KENNETH KRAEGEL
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    • This is a Book of Shapes
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Jackson Reads and Mushroom News

5/4/2022

 
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I'll be giving a presentation to second and third graders at 12:30 at Jackson Reads! I am looking forward to meeting some readers in-person and also to seeing the Ella Sharp Museum, which includes an historical farmhouse, log school house and a beautiful planetarium. It will be fun!

Also, Mushroom Lullaby has been named a Junior Library Guild selection!
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Announcing Mushroom Lullaby

3/17/2022

 
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Here comes another book! This one is written with bedtime in mind - one of my favorite times to read a picture book. It is meant to quiet the room down while getting the young ones ready for sleep. It arrives October 11, from Candlewick Press.

Here is the blurb:
In gentle rhyme, this spare and whimsical picture book introduces little readers to all sorts of wonderful mushrooms: ones that grow up high and ones that never stay dry, ones that grow in a park and ones that glow in the dark, and even one made just for them! Who can resist climbing up the soft mushroom stair, curling up in a plush mushroom chair, and preparing to dream sweet mushroom dreams? The lulling narration and warm illustrations of this charmingly quirky book will have drowsy young ones settling into their own comfy beds, ready to drift off to sleep.

If you would like to pre-order it, you can do so at one of these sites:
IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, Target, or Amazon.

Miel de Luna - Wild Honey in Spanish and Catalan!

2/2/2022

 
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Estoy muy feliz ver las traducciones de Miel de Luna en Catalan y Español! Muchas gracias a Blackie Books y traductores Yannick Garcia y Rebeca González.

Translations of Wild Honey from the Moon are available in Spanish and Catalan! In the U.S. they can be purchased on Amazon:

Spanish here
Catalan here
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General Update

6/22/2021

 
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Here are the ink and and the colored versions of a study I did for the book I am currently illustrating. I make these little squares to try out color combinations and different drawing techniques before I begin the final illustration. It saves me from frustration and having to redo an entire piece. I make them in squares so that I can post them on Instagram, which forces me to slow down and concentrate on the study. Otherwise I would dash off the study and rush into the finished illustration without having fully tried out my idea.  For this study I wanted to see how sepia and brown ink looked next to each other after the paint was applied.

The new book will come out in the fall of 2022, from Candlewick. I'll have more on that as the book gets finalized.

On Instagram I mostly post studies like these. You can follow me @kennethkraegel

Upcoming Event

2/8/2021

 
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Lola

This March I'll be speaking at the Michigan Reading Association's annual conference. I'll be leading a break-out session called Telling a Good Story with Words and Pictures on March 13, at 3PM. I am looking forward to meeting some literacy educators!

When I visit schools I talk about different things I consider when I am making an  illustration (composition). I have a new way of explaining some of these compositional components that I am excited to demonstrate in my session. I will also have a fun segment on how tension in a story makes us want to know what will happen next.

The pig here, does not have anything to do with the MRA conference, but I think she would probably enjoy it. Her name is Lola, well named by my wife's aunt, for whom drawing was made.

This Is a Book of Shapes wrap-up

12/21/2020

 
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from the Shapes coloring page
Here are a few more places where Shapes has showed up this year:
- The Chicago Public Library listed it as a Best Board Book of 2020.
- Reading Rockets put it on their Holiday Buying Guide 2020. 
- The School Library Journal blog A Fuse 8 Production listed it on a 2020 recommended board book list.
- And the Youth Services Book Review recommended it, calling it, "cute, stylish and original." Something no one has ever said about me, but I am glad they think that of my book.

Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

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here is how I colored it in

News regarding This Is a Book of Shapes and peanut butter!

11/13/2020

 
Mother Mag's 50+ Gift Guide for Babies and Toddlers included a few book and Shapes was one of them. Looking at all the little toys and clothes reminded me how sweet those first few years are. Somehow, it is easy to forget the lack of sleep, etc!

Shapes was also on the Let's Talk Picture Books blog as one of their Crushes of the Week. It is nice to be crushed!
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In the last post I mentioned my forthcoming chat with Nanny Miss Monique - it was a lot of fun! Check it out on Instagram @nannymissmonique.
In other good news, I have found a way to easily mix natural peanut butter. I really like the kind of peanut butter that is just ground peanuts and salt, but the one downside to this kind of peanut butter is that the oil rises to the top of the jar, so you have to mix it before you can use it and that is really messy. But if you turn the jar upside down on the shelf, gravity does the mixing for you, without the mess! Yes!

Event, List, Review

10/28/2020

 
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As you can see from the poster, I'll be having a chat with Nanny Miss Monique on October 29th at 1PM CST on Instagram Live @nannymissmonique. Nanny Miss Monique is a great resource for inclusive picture books, plus she is a lot of fun. I look forward to our chat!

It was exciting to see This Is a Book of Shapes appear on the 2020 Holiday 20 recommended book list from Publishers Weekly's ShelfTalker blog. You can read the article here.  It is a fun read!

It was also exciting to see a nice review of the book appear on the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (a children's book illustration blog). I have enjoyed and respected that blog for as long as I have been making picture books, so it was a pleasant surprise to see Shapes appear there.  You can read the post here.


Upcoming Events and News for This Is a Book of Shapes

10/2/2020

 
On Saturday, 10 at 11AM, I'll be doing a Facebook Live event with good old Schuler Books. I'll read This Is a Book of Shapes and who knows what else! We'll have fun!

On Wednesday, October 21 at 11AM, I'll be doing a Facebook Live event with the fabulous Nicola's Books. Similar antics as above.

It was great to see This Is a Book of Shapes listed on ReadBrightly.com's Best Children's Books of September 2020!

The turtles on this post are courtesy of the coloring page I made for Shapes. You can download it from the coloring pages page or right here.
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from the coloring page
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here is how I colored it in

This Is a Book of Shapes is out today!

9/8/2020

 
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This Is a Book of Shapes hits the shelves today! You can find it at your favorite independent bookstore or at an online retailer like Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, Target, or Amazon.
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© Kenneth Kraegel 2022
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  • Welcome
  • Books
    • Mushroom Lullaby
    • This is a Book of Shapes
    • Wild Honey from the Moon
    • Green Pants
    • The Song of Delphine
    • King Arthur's Very Great Grandson
  • Coloring Pages
  • School Visits
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact