Children's Illustration

Thank you to Margaret Ferguson Books and Holiday House

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 18:21:00 +0000

My new book, ASTRONAUT SISTERS, is the story of two little girls imagining that they live in outer space. In their play the oldest sister, Rosie, explains how astronauts spend their day in a space station. Here is a little video I made about the book: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFNtwzhPVBN/?hl=en

Crafts And Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 16:39:00 +0000

CRAFTS, GAMES & LESSONS ✏️

The Wise Owl Factory – over 400 free educational activities.

This Picture Book Life — crafts, plus profiles of authors and illustrators.

Ed Emberley's Drawing Pages – step by step instructions.

Creating Creatives – instructions for making Lily's cat mask and more great projects.

Great Websites for Kids – compiled by the American Library Association.

STORYTIMES 📖

KidLit TV

StorylineOnline

Brightly Storytime Videos

Virtual storytimes at the Brooklyn Public Library

New York City Children’s Theater

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library – free books to children from birth to age five

INSPIRATION & RESOURCES FOR AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATORS 🖥

KidLit411

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Candlewick Press YouTube channel – author and illustrator interviews, book trailers and lessons.

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast – where authors and illustrators share their craft.

New! ASTRONAUT SISTERS

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 14:41:00 +0000

Ready for Preorder!

Later, When I’m Big –

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 21:03:00 +0000

by Bette Westera (Author), Mattias de Leeuw (Illustrator), Laura Watkinson (Translator)

An adorable child (with a bunny) imagines the fantastic things she’ll do when she grows up. She’s tiny, surrounded by giant trees and animals (reminiscent of a Jean-Jacques Sempé character). The exaggerated scale is perfect for portraying big possibilities. Mattias De Leeuw paints in acrylic, using transparent colors to make lavish landscapes. The book is simple, lyrical, and gorgeous!

See Mattias De Leeuw's website! https://www.mattiasdeleeuw.com/

Astronaut Sisters is ready for preorder!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 15:00:00 +0000

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768790/astronaut-sisters-by-julie-fortenberry/🚀

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 19:10:00 +0000

Illustration by Leonard Weisgard from The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown https://leonardweisgard.com/

25+ Books about Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 19:04:00 +0000

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/book-lists/holiday/books-about-easter-rabbits.html

Teacher and Library -- Crafts, Lessons and Read Alouds

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 18:55:00 +0000

PRINTABLE DOWNLOADS
✂️

Mix & Match Pirate Face Cards

Pirate Boy's "What If" story template
The Wise Owl Factory "What If" story

Lily's Cat Mask Coloring Pages

Darcy Paper Doll Pearl Paper Doll.

Pirate Boy Door Hanger

Sadie's Sukkah Breakfast Reading Guide

CRAFTS, GAMES & LESSONS ✏️

Book Jigsaw Puzzles from TeachingBooks
The Wise Owl Factory – over 400 free educational activities.
This Picture Book Life — crafts, plus profiles of authors and illustrators.
Ed Emberley's Drawing Pages – step by step instructions.
Creating Creatives – instructions for making Lily's cat mask and more great projects.
Great Websites for Kids – compiled by the American Library Association.

VIRTUAL STORYTIMES 📖

KidLit TV
StorylineOnline
Brightly Storytime Videos
Virtual storytimes at the Brooklyn Public Library
New York City Children’s Theater
Julie's Library – Julie Andrew's storytime podcast.

INSPIRATION & RESOURCES FOR AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATORS 🖥

KidLit411
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Candlewick Press YouTube channel – author and illustrator interviews, book trailers and lessons.
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast – where authors and illustrators share their craft.
Waking Brain Cells – picture book reviews by librarian Tasha Saecker.
One More Page – a podcast for lovers of kids’ books.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library – providing free books to children from birth to age five.

--------- A ballet lesson with Annie Fortenberry

Listen to Tate read Lily's Cat Mask! Thank you, Tate, and Viking Books For Young Readers. -------------------

LE MEILLEUR PAPY

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 20:45:00 +0000

Order the French edition of my book here:

https://www.meslivresjeunesse.fr/livre/le-meilleur-papy-du-monde-9782017181354/

When grandpa bear takes his little cub out for a ride, it's quite an adventure! A walk full of tenderness to discover a magical place where books are king: the library. And read stories together for hours.
The perfect gift for all grandpas!

Different

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 18:19:00 +0000

I wonder how often adults read picture books to learn about history. When I was fourteen, I visited Spain during Franco’s rule. But I didn’t learn much about the Spanish Civil War.

