duck week! (February 9–16)

It’s official: I’m proclaiming February 9–16 “Duck Week” on Ornithoblogical. That’s right, seven ducks in a row. Look for an original duck illustration to post on the blog each day at noon. I really hope it gooses your gander.

★ the WORLD RAT DAY trailer ★

Book trailers are all the rage in children’s publishing these days, so in preparation for its publication in March, I wanted to give World Rat Day proper attention. 

This meant investing a considerable amount of time teaching myself Adobe After Effects, but I think it was time well spent. As an illustrator, it’s so rewarding to make still images you’ve been working on for months and months actually move. If this weren’t already part of my profession, I’d take it up as a hobby.

So without further ado, here it is. Enjoy, share, post, tweet, whatever you choose, but mostly I hope it puts a smile on your face. 

WORLD RAT DAY - by J. Patrick Lewis and Anna Raff

Oh! One more thing—as if I hadn’t mentioned it a million times before—World Rat Day is available for pre-order here. :^)

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!

world rat day news

Exciting things are afoot in WORLD RAT DAY news: Candlewick has printed a promotional poster; and in a few weeks, my book trailer will release. As the tiniest of teases, here’s a member of the band of rats I weaved throughout. The official pub date is March 12th.

it’s a book!

My advance copy of World Rat Day arrived the other day and in my excitement, I might have jumped up and down a few times. I guess it’s no secret that I really loved working on this book. (The official publication date is March 12th.)

Meanwhile, I’ve been finishing up illustrations for a book with Holiday House due out next fall, in addition to working on the trailer for World Rat Day. Somewhere in there, I need to find time to redesign my website. Oh yeah, and it’s Christmas...

In case you haven’t already seen it, here’s a link to my holiday card. Best wishes for a peaceful holiday season!

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On the afternoon of Saturday, April 13th, there will be a World Rat Day book party (and signing) at the Rizzoli Bookstore here in Manhattan. Details to come.

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k-1, p.s. 372 – brooklyn

I had a great time last week, taking Sylvia’s Spinach on the road to the K-1 class at P.S. 372 in Brooklyn. This being my first appearance at a kindergarten since the Nixon administration, I was a little bit nervous. The kids were terrific and very enthusiastic, sharing their thoughts on favorite vegetables, gardening and showing off some creative coloring.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Lori and Matthew Richmond for organizing the visit and for buying every student in the class a copy of the book! Also a very special thanks to their son Cooper, who introduced me and showed great restraint in not giving away the end of the book—which he’d already read a few times. 

(photos by Matthew Richmond :^)

cooking with kids - kiwi magazine

It’s three years and counting for my relationship with Kiwi Magazine, illustrating  their “Cooking with Kids” section. The other day, the new editorial director got me caught up on tear sheets, pictured above.

We’ve done so much the last few months—made crackers, breadcrumbs, and rolled sushi. I just finished another series of cooking spots this week, so more on that when the next issue is out.