We didn’t sink!

What a wonderful day it was at the Queens Museum Children’s Book Celebration this past Saturday. We bookmakers were set up in the main atrium—a gorgeous open space, filled with natural light—where kids and parents filed through, pausing for conversation, art-making, reading, you name it...and a general good time.

If you’re unfamiliar with this area of Queens, there’s great history behind the space too. The museum is located in the New York City Building, which once housed the New York City Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair. It’s the building next to the iconic Unisphere, a 12-story globe surrounded by a fountain, or what I like to call the best sprinkler in the world.

I was paired up with the Discovery Team from the Queens Children’s Library who created a great program for kids to test their theories of sinking and floating, using some of the experiments from Things That Float and Things That Don’t.

Not only were some of my pals in the New York City kids’ book community there, but I got to meet several authors and illustrators whose work I’ve been admiring from afar. Fingers crossed for this to become an annual event.

The Queens Museum Children’s Book Celebration

Join me and a great group of local award-winning children’s book authors and illustrators this Saturday, July 11th, from 12 to 4 PM for the Queens Museum Children’s Book Celebration! Best of all—it’s free!

illustration by Tim Miller

There will be live readings, art-making, and other fun activities from this list of characters: Mike Curato, Melissa Guion, Frank Dormer, Roxie Munro, Kelly Light, Kat Yeh, Joyce Wan, Sergio Ruzzier, David Ezra Stein, Anna Raff, Adam Auerbach, Kirsten Hall, Dasha Tolstikova, Mike Herrod, Sam Ita, Jen Hill, Ame Dyckman, Zachariah OHora, Carla Torres, Adam Lehrhaupt, Isabel Roxas, and Rowboat Watkins!

The day’s events were organized by the incredibly talented Tim Miller in partnership with the Queens Library Summer Reading Program. And wow!—the first 200 attendees get a free poster! (See Tim’s great illustration above.)

As for me, I’ll be pairing up with the Queens Library Discovery Team to present Things That Float and Things That Don’t, the first in a series of books by David A. Adler that I’ve had the pleasure of illustrating. We’ll be testing out all kinds of experiments to see what sinks, what floats, and how salt water effects buoyancy—so bring your future scientists!

When not stooped over a tub of water sinking stuff, I’ll be at my table located on the first floor sharing my book-making process, a few sneak peeks at some future projects, and tips on how to draw rats and other important things.  I mean everyone needs to know how to draw a proper rat, don’t they?

I’ll also be selling copies of my books, prints and other wares with plenty of free stuff to give away.

And if this line-up of children’s book luminaries wasn’t enough, and you’ve never visited The Queens Museum before, did you know that it houses a gigantic panorama of the city of New York? I saw it for the first time a few weeks ago, and it is truly amazing.

For more information, visit the Museum website. I hope to see you there!

Things That Float at the White House!

You might have heard of the White House Easter Egg Roll that takes place on the South Lawn each spring. This year, in keeping with the theme of First Lady Michele Obama’s “Let's Move” initiative, the event focused on health and fitness for kids. Imagine my delight to learn that Things That Float and Things That Don’t was one of the science books featured! 

Many thanks to my publisher Holiday House for donating books, and for SB&F Online for tweeting this fantastic photo. In the words of a friend, “these girls know where it’s at!”

And this just in…
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) posted more information and photos from the event here.

accolades that float

Although I’m a few weeks late announcing it here, I recently received some terrific news about Things That Float and Things That Don’t. To be honest, the book is up for an award that up until now, I never knew existed... 

Each year, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) teams up with Subaru in awarding the SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, and Things That Float... (written by David A. Adler) is among three nominees in the Picture Book Category for 2014. I doubt this means I’ll be driving away in an Outback any time soon, but it’s great news nonetheless. To learn more about the award and the other nominees, click here.

Add this to the many great reviews over the past few months from The Horn Book, Booklist, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly who said... 

“It’s rare to find a picture book that uses simple, hands-on activities so successfully, leading young children to a fuller understanding of a scientific concept.”

This is great inspiration as I sketch out another picture book by David to be published by Holiday House. This one features simple machines and is full of all kinds of visual problem-solving, which I love. I look forward to sharing some teasers here in the coming months. To tide you over, there are two small details at the end of this post.

In the meantime, my work continues on The Wrong Side of the Bed written by Lisa M. Bakos and to be published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 2015. It’s going to be a fun 2014 as I dive into the finished drawings.

Trailer for Things That Float and Things That Don’t

Not getting your fill of the seaside this summer? Never fear, my book trailer for Things That Float and Things That Don’t by David A. Adler just went live. How about taking a quick 1:21 minute break to cool off?

★ things that float my boat ★

It’s been a sweltering July in New York City thus far, but a few cool things have been happening that I’d like to share.

A big stack of Things That Float and Things That Don’t arrived in the mail today—a bit earlier than expected, since the book isn’t officially due out until September. Written by David A. Adler and published by Holiday House, it received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. 

So if you’re looking for an excuse to beat the heat while learning about buoyancy, this one is for you. For a peek at some of the illustrations, visit my portfolio site. In the meantime, stay cool!

Things That Float and Things That Don’t

I received a surprise in the mail this weekend—an advance copy of Things That Float and Things That Don’t, by David A. Adler, to be published by Holiday House this fall. This is a fun little non-fiction picture book that presented a few new challenges for me that I’ll go into in a later post. Meanwhile, here’s a sneak peek of the jacket and an interior spread. Is it wrong that my favorite part is the spine?

new website!

I’m very pleased to announce the relaunch of annaraff.com today. 

Admittedly, a revamp was long overdue, but at last I can share selections from a few of my upcoming book projects. Images from the aforementioned World Rat Day, by J. Patrick Lewis are there, as well as some from Things That Float and Things That Don’t, a non-fiction picture book to written by David A. Adler to be published by Holiday House this fall.

I hope you get a chance to poke around. If so, thanks for looking!