Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus is available NOW!

My debut picture book Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus came out Tuesday, March 6! It’s available on KWiL Publishing’s website and Amazon, and did I mention there’s a coloring book version, too?! Here is a picture of the freshly printed book basking in natural sunlight:

Over the past week, it’s been awesome seeing kids and adults react to the book. Thank you to everyone who has shared adorable photos, like this one! Shared with the quote, “He’s been reading it nonstop!” He’s so cozy and focused. I love it so much:

If you and your kids are enjoying the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. You don’t need to have purchased the book through Amazon to leave a review. It’s incredibly helpful as a debut author to have those reviews, so thank you!

And please check out the book trailer! A big thank you to my brother for creating the video and my sister-in-law for doing the voice over. It’s nice to be related to video pros!

We’ve also had a couple reviews come in! A lovely blog, Dream Reader Kids on Instagram, and this review from a school librarian:

“Dinos, Daryl Dactyl and Steve Rex, are pizza chefs and extreme hide-and-go-seekers. In Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus, the pair invites readers to join them in an interactive game of hide-and-seek while their pizza bakes. Young children will need to observe the backyard setting carefully to spy the two, as each time the dinos hide, finding them becomes progressively more challenging. By round three, Steve is apparently hidden for good! Will the beeping of the pizza timer bring him out of hiding? With its colorful digital illustrations; comic book format; light-hearted dialogue; and invitation to play along, young readers are sure to enjoy Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus.”

Reviewed by Kathryn Wachs, Stormonth School Library Media Specialist

I had such a blast Friday night at KWiL Publishing’s release party! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate at Third Space Brewing. Your support and enthusiasm meant the world to me! Here are a couple snapshots from the evening – I know there are a ton more, so please share! Thank you, Abby and Molly, for throwing such an amazing party to introduce Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus and to officially kick off KWiL Publishing right here in Milwaukee, WI – where books are just the beginning!

Left to right: Molly Damon, KWiL’s VP of Marketing & Sales; Me; Abby Nies Janowiec Founder & President of KWiL

Beth, me, and the most amazing Hide & Go Seek-themed bottle of wine I’ve ever seen, handcrafted by my wonderful friend Beth 🙂

Me with my brother Brian and sister-in-law Cheryl – the talent behind the book trailer!

Me with my awesome work friends!

Thank you Sam and Katy for helping me with the read aloud!

Thanks again for all the fun, everyone!

Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus goes to print SOON!

I am so, so close to finishing Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus, I can taste it. And what does it taste like you might ask? Like an amazing, victorious PIZZA.

Here are some of the delicious-looking final copy proofs I’ve been circulating for final, final edits to make sure everything is just right:

Even holding these booklet versions is really exciting, so I truly can’t wait to feel the real, live hardcover book (with lovely dust jacket) in my hands. The book releases March 6th! Which is just around the corner. More soon!

Inktober 2017 Challenge Complete!

October flew by, I think due in part to participating in the whirlwind that is Inktober! If you aren’t familiar with Inktober, it’s an art challenge developed by Jake Parker where artists around the globe participate by creating one ink drawing a day during the month of October. Participants then post their artwork on social media using #inktober. One drawing a day doesn’t sound too hard, but it becomes challenging to keep up!

I’m delighted to say that 2017 is the first year I’ve successfully completed the Inktober challenge! Here are all 31 drawings:

And here are a couple of my favorites:

Check out my Instagram or Twitter pages to see all 31 days. In the meantime, I’m designing a book of all 31 drawings, which will be available soon!

The Floor is Lava!

Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus Cover Reveal!

Today’s the day! I’m delighted to share the cover for my debut picture book Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus! It will be a real live book (made with the utmost love and care) that you can hold in your hands March 6, 2018!

KWiL Publishing did an awesome blog post about the cover reveal here. Stay tuned for updates and pre-ordering will be available soon!

My new favorite illustration prompt: #Colour_Collective

I’m putting a spotlight on #Colour_Collective this week because it’s helped me find tons of amazing artwork from many talented illustrators! And I love that all artists and mediums are welcome.

Here’s the skinny. Every Saturday on Twitter @Clr_Collective releases a new color for that week’s inspiration. The following Friday at 19:30 BST (that’s 1:30pm CST, my Midwestern friends), artists of all stripes share artwork inspired by that color and tag it #Colour_Collective.

Here are some of the pieces I’ve made over the past couple weeks and the colors that inspired them.

So, if you’re looking for a smile on Fridays, browse the hashtag for some beautiful art! And if you’re an artist looking for weekly inspiration, join in! The online community around this is awesome. This week’s color is Portland Orange, and I can’t wait to post something new tomorrow and see all the amazing artwork!

BIG NEWS! My debut picture book is going to be published by KWiL!

My debut picture book Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus is set to be published by Milwaukee’s own KWiL Publishing in Spring 2018! KWiL has a cool business model as a small, startup publisher, and I’m excited to partner with them not only on the book, but also on promotions, community events and more! KWiL’s founder Abby Janowiec and I celebrated the contract signing by hanging out with the book’s main characters Steve and Daryl. We are pretty darn sneaky… 🙂

So what’s Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus about? I think KWiL puts it nicely:

“After a long and successful run of the Hide & Go Seek-A-Saurus show, Steve and Daryl are retired, relaxed and ready to eat pizza, lots and lots of pizza, until…a kid—the reader—shows up expecting a round of hide-and-go-seek. Reluctant as they may be, this dinomite duo never disappoints; and as soon as they pop the pizza in the oven and go over the rules, the countdown is on.

Alternately talking directly to the reader and arguing with each other over whom the reader found first, Steve and Daryl are a delight, and even more delightful to find, which is what readers are invited to do on three full spreads. Combine dinosaurs, pizza, hilarious countdowns and actual games of hide-and-go- seek, and young readers will be asking to read—or better yet—play with—this book over and over again.”

The story was inspired by several random things, including this drawing I posted in February, which then evolved into these guys:

The look of Steve and Daryl continued to evolve when I sketched out the entire story, so the Steve and Daryl you see in the final book will be a tad different than the drawing above. But I’m in the process of finalizing tweaks to the sketches and manuscript, and then I’m diving into final art. Stay tuned for teasers as it all comes together!

Hipster Cat & Hibiscus Flowers

Meet Clora. She likes to stop and smell the flowers, but her first love is meteorology. On the weekends she sketches clouds and keeps tabs on the changing weather with her pocket barometer. It’s quite hipstery, and I’m pretty sure she’s friends with this guy.

Captain Thunk: The Lone Pirate Cat

Yaarrrrrrr, matey!

Mr. Buttons – a short, quirky comic – is done!

So you know that weird story I was working on about a crow that falls in love with a duck-shaped hot tub chlorinator? Even if you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m excited to say it’s done!

Check out page one below, and read the full 8-page comic here.