Winter Wallpaper

In response to Hwa Young's comment, a special fox paper for winter! Wishing you warmth & light, inside and out.

See ya in the snow,
David

Theater Poster

Hey all, I created a poster for the musical play Gimpel Tam (Gimpel the Fool), based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, that is currently running in NYC at the National Yiddish Theater. I went to the premiere and it was quite a powerful, moving work. Highly recommended! Thanks again to Motl, Ashley, and all the folks at Folksbiene. It was a pleasure to work on the poster & I look forward to the next one!

See you in the orchestra seats,
David

FallPaper

I made wallpaper for fall. Just a few things that remind me of autumn: squirrels, owls, oak leaves, gingko leaves, bare trees, acorns, mushrooms, shriveled old apples. Enjoy!

See ya in the woods.
David

DES Interview at 7-Imp

Hey all, I've been interviewed by Jules from the wonderful children's book blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. She asked some interesting questions and I sent lots of pictures. Get a sneak peek of next year's book, Pouch! (from Putnam). See a never-before-released picture from Leaves. Leave a comment for posterity.

Check it out here.

See ya in the blogosphere,
David

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Hey all, I am still aglow from yesterday's Ghouls & Gourds Festival at the BBG. The garden is one of my favorite places ever ( I used to catch frogs there and hide under trees as a kid) and it was such a pleasure to meet and greet kids and parents, sign books, and talk with fellow authors on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. There was a surplus of cute kids in costumes, a parade, and great music.

Here are a few pics.
Thanks to Anita Jacobs and Paul DuBois Jacobs for inviting me and for organizing the day!

See ya in the leaves,
David

NICE BOOK RELEASED!

Today's the day: The Nice Book is out in the world. Here's hoping it injects some "nice capital" and "kind liquidity" into the system!

Thanks to everyone who joined us at Books of Wonder for the release party last night. We wrote a really amazing story together (to give you an idea, it starred "Harry, the Normal, Hairy Man," whose hobby is "to visit the Ice Age"), drew pictures, and shared our thoughts about some nice people we know.

If you're in NY, you can see original art from The Nice Book at The Original Art Show at Society of Illustrators. Click here for details.

Be nice,
David

Drawn Out

On a misty Saturday, I visited the Met see the New Guinean and African sculpture on exhibit. I could simply stare at these works for hours. I find many of them to be among the best examples of figurative design I know.

NICE Review

Hi hi and happy nearly-almost Fall!

My new one, The Nice Book, releases October 16. Hope you will check out the PARTY at Books of Wonder on the 15th! We'll write a nice story together, and a mean story; You can nominate someone you think is nice to win a free book; and we'll find out, HOW NICE ARE YOU?
This is going to be, well, for lack of a better adjective, nice!

Anyhoo, in the interim, here's an excerpt of the first review of this cute lil' book, from Kirkus:

. . . A variety of animals from bugs to elephants practice what it takes to be nice. . . . There’s plenty of humor here. . . . The images were created with a mix of acrylic paints, ink and china marker, combined digitally—the effect is beautifully childlike. . . . Nice indeed.

Toodle-oo,
David

Painting Journal: Cape Cod

Just got back from a week in Cape Cod, where I was slowly but furiously browned by the sun. It was sweet. Here are some paintings I did there.

Painting Journal: Summer in NYC

Just finished this sketchbook and thought I'd post some fresh art! This was all drawn around NYC.

Drawing Out

Summer is nearly here, and the weather has been fine for drawing outside! Here are some recent sketchbook pages from Union Square and Tribeca. In Tribeca, I was drawing in a garden and a hundred little green bugs crawled all over me: It was very tickly! But I persevered.

Ezra Jack Keats Award

I'm mighty proud to say that I just received the 2008 Ezra Jack Keats New Author Award, for my third book, Leaves. This award is given once a year by the New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation to one new writer and one new illustrator of picture books. I shared the spotlight on Thursday May 15 at the Donnell Library with Jonathan Bean, the very talented illustrator of The Apple Pie That Papa Baked, among others.

The evening was filled with warmth, coming from the wonderful children's book folk and guests who were present. I am always pleased to be part of this community of creative and loving people. And to be honored by them. . .well!: Heaven on earth.

My thanks again to the jurors and supporters of my work, my editor and art director, and the New York Public Library and Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

Click here to visit the EJK Foundation's web site.

(Above: Me and Jonathan Bean with Doctors Deborah and Marvin Pope of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.)

Cowboy Ned-The Play!

Well, I just recently had the treat of seeing 4 original plays written and performed by 2nd and 3rd graders at the Muscota New School up in Inwood. And guess what? Two of them were based on my book Cowboy Ned & Andy. One of them even had me and the Mrs. as characters. I thought the acting and writing were simply exceptional. Thanks to librarian Ellen Shave for inviting me, Dana the drama teacher, and all the other teachers for encouraging creativity in their students!

Keep up the great work, y'all!