Underpants Thunderpants on the iPad

Just found out last week that one of the books that I illustrated for Parragon UK is now available on the iPhone, iPad and the iPod touch! Of course I immediately downloaded it onto my iPad. What a fun surprise! US and Canada fans can get it here.

New book out!

Hi there! I have a new book just released.

365 Animal Stories and Rhymes, published by Parragon, is a BIG book filled with tons of fun animal stories.

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

Having so many stories to illustrate, 365 in fact, this was a very big project that was broken down between me and several artists.

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

I had to illustrate around 60 short stories myself, so it was a lot of work. But I had fun drawing so many different animals in such varied scenes!

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

Parragon allowed me to share some images, so I posted a few so you can take a little peek at my art. :o)

© copyright Alicia Padrón 2011

The Best Part about Being an Illustrator

For me, the best part about being a children's illustrator is opening up the box that has copies of your books in it. It takes a year to see your art in it's final form and by then you're usually on to other projects. But the anticipation is such a pleasurable feeling for me. I usually can't wait for the publisher to send me my copies, so I get on Amazon and order up as soon as the book is released.

Here are the copies of my latest book, "Underpants, Thunderpants!" published by Parragon. It was published in the UK as a soft cover book which is really large and beautiful. The art director told me that the book was also sent to Parragon US, where it was published in hard cover. I got on Amazon and ordered up some and they came this weekend. So, get ready for a book giveaway next month!

I'm a Big Brother!

I didn't have any month or season books to add to the theme this week, but I do know that my year includes a new addition arriving in late Spring. In anticipation of baby #2, my sister thoughtfully gave my son this book for Christmas. I'm a Big Brother, written by Ronne Randall and illustrated by Kristina Stephenson is a great picture book to get him used to the reality of baby - not just in my tummy! I've tried reading a few new baby books without success but my sister really picked a winner here.
The story focuses on the little boy having to wait (and wait, and wait) for baby to grow big enough to play with. They kindly show the mother looking a little frumpy, and Daddy changing a diaper - a dash of reality is always nice.
I love the sensitive gestures on all these characters - she makes poses on simply designed characters express so much. There's also an iPhone app, which we may check out ourselves this week - although our new iPad is the hotter item these day around here (more to come on that next week!).