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© copyright Alicia Padrón 2012

This is a little sketch from a project I recently worked on. It's for a lovely cause and I can't wait to share it with you. Hopefully soon. :o)

Duck! Rabbit!

Okay, it's Friday. You've been working hard all week. Your brain is fried. Here's a little brainteaser pick-me-up to get you through the day. What I like about this book is how unbelievably simple it is in concept and so darn cute! A marketer's dream, it even comes with it's own website. "Duck!Rabbit!" came out last Spring, so maybe you are already familiar with it. It won tons of awards and was on the New York Times bestseller list. But hey, that makes it even more fun to revisit, especially since Easter is right around the corner. Written and illustrated by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld, this book asks the BIG QUESTION...are you a DuckPerson or a RabbitPerson?

Although this book is just one simple line drawing, Tom Lichtenheld's illustrations are quite colorful and fun. He was trained as an art director, but fell into the picture book world purely by accident. Inspired by a letter from his nephew asking him to draw him a picture of a pirate, Tom ended up drawing 20 pages of pirates which eventually became the book "Everything I Know About Pirates."

His latest book is out this Spring and is called "Bridget's Beret." A story about a little girl who is an artist, this one was inspired by his niece. When Bridget accidently loses her beloved beret, she gets a serious case of artist's block. You can see the adorable sketches for the first half of the book here. His website is also worth a look. Full of information on his process.

Have a great weekend!

Bunnies, Bunnies, Everywhere!

With Easter right around the corner, our local Barnes & Noble had quite the array of bunnies, chicks, and eggs on display in the Childrens' book department. I have to say, I was a little underwhelmed since the covers and imagery started to blend together. It was either soft & safe, ho hum, or character based, which never interests me. A few stand outs however:

Good Egg, by Barney Saltzberg Super simple graphic book, but really fun and innovative. Every spread is a new mechanical to express 'Good Egg', sit, roll, shake, speak, etc. Just a white egg, and the text 'Good Egg' - but so smart. Actually, follow that link and there is a book trailer where you can see it being read to kids. If I had my wallet that day, I would have either bought the book or let my son play with it - I was afraid he'd damage it, although it wasn't all that delicate I know better!
Numbers, by Jane Smith. Illustrated by Jill McDonald I have a soft spot for all Jill McDonald work. I admired her licensing work when I used to hire artists, and am happy whenever I see her joyful, painterly art. You just get the feeling that she loves all things childhood related. I love the simplicity of this book. Each spread has a giant, chunky number that pops out, revealing that same number of little animals or objects. It's tactile and fun and bold. Gosh, I don't even remember it having anything to do with Easter. But the animals and Spring-ness of it suit the display perfectly.

I realize that I linked to Amazon for those books. So, here's a link to 'Easter Favorites' on Barnes & Nobles website. It's always interesting to see what people are actually buying! I apologize if I implied these were the only two good books on display for Easter. It's just what I noticed while keeping an eye on a 1yr old during story time this week. I don't know if all stores do this, but ours has story time every day at 11am - what a nice program!