Celebrate Children's Book Week

© Jane Smith • Which book would you like to read next?!

Wishing You A Llama Joy

Llama Joy: New collection available for licensing from Super Jane!!! • © Jane Smith

Super Star Children's Book Review: Sparkle Boy

Welcome to the monthly children’s book review feature with a focus on diverse books here at Bird Meets Worm! My team of reviewers—Cara Chow, Joan Charles, Sharon Calle—and I are so excited to be championing books celebrating everything from gender diversity, people of color, the LGBTQ community to ethnic, cultural and religious minorities, people with disabilities and developmental challenges to controversial topics, unique family situations and anything and everything I did not include. It is to say we take a rightfully board view of diversity! We aim to shine a light on books that bring both familiar experiences to those who do not often see themselves represented in books and new experiences to those looking to expand their worldview. Here at Bird Meets Worm we believe in the power of story to build empathy and thus a better world for you and me and everyone. Look for a new review on the second Wednesday of every month.

              

SPARKLE BOY
By Lesléa Newman • Illustrated By Maria Mola
Picture book (ages 4-8) • 32 pages
Published by Lee & Low Books • 2017
ISBN 978-1-62014-285-1

Sparkle Boy is a sweet sibling story about respect and the freedom to be yourself, both within your own family and well as out in the world.

Sparkle Boy is Casey, a little brother who like all little siblings, is interested in everything his older sister, Jessie, does and wears. Especially all her shimmery, glittery, sparkly clothes and accessories! But Jessie is sure that these things are just for girls, even though all the grown-ups in her family assure her that Casey can wear whatever he likes and that it won’t hurt anyone. That is, until she finds herself having to choose whether or not to stand up for her little brother and his freedom to be himself while out on a visit to the library.

Mola’s muted palette in Sparkle Boy makes the subject very accessible, and her art is accented with super fun, sparkly touches, including spot glitter on the cover. The smart juxtaposition of Casey’s shimmery skirt, nails and bracelet with his toy trucks and his red train t-shirt visually reinforce the positive message that our individual interests can cover more than just what is considered traditional for our individual genders.

All in all, a wonderful read that will leave you feeling shimmery, glittery, sparkly inside!

Buy this book:

Barnes & Noble

Independent Bookstores

Reviewed by: Jane Smith

Super Jane Loves Mermaids

Don't you just love my NEW mermaid illustration set?! It is now available as wall art from Gango Editions—shop it here! So fun, summery & fabulous!! Yay!

Super Star Interviews: Cathi Mingus

Welcome to my monthly interview feature! I’m so excited to be interviewing all the fabulous artists, illustrators and designers I’ve meet over the years (both personally and virtually!) and sharing their artwork and experiences here on Bird Meets Worm. Look for a new interview on the first Tuesday of every month. 

I’m thrilled to be chatting it up with the super star Illustrator, Cathi Mingus! I am a longtime fangirl of her hip, fun, fabulous artwork! Cathi graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and has been illustrating professionally for over 20 years. She started out doing acrylic-painted editorial pieces and then moved on to illustrating greeting cards, children's magazines and products. She still uses pencil and tracing paper to for sketches, but now finishes them in Photoshop. Her style has changed quite a bit from those early days. And she still loves to paint in her free time. You can view more of her artwork here! 

Oh, no! Friend drama rama!!

Q: You are the absolute queen of fun & fabulous tween & teen artwork for kids! Tell us a bit about what your favorite parts of illustrating for this unique market are? And what are the biggest challenges?

A: Thank you, Jane, for the compliment! I think it’s fun for me, because I get to tap into my inner 8-12 year old self—Ha! I would say that pretty much all my illustration work falls into that age range these days. I love creating characters (mainly girls) and tapping into who they are, their expressions and feelings, etc. It’s also important to look at current styles and trends for kids that age. So, I do a lot of online research looking at fashions and hairstyles, etc. I use Pinterest and clothing sites that cater to that specific group.

I guess the challenges are making sure the kids are looking a certain age. Also, keeping it fresh & hip enough for kids that age to be interested in the characters.

Forever Friends is totally forever fabulous!!

Q: Your NEW book series, Forever Friends, with American Girl & Scholastic debuts this month! (Congratulations! You’re a total rock star!) Give us the scoop on this series: how it came to be, how it developed and your process for creating the artwork—you know, all the good stuff!

A: I had been speaking with a friend of mine who is a writer and we came up with an idea for a book series based on three best friends who get involved with animal rescue and have all kinds of adventures. I did some character sketches and a quick mock-up cover of what I envisioned the kids and our book might look like. I put it up on my website. An art director who I’ve worked with on other projects at Scholastic (and I send regular emails of my work to) saw the piece on my site and contacted me. It just so happens they were working with American Girl on a new series that had a very similar theme and she thought the look of my cover was the perfect style for the series.

I was then asked to do some sketches of the girls in the series and a mock-up cover for her to pitch to American Girl to see if they would want to use my art. After a lot of rounds of sketches and tweaks to the cover comp, I was given the series! I had been handed character descriptions from the beginning of what each girl looked like and their unique personalities. After that it’s just a lot of sketching and revising until I feel I’ve nailed it. Above all, the characters and the cover need to really connect with the kids who will—hopefully—pick it up at the bookstore and want to read the series.

My process is pretty simple—I hand sketch first using tracing paper, so I can quickly rework an image. Then I scan and color in Photoshop. I’m not an expert in that program at all. I’m sure there are a lot of short cuts, etc., but I manage to make it work for me.

Q: Let’s talk inspiration—who, what, where inspires you most as an illustrator?

A: I’d say I’m inspired by going into bookstores and looking at great books & beautiful illustrations. I really love looking at the middle grade/early reader type of books. I also get inspiration from looking at other artists on Instagram, etc., but it can be overwhelming sometimes. I can also get caught up in the comparison game…and no one wants to go there! Taking classes and trying new techniques and processes helps to keep me inspired overall to do better work and to not get stuck in a rut. I think I was inspired to get into the tween/teen girl market initially, because I raised a daughter. I loved the books and materials I used to buy her when she was that age. 

Ooo! Super goth cool!

Q: Dish with us about your MOST favorite illustration project: one from your past and one from your present.

A: I don’t really think that there is any one project that stands out above the rest. I’ve been illustrating for over 20 yrs. and I’ve had a lot of fun assignments. I really loved working on the “Girls Guide to Middle School” with American Girl. I also illustrated a “Guide to Manners”, which has since been re-done by another artist. I did some really fun and “slightly edgier” covers for Scholastic a few years ago. They were part of their “Poison Apple and Rotten Apple” books for 4th to 6th graders. It was nice to get away from the color pink for a while!

Currently, I’m working on a children’s book about a mischievous fairy and her little dog companion. It’s challenging and fun to do a larger body of work like that. So, I am enjoying working on that right now. Any project where I’m given guidelines, but also lots of freedom to do my thing, is always my favorite. I still threaten to write my own story and create my own book series one day—Ha! 

Everything is better with glitter—don't you agree?!

Q: You’ve worked with all of the big four children’s book publishers (HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Scholastic and Simon & Schuster). What advice would you give fellow illustrators about promoting to and landing big fish clients like the big four?

A: First I would say, do good work! In this industry, with so much competition, it’s important to stand out somehow. Doing really interesting pieces, good characters, great compositions, etc. is first and foremost.

Pick a marketing strategy and be consistent with it. Don’t be fearful in contacting art directors via email or promotional materials. If you are interested in illustrating a book series, create a mock book cover and send it out as a promotion and put it on your website and/or Instagram, etc. You never know who might see it or the assignments that might come from it.

If you can do great hand-lettering and show that with illustrations, even better! I’m still tackling my hand-lettering.

Figure out who would really be your top dream clients and market to the top 10 or so. Connect with art directors via LinkedIn and other social media sites, if you can. Do specifically tailored illustrations to send that will land you the type of jobs you want. When I first started out as an illustrator, I think I wasted a lot of time sending postcards out to 250-300 companies off of a random list. I get better results now sending emails with a few jpegs of my work to a few carefully selected art directors at the companies I really want to work with. 

Is there anything more fun than a fairy-ballerina-girlie?!

Q: Describe your most perfect Sunday.

A: Wake up, drink coffee, take my dogs out for a walk (a Shih Tzu and a Boston Terrier). Weekends are a great time to catch up with my now-grown daughter. A leisurely breakfast followed by shopping and pedicures is always fun. There’s a great farmer’s market in my area that I like to walk to. I love taking home fresh flowers and jam. On rainy Sundays, I like to make some tea, put on some music and paint on canvas.

Thanks Jane for the interview :D

Thank YOU, Cathi, for catching up with us here at Bird Meets Worm! We are definitely big fans!!