Rowboat Watkins

Rowboat Watkins is mostly a dad who likes to tell stories and draw. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. He is the author of Rude Cakes. He won a 2016 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award New Illustrator Honor.

Rowboat Watkins isn't his real name, it's what his wife has called him for the past twenty years. He writes, "Why Rowboat? Well...I'm the first to admit I'd be a lousy speedboat. And I'm way too shy to be a showboat. And way too weak to be a tugboat. And too gloomy to be a love boat. And (Sadly) not swashbuckling enough to be a dream boat. And no one wants to be called a dinghy. So that left rowboat. Nothing fancy, but great to have around when the ship starts sinking.

Learn more about Rowboat on his website.

Jessixa Bagley

Jessixa Bagley's career has been a mix of comics, fine art, and illustration. She has worked with publications such as: The Chicago Reader, The Seattle Weekly, The Stranger, Nickelodeon Magazine, and Highlights. In 2007, she was a selected artist for New American Paintings No. 73. And in 2009 she received a GAP Grant from the Washington State arts organization Artist Trust for her fine art drawing. Her love of picture books has been the constant goal of her entire life and has always been a working focus. Her debut picture book, Boats for Papa came out June 2015 followed up by Before I Leave in February 2016. Her third picture book, Laundry Day, comes out in February 2017. She is currently working on her first collaborative picture book, Vincent Comes Home, with her husband, Aaron Bagley. They are both writing and doing the illustrations together. It's due out winter 2018. All of her picture books are with Neal Porter for Roaring Brook Press.

She lives in Seattle, Washington in a castle in the sky with her wonderful husband, painfully adorable son, and a slew of houseplants that all have names.

Learn more about Jessixa on her website. 

Liza Woodruff 2016

Liza Woodruff is the illustrator of over 20 picture books. This summer saw the publication of her first picture book as author illustrator: Emerson Barks, Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt, August 2016.

Liza lives in Northern Vermont with her husband, two children, two dogs, a rabbit and a guinea pig. She finds inspiration around her at home and in the rural and often snowy landscape.

To learn more about Liza and see more of her work, please visit: www.lizawoodruff.com

Laura Purdie Salas

Former teacher Laura Purdie Salas has written more than 125 books for kids, including the Can Be… series (starred reviews from PW and Kirkus, Bank Street Best Books, IRA Teachers’ Choice, and more) and BookSpeak!  (Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notable, and more). Laura's favorite thing to do is to wonder. What do leaves do? What would it be like to be a book? How many kinds of families are there? Why does every plant I take care of die? For her forthcoming If You Were the Moon (Millbrook, 2016), Laura wondered what the moon does, besides hang in the sky like a gorgeous picture. In the book, the moon sets the record straight.

Laura does a little bit of knitting and a little bit of doodling, but her favorite way to make her mark is with words. So she borrowed some of Violeta Dabija's stunning art from A Rock Can Be... for her dot and then added her best piece of advice (for herself and for others).

Laura loves to connect with teachers and librarians online and through school visits and inservices. She shares inspiration and practical tips with educators about poetry, nonfiction, and more on her website and through her e-letter. Visit Laura at laurasalas.com. 

Anne Belov 2016

Anne Belov has been drawing and painting since the time she could hold a crayon. After receiving a BFA from The Philadelphia College of Art, she moved west and, since she didn’t learn everything the first time, went to art school again, receiving an MFA in painting from the University of Washington. She now makes her home on Whidbey Island. Anne is the person behind the pandas of The Panda Chronicles (blog, four books and counting) and has recently released her first picture book, Pandamorphosis, a wordless adventure with pandas. There are, to her knowledge, no pandas in her backyard.

Her dot is inspired by her coming graphic novel, A Mystery with Art and Pandas!

http://yourbrainonpandas.wordpress.com

http://nothingoverlooked.wordpress.com

Michele Katz

Illustrator, Michele Katz, otherwise known as "Mit" started "making books" by stapling pieces of paper together and drawing on them for her little brother at the ripe old age of seven. By the time she was in middle school, she had decided on Syracuse University for her BFA in illustration. (Fortunately the school approved of her choice!) Since then, Michele has been making whimsical art designed to evoke smiles, because let's face it - - there is enough serious stuff in the world! In addition to the 4 children's books she has illustrated, she also designs greeting cards and is working on a silly adult coloring book. Michele is a proud member of SCBWI and resides in Connecticut with her husband and pet turtle and hamster. 

