Another award for IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? Thank you to @thenatgen for this incredible recognition! "2026 Green Earth Book Award for Picture Book Primary - Recommended Reading." 🐬🐠🪼 Author @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social #picturebook #illustration #sea

This is exciting! Our book, IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? is on the Short List for the Green Earth Book Award! Thank you to The Nature Generation! Author @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social Publisher @weboflifebooks.bsky.social #picturebooks #illustration #sealife #whales #octopus #coral

On Monday we celebrated IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE?, which won 2026 John Burroughs Riverby Award. @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social @icebird.bsky.social Also @nancycastaldobooks.bsky.social won this award for RIVERKEEPER and WHALES IN THE CITY! #sea #scbwi

So grateful to the John Burroughs Association! IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? has received The Riverby Award for "exceptional natural history books for young readers." 🌊🐋🪼🐧 Author @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social Illustrator @megsodano.bsky.social Publisher @weboflifebooks.bsky.social

There are a lot of new children's picture books at this link, including my own. Books make great holiday gifts! Check them out at SCBWI BookStop. www.scbwi.org/bookstop #kidlit #kidlitillustration #picturebooks #childrensbook #illustration #sealife #seaanimals #sea #penguin #whale #seaturtle #coral

What is a Barreleye Fish? I had the same question when I started illustrating IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? Here is my best explanation. #picturebookillustration #kidlitart #kidlit #picturebook #sealife #fish #marinebiology @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social

Wow, another great review for IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? Thank you, #KirkusReviews! #kidkit #illustrator #kidlitart #picturebooks #childrensbooks #sealife #seaanimals #ocean #fish #coralreef #seaturtles #whales #dolphins @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social

Today is World Octopus Day! @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social #octopus #cephalopod #illustration #picturebook #picturebookillustration #sealife #digitalillustration

Today's signing event = success! Thanks to Open Door Bookstore for hosting and to all the folks who attended. We sold out of both IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA and SALAMANDER SKY! 🌊🐬 Author @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social #kidlit #kidlitart #picturebook #picturebookillustrator

Hollins University Announces New Low-Residency Graduate Programs in Children’s Literature, Writing and Illustration | Roanoker

Yes, 58 species! Now you know why I spent almost 2 years working on this book. Each animal was treated with love and respect! 🙂 @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social #sealife #ocean #marinebiology #ecology #kidlitartist #kidlit #picturebooks #manatee #fish #whale #dolphins

Happy #BookBirthday to author @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social (left) and illustrator @megsodano.bsky.social (right) for creating such a beautiful, whimsical and educational book about some of the many sea creatures with which we share the world. Congratulations!

TODAY is PUB DAY!!! I'm so excited that *If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be?* is out! Here are my top four favorite pages from this book. #kidlitartist #kidlit #childrensbooks #picturebooks #ocean #sealife #turtle #fish #seals @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social

Come see me at The Open Door Bookstore on Saturday, October 4, 1-2:30 pm! I am signing copies of IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? 🐬🌊 #booksigning #childrensbook #picturebook #ocean #sea #sealife #whales #penguins #fish @juliehonanjohnston @weboflifebooks

🌊 Check out our book trailer for "If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be?"🐬 @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @megsodano.bsky.social @weboflifebooks.bsky.social Trailer by @icebird.bsky.social #kidlit #kidlitartist #picturebooks #childrensbooks #ocean #fish #whales #octopus #penguins #coral

I made a coloring page for Beaver and Otter. Download it at my website. 🦫 #illustrator #childrensbooks #picturebooks #beavers #otter #pond #coloring #coloringpages #activitiesforkids

I love when illustrators show their process for creating a really great #bookcover. It's the first thing we look at while browsing the aisles at a bookstore. To see my process for Beaver & Otter, visit my website. #beavers #otter #kidlit #childrensbooks #picturebooks #illustrator

I never posted about Beaver and Otter on my blog! Here we go... (Sketches from Beaver and Otter Get Along... Sort Of) #childrensbooks #picturebooks #kidlit #kidlitart #illustrator #graphite #sketches #beavers #otter

IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? Coming 9/23. Pre-order now! "Learn about a wide variety of beloved and obscure sea creatures and the lives they live beneath the spray." Author @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social Publisher @weboflifebooks.bsky.social #childrensbooks #whales #octopus #penguins

