Peter H Reynolds

 Peter H. Reynolds inspired "International Dot Day" with the book "The Dot." It seems fitting his 'dots' above should be featured on the day. Thank you, Peter, for inspiring creativity in all of us.

Linda Ragsdale

Linda Ragsdale is an author, a speaker, and a storyteller. Her "You Can Draw" books are a fabulous way to get artists drawing. Listen to her Tedx speech below and learn about how she has turned personal tragedy into an inspiring mission. Linda wanted help in determining which dragon to use, they are all placed here because it shows creativity is a process.

Learn more about Linda on her website.

Learn more about the Peace Dragon.

Be inspired by Linda's story:

David Kalvitis - Monkeying Around

David Kalvitis
David Kalvitis, a lifelong puzzle and game fan, has a Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University and operated a graphic design business in Upstate NY for 13 years. In 2000 he opened Monkeying Around Publishing , with a goal to provide fun and challenging dot-to-dot puzzles that entertain both young and old alike. So far he has self-published sixteen books and has sold over a half of a million books worldwide. He also has weekly dot-to-dot puzzles published in various newspapers in the USA, Belarus, Italy, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

Find out more!

How Dot-to-Dots are made:

Shelagh Armstrong-Hodgson

Shelagh Armstrong-Hodgson is an illustrator working out of Toronto for 20 years in packaging, design, and publishing. This includes the Royal Canadian Mint (Olympic commemorative coins most recently) and Canada Post. Illustrated an award winning book, If the World Were a Village by David Smith. Educated at University of Toronto for fine arts and Ontario College of Art for Communication and Design.

Learn more about Shelagh here.

Mary Newell DePalma

Mary Newell DePalma grew up in Pittsburgh PA and has had lots of different kinds of jobs. She's knitted designer sweaters, interpreted for the deaf, painted signs, and worked as an apprentice engrosser and medical illustrator. But she enjoys writing and illustrating children's books the best.

Learn more about her on her website!

Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney didn’t grow up wanting to be a children’s author. His dream was to become a newspaper cartoonist, but he wasn’t able to get his comic strips syndicated.

In 1998 Jeff came up with the idea for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a story about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley. Jeff worked on his book for almost eight years before showing it to a publisher in New York.

Jeff describes his dot, "It's Greg's best friend Rowley's face in dot motif. "

Learn more about Wimpy Kid and Jeff Kinney on his website.

Jeff shows how to draw Greg Heffley:

Glucksman Family

Co-executive producer of Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project, a collection of original lullabies by musical theatre composers, performed by musical theatre singers, illustrated by theatrical designers and children’s book artists, available as a book, cd and ebook all to benefit breast cancer charities, Jodi Glucksman holds degrees in both theatrical producing and English Education from NYU.   Her broad career dates back to the Hartman/Huntington Theatre Company under the direction of Ed Sherin (Semelweiss, Moliere in Spite of Himself, Mahalia), Circle in the Square Theatre Company (The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, Heartbreak House, Awake and Sing) and McCann & Nugent Productions (Leader of the Pack, RSC’s Cyrano de Bergerac/Much Ado About Nothing).  Branching into the music management, she worked with such legendary artists as the Average White Band, the Ohio Players and Afrika Bambaataa.  As an educator in New York and Massachusetts she earned grants and awards teaching language and literature through arts and humanities to students ranging from public middle and high schools to private universities.  Jodi’s distinguished and diversified career continued when, with her husband Daniel, she co-founded Luckimann LLC, a production company specializing in education, theatre and film.  Through Luckimann, Jodi has designed and implemented interdisciplinary, arts-integrated curricula including the plan for Discovery High School, a New Visions Charter School in the Bronx.  She has consulted dramaturgically on numerous productions including Daniel Beaty’s acclaimed Through the Night and the DiCapo Opera Theatre’s 75^th Anniversary tour of Porgy and Bess as well as Roundabout Theatre Company’s Language of Trees, Tin Pan Alley Rag and Ordinary Days.  Jodi was a producing partner on the award-winning a capella musical In Transit and sponsors the Roundabout Underground for emerging playwrights.  She has executive produced several documentary films including A Broadway Lullaby which chronicles the making of Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project.

Jodi’s dot was inspired by her recent trip to the Redwood National Forest with her husband and three amazing children, and by her fascination with Jay Defeo’s sculptural painting, “The Rose.”  She’s thrilled and honored to celebrate International Dot Day because nurturing creativity keeps all of us in this universe we share alive and joyful through the eternity of art in whatever form that manifests.

Sunflower Dot by Keegan Glucksman

9-year-old Keegan Glucksman has been singing for five years and playing guitar for more than 2 years. She has performed at the Rack and Roll Café in Stamford and Whipporwill Hall in Armonk. She fences both foil and epee and competes around the country.  Keegan is thrilled to have recorded “The Man Who Invented Ice Cream” for Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project along with her twin brother and older sister.

            

Keegan designed her “Sunflower Dot” to remind people that they should ”love nature the way they love their families to help make the world a better place.”

Comet Dot by Tillie Glucksman

Tillie Glucksman is 11 years old.  A singer and keyboard player, she has performed at the Rack and Roll Café in Stamford, Connecticut and the Highline Ballroom in NYC.  She is an avid foil fencer and a student at the Harvey School in Katonah. Tillie is proud to have recorded “The Man Who Invented Ice Cream” by the legendary Charles Strouse and Sammy Cahn on Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project in honor of her grandmothers and her late-great-grandmother (after whom she’s named) to support breast cancer awareness and research.

            

Tillie’s “Comet Dot “ was inspired by watching the night sky with her father’s friend, Mike, who came over one evening with his special telescope.  When invited to make a dot, she thought of the comet and all the giant dots and colors she saw in space.

Elephant Dot by Zi Glucksman

9-year-old Zi Glucksman is a nationally ranked epee fencer.  As a drummer, guitar player and singer with the School of Rock Westchester he has performed at the Rack and Roll Café in Stamford, Connecticut. Zi is also a sculptor and filmmaker.   He works in both clay and “garbage” then creates stop-animation films using many of his creations as characters.  He can be heard singing with his twin sister Keegan and his older sister Tillie on Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project. 

            

Zi offered his original sculpture of a “Pink Elephant with Purple Polka DOTS Shooting a Roll of Toilet Paper in a Sling Shot” to celebrate International Dot Day because it’s fun and silly and it’s great to be silly.  He says “it represents a world full of crazy, different things.”