HEY, GET YOUR BOOK SIGNED!
In an exclusive relationship with Words Bookstore in Maplewood, N.J., you can have your book signed with a personalized message. It’s always a good idea to shop small businesses. (Please note exactly what you’d like me to say in the ORDER COMMENTS section when you order). Unless you’re picking up directly from the store, please allow extra time for me to personalize and then for Words to ship to you or your recipient. Just click this button!
STYX & SCONES IS A FINALIST ON THE DENNY O’NEIL GRAPHIC NOVEL LIST 2024
Thrilled that Styx and Scones in the Sticky Wand has been chosen by the Missouri Association of School Librarians as a finalist for the 2024 Denny O’Neil Graphic Novel List for grades K-2! CLICK HERE
KIRKUS REVIEW FOR THE LAST COMICS ON EARTH 2! • Releasing April 30, 2024
“More daft and daffy derring-do,” indeed! CLICK HERE
NYC SCBWI WINTER CONFERENCE • February 9-11, 2023
Excited to attend the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators In-person Winter Conference in NYC! Check out my portfolio if you’re going!
STYX & SCONES: DELAWARE’S KIDS BOOK CHOICE 2023 • August 12, 2023
My home state of Delaware is sending Styx and Scones to the National Book Festival in Washington D.C.! You’ll find me at the National Book Festival on August 12 at the Delaware table! I’ll have coloring pages, stickers and bookmarks! It’s a small wonder I love my home state as much as I do… (That’s a Delaware joke, folks). For more information on the National Book Festival CLICK HERE
STYX & SCONES: VIRTUAL EVENT • July 15, 2023
I’ll be one of a number of great authors and illustrators reading portions from their early graphic readers this Saturday, virtually, at 4 pm. This is a free event! CLICK HERE
INTERVIEW WITH ILLUSTRATION DEPARTMENT • June, 2023
I sat down with Giuseppe of the Illustration Department and Viking Art Director Jim Hoover to discuss the making of The Last Comics on Earth, work/life balance (ha!), and life as an illustrator. Good times! CLICK HERE
LAST COMICS IS A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER! • May, 2023
The Last Comics on Earth graphic novel landed with a KABOOM on the monthly New York Times graphic novel and manga list for May! CLICK HERE
CANVASREBEL MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
A Q&A with some helpful advice about the process of breaking into the books industry, and my process… CLICK HERE
BURLINGTON NJ BOOK FESTIVAL
I’m one of the featured authors at the Burlington County Book Festival on Saturday, June 3. I’ll be drawing with the kids from 2-3pm in the Library Reading Room! CLICK HERE
LAST COMICS ON EARTH VIRTUAL TOUR
Had a blast with Max and Josh doing virtual school visits all week in elementary schools in Texas, Georgia, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Kentucky!
SECOND STAR BOOKS INTERVIEW
A super fun interview with Max Brallier and Sophie from Second Star Books about The Last Comics on Earth! CLICK HERE
KIRKUS REVIEWS THE LAST COMICS ON EARTH
“Creative, quip laden, and replete with manic mischief to lighten the message.” Their professional opinion is GET IT! Read the full review! CLICK HERE
MATTERS MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Sara Courtney interviewed me for Matters Magazine Winter issue. We had a great conversation about my philosophy on encouraging reading through focusing on fun… How reading Spider-Man leads to reading Shakespeare, and Mad Magazine leads to reading Maya Angelou. CLICK HERE
HOW NOT TO GET MURDERED IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY MANOR HOUSE
Fun excerpt from Murder Guide is up on Crimereads.com today, promoting Maureen Johnson’s newest novel: Nine Liars. Check it out! CLICK HERE
THE LAST COMICS ON EARTH • FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2023 • May 6, 2023
An excerpt from the new graphic novel spin-off to the New York Times best-selling series, The Last Kids on Earth will be one of the 44 free comics available at participating comic retailers nationwide this May! CLICK HERE
THE LAST COMICS ON EARTH (Releasing April, 2023)
From the delightfully twisted minds of Max Brallier and Joshua Pruett comes a graphic novel of apocalyptic antics that fans of NY Times best-selling series, The Last Kids On Earth, will adore. Comic Book Resources has the exclusive announce… CLICK HERE
READ ACROSS AMERICA! • March 2, 2022
Had such a great day of visits to schools and libraries in New Jersey! Visited the wonderful second grade classes at Delfino School, and was the guest speaker at Morris County Library. Such wonderfully attentive kids and staff!
NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ON MR. MEN 50th ANNIVERSARY • December 8, 2021
Spoke with the Times about my love of Roger Hargreaves fabulous Mr. Men (and Miss) series, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! CLICK HERE
THE BOTS 10-BOOK COLLECTION (Releasing November 2, 2021)
So many Bots books!!! Collects The Most Annoying Robots in the Universe; The Good, the Bad, and the Cowbots; 20,000 Robots Under the Sea; The Dragon Bots; A Tale of Two Classrooms; The Secret Space Station; Adventures of the Super Zeroes; The Lost Camera; Tinny's Tiny Secret; and The Wizard of Bots in one ginormous box set perfect for the holidays! HO HO WHOA! CLICK HERE
VIRGINIA CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL 2021
The VCBF is Virtual again this year! Over 60,000 kids worldwide have signed up for an entire month of fun virtual author visits! Catch me with Russell Ginns on October 1, and again with Last Kids On Earth’s Max Brallier on October 8, and then a very fun discussion about the amazingness of graphic novels with New Kid’s Jerry Craft on October 13! Register for these and more… CLICK HERE
YOUR GUIDE TO NOT GETTING MURDERED IS A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Your Guide To Not Getting Murdered In A Quaint English Village debuted at #8 on the Independent Bestseller list for Hardcover Nonfiction! CLICK HERE
BOTS 4 BOOKS IN 1! (Releasing June 15, 2021)
Having difficulty reading four books at once? Well, there’s good news! Little Simon is collecting the first 4 Bots books in one sturdy hardcover book! (The Most Annoying Robots In The Universe • The Good, The Bad, and the Cowbts • 20,000 Robots Under The Sea • The Dragonbots) CLICK HERE
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY (August 14, 2021)
Free Comic Book Day is Christmas for comic fans! One day a year, you can walk into any comic store in America and walk out WITH A FREE COMIC BOOK. And luckily enough, The Last Kids On Earth is participating! (Makes sense: the latest book is in graphic novel format after all. And I’m the lucky shmo who got to have his story included! I. CAN’T. WAIT. CLICK HERE
CELEBRATE INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY! (April 24, 2021)
Had a blast doing a last minute (outdoor) signing at Words Bookstore on Saturday to help get out the word for Independent Bookstore Day—Small, independent bookstores are the treasured cornerstone of the community. Support them! Buy books from them!
LAST KIDS VIRTUAL LAUNCH @ SQUARE BOOKS (April 7, 2021)
I’ll be joining Max Brallier and some other friends as we celebrate the release of the first ever Last Kids On Earth graphic novel: Thrilling Tales From The Tree House! This is a ticketed event that requires advance purchase.. CLICK HERE
WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE — AUTHOR EVENTS IN THE PANDEMIC (March 2, 2021)
Juanita Giles interviews Jeff Kinney, Meg Medina, Lamar Giles and myself on the way authors and illustrators have adapted author visits during the pandemic. CLICK HERE
READ ACROSS AMERICA 2021 • TUESDAY, MARCH 2
This year, more than any other, it’s important for authors and illustrators to take part in World Read Aloud Day and support the students, the teachers, and the librarians who have struggled and worked so hard in the past year. I’m excited to Zoom with Defino Elementary in Marlboro, NJ to do my part. Zoom you Tuesday!
