, and a First Pages panel. Folks had anonymously submitted first pages of their works in progress and were able to get first impressions from the panel.


All ears on the first pages.


The panel: Agent Rebecca Sherman, Assistant Editor Connie Hsu, Associate Editor Alexandra Penfold, Author Cynthia Lord. Continue reading “Whispering Pines 2010” →