Thanks @publisherswkly.bsky.social for your review of IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE?! "This is a remarkable introduction to sealife for young readers. Fascinating peek at the creatures who populate our oceans.” @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social @megsodano.bsky.social @icebird.bsky.social

My nieces sent me a handwritten note and a dandelion! My heart is melting. Thank you, girls, I love it! I will put it up on my studio wall. #picturebookillustrator #kidart #kidlitart #thankyoucard #movation

These things didn't make it into IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA: Phytoplankton (not an animal), sea otters, kelp (not an animal), different version of oyster reef, baby octopus. @weboflifebooks.bsky.social @juliehonanjohnston.bsky.social #picturebooks #illustrator #kidlitart #kidlit #octopus #seaotters

Bookmarks ☑️ Postcards ☑️ Business cards ☑️ If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be? Coming September 23. #preorder at your local bookstore or online. @weboflifebooks #sea #seacreatures #oceananimals #seaturtle #penguin #coralreef #whales #kidlitart #kitlit #picturebook #illustration

Julie Honan Johnston author of IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? holds her book for the first time at an event put on by #publishersgroupwest at #MrsDallowaysBookstore! Congratulations, Julie! Preorder here: bookshop.org/p/books/if-y... @megsodano.bsky.social

We are thrilled that Julie Honan Johnston will be signing her book IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? illustrated by @megsodano.bsky.social at the @americanbookseller.bsky.social Children's Institute conference in Portland OR! Details below. Way to to, Julie!

From NPR, children’s book author Kate DiCamillo.

My illustrator copies arrived! Don't they look amazing? IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE? will be out Sept 23. 🐬🐠🐙🪼 Pre-order at Bookshop.org or your local bookstore. Thanks, @weboflifebooks.bsky.social & Julie Honan Johnston. #picturebook #kidlit #shark #fish #octopus #dolphin #seashore

'The Littlest Drop' was one of illustrator Jerry Pinkney's last projects. #kidlit #kidlitart #picturebook #illustration #hummingbird #animals #environment

My #picturebook, IF YOU LIVED IN THE SEA, WHO WOULD YOU BE?, is swimming to bookstores on 9/23/25! Author Julie Honan Johnston. Publisher @weboflifebooks.bsky.social. So glad I can share this cover with all of you! 🐋🐠🦀🐧🐙🐙🪼 #oceananimals #sealife #marinebiology #kitlit #kidlitart #digitalillustration

Another reason to save salamanders - they are an important part of other animals' diets. #salamanders #owls #wildlife

I know the world is on fire, but here is the cover for THE BOARD, about a single mom taking on a corrupt, narcissistic leader and school board under his thumb in a small New England town. Publishes 9/9 2025 w @blackstonepub.bsky.social. What do you think of the cover, #booksky?

In my latest Newsletter I discuss my process behind We Leap Together: csneal.substack.com/p/making-we-...

Hello one and all! Did you know…a FREE and EASY way to support authors and illustrators is to request their books from your local library! Did I mention…FREE 🤓. #kidlitart #kidlit #libraryrequests

Here are the indoor and outdoor activities at #ThacherPark in March: Making #bluebird boxes, #watercolor #painting classes, the Annual #Nature #Art Show, #fossils, #scavengerhunt, and more!

It's been a while since I worked with soft #pastels. Here we go! This is Callie, a white boxer. #petportrait #dogportrait

You're invited to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for Special Storytime: Kari Percival February 23, 2025 at 2 pm Join us to hear me read my new book and to learn how to help local #frogs, #toads and #salamanders. #carlemuseum #storytime #kidlit #kidlitart #picturebookart

Things you didn't know about rabbits... We saw blue rabbit pee in our backyard. Yes, blue! Apparently, a rabbit's pee will turn from yellow to blue after the rabbit has eaten buckthorn bark and twigs. There is a phytochemical in the buckthorn that turns the urine blue when sunlight hits it.

It’s The Warmest Blanket in the World’s Book Birthday today! 📚🎂!!!! Illustrated by me, written by Tamara Levine and published by @secondstory.bsky.social ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ #kidlitart #kidlit #cankidlit @picturebookseh.bsky.social #canscaip #scbwi

Happy to note that the New York Times bowed to overwhelming public pressure and changed its erroneous nutria photo to a proper beaver! Now it just has to hold the line on the Gulf of Mexico.

My dog told me to start posting on Bluesky. So here I am!