I just added my latest cover design for the New York Times Best-selling series, Emily Windsnap, to my website. This is the fifth book in the series. It was released by Candlewick Press. I continued with the new look that I established for the series last year. This project differed in that I worked with illustrator Sarah Gibb to create original artwork for the cover. The cover features a shimmery blue foil stamp on the title typography and a glitter spot gloss on the bubbles. Completing the package for a shiny, sparkly mermaid tale!

The other books in the series. Read more about the initial redesign here.

Time to celebrate! Last week was a very exciting week. Laura Amy Schlitz, won a Newbery Honor for her fantastic book, Splendors and Glooms. The Newbery Honor is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. I had the privilege of designing the book jacket. I worked closely with the amazingly talented and versatile illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline to create a jacket that conveyed the lush, magical dark mood of this amazing Victorian tale. The approach to this jacket was unique in that all parties (the Author, Editor, Art director and Designer) were involved from the initial concepting to final product. It was a joy to work on. Click here to see the full jacket.

In addition to the Newbery Honor, the American Library Association also awarded a Stonewall Honor to Lesléa Newman for her incredibly moving October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. The Stonewall is awarded for exceptional merit relating to the GLBT experience. I designed this jacket as well and recently posted about it here.
To add to the excitement, Jon Klassen won a Caldecott Medal for the wonderful, This Is Not My Hat.
I was lucky enough to work with the talented Mr. Klassen a couple years ago on the jacket for The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic. 

A huge congratulations to Laura, Lesléa, Jon and all of the fantastic and talented people at the phenomenal Candlewick Press who made these books possible!

I have been an admirer of illustrator Jonathan Bartlett's work for some time. When I was assigned the jacket for Leslea Newman's extremely moving October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, I knew that Jonathan would be a perfect fit for for this jacket. And he did not disappoint. He handled this challenging project with sensitivity and grace. Click here to see the full jacket.

Hello! I have been away for a bit. (More about that later . . .)
I am excited to share that the book, The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf, was selected to be in the New England Book Show. I designed the cover and Sherry Fatla designed the lovely interior. The New England Book Show is "an annual juried show that recognizes the year's most outstanding work by New England publishers, printers and graphic designers." It was an honor to be included in the show and an honor to work on this book. It is such a moving story and beautifully done. It was also a huge honor to work with the incredibly talented illustrator, Jon Klassen. I'm pretty sure I did a happy dance when the initial sketch for this concept arrived in my InBox. He was a joy to work with.

One of the many joys of having a little one is rediscovering the things you enjoyed as a child. My daughter has recently been enjoying Madeline written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans. This was one of my favorite books growing up and I am falling in love with it all over again. As an adult, I am becoming a huge fan of Bemelmans art. I have been doing some research to find out more about him, and I stumbled upon images from Bemelmans Bar. It is located in The Carlysle in NYC. Bemelmans himself painted the murals on the wall in exchange for an 18 month stay in the hotel. This is definitely on my "must see" list for the next time I go to New York.
Image above: c 2011 Oyster