Behind the Cover: I WANT TO READ ALL THE BOOKS (Simon & Schuster BFYR)
Navigation: More info about the book – Behind-The-Scenes Process
Part 1 (Idea) – Part 2 (Writing) – Part 3 (Illustration)
I am delighted to share the cover of I Want To Read ALL The Books, my new solo picture book with Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, which launches from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers on Sept. 17th, 2024. For a more detailed and tech-focused cover process post, see Picture Books 101 Behind-The-Scenes: Creation Of A Picture Book Cover over on my Substack.
You can find out more about my book, find bonus content, and more here. Pre-order my book by Aug. 1st, 2024 and receive a signed bookplate and stickers, plus be entered in a monthly raffle for original art, bibliophile jewelry, signed bookmarks, signed prints, stickers, and other goodies. If you’re a K-12 educator, you’ll ALSO be entered in a special draw for a free virtual 20-minute Q&A classroom visit! To receive your thank you gift and be entered in the monthly raffle, see details at the end of this post.
Q. What is I Want To Read ALL The Books about?
Hana, a very curious little girl who wants to know everything about the world around her, decides that the only way to answer all her questions is to read all the books. It begins when she has a question, and her mom gives her a book. Hana loves the book, but now she has even more questions! She reads all the books in her room, then in her house, then her friends’ houses, then her whole neighborhood block. But when her mother takes her to the library downtown she realizes that maybe she can’t really read all the books, after all. So now what?
Q. How did you come up with the cover?
Laurent Linn, my brilliant art director at Simon & Schuster, asked me to brainstorm some cover ideas. Here’s a photo of me with Laurent at an SCBWI conference:
Here are just a few:
For the many piles of books, I needed lots of photo reference! I started to create physical piles of books in my studio and photographing them but quickly realized that I needed WAY more space. I experimenting with created 3D models of books (single books, piles of books, open books, etc.) in VR via various 3D modelling apps like Gravity Sketch, Blender, Adobe Substance 3D Modeler.
I ended up putting together 3D scenes of book piles using Adobe Substance 3D Stager; I already had a subscription at the time for access to Modeler (in VR) and other 3D sculpting, painting, and texturing tools. Creating a scene in 3D enabled me to experiment with different angles, placement of piles, lighting, and so on. I took a ton of screenshots to use as reference, collaged some together and then drew in my own illustration style.
The dog on the front cover and in the story was inspired by my sister-in-law‘s West Highland Terrier, Archie:
You can now pre-order I WANT TO READ ALL THE BOOKS! I’d appreciate asking your local indie bookshop to order my book, or here are some other places you can pre-order:
Indiebound (will add link when available) – Bookshop – Amazon.ca – Amazon.com – Barnes & Noble
Here are just a few indie bookstores in Canada where you can also pre-order my book:
Mabel’s Fables (Toronto) – Ella Minnow (Toronto) – Book City (Toronto) – Woozles (Halifax)
If you know of others, please let me know and I’ll add the pre-order links above!
If you pre-order I WANT TO READ ALL THE BOOKS by August 1st, 2024, I will mail you a signed bookplate and stickers (while supplies last; US & Canada only) closer to launch date, plus I’ll enter you in a monthly raffle for original art, bibliophile jewelry, signed bookmarks, signed prints, stickers, and other goodies. If you are a K-12 educator, you will ALSO be entered in a special draw for a free virtual 20-minute Q&A classroom visit with Debbie! Fill out the Pre-Order Giveaway Form here.
