Corny & Cornelia In the Wild!

My art school roommate, Minty, found this today in her classroom out in California and took a picture. I wasn't even sure of the pub. date exactly, so it was a surprise! Thanks Minty! So here is book 1 in the series in its intended habitat: SCHOOL. This is a book club series by Pam Munoz Ryan. Final art for book 2 in this series, "Cornelia and the Show-and-Tell Showdown" is due tomorrow, and since early readers are usually double the amount of spreads that picture books are, I've been in the company of pet snakes, bullies, and the cheeky Cornelia for quite some time. Art to come (or TK in pub. lingo!)

"No," answered the lady. "I have no information about a crocodile wearing a red scarf."

Yikes! Has it almost been a month since we last? Time is marching on, so are projects and unpacking and assembling and painting. Everything is still in brilliant boxy shambles over here (at least the art desks are set up) but nothing nice enough to post yet. The book projects are chugging along too. Since everything is either secret or messy, I will post my current picture book inspirations (and a picture of Seri honestly sleeping on some of them!)


I was stuck on a few spreads, so I was compelled to make a run to Curious George for a badly needed picture book fix with Jess last week. I was especially looking for ones I hadn't read since I was small, like Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. When you crack open a book you haven't looked at since age 7, it's like time travel. Remember how it felt to literally be a part of the story as the pages turned? Renewing this feeling and keeping it with me as I work helps me along on my own books. So here are some of my recent jump-starters:


Bernard Waber, and his Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (*blog title quote, picture)
Tomi Ungerer, especially in Crictor
Marc Simont à la The Philharmonic Gets Dressed
Ludwig Bemelmans the great and his lovely Madeline
M. Sasek in his This Is (Ireland, New York, London...) books

...back to the classics. Oh and I have just found this new little dress. It also seems to time travel a bit.