What's News with Me…

What's news with me? I guess, a lot, since it's been a while since I updated this page. The late summer and early fall have kept me plenty busy.

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It's that time of year again! As with past Octobers, I'm participating in #Inktober—the month of ink drawings shared on social media—with my own spin in the form of #Oinktober. If you'd like to follow my pigs' progress, check out my Instagram for a new pig drawing each day.

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Fall is book festival season, and a few weekends ago, I was at the Princeton Children's Book Festival along with a stellar roster of kidlit authors and illustrators. Creating children's books is a somewhat solitary art, so festivals are a great way to connect directly with teachers, librarians, parents, and especially kids. If you find yourself near Westchester County, NY on Saturday, October 14th, come visit me at the Chappaqua Children's Book Festival from 10–4PM. I'll be signing books and giving away bookmarks, stickers and more. For further information, click here.

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September 15th was International Dot Day, and I was invited to celebrate with a few author-illustrator colleagues down at the KidLitTV studio in Lower Manhattan. Now a worldwide celebration inspired by Peter Reynolds' book The Dot (about a little girl who is reticent about drawing/making her mark, only to discover the true artist within her), this Dot Day connected classrooms across the globe through a live stream to create a celebration of creativity, courage, and collaboration. As you can see, we created our own jumbo dot, deemed, the "collabradot." Thanks to my fellow "celebridotters" Lori Richmond, David Ezra Stein, Joyce Wan, Michael Arndt and the great folks at KidLitTV for a fabulously fun day!

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Last, but not least, Zora's Zucchini is now out in paperback, sporting a newly-earned award—the Growing Good Kids Book Award, from Junior Master Gardeners and The American Horticultural Society. If you'd like to get a copy for the kid gardener you know, click here.

That's all from here—have a great fall, and hope to see you soon!