On my 25th birthday my sister gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received. It came wrapped in a beautiful floral print. As I looked at the wrapping paper, I slowly realized where I knew that pattern from: the end pages of my all-time favorite picture book, The Seamstress of Salzburg by Anita Lobel. My sister had found an old library copy on sale on eBay and photocopied the end papers to […]
We at Pen & Oink are fortunate to have the pig as our mascot, because let’s face it, children’s literature abounds with pigs. Wilbur. Olivia. Mercy Watson. So, to celebrate our launch, we’re giving out a copy of a great pig book, Maurice Sendak’s Bumble-Ardy. Which piggie books do you love? Post an answer in the comments (please, don’t let’s all say Charlotte’s Web), and we’ll pick a winner at random! Deadline: this Thursday night, […]
Whenever I look at Rob Dunlavey's work, I want to sit down with a big pile of crayons, paint, and paper, and get my hands really dirty, because he makes it look just that easy and playful. I am, therefore, delighted that he's making the move into children's books. I hope he stays a long while.
Lauren Castillo joins us today! The thing I love about Lauren’s work is that it’s just so classic. I’d always envisioned her working quite traditionally on fancy thick watercolor paper. So I was surprised to handle some of her finished art recently and discover that she works on regular old drawing paper out of a pad! Lauren’s latest book, The Reader, just came out. She’ll be touring the Internet to talk about it, and we […]
Leo Landry's Snow Ghosts is a warm, playful look into another world.
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