‘Different’, is a fictional account of a brother and sister’s experiences during this war. The chapters seesaw between each sibling’s perspective and each chapter is as moving as it is informative.

Importantly, the back pages have a non-fiction account of the war.

The illustrations are colorful, sculptural, and stylistically idiosyncratic.

All and all, a winner.

Different

A Story of the Spanish Civil War

Written by Mónica Montañés
Illustrated by Eva Sánchez Gómez
Translated by Lawrence Schimel

See more illustration's by Eva Sánchez Gómez here: https://apic.cat/author/eva-snchez-gmez/

From Shepherd.com

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 18:39:00 +0000

Best Books about Sleepovers...

A little movie preview of GRANDPA AND JAKE

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 28 May 2022 22:39:00 +0000

Grandpa and Jake...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 20 May 2022 19:41:00 +0000

got a lovely review from Publishers Weekly !

30 Best Children's Books of 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 17:20:00 +0000

From Parents Magazine

The Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 20:04:00 +0000

Written by Alain Serge Dzotap

Illustrated by Delphine Renon

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (February 15, 2022)

A little yellow leopard named Leo gets a writing pen for his birthday. His father tells him that the pen has many beautiful things inside. This is a mystery to Leo. But his father goes off to the market before he can explain. How do you get the beautiful things out? Leo, accompanied by his pet lizard (a gecko?) asks his sister to explain. But she just shakes the pen until ink drops out. Leo's bird friend doesn't believe anything of importance can be in something so small. Leo’s giraffe friend blows on the pen, but no music comes out. Then Leo’s mama shows him that the pen contains his name “and all the world.” Together, Leo and his mother write his name. “Is there cake in my pen?" asks Leo.” His mother holds his paw as they write the word cake and many other words. On his own, Leo draws pages and pages of pictures.

Back from the market Leo’s dad admires his drawings and the many things he found in his pen— “Well done, my darling— you’re a natural!"

Delphine Renon's clean and colorful illustrations suit the text. The Gift is a lovely way to introduce kids to the magic of writing and drawing. This book, paired with a pen, is the perfect gift for a budding author or illustrator.

See more charming work by Delphine Renon here: http://delphinerenon.blogspot.com

Thank you to Eerdmans for the review copy.

Online Resources for Authors, Illustrators and Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 16:53:00 +0000

PRINTABLE DOWNLOADS ✂️

Mix & Match Pirate Face Cards

Pirate Boy's "What If" story template

The Wise Owl Factory "What If" story

Darcy Paper Doll

Pearl Paper Doll

Pirate Boy Door Hanger

CRAFTS, GAMES & LESSONS ✏️

The Wise Owl Factory – over 400 free educational activities.

This Picture Book Life — crafts, plus profiles of authors and illustrators.

Ed Emberley's Drawing Pages – step by step instructions.

Creating Creatives – instructions for making Lily's cat mask and more great projects.

Great Websites for Kids – compiled by the American Library Association.

VIRTUAL STORYTIMES 📖

KidLit TV

StorylineOnline

Brightly Storytime Videos

Virtual storytimes at the Brooklyn Public Library

New York City Children’s Theater

INSPIRATION & RESOURCES FOR AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATORS 🖥

KidLit411

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Candlewick Press YouTube channel – author and illustrator interviews, book trailers and lessons.

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast – where authors and illustrators share their craft.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library – providing free books to children from birth to age five

The Highlights Book of Things to Draw, and The Highlights Book of Things to Write

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 18:07:00 +0000

Parents and caregivers looking for ways to keep screen-time down should open The Highlights Book of Things to Draw, and The Highlights Book of Things to Write. Both are collections of games and ideas with plenty of room for creating directly on their pages.

Things to Draw has step by step lessons on how to draw animals, as well as open-ended prompts like picturing the past. One spread has empty frames for creating self-portraits. Both books suggest designing cartoon self-portraits. These include templates with numbered panels so kids can plan for a beginning, middle and end to their comic.

Things to Write has ideas for poems, and pages for expressing feelings by writing a sympathy note or an autobiography. For budding journalists, there are prompts for making a newsletter, interviewing older relatives or neighbors, or going back in time. Some ideas will inspire collaborations, such as writing postcards to friends with invitations for them to write back, or writing a story started by one person and finished by another.

The pages are designed with fun, colorful illustrations and borders, making them a perfect jumping-off point for anyone needing inspiration or anyone intimidated by the blank page.

Illustration from The Highlights Book of Things to Write

Illustration from The Highlights Book of Things to Draw

www.penguinrandomhouse.com