Artist of the Month

Jeannette and Christopher Canyon were in Singapore for several weeks while Jeannette was a “teacher in residence” at the Singapore American School. Inspired by the whimsical, brightly colored and richly textured illustrations, students created their own relief sculptures out of polymer clay. Jeanette explains, “As a fine artist, I love to express myself with an array of colors, patterns and textures, and to make things with my hands – just as children do! The original art I create from polymer clay speaks to my love of both sculpting and painting.” Unbounded imagination, a belief in unlimited possibilities and a celebration of creativity are the motivations that shape her innovative approach to the strikingly beautiful art she creates for children’s books. Her artistic inspiration, coupled with great skill and talent are the ingredients to her spellbinding pictures that are loved and admired by children and adults alike.

Jeanette has published three books with Dawn Publications. Her first book, Over in the Ocean, In a Coral Reef has won several awards, including the Publisher’s Marketing Association’s Benjamin Franklin Gold Award and Learning Magazine’s Teacher’s Choice Award. Her second book, City Beats: A Hip-Hoppy Pigeon Poem has received rave reviews from Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal, and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of their Top 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. Jeanette’s third book with Dawn, the highly acclaimed Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme was published in 2007 and has received both the 2008 International Reading Association’s Teacher’s Choice Award and the 2008 Publishers Marketing Association’s Benjamin Franklin Gold Award.

Find out more about Jeanette’s school visits or visit Jeanette’s website here.

Rebecca Evans grew up near Buffalo New York in a family chock full of musicians, artists, and crazy people with a love for life. I started drawing as soon as I could hold a crayon and just never stopped. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an artist when I finally grew up. (I’m still […]

Congratulations to Laurie Angus for having her book, Paddle Perch Climb: Bird Feet Are Neat, chosen as an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the Children’s Book Council and the National Science Teachers Association. Laurie’s backyard is a playground for many wild creatures, as well as a diverse assortment of birds, including hawks, hummingbirds, and egrets.

https://dawnpub.com/22147-2/

Like many children, when Jill Dubin was a kid she and her sister cut out paper dolls. But to make them more interesting, they would cut off the heads and staple them back on—resulting in heads that wobbled, so they called their paper dolls “yes-no dollies.” Her mother never blocked Jill’s artistic energy, just as Jill never blocked the artistic […]

Lynne Cherry is an author as well as an artist, well-known for classic children’s book about the rainforest, The Great Kapok Tree. Her first book for Dawn Publications is How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate. Project Green Schools recently honored Lynne with its Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing her as a “hero who has dedicated her life to Green Education.”

I Am the Rain is John Paterson’s  first book with Dawn Publications. He’s both the illustrator and author. As a child, John Paterson was fascinated by the changing form, steady purpose and life-giving magic of water. Later, he chased rivers throughout the country as a white-water kayaker and raft guide.

Laurie’s latest book is Paddle Perch Climb: Bird Feet Are Neat. Living alongside a creek in a wooded area, gives Laurie may opportunities to observe nature up close and personal. Her backyard is a playground for many wild creatures, as well as a diverse assortment of birds, including hawks, hummingbirds, and egrets.

The critters of the redwood forest come alive with Chad Wallace’s vibrant illustration in Tall Tall Tree. Written by Anthony Fredericks, this book is the 5th book Chad has illustrated for Dawn.

Daytime, Nighttime, All Though the Year is Andrea’s first book with Dawn Publications. But she has been illustrating children’s nature books for many years, and hopes that her work will help young people develop a passion for the natural world.

Ashley White, whose debut book for Dawn is A Moon of My Own, also describes herself as an “outdoor fanatic, peony-gazer, and daydreamer, with an eye for all things fabulous and creative.” Her illustrations for A Moon of My Own are inspired by her love of travel and her daughter who wears rain boots every day of the year. When […]

Cathy Morrison is an award-winning illustrator in Colorado who grew up spending most summers on her family farm in Texas. The farm included many cows, two horses, several pigs, no chickens, but there was one peacock. She began her career in animation and graphic design, but discovered her passion for children’s book illustration while raising her two children. After several […]

Christopher Canyon is the illustrator of several beautiful books for children, including the 20th Anniversary Edition of Wonderful Nature, Wonderful You. When he isn’t in his studio, Christopher enjoys traveling and providing educational and entertaining programs for schools, libraries, and conferences. Christopher received his formal art education at the Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio. His work has […]

Jennifer DiRubbio is a wildlife activist and conservationist whose passion for conservation began with art. Jennifer specializes in realistic watercolor paintings of wildlife, and to be realistic—to be accurate— requires lots of research. And she discovered that “you can’t draw animals without caring about them.” Art is in her bones. As a first grader she already knew that she wanted […]

