For the few of you who were privy to this blog before I officially launched in Sept. 2014, this image of the NYPL Lion with The Cat in the Hat may look familiar to you. I had it filling space at that time, simply to have an image on the page and stated I would eventually post the article I wrote for which I’d done this artwork. I realize you’ve been waiting with bated breath having suffered sleepless nights with the anticipation having been so overwhelming 😉 Well, your Patience (yes, we’ll consider this lion Patience rather than Fortitude) has been greatly appreciated and hopefully worth the wait.

This was originally written for our NJ SCBWI magazine Sprouts (no longer printed) way back in January 2010, though it had been heavily trimmed due to page space constraints. I chose to post it now, in its full version, in honor of National Library Week, April 12–18 🙂 Keep in mind that some things that were stated 5 years ago are no longer current in respect to the state of the market/industry, etc. I’d like to point out that at that time, the monthly events were known as the Children’s Literary Cafe, now known as the Children’s Literary Salon. Also, since that time I’ve had the privilege to meet Betsy (Elizabeth) Byrd at the recent Bank Street Book Store Grand Re-opening enabling me to give her a copy of this article including the artwork 😀 .

As you read, it will be obvious how much I enjoyed this event. If you are ever able to attend, you can search for upcoming events on their site. I highly recommend it! So here we gooooo… Continue reading →