First off, I’d like to say a BIG THANK YOU to my friend Michael Barker (of Acme Art and Design) for putting together this beautiful new website and blog for SPORK. I’m also perpetually grateful to illustrator Isabelle Arsenault for her exquisite work. (You can check out her portfolio at: www.isabellearsenault.com)
SPORK will be officially in stores on September 1st, 2010. (It’s already available through certain online booksellers.) Please ask at your local bookstores in the autumn. And spread the word.
One thing I didn’t mention on the website is that the book started off as a small chapbook that my husband, David, and I created on the eve of our first son’s birth (back in 2001!)
Here is an image from that original book. (I did the drawings on scratchboard.)
The story changed and grew (for example, it’s no longer told in rhyming couplets). It found new friends (in particular, Tara Walker at Kids Can Press). It was introduced to the most wonderful illustrator imaginable (that’s you, Isabelle). But the spirit of the original chapbook has stayed the same.
And now it’s here. Almost. What a wonderful journey.
Happy Birthday Spork.