Laurie Ellen Angus grew up near the beach and could often be found knee deep in the water searching with delight for sea creatures to play with, such as horseshoe crabs, and also routinely chasing her younger brother around with them. Laurie doesn’t chase her brother anymore, but does continue her fascination with the ocean, often taking long walks and […]

Christopher Canyon is a unique presence in the world of children’s literature. Not only is he a critically acclaimed illustrator of numerous children’s books, but he’s also an accomplished guitarist, singer, and performer. Three of Christopher’s books, The Tree in the Ancient Forest, Sunshine On My Shoulders, and Stickeen, have won the American Bookseller Association’s Benjamin Franklin Award for best […]

Lynne Cherry’s first book with Dawn Publications How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate has won 15 awards including the AAAS/Subaru Award, AAAS’s Best Middle School Science Book of the Year and the American Meteorological Society’s children’s book award. Lynne is also the author of the classic children’s book about the rainforest, The Great Kapok Tree. Lynne lectures widely – and passionately – about how children can make a difference in a democratic society. If they feel strongly about something, they can change the world. She explains to educators how using nature to integrate curriculum makes a child’s learning relevant.
Along with Gary, Lynne founded the Young Voices for the Planet film series. The mission of the series is to limit the magnitude of climate change and its impacts through empowering children and youth, through positive success stories, to take an essential role in informing their communities — and society at large, challenging decision-makers, and catalyzing change since they will bear the brunt of climate disruption. Find out more at http://www.youngvoicesonclimatechange.com/about-young-voices/

The vibrant colors of Trina’s illustrations in Green Bean! Green Bean! entice readers to follow a precocious gardener and her beans through the seasons, from planting to harvest.

The story begins and ends at a gray cloud, allowing young readers to develop a ‘”big picture” understanding of the water cycle without being overburdened by terminology. As children enjoy the story and characters along the way, the science concepts of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection are illustrated, mapping out alternative paths that water takes as it cycles from ground […]

I like to keep a sketchbook nearby just in case. So I’ll start doing rough sketches until the look comes together. Every book is a little different; at some point the drawings just start taking on a life of their own. And it’s always fun to include personal touches here and there in my picture books. For instance you’ll see […]

Help support this Kickstarter campaign along with Dawn! With a finger on an iPad, smartphone, or other device, kids will guide “their” honey bee to scout for nectar-rich flowers, do the all-important waggle dance, avoid ambush bugs, feed baby bees, defend the hive from bears, and perform other bee-tasks. And most important: build the hive to survive the winter! Nectar: […]

“The idea that urban kids aren’t interested in nature is patently untrue,” says author Mary Quattlebaum of Washington, D.C. Mary is speaking to the larger world’s tendency to see city kids as uninterested in the natural world just by virtue of where they live. She is quite passionate about helping these kids to connect with the nature around them. Urban […]

From an artist’s point of view, Cathryn Falwell’s latest book, Gobble Gobble, is actually two books. In other words, twice as much work! Cathryn is well known as a children’s book illustrator. She has illustrated 25 books, most of which she has also written. She’s not a newcomer who somehow stumbled into doubling her work. Every one of those 25 […]

Editor’s Note: When someone writes about a kid being lost in an ancient landscape and having repeated close encounters with the dinosaur kind, you just have to wonder what inspired him. So we asked Tim Myers, author of If You Give a T-Rex a Bone, just that. Here’s what he says.

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One of the best things about being a writer is how I can put parts of my own life into my books–even one like If You Give a T-Rex a Bone, which takes place 65 million years before I was born!

Jennifer DiRubbio is a wildlife activist and conservationist whose passion for conservation began with art. Jennifer specializes in realistic watercolor paintings of wildlife, and to be realistic—to be accurate— requires lots of research. And she discovered that “you can’t draw animals without caring about them.”

Anthony D. Fredericks—call him Tony, please—is Professor of Education at York College, Pennsylvania, but he doesn’t stay in the ivory tower with all the big people.

Ordinary paper becomes extraordinary art through the hands of Jill Dubin—a style of art that is easily emulated by children and can inspire some wonderful classroom activities. In both the brand new Over in Australia and in Over in the Arctic, Jill turns to her collection of interesting paper to create illustrations that are enchanting, somewhat stylized, and a whole […]

We thought you would enjoy an insider view of Robert Noreika’s watercolor illustrations for Seashells by the Seashore. Bob is a well-known and award-winning New England artist based in Avon, Connecticut. As a boy he loved fishing and catching turtles and frogs along the New England shoreline and countryside. He has a flair for painting in the great outdoors, but […]