MOCCA Arts Fest 2024

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If you’re heading to the Society of Illustrators’ MoCCA Arts Festival in NYC this weekend, you might see people sporting a tote bag I illustrated for the School of Visual Arts to promote the summer residency program where I teach. This was a very fun collaboration with Viktor Koen, one of my former teachers now colleague in the MFA program, and the Chair of the BFA Comics and Illustration departments as well as founder of the Summer Illustration Residency.

I also spent a few hours reviewing portfolios of prospective students and visiting a few friends who were tabling. It’s always so inspiring to see the volume of work from this community. Best of all, I scored a bunch of my pal ShinYeon Moon’s felted vegetable creatures. Aren’t they amazing?!

It's a Book! Two New Books!

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My advance copies of YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE! and the paperback edition of YOU ARE NOT A CAT! arrived this week. Both books will officially be released on February 20th by Astra Young Readers.

Unboxing a year’s worth of hard work, seeing it glued and bound together as a book never gets old. I had the pleasure of sharing a sneak peek of YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE with some classrooms this week for World Read Aloud Day, and I’m happy to report: the jokes landed!

The lovely folks at Astra also created a very fun promotion for SNEEZE at this year’s ALA conference: tissue packs! They’ve sent me a bunch that I am looking forward to sharing with readers at some upcoming children’s book festivals this Spring and Fall. For more information on my appearance, scroll down this page to the Events section.

I also collaborated with Astra to create coloring pages based on a few of our favorite images from SNEEZE. Those are free for download here and on Astra’s website.

If you’d like to order a copy of one (or both) books, click here. ACHOO!

YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE Book Trailer!

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Acchoooooo!…I mean, Yippee! My book trailer for YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE! just went live! Feel free to watch and share. :^)

Written by Sharon G. Flake and illustrated by me, SNEEZE is the sequel to YOU ARE NOT A CAT! featuring the same kooky duo of Cat and Duck as they navigate the world and the hiccups (sneezes?) that friendship can bring. Written completely in dialogue, it’s perfect as a read aloud, and for kids who are starting to read on their own. YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE! is available for pre-order now, and will be out in February 2024.

If you’d like a sneak peek at some of the interior art, I’ve posted some images in the books section of my site.

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Speaking of YOU ARE NOT A CAT!, Astra Publishing House is also releasing a paperback edition to coincide with the publication of SNEEZE. And guess what? It’s also available for pre-order. Many thanks for my editor, Rebecca Davis and art director, Barbara Grzeslo and the whole team at Astra for bringing our book to life. And a special thanks goes to the amazing Sharon Flake for her wonderful, hilarious words!

"The Breeze"

With the sweltering weather this summer, we could all use a cool breeze. Years ago, I made a short film while visiting friends on Fire Island, attempting to capture the “moving still lives” I saw. If you find yourself in the Miami / Fort Lauderdale area before September 28th, you can see “The Breeze” in an exhibition at the South Campus Art Gallery at Broward College called “The Elastic Mind.” Thank you, Kohl King and the gallery for including my work!

Coming soon: YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE!

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ACHOOooo!!! I’m excited to share the cover of my latest collaboration with the wonderful Sharon G. Flake, You Make Me Sneeze! featuring Cat and Duck, the same hilarious duo from You Are Not a Cat! So the cat’s out of the bag…or is it? For answers to this question and more, you’ll have to pre-order a copy for yourself or that comedy-loving, picture book reader in your life. You Make Me Sneeze! will be out February 20, 2024—just in time for allergy season. But if you’re like me, every season is allergy season, so no time like the present! Get it?…present!🎁