March Highlights

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from the PBJunkies blog, working on a bunch of projects that literally took over my life. Didn't leave much time for blogging! It's great to be back and I've got lots of books and work to share with you over the next months.

Here is a small assignment I did for Highlights High Five Magazine last year. It's in the current March issue. This was an English/Spanish story, so the illustrations had to be quite literal.

For some reason I attract projects that have dogs in them. I'm happy about that as I really love dogs. My own dog Mack is such a great resource for me with all his antics and expressions.

Next week I'll be blogging about my latest picture book that will be released in September. The publisher is allowing me to "blog away" about it, so I will be able to show you lots of art and talk about the process. And the story takes place in a dog park!

High Five Magazine

I know I've been posting book reviews, but today I wanted to share a bit about High Five Magazine - since that's been our reading staple at home for the past few weeks.
The above is a gorgeous piece illustrated by Ian Joven (you MUST see his tumblr site - beautiful work, every bit of it!) and written by Carol Samuelson-Woodson.
With my 3yo, High Five stories are the perfect length for his short attention span. We both like the variety in story and activity throughout. And the first hidden pictures are so much fun to do together! It's a top-notch publication, and our copies get worn to pieces with re-reads.
It also reminds me that while I'm not trying to 'get' any book work right now, I really could try to get magazine work. The assignments are small enough for me to manage right now. And if I want to be even more ambitious, I should actually submit a story.

December Highlights High Five

Exciting day today. I received my complimentary copies of the December Highlights High Five Magazine. I was fortunate enough to be asked to illustrate an adorable poem , "See You in the Morning" by Bonnie Highsmith Taylor. =0)