MELVIN out in the world

MELVIN has officially published!!! He hit bookshelves while I was out of town in early July. I have been illustrating books for about 6 years now, but this is the first I have written. Way back in the summer of 2007 I drew this in my sketchbook, which immediately sparked the story of MELVIN AND THE BOY.

Now, a whole 4 years later, it's an actual printed book! It's a scary thing to be 100% responsible for the outcome of a book — illustrations AND text — but hearing and reading the kind reviews and responses to MELVIN has been wonderful encouragement to write more stories of my own.

Here are a few reviewers that have shed some light on little Melvin:

—Shelf Awareness (click below image to enlarge/read)

—An article in The New York Times, titled "For Children Who Want Pets and Parents Who Don't"

—A Kirkus Reviews article by Julie Danielson, titled "Seven Impossible Things: Illustrators on Their Own"

—And, today Jules included Melvin on her Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog. If you'd like to see a handful of interiors from the book, head over there to take a look.

Thanks so much to these reviewers for their interest in MELVIN AND THE BOY!  xoxo~Lauren