Thanks to one and all!

I just want to say thanks to all the swell people that I had the pleasure of meeting at the ALA convention. I had a sincere and total blast. Since I am a blogger of few words, I'll simply post the initial sketch of what became the cover of The Higher Power of Lucky, and direct you to the intrepid Fuse #8 for a recap of the whole shebang. She's good with the words and stuff.

Pick up a copy of the new Horn Book for a transcript of the wonderful speeches by David Wiesner and my friend Susan Patron, a class act through and through.

ALA!

I'm pleased as punch to be attending the American Librarian Association's Annual Conference in DC this weekend. On Saturday, I'll be signing copies of the upcoming Very Hairy Bear (preliminary sketch above) at the Harcourt booth from 1:30-2:30, and then I'll be at the Simon & Schuster booth from 3-4 with Newbery Medal winner Susan Patron to sign The Higher Power of Lucky. If you miss that, Susan and I will be signing Lucky again on Sunday from 11-12. Later that evening, I'll have a pretty good seat at the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet. Stop by and say howdy.

Cover Sketches

Here are a couple of early cover sketches for The Higher Power of Lucky.

Woohoo!

Susan Patron has won the Newbery Medal for The Higher Power of Lucky!!!! You can see more info and a couple of my finished illustrations for this wonderful book here. Or, check out the official press release here.

And now...back to the champagne.