Subway Story at PowerHouse Books!

This Sunday, October 9th at 4pm - I'll be reading and signing Subway Story, two days before it's officially released at an event at powerHouse books in DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY! See Subway Story early and be the envy of your friends and neighbors!
I'll be there with authors Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter who will be presenting their delightful book 11 Experiments That Failed. And Meghan McCarthy will also be reading and signing her great new book, The Incredible Life of Balto. She will also be raffling off some original drawings at the event.


Here's the first glimpse of Subway Story in powerHouse's window!

Thanks to Jesse Zryb for the photo.

Subway Story Reviews

Subway Story has received some very nice early reviews -

from Kirkus:

Jessie weighs 75,122 pounds and is a beautiful, brand-new subway car.
She was brought to New York in the early 1960s for the World’s Fair, and she loves traveling all over the city. She speeds around curves and ducks under rivers. When musicians practice on board, she accompanies them with deep rumbles and toe-tapping clacks. Over the years, there are many changes, but Jessie never forgets her most important job—helping people travel safely. Until one season, sleek, shiny new silver trains start taking over the tracks. A downcast Jessie sits in a dusty yard, poignantly wondering about the people she had carried. “Did they notice she was gone?” Thankfully, her adventure doesn’t end there. She is taken to the Atlantic and sunk to become an artificial reef, home to many barnacles, coral and fish. Sarcone-Roach cleverly brings the story full circle: Jessie was once an integral part of a bustling city, and now a whole city lives inside of her. With sprawling landscapes and vast underground tunnels as a backdrop, readers will cheer Jessie’s story of revival. The author's acrylics gently anthropomorphize Jessie, giving her headlight-eyes and a winsome smile.
Immensely readable and surprisingly touching, this large heft of metal totes a lot of charm. (author’s note, bibliography, further reading) (Picture book. 3-6)

from School Library Journal:

This story of “Jessie,” a subway car built in the early 1960s, was inspired by the author’s trip to the New York Transit Museum and is a lovely tribute to the city and its boroughs. Told in a clever biographical format, the story begins with Jessie’s “birth” details: weight, length, etc. The shiny, new car takes her responsibilities seriously as she safely carries children to school, adults to work, and friends and family members to visit one another. As the decades pass, Jessie delivers visitors to the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens, is covered in graffiti, then painted red, repaired, and refurbished, including air-conditioning to replace outdated fans. Eventually, she is retired and becomes part of an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean, where she assumes her new job. The expressive acrylic illustrations set the tone and give the story depth. The features on the front of the subway car are used to make Jessie’s eyes, nose, and mouth. An author’s note gives details about the history of subway cars around the world. This title will be appreciated by train buffs and those curious about the history of New York City.
–Anne Beier, Clifton Public Library, NJ


Thanks to Anne Beier, School Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews!

30 Minutes Over Oregon

Author and friend, Marc Tyler Nobleman has written a great non-fiction picture book manuscript which has received some great responses from teachers, kids and editors, but has yet to be acquired by a publisher. Marc approached some illustrator friends (including me) to design mock covers for the manuscript.



Here's his description of the story:

"Thirty Minutes Over Oregon

Hiroshima. Dresden. London. Brookings?

Americans know the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as one of the most infamous events of WWII. However, few on either side know that the next year, the Japanese also bombed mainland America—twice. Navy pilot Nobuo Fujita launched his two-seater seaplane off a submarine and hit the woods outside tiny Brookings, Oregon. He was the first (and still only) wartime enemy to complete an aerial attack on American soil.

None were hurt, but all involved were changed. Twenty years later, amid a blaze of controversy, Brookings invited Nobuo back. Though nervous, he felt an obligation to say yes. He brought his family's 400-year-old samurai sword, the same he had taken on every war mission. Always a man of honor and now a man of peace, he planned to gift it to the town. He would be devastated if his onetime targets did not forgive him..."



Below are some notes and sketches I did after reading the manuscript. To see the cover that I designed, along with all the great covers, feedback, and comments, check out Marc's post about the project here.

Any day that I get to put a majorette hat on a raccoon...

is a GREAT day.

A sketch for an upcoming illustration.

Meet Jessie!

