Darlene Beck Jacobson

Darlene Beck Jacobson has loved writing since she was a girl. She wrote letters to everyone she knew and made up stories in her head. Although she never wrote to a president, she sent many letters to pop stars of the day asking for photos and autographs. She loves bringing the past to life in stories such as WHEELS OF CHANGE, her debut novel.

Darlene’s stories have appeared in CICADA, CRICKET, and other magazines. When not writing, Darlene enjoys baking, sewing and tea parties. She also likes hanging around forges watching the blacksmith work magic. She’s never ridden in a carriage like the one in the story, but hopes to one day.

Her blog features recipes, activities, crafts and interviews with children’s book author and illustrators. She still loves writing and getting letters. Check out her website at: www.darlenebeckjacobson.com

ABOUT the novel, WHEELS OF CHANGE:

Racial intolerance, social change, sweeping progress. It is a turbulent time growing up in 1908. For twelve year old EMILY SOPER, life in Papa’s carriage barn is magic. Emily is more at home hearing the symphony of the blacksmith’s hammer, than trying to conform to the proper expectations of females. Many prominent people own Papa’s carriages. He receives an order to make one for President Theodore Roosevelt. Papa’s livelihood becomes threatened by racist neighbors, and horsepower of a different sort. Emily is determined to save Papa’s business even if she has to go all the way to the President. You can find more interesting information on WHEELS OF CHANGE, including the historical events which inspired the story, at http://www.darlenebeckjacobson.com/books.htm

J&P Voelkel

Did you know that the Maya invented one of the most sophisticated writing systems of the ancient world? They wrote in hieroglyphs that were sometimes whole words and sometimes just syllables. The glyph shown in this dot means both artist and scribe. To the Maya, they were the same thing. Every scribe was an artist too. They painted hundreds, some say thousands, of folding bark-paper books - most of which, tragically, were destroyed in the Spanish Conquest.

To research their Maya-themed Jaguar Stones books, Jon and Pamela (J&P) Voelkel have learned to read and write Maya glyphs; explored over forty Maya sites in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico; canoed down underground rivers; and tracked howler monkeys in the rainforest. Jon’s most frightening experience was being lost in a pitch-black labyrinth under a Maya pyramid. Pamela’s most frightening experience was being interviewed by Al Roker on Today.

Find out more at www.jaguarstones.com

Marissa Moss

Marissa Moss has been telling stories and drawing pictures to go with them for as long as she can remember. She sent her first book to publishers when she was nine, but it wasn't very good and it never got published. She didn't try again until she was a grown-up, but since then she hasn't stopped.

The idea for the first Amelia's Notebook came from the notebook Moss kept when she was a kid. Amelia is a lot like her and the things that happen to Amelia really happened to Marissa (mostly).

Along with Amelia, Moss has created many characters and is especially drawn to history. Historical books allows her to imagine what it's like to be alive in a different place at a completely different time. And then there are the Max Disaster books which allow her to play with scientific experiments, inventions, and comic strips.

Learn more about Marissa on her website

Joseph Cowman

Joseph Cowman is the illustrator of the upcoming title Noah Chases the Wind by Michelle Worthington, a fun children’s book that celebrates neuro diversity.  He is working on several other projects, too top secret to mention.  Joseph shares his Boise Idaho home with his wife, who writes children’s stories, a daughter Savannah who finds the world fascinating and beautiful at every turn, a daughter Alina who can be found building a garden all through the year, a son Phoenix who makes magic because he believes in it, Olive; a lazy gentle Bassett hound, and Gibbs the fish who was recently renamed Nubs because he lost a fin.

Learn more about Joseph on his website.

Laurie B. Arnold

Laurie B. Arnold is the author of the middle grade novel, “Hello There, We’ve Been Waiting for You.” She’s also written and designed countless interactive computer games for kids. (Okay, maybe not countless, but at least 50.) They’ve featured original characters such as Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear for Humongous Entertainment, and Huggly for Scholastic; plus many characters sprung from the pages of iconic books such as Madeline, Little Bear, Harry Potter, The Little Mermaid, Clifford, and The Magic School Bus. Laurie also wrote for the animated television shows, Dragon Tales (PBS) and What-a-Mess (ABC).She loves working with kids in schools and classrooms, inspiring them to write and to embrace their creativity.

Laurie writes about her dot, "When I visited Australia, I was captivated by the bright, elemental Aboriginal dot paintings. I’ve long wanted to try my hand at it. I couldn't imagine a better occasion to give it a try than on Dot Day!"

www.lauriearnoldbooks.com

https://www.facebook.com/lauriebarnoldauthor

 

Drew Sheneman

Drew Sheneman has been drawing professionally since 1998 and amateurishly since he could hold a crayon. He graduated from Central Michigan U with a BFA in illustration and worked as an editorial cartoonist for The Star-Ledger, NJ’s largest and awesomest newspaper until 2010. He continues to draw for them on a weekly basis and is syndicated nationally through Tribune Content Agency. He’s even received some awards, including The John Locher Award from the Assoc of American Editorial Cartoonists and The Charles Schulz Award from The Scripps Howard Fdn. Drew has done commercial illustration for Hasbro and Dungeons & Dragons, among others. He lives in a house in NJ with his wife, his daughter and Fat Panda, his cat. On a good day, you might catch him sporting his favorite cape.

Drew is represented by Paul Rodeen at Rodeen Literary Management. For more on Drew Sheneman, please visit his website:www.www.shenemanillustration.com.