You can see more of her work on her website at www.creationsbymit.comhttp://www.creationsbymit.com or join her on social media:

Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/creationsbymit/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/creationsbymit/

Sharon Creech 2016

Sharon Creech is a Newbery Medal winning author and the inspiration behind the Celebridot project. You can see her 2011 dot here, 2012 dot here, 2013 here, 2014 here and 2015 here.  Sharon's latest book is "Moo." 

Moo is an uplifting novel about one family's momentous move to Maine and an unexpected bond that develops between twelve year old Reena and one very ornery cow named Zora. This lovely story reminds us that if you're open to new experiences, life offers surprises.

Learn more about Sharon Creech on her website. 

Jennifer P. Goldfinger

Jennifer P. Goldfinger is a picture book author and illustrator as well as a fine artist. She grew up on a farm in Ohio, with cows, horses, sheep and chickens until she was 12. But now she lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband, two daughters and two dogs.

Her newest book, Hello, My Name is Tiger, was released in July of 2016 with HarperCollins. She also wrote and illustrated, A Fish Named Spot and My Dog Lyle and illustrated The King’s Chorus. Her fine art is shown in the Rice Polak Gallery in Provincetown, MA. 

Jennifer has always had a thing for dots, she uses them frequently in her illustration and fine art work. Peter Reynold’s book The Dot, is one of her all time favorites and she refers to it often when talking to kids about the freedom and beauty of a quick confident splat.

To learn more about Jennifer, go to her websites: 

www.jennifergoldfinger.com

David Kalvitis 2016

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 seventeen books and has sold over a three quarters 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. Recently Little Passports had included some of the puzzles in their U.S. Edition kits.
Learn more about David and Monkeying Around on their website.

Amy Marie Stadelmann

Amy Marie Stadelmann has loved drawing and telling stories as long as she can remember. According to her very patient mother, "There never was a blank sheet of paper in our house – they were all covered with Amy’s drawings. " One time she even drew on a velour pillow with a permanent marker.

As an adult she continues to draw on things, but she attempts to be more respectful of where. After learning about visual storytelling as an Illustration major at Pratt Institute and graduating in 2006, she has worked as a digital designer for Nick Jr. preschool programs like The Wonder Pets! and Team Umizoomi. Most recently she worked as a designer at Tiggly, a toy and app company.

Amy is also the author and illustrator of Olive & Beatrix, a series of early reader chapter books with Scholastic. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with a very silly little dog named Cosmo Brown and a growing collection of garden gnomes.

You can learn more about my  Amy and her Olive & Beatrix book series on her website. and also on the Scholastic website.

C.L. Murphy 2016

Cathy (C.L.) has been creating with and for kids for many years, and because of it she's ever armed with crayons and not afraid to use or share them.  She lives in a wonder-filled forest, amongst the wildlife with her husband and other untamed animals. They have two wildly perfect sons and a scrumptious new granddaughter.

Book description: 

Lobo and his sidekick raven find a trail camera in their neck of the woods, and it attracts the attention of forest friends. Images captured have never been sillier or more candid. Just as their wild dispositions are exposed, the photo shoot comes to an unexpected end and they're all left wondering why. The reason may be obvious.

Book trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o95DNZc5xOk

Website: http://lovablelobo.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LovableLobo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LovableLobo/

Savannah Hendricks

Savannah Hendricks is the author of Nonnie and I (Xist), and co-author of Child Genius 101: The Ultimate Guide to Early Childhood Development Vol 1, 2 & 3 (Knowonder). She has over 25 pieces published in magazines and anthologies. Savannah is a member of the SCBWI, has a Master’s in Criminal Justice, and a degree in Early Childhood Education. You can learn more by visiting her blog at http://theseashellsoflife.wordpress.com/ 

Robin Newman 2016

Raised in New York and Paris, Robin Newman’s been a practicing attorney and legal editor, but she prefers to write about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. She lives in New York with her husband, son, goldfish, and two English Cocker Spaniels. 

Book description: 

Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep, illustrated by Chris Ewald (Creston Books 2016), is a picture book about a witch with a little-known secret, she needs her sleep. Her quiet neighborhood has been turned upside down with the sudden noisy arrival of the old woman in her shoe, big bad wolf, and other fairy tale characters. What does a witch have to do to get a good night's sleep?