My new book, Subway Story will be coming out October 11th!
From Random House:

"Never was there a subway car who loved her job more than Jessie. From morning to night she carried all sorts of people all sorts of places—to work and school and World's Fairs, over bridges and through tunnels—sometimes she even took a pigeon along for the ride! But as time passed, sleek new silver cars began to take over the tracks, banishing Jessie to an abandoned lot. What will she do with no passengers to carry? And where will she go now that she's no longer welcome on the tracks?

Based on the true story of 1960's-era subway cars that are now being used to create artificial reefs in the Atlantic, this stunningly illustrated second book from Julia Sarcone-Roach is sure to delight scuba diving historians and kids alike."

Preorder it here!

Batten and Hatch

The day before Hurricane Irene was set to blow through New York, we found two more Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the anise plant in the yard, and brought them inside. They were named Batten and Hatch.
As the rain came down in fits and spurts and heavy winds whipped the trees outside, Batten, the largest one, went calmly about turning into a chrysalis while Hatch watched, and I drew. Here's our hurricane day:

Japanese Prints

I've been drawing some Japanese prints lately in the sketchbook for a extracurricular project. The pictures bled between the pages a bit, as the sketchbook and I received a good soaking in a downpour. It was a week before we both dried out and one of us ended up all warped and wrinkly.

(I Heart) We Heart Books Online

Here's an old picture to celebrate a nice new review. This was the view of my desk while I was working on a page of The Secret Plan, and my helpful cat model, Holly.


Here is a wonderful review of The Secret Plan by We Heart Books Online from Melbourne, Australia:

"Bedtime always gets in the way of the fun stuff!

Milo, a baby elephant and his kitten friends Henry, Harriet and Hildy love to play but mum saying 'Bedtime' always ruins their games. 'Bedtime! Had to be stopped!'

They need a plan - a secret plan to overcome bedtime and play all night. They try hiding, going undercover, blending in and sneaking out but are foiled by clever mum at every turn. Then they remember a certain pair of furry monster feet and Milo quietly makes a break for the attic to meet up with the kittens. 'It was the perfect late-night no-bedtime-ever hideout'

After some play and a late night feast however everyone starts to get a little drowsy - perhaps it's not such a good idea to stay up late after all?

Time to hatch a new secret plan - after a little rest!

This beautiful playful picture book is the perfect bedtime read. It's funny and engaging as well as ending on the best note of everyone falling asleep dreaming of the day ahead.

Julia Sarcone-Roach's amazing acrylic illustrations are vivid and intricate. She includes cross sections of the house showing the characters moving around carrying out their various plans and the delightful end papers are blue prints of the town house - designed by 'House by Mouse'.

There are many picture books about children avoiding bedtime but none as clever and funny as this one. The illustrations are warm and snug, enveloping you like a big quilt. The illustrations and the text fit perfectly making this a comforting bedtime story that I have no doubt will become a classic."

Thank you, We Heart Books Online, for the kind and thoughtful review!

Butterfly Birthday

There's a little spot of garden that I help keep up with some neighbors. Recently, our parsley had been mysteriously disappearing.

After several days of patience, the parsley thief was caught in the act.



It was a Black Swallowtail caterpillar (also known as a "Parsley Worm" or "BS cat" to those hip to caterpillar slang.) This is the caterpillar stage of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Here are a few sketchbook drawings of our BS cat (named Lieutenant Pinkerton) who ate a small forest of parsley before turning into a chrysalis inside a pickle jar in the studio.






And here is the Lieutenant right after turning into a butterfly:


(Photo thanks to Adam Kesner.)

Both male and female Black Swallowtails look identical as caterpillars, and it isn't until they reach the butterfly state that their sex is revealed. The deep blue spots on the wings reveal that the Lieutenant was a lady!

Moments after this photo was taken, she was released and fluttered off into Greenwood Cemetery.

Morse, the Man and the Code.

As far as I know, The Secret Plan is the only picture book about bedtime that heavily features kittens communicating using Morse code.
What I didn't know was that Samuel F. B. Morse, the man who invented the telegraph, as well as the Code, was a painter before he turned to inventing. I saw one of his most famous works, Gallery of the Louvre at the National Gallery in Washington, DC.



Here's a visual way to remember the Morse alphabet (based on A.G. Reingold's chart.)
Useful when plotting your next sleepover.



For those more curious about Morse and his code:

A short biography of Morse is here.

There's also an interesting article from the New York Times here about a recent event called the Night of Nights, when the air was once again filled with "the music of Morse." (The article was also my first introduction to the term "radio squirrel.")