The Book Show

November 24, 2025

This past spring, I stepped down from my teaching position in the Illustration as Visual Essay MFA at the School of Visual Arts. It was a heart-wrenching choice given that I am a graduate of the same program. Years ago, I was asked to join the faculty by its founder, the late Marshall Arisman, who was a mentor to me and countless others. It has been an honor to be a small influence in the careers of so many burgeoning artists over the years. But I’ve struggled to find the time for my own work, so this year’s “Book Show,” now on view in the SVA Gramercy Gallery, is my last.

And what a show it is! The Class of 2026 created a diverse array of picture books, children’s books, comics, visual essays and we’ve even got one pop-up book. I hope you get a chance to see it before it comes down on December 13th. Also on view in the front room is the work of Lillian Ansell, who was my student a few years ago.

The SVA Gramercy Gallery is located at 209 East 23rd Street. For more information on the exhibition and the MFA Illustration program, click here.

Images from left to right, beginning with top row: Bernardo Bagulho, Casey Grenier, K Downs, Mansai Patankar, Kailee Finn, Nancy Xi Nan, Yiou Zheng Miki, Yuan Peng, Sitong Liu.

Storytime with Tara Lazar and me…at Watchung in New Jersey!

March 13, 2025

Cookies, stickers, toothpicks and crayons are just some of the things featured at the Party Animals storytime.

Hey…that rhymes! This Sunday, March 16th at 2 PM, Party Animals creators, Tara Lazar and I will be at one of my favorite, Northeast, independent bookstores—Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey.

We’ll be celebrating the publication of our new book from Disney-Hyperion, which released earlier this week. As Tara would say, it’s going to be “a humdinger, hullabaloo, rip-roaring good time!” In addition to a reading, we’ll have a craft activity, some drawing, and other treats!

Keen-eyed readers will notice a few special details from the story that we’ll be sharing. Sample a “Horace d’Oeuvre!” Take home an actual Horace walking stick facsimile…No joke! And if you purchase a copy of Party Animals, you’ll get a free stickersheet featuring all of four characters.

So grab you favorite party animals, and come join us! Watchung Booksellers is located at 54 Fairfield Street, Watchung Plaza, in Montclair, New Jersey. For more information, visit their website here.

Photo of stacks of Party Animals books on a purple background with confetti and a party banner.

Party Animals Out Today!

March 11, 2025

It’s today! PARTY ANIMALS is officially out in the world—gotta say, I’m pretty proud of this one. PARTY ANIMALS is a hilarious, sweet tale of friendship and empathy written by Tara Lazar, of whom I’ve been a fan for a long time. This was a real labor of love and laughs for me, adding all the details and hidden jokes as I immersed myself in this crew of characters. I hope readers have as much fun with it as I did. Big shoutouts go to our wonderful editor, Sylvie Frank and fabulous art director, Joann Hill at Disney-Hyperion who really helped nudge me to all the right places.

Photo of the assembly for Tara and Anna at Parkview School in Milltown NJ.

Tara and I had the pleasure of giving the students of Parkview School in Milltown, NJ a sneak peek at PARTY ANIMALS last week. And guess what? They loved it! 😁

To purchase a copy for the party animal in your life, please visit your favorite indie bookstore or bookshop.org. Thanks for reading and celebrating with me! 🥳

4 sketchbook pages, diagraming various characters' features of an elephant, dog, cat and rat. — Samples from my character “dossier” for PARTY ANIMALS.

Guest Blog Post for Storystorm

January 30, 2025

Each January, author Tara Lazar organizes Storystorm, a month-long brainstorming challenge for children’s book creators eager to jumpstart their creative engines. Participants write down a story idea every day in a ritual that results in 30+ new ideas that may or may not become books. Much like a muscle-building exercise, it’s a tune-up for our brains as the year kicks off. It’s also a wonderful event for the broader kidlit community with excellent blog posts by authors and illustrators who share a peek underneath the hood of their processes. (Hmmm…how many exercise and car references can one person slip into one paragraph?)

Tara, has written several books for children—most utterly hilarious—including our own collaboration, PARTY ANIMALS which is out March 11th. I was honored when she asked me to contribute the post for January 30th. I reveal how I immersed myself in the inner lives of our motley crew of characters, including the “dossiers” pictured above. I hope you enjoy it! Here’s a link.

PARTY ANIMALS—Now Available for Pre-Order!

July 11, 2024

At long last, I’m pleased to share the cover of Party Animals, the first of two new picture books by the wonderful Tara Lazar and me, to be published by Disney–Hyperion in March 2025. I had a blast with this book, immersing myself into the characters and their whacky, partying personalities. While the book won’t officially be out in the world until March 11th, you can pre-order a copy today from your favorite bookseller.

I’ve been a fan of Tara’s and her books for a long time. I feel so fortunate that the lovely folks at Disney–Hyperion thought of me for this motley crew. (Thank you Art Director, Joann Hill and Editor, Sylvie Frank!) This might be the funniest book I’ve done yet—it really hit a sweet spot.

Recently, Tara interviewed me about my process behind the scenes. We discussed my thinking about the characters, and shared a few surprise nuggets hidden in the art. To read more and for information about a givieaway(!) and information about Tara’s other books, click here.

In the meantime, party on! 🎉