Happy Mother's Day

First Peas to the Table

 

First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby. Spring 2012 Albert Whitman & Co.

Reviews:

"History, science and a guidance lesson all rolled into one, this could surely be the spark for many a school garden." Kirkus Reviews

"This beautifully illustrated story has a mixture of both fiction and facts about the life cycle of peas....Teachers will find a multitude of ways to use this book and this team's In the Garden with Dr. Carver." School Library Journal

"The first-person narrative relates events and Maya's changing perspective in a believably childlike voice, while the pencil-and-watercolor illustrations capture the story's tone as well as the characters' emotions." Booklist

 "This picture book seamlessly meshes together a little science, a little history, and a strong storyline." Library Media Connection

Awards:

2013 Growing Good Kids - Excellence in Children's Literature Award

Selected by the Nebraska Farm Bureau's as the 2012 Children's Agricultural Book of the year for grades K-3

2013 Learning Magazine’s Teachers Choice Award

Behind-the-scenes:

http://nicoletadgell.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-making-of-first-peas-to-table.html

More Inks and Sketches - 3

More Inks and Sketches - 2

More inks and sketches - 1

Apple

Digital drawing/painting of a stylized apple on my Wacom tablet, in Photoshop CS5.

First Peas Contest Begins!

Kids and teachers might just love this one! Grow and harvest your own peas, might just win like Shakayla! Check it out here.

Ink

Love

So many kinds of love. I'm reading 8th Grade Super Zero by Olugbemisola-Rhuday-Perkovich and seeing the different kinds of love in Reggie's life is what inspired me to sketch this.

I'm not done reading it yet, so don't give away the ending! ;)

Coloring Pages for First Peas to the Table!

Merry Christmas!

First Peas to the Table is on Facebook!

This is a book I'm really excited about! Classroom gardening, spring, contests and kids! It's called First Peas to the Table and it's coming out this spring from Albert Whitman & Co. Susan Grigsby and I teamed up again, and it's a great story. More to come - teacher's guides, coloring pages, an maybe even a contest!
Visit and like the new Facebook page! :)

Halloween!

What if...

Squirrels eat pumpkin...are they Zombie Squirrels?

A scary moonlit night...the old tree stump looks like it might have a face...

Dog tags

I kept all of dog's tags. Strung ribbon through them, made a loop, and they're Christmas tree ornaments. :) This one I did on cold press watercolor paper with Winsor Newton colors.

Yupo!

I got some "Yupo" paper and experimented with it. It's very smooth, and watercolor can "sit" on top of the surface, almost the way it looks on a paper palette. The experience was very frustrating for me so far...

 

I think the watercolors were too thin and light.

So I did a really loose sketch of a maltese, and threw on darker, richer colors. This is when I realized that unless your hands are superclean, oils will leave areas that the paint won't adhere to.

So without any pencil, I loaded up some brushes with green and brown and did this. Ah, I think I see how it should work now.

Next I'll experiment with printing a drawing onto it from my Epson. Then make sure I don't use any lotion on my hands before painting!

Sketches

Some sketches to share...

Celebrate!

Squirrel sketches

In the Garden with Dr. Carver wins the Growing Good Kids Award!


The American Horticultural Society and the National Junior Master Gardener Program are pleased to inform you that In the Garden with Dr. Carver published by Albert Whitman & Co. was selected as a 2011 Growing Good Kids - Excellence in Children's Literature Award winner.

This book awards program was established to recognize and build awareness of picture books that effectively promote an understanding of and appreciation for gardening/plants and the environment. Through engaging story, illustration and design, In the Garden with Dr. Carver was designated by our book awards committee as exemplifying excellence in this aim.

Click here!

Bestseller list!

In the Garden with Dr. Carver is on the Shelf Awareness blog's best seller list! Neat!

Featured on Kathy Temean's "Writing and Illustrating" Blog!

Cool! I'm featured on Kathy Temean's Blog! Thank you, Kathy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lucky bunny...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Photos and Video from my School Visit at Brophy

I visited a 4th grade classroom at the Brophy School in Framingham, and local reporter from the Patch was there. She took photos, video, and wrote this very nice article about the visit. :)

Thanks Susan Petroni!

Way Tugeau!

My agent, Chris Tugeau, has recently entered the world of blogging! Check it out here. :)

Lucky Beans has been named one of the Smithsonian's Notable Books for Children!

Lucky Beans has been named one of the Smithsonian Magazine's Notable Books for Children!

7 Impossible Things!

7 Imp is always a cool place to visit...but this time I'm in it!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Blessed Yule, Happy Kwanzaa to all!

Kite

 

I love the words "What if?". Here's a boy out with his dogs flying a kite. What if...he came across a broken kite? What if it's exactly like the kite he's flying? What if this is a picture about a time travelling adventure?

Winter holidays...