Summer Reading
These four books are now on the shelves at your local bookstore. The My Weird School kids have been super busy!
Yay, Kids!
I finished up a busy Spring with a visit to the extra cool kids at Copper Canyon Elementary School in Scottsdale. Here I am with a few of the more than 700 smiling faces that I saw that day. What a super fun day of drawing, talking and laughing we had. A great way to end the school year and roll in to Summer.
I had a terrific time getting to know the super cool kids at Mesquite Elementary School last week. After some drawing pointers we created and illustrated lots of hilarious characters together.
What do you get when you cross a porcupine with a party balloon? Answer: A loud POP!! I recently illustrated some birthday riddles for the extra cool folks at the National Wildlife Federation.
Skypin' it
I had a fun morning Skyping with Northwest Elementary in Marshall, MO today. We had a nice talk and found some common ground on many issues. For instance - prison toilet wine is overrated and a sandwich made out of headaches would taste awful.
Another S'more, Please
What do T.Rexes make when they go camping? Answer: Dino-s'mores!
This is a little illustration I recently created for the super nice folks at National Wildlife Federation.
Anger Management
Temperatures are rising! Run for cover! We are knee deep in politics so there's lots of anger out there.
Prehistoric Beast Sighting!
Team Paillot likes to get out and hike as often as possible. A few weeks ago we made our first sighting of a horny toad (above) in the wild! I was thrilled. Maybe overly thrilled. We named him Henry. Last week we hiked on Mount Lemmon (near Tucson, AZ) and we saw another horny toad! Yay! We named that one Jamaal. I am happy to report that we left each horny toad just as we found them - free to pursue their lizard inspired hopes and dreams.
Miss Daisy Is Still Crazy
Miss Daisy returns for a sequel! Mr. Cooper is sick so that means the kids will get a substitute teacher - Miss Daisy! The kids are pretty excited until they realize she wants the kids to eat bonbons all day instead of learning. She also thinks germs are out to get her. Third grade is getting very complicated!! This fun little book written by Dan Gutman is at ye olde bookseller now.
Today's page from the sketchbook
Just some sketchbook fun. I am a huge fan of treehouses, boats and islands.
Mrs. meyer Is On Fire!
So, this funny little book is now in your local bookstore. Mrs. Meyer of the local fire department is the weirdest fire safety expert ever. She likes fire just a little too much. What could possible go wrong?
They're There On Their Vacation
Here's a page from They're There On Their Vacation. This book was a blast to illustrate! Written well and super funny, it's at your local bookstores now.
Shakespeare In Love - with soccer
Shakespeare said it best when he wrote, "To kick a ball while running hither and thither through the streets - that is love and madness and is better than having your tummy scratched while eating lunchmeat". I don't know what that means either.
Here's a sneak peek at an illustration for a book that will be coming out in 2016, My Weird School - Fast Facts Sports. A pretty fun book about strange, funny and interesting facts in the world of sports. Written by funny guy, Dan Gutman.
PS: I made up that Shakespeare quote. You can tell because everyone knows he hates lunchmeat.
Hot off the presses!
It's always exciting to get a new batch of freshly printed books delivered to the art ranch. I am especially excited by this funny book I worked on with Millbrook Press. This one hits the bookstores in late October.
Soap Monsters!
As a kid, I was a sucker for novelty toys and gadgets. That includes soaps. Remember Crazy Foam? A can of sprayable, soapy foam that was designed to make bath time fun for all - except the hapless parents who had to swab the decks afterwards.
I was overjoyed to be able to work on an inspired holiday promotion project this winter that included monster inspired soap wrapped up in a colorful package. It's always gratifying when the designer let's you loose on a project you know will be a blast but it's extra nice when they surround it with so much good design and goodwill. Soap Monsters has been brought to you by those clean and bubbly folks at Dinardo Design.
Mrs. Copeland's awesome class!
My visit with Mrs. Copeland's class at Madison Elementary a couple of weeks ago was a blast! As if that weren't enough - then I get the coolest thank you card ever. Each self portrait on the interior page of the card is accompanied by their favorite My Weird School book. Neat!!
Mr. Cooper Is Super!
So this funny little book hit the bookstores this week. A.J. gets a new third grade teacher and Mr. Cooper is even weirder than Mr. Granite! This is book 1 of the new series - My Weirdest School!
Fifteen Pounds of Licking Fury
Carlos the Therapy Dog made my day at a recent bookstore event with Dan Gutman.
Last week Dan Gutman and I got together at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. He and I have worked together on the My Weird School series for 10 years but this is the first time we have met face to face!! It was a blast presenting with him. I think we had more fun than the kids.