TRUCKTOWN

I'm working on a gigantic new project for preschoolers. It's called TRUCKTOWN. A world where all of the characters are trucks, and all of the trucks act like preschoolers--funny, wild, noisy, and messy.

To be published by Simon & Schuster. We are planning over 50 books for the first 3 years---picture books, early readers, coloring books, board books, you-name-it books. The first picture book will be out Jan./Feb. 2008.

Illustrations by the Design Garage Team of Dave Shannon, Loren Long, and Dave Gordon. And they look spectacular.

Posted by on January 1, 2007

COWBOY & OCTOPUS

Mr. Lane Smith and I are finishing up a new picture book. It's a bit of an homage to some of my all-time favorites: Arnold Lobel's FROG AND TOAD books, and James Marshall's GEORGE AND MARTHA.

These stories are about two best friends--COWBOY AND OCTOPUS. To be published Fall '07, but I'll post stuff as we finish. Lane's illustrations are, as always, unbelievable.

Posted by on January 2, 2007

GUYS READ IN MINNEAPOLIS

I just got back from seeing some of my library pals in Minnesota. Gretchen Wronka and her team at the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis have done some amazing things building a GUYS READ program for their boys. Now they are planning to do more.

Check them out at: www.hclib.org/kid/summer/guysread

Posted by on January 3, 2007