Deborah Hocking

Deborah Hocking had 4 majors in college - painting, illustration, graphic design, and Spanish and studied abroad in Madrid and Central America. She and her husband once took a 2.5 month, 1,100 mile hiking/backpacking trip which began in Paris and ended on the Atlantic coast of Spain. She did a sketch a day during their journey. They ate more chocolate, baguettes and butter than they thought possible, saw back-roads and hamlets, met kind and generous people, many of whom opened their homes freely, and had plenty of time to be still and quiet and take in life at a completely different pace.

They also lived in France for six years where they ran a conference center in an old castle. And while she adores Portland - its endless parks & neighborhoods to explore - a part of her dreams of being able to live in France again some day.

Learn more about Deborah on her website.

David Barneda

David Barneda has a studio in Los Angeles, California, where he comes up with visual solutions, creating custom illustrations and designs for children's books, book covers, posters, infographics, t-shirts, greeting cards and animations. His methods include digital and traditional tools, and his work using both has been recognized by: The Society of Illustrators of New York, The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, PRINT, CMYK, American Illustration and The Black Book.

His Dots homage was inspired by a particularly hot Dot Day out in LA: A family of camels going for a stroll around the neighborhood. David is represented by Paul Roden of Rodeen Literary Management. Check out his website at http://www.barneda.com and follow him on Twitter:

@barneda

Arree Chung

Arree Chung makes picture books, but he did a lot of other things before finding his true passion.  Arree began his career in consulting where he made lots of spreadsheets.  Arree left the consulting field for an opportunity at Pixar.  At Pixar, Arree learned the secret to success: loving what you do.  To pursue his passion, Arree enrolled at the Art Center College of Design where he learned to draw, paint, and think differently.  In Steven Turk's Children's Book Illustration class, Arree discovered his love for creating children's picture books and the rest is history!

In the past decade, Arree has worked in the games industry as a Designer and Art Director.  Arree’s first debut picture book, “Ninja!” hits shelves June 3rd, 2014.  When Arree is not practicing his Ninja moves, you can find him playing basketball or riding his bike.

Learn more about Arree on his website.

Laura Zarrin

Laura Zarrin lives in San Jose, CA with her husband, two filmmaker sons, and her four legged studio assistant, Cody. She can often be found in her studio, elbow deep in paint, paste, paper, and Photoshop. She loves illustrating for children, because they're the best audience in the world! You can see her work in Highlights High Five, Highlights Hidden Pictures Books, and an upcoming series that’s top secret right now. 

Laura's website: http://www.LauraZarrin.com

Laura's blog: http://creativewhimsies.blogspot.com

Twitter: @LauraZarrin

Instagram: http://instagram.com/laurazarrin

C.L. Murphy

C.L. (Cathy) Murphy both writes and illustrates the picture book series THE ADVENTURES OF LOVABLE LOBO.  She has been doodling her way through life since she won a school wide poster contest in the third grade. She adores the wonder and curiosity of young children and knows in her heart that she was destined to create for them.

Krishna Chavda

Krishna Chavda, originally from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, spent much of her time as a child drawing or building something from paper with tape and staples.  In 2011, she earned her MFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has since created work for a variety of clients including Food Network Magazine, The Village Voice, and Lineage Wear. Visit her website to view more work:www.nanuillustration.com.

Emily Wayne

Emily Wayne is a freelance illustrator, artist, kitty lover and hedgehog enthusiast from Westhampton, MA. She has her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and she aspires to illustrate children’s books. She primarily works in colored pencil, but in true Dot Day style decided to step outside her comfort zone in both media and color palette and try something new – her CATerpillar dot is done in watercolor. You can visit her website at www.emilywayne.com to find out more about her and her work.

Lori Richmond

Lori Richmond is a children's writer and illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY. The unique adventure of raising a little family in the big city gives her constant inspiration.

Lori has 15 years experience as a designer and in-house creative director. Her work has been recognized by PRINT, Adobe, Apartment Therapy, Pottery Barn Kids, Redbook, GenArt and more.

See more of her work at LoriDraws.com.  Lori is represented by Lori Kilkelly of Rodeen Literary Management: lori@rodeenliterary.com.

FableVision Studios

See the original post here!

Melanie Conklin

Melanie Conklin is a writer, reader, and all-around lover of words and those who create them. Her debut novel for middle grade readers, Counting Thyme, will be published by Putnam & Sons in 2016. She lives in South Orange, New Jersey with her husband and two small maniacs.

Website |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Sharon Vargo

Sharon Vargo is the author/illustrator of Señor Felipe's Alphabet Adventure, a Bank Street Best Children's Book. Sharon’s paintings have appeared in children’s books, magazines, textbooks, as murals, limited edition prints, and are in private and museum collections.

Learn more about Sharon on her website.

Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Rebecca Kai Dotlich is a poet and picture book author of such titles as What is Science? (a 2006 Subaru SB&F prize finalist), and Lemonade Sun (an American Booksellers "Pick of the Lists"). Her work is featured widely in poetry anthologies and textbooks.  Rebecca promotes children's poetry, giving presentations and workshops to students, teachers,  librarians and writers. She lives in Indiana. Rebecca writes about her dot, "I call this the Collector's Dot. This is made with maps, stamps and coins from my big brother's collections that I safely keep and collect myself." Learn more about Rebecca on her website.