In 2014, I was thrilled to illustrate the covers of Judy Blume titles being reissued by Atheneum / Simon & Schuster Children’s as middle grade: Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, Blubber, Deenie, Iggie’s House, It’s Not The End Of The World, Starring Sally J. Freeman As Herself, and Then Again, Maybe I Won’t. I also provided the cover and interior b&w illustrations of three chapter book versions of Judy Blume classics: Freckle Juice, The Pain And The Great One, and The One In The Middle Is The Green Kangaroo. I will remain forever grateful to my Simon & Schuster Children’s editor, Justin Chanda, for approaching me to audition (read how it happened in this blog post) and to Judy Blume for giving me the green light as illustrator. It was a joy working with art director Lauren Rille (see our Nerdy Book Club guest post about creating a new look for these Judy Blume classics).
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be illustrating TWO MORE JUDY BLUME COVERS!!!! These are for reissues of:
Just As Long As We’re Together
Here’s To You, Rachel Robinson
Justin Chanda, who is closely involved with the project, told me that Jin Soo Chun is the in-house lead. I was also delighted when Justin told me that Judy was on-board with me illustrating the covers again. 🩷🎉🥳
I’m also super-happy to be working again with art director, Lauren Rille.
Others involved in this current project: Hope Kim (Designer), Jeannie Ng (Managing Editor), and Tatyana Rosalia (Production Manager).
The publication date of both of these books is still tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2027.
WoohoOOoOoOoOOO! As some of you know, I am a longtime Judy Blume fangirl. I was over-the-moon to be invited by Symphony Space to help celebrate Judy’s 80th birthday in NYC in 2018.
Excited and grateful and can’t wait to get started!
If you are a fellow Judy Blume fan, I highly recommend watching the excellent documentary on Prime Video, Judy Blume Forever. My editor, Justin Chanda, is in this documentary! You can also see him in this trailer:
Related posts and resources:
My initial BIG NEWS announcement plus the audition process
I illustrated Judy Blume’s covers! Here’s what I learned.
Celebrating Judy Blumesday in NYC….with JUDY BLUME!
Creating a new look for Judy Blume Classics: guest post on the Nerdy Book Club website (with Lauren Rille)
Quill & Quire Q&A with me about illustrating for Judy Blume
