Another seven books just done

Here are the covers of seven little board books - each a rhyme - which I just finished this yesterday for Bayard France to slot into a 'bookshelf-cube' which I still have to design. Each book is six spreads.  Once again it was all about weaving a  picture-story out of a very few words.  I added a kind of visual afterword on each back cover ( left sides here are backcovers).  Ah yes,  another snail - what is it about me and snails this year?!

All that work has left me barely 24 hours to prepare thoughts, words, pictures and clothes for the SCBWI Los Angeles conference and board meeting.  Better stop blogging now!

Underwater testing

Here's the first serious reader of my bath book.  His ma tells me he's fascinated by the colourful pictures and its buoyancy.  I'm glad it made a big splash.

It's raining snails!

Just got a big box of my bath books from French Editions Tourbillon.   Anyone out there who'd like a snail bath book to review or play with?    My bath ain't big enough!

Petit Escargot is an old French rhyme.  I showed Snail playing hide and seek with his friends, the ladybird (another back to show off!),  and a ant, carrying a strawberry.  Why a strawberry?  Well aside from matching the colour of all their loads,  I see now there's also an ant bearing a strawberry in Ann and Paul Rand's  book 'I know a lot of things'.  It must have imprinted itself on my memory.
Their wonderful timeless book was published the year I was born and it's been recently reprinted by Chronicle. 

My spongy Snail book has with it,  a larger than life blow-up snail. 
They couldn't add tentacles on the blow-up shape.  In the book I drew the eyes on the end of the tentacles.  That's where snail's eyes are.  It also meant I could hint at a smile in the head shape between in eyes...

Bath books are screen printed - so a limited number of colours -  but I wanted to avoid the usual red, yellow, blue combos...   It was a pleasure to work with Tourbillon.  I love their beautiful books for toddlers - designed with respect for new - and used -  eyes!