Chowder Rules! ...the beginning...

The past year has been QUITE a ride…I illustrated my first traditionally published picture book! It has been a dream of mine for a long time now, and I’m so grateful to have been able to do it. (Now I want MORE!) The book is Chowder Rules! written by the lovely and talented Anna Crowley Redding, published by Islandport Press. It comes out October 13, 2020, and last week the cover was revealed.

But before I show you, let me take you back…

Last year, sometime in early spring of 2019, I was contacted by Melissa Kim, the editor of Islandport Press (she has since moved on). Melissa sent me an email asking if I’d be interested in illustrating a book they were working on…. and that email went directly to my junk folder, so I didn’t see it. <smacks forehead> A week or so later she sent a second email, which thank goodness, and miraculously, appeared in my inbox. I read the email, FREAKED OUT WITH EXCITEMENT, and we set up a time to chat. (I later found the first email in my junk folder, and have since made it a habit to regularly check that folder.) In our first phone call, Melissa told me about the manuscript and the author, what they were looking for in regards to the schedule, the art, and referenced a postcard I had sent to her 5 or 6 years before. I have been sending out promotional postcards to various publishers for years, and what they say is true - editors and art directors hold on to the ones they like. Of course, being me, I was immediately concerned that my art style had evolved too far from the art on that old postcard, but I squelched that down and reminded myself that I had a lot of current art on my website that anyone would certainly agree looked like my hand and also please would you calm down, self? So I did.

Side note: for those of you who are unfamiliar, Islandport Press is a small publisher in Maine. Their focus is New England themed books. The people who work there are wonderful.

We set up a time to meet in person, and shortly thereafter I met with Melissa and Teresa Lagrange, the art director and designer. The three of us talked about the style of and hopes for the book, and we all brought picture books we admire for various reasons to show and discuss. I took notes and made messy thumbnail sketches. I took photos of some of the books they brought. A plan was formed.

Needless to say, I was formally offered the book, and of course accepted. Contracts were signed, and the work began!

So what’s this book about? Well, here’s the cover:

From Islandport Press: Maine lawmaker Cleveland Sleeper loved steamy, creamy, dreamy clam chowder. Thoughts of tomatoes in his chowder made him see red. So he proposed a bill to make it a crime to add tomatoes to clam chowder. New Yorkers were offended! A war of words raged, until finally a duel of chefs settled the matter once and for all. The story behind the great chowder cook-off of 1939 is told by author Anna Crowley Redding with gusto, humor, and, of course, good taste.

This book is a lot of fun. And as a New Englander, I must admit that I have strong opinions on how a proper clam chowder is made.

Pre-orders are being taken now through Print: A Bookstore.

Next time on this blog I’ll take you through the process of creating the cover.