April Roars

THE KING OF BOOKS received its very first trade review in March. I am so pleased with the Kirkus Review, which you can read here, in particular the quote shown above. I also think KING is bound to be a roaring success at storytime!
You can read the advanced copy HERE and if you are so inclined, drop a review on Edelweiss+ or Goodreads and pre-order a copy for your school or library. I’m terrible at asking for pre-orders and reviews but they go a long way to making sure a book finds its audience and hopefully getting my NEXT book made as well.

My daughter helped me choose this month’s animal drawing sheet. Tarsiers are an interesting little primate. It’s a more challenging drawing sheet, and I just had to add the colored version - the large golden irises are such a dominant feature! If you’d like to see them in action, check out this short video.

Recently, I enjoyed a visit to a local day school. Normally I visit elementary schools, but it’s a rare treat to sit down for a TOO MUCH! NOT ENOUGH! story time with 2-5 year olds. They are the perfect audience for Peanut & Moe and these little ones were so engaged and joyful. I scale the collaboration way back for younger kids, but we still had fun drawing Peanut & Moe and what they would be doing if they were at their school.

This is a rare, fun month where I have illustrations in both High Five and Highlights Magazines. You know I love to make step-by-step animal drawing sheets, so this woodlands page was a treat. And while I found the hair salon assignment very challenging, I’m happy with how it turned out and think kids will have a lot of fun finding the silly things (my favorite is the broccoli in the lollipop bowl!)

I also presented at the Derry Author Fest at the Derry Public Library in New Hampshire this month. It was a wonderful, free day of talks with book signings (and a raffle!). I look forward to coming back next year as an attendee. My talk was about the picture book process from idea to bookshelf. Putting the presentation together was a great exercise for me to remember a lot of forgotten details and just how long books take (five years for KING!) I enjoyed sharing my process and takeaways for those looking for insights, inspiration, and fortification on their journey. If you’d like to have me give this talk (virtual or in-person) to your SCBWI chapter or other writing group, reach out! ginacarey @ comcast . net

READING: The God of the Woods - as usual, I’m behind the popular reads. No spoilers! I feel like there will be big twists coming, and I’ve only read about 50 pages.

WATCHING: My daughter and her classmates performing in Alice in Wonderland Jr.! She had never been on stage before this, but jumped into the lead role of Alice with ease. It was a proud mom moment that I won’t soon forget. It’s also a sweet way to wrap up her many years at our K-8 school - so many amazing teachers, students, and parent volunteers worked hard on this one!

LISTENING TO: The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny. It seemed like a good time to head back to Three Pines. When the world seems chaotic, let the soothing voice of Inspector Gamache calm you down (while also looking for a killer).

One last note - we are taking a family trip to London later this month. If you have any bookish or art things that you’d like to recommend, please share! I will confess that my husband is the travel planner in the family and I often scramble at the last minute to pick places and things that I’d like to see. I last visited about 25 years ago, but I’m excited to visit again with my husband and two teens.