Some Notes on ZORA and Meet Author Katherine Pryor, or At Least Please Eat Some Zucchini...

I’m not sure if I even knew how to spell z-u-c-c-h-i-n-i when I started illustrating Zora’s Zucchini late last year, but I’m really good at it now.  

Zora has been out for a few weeks, and the response has been great. For those of you on the West Coast, author Katherine Pryor has several signings scheduled in the coming weeks:

Aug. 28 — Mockingbird Books, Seattle, WA, 11am
Aug. 29 — Powell’s City of Books, Portland, WA, 11am
Sept. 3 — University Book Store, Bellevue, WA, 11am
Sept. 23 — Village Books, Bellingham, WA, 3:15pm
Sept. 26 — Eagle Harbor Book Co., Bainbridge Island, time TBD

Speaking of Powell’s, here’s a photo a friend took of Zora in the window. She seems suitably proud...

It’s always fun to see your work out in the wild. It’s especially fun to see it being shared right in front of you. That’s what happened on a recent trip to Rhode Island, when my sister-in-law gave a copy of Zora to her young, next door neighbor. Completely unprompted, the neighbor brought her own string bean to munch on during story time. Ah, yes...everything is working just as I planned. Heh, heh, heh...

It’s hard to believe that end of summer is upon us. Since Zora’s  release, the zucchini crop has come in, and if you follow  Zora’s page on Facebook, you’ve no doubt been marveling at the recipes Katherine Pryor has been posting each day. Inspired by that, and a few gorgeous specimens from my mom’s garden in Connecticut, I assembled my own zucchini quiche with great results. (Note: this photo shows the unfinished, unbaked version; the cooked version was pretty darned delicious.)

Finally, I’ve been getting a lot of queries about my dedication in Zora, which reads, “For the Committee.” Who is the Committee, you ask? No, not the editorial committee. Not the band of kidlit authors and illustrators I meet with over beers in Brooklyn each month. No, the Committee is this motley crew pictured below, albeit with a few members missing. It all has to do with a legendary summer some thirty years or so ago, when everyone’s zucchini crop came in in abundance, and we all had to deal with it. Just between you, me, and the internets, those recipes on Facebook sure would have come in handy. xo

 

Meet “Little Card”

The card’s out of the bag and ready for pre-order! Sure, you’ll have to wait a few more months for his official arrival, but the cover of my second book with Candlewick Press, A Big Surprise for Little Card, written by Charise Mericle Harper was revealed earlier this week. John Schumacher (a.k.a. @MrSchuReads) was kind enough to do the honors. Here’s the link to his site.

This was one of my favorite projects from the past year, and a wonderful collaboration with Charise, Art Director Ann Stott, and Editor Mary Lee Donovan. I can’t wait to share more of it with everyone.