Search the Site

Books

SEA MONKEY & BOB Book Tour (Part 3, Decatur, GA): Little Shop Of Stories, Friends School Of Atlanta, The Heritage School

Navigation: Sea Monkey & Bob Resource pageBook Tour: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6 – Part 7 Photo: With young readers at Friends School Of Atlanta. Just found out that Publishers Weekly used the photo above in their children’s industry news round-up this week! Thanks to Helen Kubiw for the heads-up. The second full day . . .



How Sea Monkey and Bob was Created Part 3

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 Debbie started to experiment with different colors for the main characters as well as different techniques for the watery background: She did many, many sketches of the characters. Debbie also started doing “thumbnail sketches” (very small, rough sketches) to figure out the general layout of all . . .



How Sea Monkey and Bob was Created Part 2

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 Debbie was SO excited when she first saw Aaron Reynolds’s wonderful story for Sea Monkey & Bob. For one thing, it was hilarious! She fell in love with the characters right away.  Also, Debbie has been a longtime fan of Sea Monkeys. She was always intrigued . . .



How Sea Monkey And Bob Was Created Part 1

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 According to Aaron Reynolds, SEA MONKEY & BOB started as a story idea called Holy Mackerel! (see above image from Aaron’s writing journal) about a Mackerel who was scared he was sinking. The story didn’t quite work (“as many don’t”) but gradually evolved to become Sea Monkey . . .



How Mitzi Tulane Was Created Part 1

Part 1 – Part 2 (Last updated May 17, 2016) First, you need to come up with a book idea. This is Lauren McLaughlin, the author of the Mitzi Tulane series: Lauren used to work in the film business as both a screenwriter and producer, and she is also the author of several teen novels.  . . .



Story behind the dedication page in MITZI TULANE, PRESCHOOL DETECTIVE

The first MITZI TULANE, PRESCHOOL DETECTIVE picture book launches next Tuesday from Random House Children’s! Here’s some insider info from the dedication page: mine is for my mom, who died of cancer when I was in my 20s. We didn’t have a ton of money when we were growing up, and Mom sewed . . .



How Ruby Rose Was Created Part 3

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 (Last updated July 26, 2017) The next thing that arrived were the color proofs. Debbie checked them over to make sure everything looked ok: and what needed to fixed, like this floating torso in Ruby Rose’s cafeteria (eek!): Debbie let HarperCollins know things that could be . . .



How Ruby Rose Was Created Part 2

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 (Last updated May 14, 2016) While Debbie was doing research, she noticed that Rob Sanders mentioned on his website that RUBY ROSE had been inspired by his great-niece Madi. She asked Rob for some reference photos, and based aspects of the picture book Ruby Rose on . . .



How Ruby Rose Was Created Part 1

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 (Last updated July 26, 2017) Welcome! This post for young readers is about how the first Ruby Rose picture book was created. First, author Rob Sanders started with a character. He tried lots of characters and wrote lots of stories, looking for one “who was fresh and new, . . .