Thursday, July 21, 2011

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

4 comments:

Colby Sharp said...

I just got this book from the library and I loved it! It is by far my favorite picture book that I have read this year. My kids at home also loved it. I can't wait to share it with my students in the fall.

Colby Sharp said...

This book is creating a lot of buzz today on Twitter.

J. Rutland said...

In a word... exquisite. Can't wait to have it on my bookshelf!

Lauren Castillo said...

Thank you so much, Colby! I am really glad to hear you enjoyed the book. Hope your students will also :)

And thank you ver' ver' much, mister J!