Book trailer:

Read Out Aloud for KidLit TV: 

Learn more about Robin and her other publications at: 

Website: www.robinnewmanbooks.com 

Twitter: @robinnewmanbook

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/RobinNewmanBooks/339179099505049

e-mail: robin@robinnwmanbooks.com 

Michael Arndt

Michael Arndt is a graphic designer and author/illustrator of Cat Says Meow and other animalopoeia. He is a strong advocate of visual and verbal literacy in education. He lives in NYC with his yellow dog Clooney and black cat Aiden. Follow Michael @animalopoeia on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Michael says about his dot, "Creativity and education start with getting back to basics. Providing kids with both the basic tools and the neutral space with which to create endlessly from their own knowledge and imagination. This dot is a statement on the power of minimalism and teaching fundamentals first. Black and white, shapes, geometry, even punctuation. Is it a black dot on a white square, or a white square with a black hole? Is it even a white square or is that implied by the space hidden behind the black dot? Is the black dot a period? Does it represent male and female or Heaven and Earth as in ancient symbology? I would invite kids to use this to create their own idea or drawing of what it is. What happens when you fold it, cut it, or draw on it? Shrink it, multiply it, enlarge it, reverse it, stretch it, curl it?  My hope is that this dot’s unapologetic simplicity will inspire kids to be bold, be honest, be simple, be creative, and know that they are already enough without needing any embellishments to hide behind."

http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/cat-says-meow.html

info@animalopoeia.com

www.animalopoeia.com

www.facebook.com/animalopoeia

www.pinterest.com/animalopoeia

www.twitter.com/animalopoeia

www.instagram.com/animalopoeia

Tracey M. Cox

Tracey M. Cox was born in Rochester, NY one cold December day.  Her family moved over 1,000 miles when she was in the sixth grade. She went from being a "BIG CITY" girl to "COUNTRY" girl. She moved to a very small town in South Georgia. Tracey loved storytelling since she was a little girl. Her papa used to tell her stories before bedtime every night. She loved listening about heroes and villains, giants and bears, and all sorts of other characters, and the adventures they all went on. She would fall asleep curled up against my papa with those stories swirling in my head. In school, she loved creative writing. Discovering different lands, new characters, tragedies, triumphs, and all the different styles of writing. She never took those stories any further than a grade though. When she got older, she married her high school sweetheart, Tim, and they have three sons, Nelson, Austin, and Cameron. Learn more about Tracey on her website.

Laura Murray

Laura Murray is the award-winning author of The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School, and his continuing adventures, The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck, The GB Man Loose at Christmas, and The GB Man Loose at the Zoo (GP Putnam’s Sons.) 

This humor-filled, rhyming series was inspired by a Gingerbread Man that managed to escape her classroom every single school year.

Laura lives with her family in northern Virginia. Visit her online at  www.LauraMurrayBooks.com  for loads of fun activities, printables, & CC/standards-linked teacher's guides, as well as information on school author presentations. She is also Facebook, or on Twitter at @LauraMurrayBook.

You can read “behind the scenes” stories of the GB Man books at The Nerdy Book Club – Gifts and Inspiration - https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/gifts-and-inspiration-by-laura-murray/

Laura describes her dot:  "I can’t really draw, but I can bake!  My dot is a celebration of characteristics I strive for, and try to imbue in my characters…"

Be Sweet. Be Determined. Make a bit of Mischief.

Now mix and measure those thoughts together -

and Make Your Mark on the world J! Happy Dot Day!

Nancy Armo

Nancy Armo is the author/illustrator of A Friend for Mole. (Peachtree Publishers 2016)  

Nancy lives on Long Island, NY where she shares her garden with several dirt digging moles, curious wild turkeys, and munching rabbits who have eaten ALL the lettuce.

Nancy’s dot is about the magic that happens when you share books with friends.

Learn more about Nancy at www.nancyarmo.com

Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu

Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu grew up in a Dallas suburb, but spent her weekends from age eleven in the Texas countryside, where she tamed butterflies and rode her red pony, Pokey. She had no idea at the time that she would end up living on the other side of the world. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Masters degree in Applied Linguistics, and taught reading and English for Academic Purposes at university programs in the United States, Malaysia, and Japan.

She has composed stories and poetry (mostly in her head) since her third grade teacher Mrs. Eldridge’s weekly assignment. She started Here and There Japan, a photoblog for children, in 2006 to highlight the things she and her binational, bicultural, and bilingual children saw, did, and used in their daily lives in their multigenerational home.