VIRGINIA CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL 2020 Virtual Events now on YouTube
In 2020, the fantastic Viriginia Children’s Book Festival changed its model to a month-long virtual extravaganza, and they just posted all the videos to their YouTube channel. LeUyen Pham, Ann Marie Pace, Katherine Paterson, Victoria Kann… the list of wonderful kids lit creators that contributed is phenomenal. And lil’ ol’ me is there, too, teaching you a fun robot drawing game you can play yourself. Personal highlight of the festival? Obviously, it was drawing Spider-Man with Kazu Kibuishi of Amulet fame. A great resource for parents and educators alike! CLICK HERE
YOUR GUIDE TO NOT GETTING MURDERED IN A QUAINT ENGLISH VILLAGE (SEPTEMBER 2021)
Ten Speed Press will be publishing a lengthier version of fan-favorite, and best-selling author Maureen Johnson’s viral (and hilarious) Crimesreads take on the aforementioned Guide. I’m the lucky duck that gets to illustrate it! This one is much more for grown-ups (and teens) than kids. And I’ll get to try my hand at a little Edward Gorey-style cross-hatching. Big shout out to her absurdly talented agent (and long-time friend) Kate for the opportunity as well!
LAST KIDS ON EARTH GRAPHIC NOVEL NEWS! (APRIL, 2021)
I was one of five illustrators (along with series regular Doug Holgate) to illustrate chapters of the forthcoming first ever graphic novel for The Last Kids on Earth: Thrilling Tales From the Tree House! It was a wonderful project from beginning to end, mainly because Max is such a genius, and the series Art Director, Jim Hoover, is as kind as he is talented (and hoo-boy is he talented!)
THE BOTS SERIES EXTENDS TO BOOKS 11 & 12! (JULY, 2021)
Not only is Bots 10 (The Wizard of Bots) hitting the shelves in April 2021, but Little Simon has announced that they will publish Bots 11 (Attack of the ZomBots) and Bots 12 (Murder on the Botsburg Express). I promised that I’ve read the script for Bots 11, and it is as friendly and silly as ever. These are NOT scary ZomBots.
VIRTUAL & IN-PERSON APPEARANCES in 2021 (OCTOBER 2021)
I will either be virtually attending or live attending the Virginia Children’s Book Festival this coming October! Last year’s all virtual format made things challenging, but also gave me the opportunity to interview the wonderful Kazu Kibuishi of Amulet TWICE.
SUPER ATOMIC WOMBAT GIRL Leaked by Bleeding Cool News!
The word is out! Russell Ginns and I are working on an epic graphic novel. Due out from Aladdin in 2022! Look out world! CLICK HERE
PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH THE ILLUSTRATION DEPARTMENT
I chatted with Giuseppe Castellano about creating artwork for Broadway shows, as well as tackling children’s literature, for his amazing podcast The Illustration Department. His questions are insightful, and his podcast is jam-packed with talented artists you’ve probably been a huge fan of for AGES. Go check it out! CLICK HERE
AUTUMN FESTIVAL APPEARANCES 2019
Excited to announce that I’ll be at the Brooklyn Book Festival (September 21) and the Princeton Children’s Book Festival (September 14) for the first time this year! I’ll be returning to the Virginia Children’s Book Festival and the Warwick Children’s Book Festival.
NEW TEACHING & EDUCATOR GUIDES FOR THE PEPPER PARTY PICKS THE PERFECT PET & THE PEPPER PARTY FAMILY FEUD FACE-OFF ADDED (August 9, 2019)
Please visit the Extra Stuff/Teacher Guides for free downloads!
SERINO COYNE AGENCY INTERVIEW (April 4, 2019)
Working at an agency that supports the creativity of its staff is a dream. Read about the fantastic illustrators on staff at Serino Coyne! CLICK HERE.
BRIDGET AND THE BOOKS INTERVIEW (April 3, 2019)
Bridget of Bridget and the Books Blog asks some fantastic questions! CLICK HERE.
KIRKUS REVIEWS THE PEPPER PARTY FAMILY FEUD FACE-OFF (March 17, 2019)
“Exceptionally funny” CLICK HERE.
ONE QUESTION, FIVE AUTHORS (March 24, 2019)
James Preller’s fun blog series where he asks five authors a single question. Ours was: Can you say anything nice about procrastination? (I was the last to turn in my answer, making me procrastination champion! Woohoo!) CLICK HERE.
KIRKUS REVIEWS THE PEPPER PARTY PICKS THE PERFECT PET (February 13, 2019)
“Smart, well-paced, and funny” CLICK HERE.