Last-But-Not-Least LOLA And The Wild Chicken

The second book of the chapter book series Last-But-Not-Least LOLA, written by Christine Pakkala and published by Boyd Mills, is going to print soon! Amazon has already the listing here.

I've created close to a hundred illustrations for this book and just received the advance reader copy. It's so cool to see it come together. The ARC doesn't have all my illus in it, but it gives a nice preview of things to come and has the entire text, of course.

In this installment, a new girl joins the class which changes the dynamics between the main characters, and the big final is at a farm where they get chased by a big rooster and other animals.

Below are some of my favorites. Many thanks to Christine for her lovely story, and to Rebecca Davis and Robbin Gourley for working with me. Last-But-Not-Least Lola and the Wild Chicken is out this fall!

WWUSA Washington for Highlights for Children

I received copies of my latest book for Highlights for Children: It's my fifth book from the Which Way USA series– Washington State.

This series travels virtually through the United States, solving puzzles along the way. For this series I had to learn how to do Hidden Pictures, mazes, What's Wrong© pictures and other visual puzzles that can make your head spin as an illustrator.
WWUSA works like a book club, you can order them directly from Highlights.

Thanks to Highlights and my art director, Michele Weisman for the great continuing collaboration!

WWUSA North Dakota for Highlights for Children

I just wrapped up sketches for another book from the Which Way USA series, here are two of my favorite images from North Dakota.

This one is a "What's Wrong©" Picture,
plenty plenty things that are wrong in this one…

And this takes place at the Høstfest, a Scandinavian Festival in ND

While waiting on feedback, I'll be working on the second LOLA book for Boyd Mills, and some other fun things. Then later this month, I will return to North Dakota and start working on the finishes.

Which Way USA: Hawaii

My next book from the Which Way USA series for Highlights for Children is available now, this time it's Hawaii! This one was fun because the palette was a little different. Some of the pieces even made it into my recent show at the German Consulate General.


Here are some of the interiors:

You can order all the Which Way USA books from Highlights for Children through their website or through the magazine.

Thanks again to the lovely folks at Highlights and my art director Michele Weisman!

My big project for Highlights: Which Way USA

Since last year, I've been continuously working on a series of books for Boyd Mills / Highlights for Children and finally wanted to give a scoop about it.

The project is called Which Way USA and is a series of puzzle books about the 50 States. I have signed up to do at least 8 of these books, three of which are already done (Illinois, Ohio and Hawaii). Other states will be done by other artists.

The way they're set up is that 4 teams of characters are racing through these states, solving puzzles and exploring the particular State, little bit like the Amazing Race.

A What's Wrong® picture, at the Honolulu Zoo. Can you spot the silly things?

The protagonists, Tripp and Scout, are based on photographic reference. The competing teams have been created by me, based on directions from Highlights.

It's a complex project because it includes not only researching and visualizing locations but also creating mazes, hidden pictures and other visual riddles and games. But I enjoy creating atmospheres and backgrounds, and I can bring a lot of my humor into the books.
I enjoy coming up with funny characters and silly situations.

Luckily my brain can manage to come up with these riddles and puzzles. I was told that I have "a puzzler's brain".

Since the content is sometimes complicated, and the schedule is pretty tight, I chose to keep the drawings light and use a simple line with flat computer coloring. The resulting images are very much "me", which is very satisfying.

The books can be ordered like in a book club. You get the first one free, and if you like it, you can subscribe to more.

It's an interesting experience to be part of such a big undertaking. It certainly provides great stability, and I still can do some freelance projects, though I do have to be economic with my time.

All of this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Creative Director Robbin Gourley who suggested me for this project, and my art director Michele Weisman who is coordinating all 50 books, so thanks again for making me part of the Highlights family!

New sketches for Highlights for Children

Here are all the sketches for the second of a series of books I'm doing with Highlights for Children. The pages contain mazes, hidden pictures, and other puzzling items. I just submitted them, which of course feels very good! Just in time for Thanksgiving I get a bit of a break.

Book project with Highlights for Children

Here's a look at my biggest current project, an activity book with Highlights for Children , the well-known magazine for kids that also publishes books. Above, you can see an early sketch, below is a work in progress of the finish, and a close-up. The drawing is all done by hand on paper, though this time I'm using very simple pens and have to say that I'm liking how it feels. The coloring is done digitally.

Activity book with Highlights magazine

Here are all the sketches for the first of a multiple-book project I'm doing with Highlights magazine. It's all off to the publisher now…

For this book I created mazes and hidden pictures and such, at times my brain was spinning, but I think I got the hang of it!