Her work has been published in children’s and young adult magazines. Somewhere Among, a middle grade novel, was published in 2016. (Source)

Annie writes about her dot, "In my middle grade novel, Somewhere Among, set in Japan, the main character gives a paper doll with a heart with the word "Peace" in Japanese to a bully. She wants him to put peace in his heart. For my dot, I've made two dolls surrounded by words of "peace."

Learn more about Annie on her website. 

Henry Herz

Henry Herz writes fantasy and science fiction for children. He and his sons wrote Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes (Pelican, 2015), When You Give An Imp A Penny (Pelican, 2016), Mabel and the Queen Of Dreams (Schiffer, 2016), Little Red Cuttlefish (Pelican, 2016), and Dinosaur Pirates (Sterling, 2017).

Henry says of his dot, "My dot is taken from the cover of my new urban fantasy bedtime picture book, Mabel and the Queen Of Dreams. A dragonfly draws the Queen of the Fae past the full moon on her way to inspire the dreams of sleeping children."

Learn more about Henry at www.henryherz.com

C. C. Payne

C. C. Payne is the hopeful, humorous, Southern middle grade author of The Thing About Leftovers; Lulu Bell on Geekdom, Freakdom & the Challenges of Bad Hair, and Something to Sing About.  She says that all of her books are the result of inviting Jesus into the darkest, scariest, most damaged places of her heart. "Problems and fears can grow to monstrous proportions when left alone in the dark--I know from experience. So I pray and I write. Writing is my attempt to bring problems and fears out into the light, cutting them down to size--and sometimes, even laying them to rest. So far, I've written about fear, faith, friendship, bullying, death, divorce and blended families."


To learn more about C. C. Payne, visit her website. 

Monika Schröder

Monika Schröder grew up in Germany and has worked as an elementary school teacher and librarian in American international schools in Egypt, Chile, Oman and India. After living in India for eight years she and her husband returned to the US in the summer of 2011. They now live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Monika says about her dot, "trying to express the miracle of writing a book. To me, the string of thoughts and words is a mystery and I am trying to follow it until we find the end.

Monika is the author of The Dog in the Wood, Saraswati's Way, My Brother's Shadow, and the forthcoming Be Light Like A Bird. 

Learn more about Monika on her website.

Hazel Mitchell 2016

Hazel Mitchell is an award winning illustrator. From an early age she drew on every thing she could get her hands on and still can't be left safely alone with a pencil. Her most recent books include Imani's Moon, One Word Pearl, 1,2,3 by the Sea, How to Talk to an Autistic Kid (Foreword Reviews Gold Medal winner and Finalist in 'Books for a Better Life'), Hidden New Jersey and the All-Star Cheerleaders series by Anastasia Suen. 

Her next book is "Toby" and is the first book she has written and illustrated. It will be released September 13 and is being published by Candlewick Press. Learn more about Toby here. 

Learn more about Hazel here.

Sherri Duskey Rinker

Sherri Duskey Rinker lives in the Chicago area with her photographer husband and two sons. She's constantly inspired -- and often exhausted! Her books are love stories for her children, written to wrangle some smiles and with the hopes of happier bedtimes and sweet dreams for all. (Source)
Sherri is the author of "Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site" and her latest book is "Silly Wonderful You."

Learn more about Sherri on her website.

Constance Lombardo

Constance Lombardo has been drawing and studying art since she was a kid. She worked with a muralist in San Francisco, where she got to paint on walls. As a painter, she loves to use dots along with drips and globs. She is the author/illustrator of Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins) and Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat Across America. She hopes kids like cats as much as she does. But most of all, she hopes kids keep making art because it’s so fun!

Learn more about Constance on her website. 

Susan Hill Long

Susan Hill Long is the author of Whistle in the Dark, a middle-grade novel.

Susan has also written books for beginning readers under the name Susan Hill, including Black Beauty and the Thunderstorm and Black Beauty: Stolen!(illustrated by Bill Farnsworth) which were named Best Books by Bank Street College of Education; Peter Pan: Lost and Found, and The Wind in the Willows: A Fine Welcome (both illustrated by Michael Hague).

She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two daughters.

Susan describes her dot: "One day (among many just like it) I was stumbling, stymied, stuck. For a change I painted a couple of old words instead of trying to come up with new ones. I took a hand-lettering tutorial online at The Postman's Knock and thus I made my dot. Here it is, such as it is!"

Her next book is The Magic Mirror: Concerning a Lonely Princess, a Foundling Girl, A Scheming King and a Pickpocket Squirrel (Knopf/May 10).

Learn more about Susan on her website.