Today marks my 7th year at Simon and Schuster, and my 10th year in children's publishing!! I'm very emotional!

I've made the executive decision that I don't want to needle felt all the strawberry seeds from the original sketch. What should he be holding instead?? If you had a little mushy familiar, what would he help you carry home after a long day of foraging???

There's a real chance this is my magnum opus

Tried my hand at needle felting for the first time, and I am very excited by the potential of it!! There were no coherent instructions included in the kit I ordered so I deviated from the script quite a bit, but I think it turned out super cute anyway!!!! He looks so polite!

Show me your Pink art! 🩷🌸🌷

Finished another Felt Little Guy!! I think he looks SO POLITE!! Would you give him treats?

Pretty sure every art director has at least one White Whale artist they've been dreaming of working with for YEARS, who they simply CANNOT find the right project for ( I see you pitching them for every. single. project juuuuust in case).

An update from us here at PBS 💙

*crying in art director* Please please please let your #portfoliday gift to yourself be adding your contact info (email), portfolio (link), and NAME to your socials. Some of you are missing opportunities because we can't reach you!!!!! 🫣

Lots of new people here, so let me reintroduce myself: I'm Becca. I'm an Associate Art Director in Children's Publishing. I use this account to research artists, share my work, and hype up YOUR creative projects! I also love hockey and internet cats. Say hi sometime!

Would you still love me if I was a worm? I'd watch the whole Worm World from the pocket of your shirt.

SO happy to share that HAROLD THE ICEBERG MELTS DOWN was named as a Blue Spruce Honor Book at the Forest of r Reading Festival!!! What an enormous honor! Congratulations to the winners and nominees! I am positively overjoyed to be included on such a spectacular list of creators! 🥗💚♻️

In an effort to beat burnout, I've put away the iPad, and pulled out the Big Drawing Pad™️ and good ol' crayons. I love how much more confident my lines look when the medium is chunky and totally unforgiving!!

I LOVED Sailor Moon growing up, but seeing "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer" first (when I was probably waaaaayyyy too young) is what fundamentally changed my DNA and set the course for the next 30 years of my life.

#illustrators I'm currently looking for an artist whose work is more painterly/ atmospheric/ bordering on abstract for a YA project. Please reply to this thread with a few samples of your work with a link to your portfolio if you think you might fit this criteria 🎨🖌️

My favorite guilty pleasure is spending my 20 minute walk to the midtown office rehearsing what I'll say when Humans of New York stops me

Ok the lighting in my office is unforgivable but how SWEET did the slime-green spot color turn out on this latest F.T. Lukens jacket?! Another illustrated masterpiece by Sam Schechter 💚✨🔮

Ten years dungeon

Hey artists! I've updated my contact info so you'll have an easier time getting in touch! All emails can be sent to: [email protected] This will help ensure your emails aren't getting lost with my electric bills 😂 Say hi! Send cat pics! Show off your art! Ask about my hockey team! Whatever!

SO excited to see SATURDAY MORNING AT THE 'SHOP featured on CBS!!! Ken is such a tremendous illustrator and all-around kind soul, and I'm BEYOND grateful to have been a part of the team that made 'Shop. 💈♥️

The best part of being in love is the way your speech will devolve into nonsense sounds, but you'll still understand each other perfectly

Happy Black History Month! Please consider adding more Black art to your skyline and to support working Black artists in a time where our histories and our voices are under attack. #BHM #blacksky #blackart #drawingwhileblack

What did you want to be when you grew up?? Younger me thought by now I would be an archaeologist/ Spy Kid.

Just some guys on the move

Ask Me Anything: A 50-minute AMA with Kendra Levin.  Kendra Levin is the Vice President and Editorial Director of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, where she supervises a team of ten editors and edits award-winning and bestselling authors. #kidlit

The Creator's Guide to Comics Devices is OPEN!!!!! comicsdevices.com An online library and meronomy of visual-narrative devices that are used in the medium of comics and other sequential art. 🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨

Limited portfolio review slots have reset for the month of January! If you'd like feedback on your art and portfolio site from an art director you can sign up here! patreon.com/AskanArtDire...

I forgot to take better pictures before I gifted it, but here's the Shih Tzu portrait I sewed up for a very dear friend! Finding a tactile way to include her "meat beard" was the best part 😂❤️

Here's an in-progress little guy! After years of wrestling with right-handed tutorials, I finally learned how to do a French Knot left-handed! A triumph! Next I'll give him some presents to hold, and maybe boots/a hat. What do you think? 🎁🎅🎄❄️

Coming from the book publishing side, I've found it helpful to check in with publishers about their house style preferences! I personally adore Second Ellipsis (manga babies unite), but in my experience, Graphix tends against. Comics!!!

Have yourself a wormy little Wormmas. Let your worms be liiiight. 🪱🎄🎅🎁⭐❄️⛄ I've always loved needlework/plush crafting/hand sewing, but felt has been SUCH a revelation as a medium. I don't know why I didn't try it sooner! Expect more felt experiments in the future!!

I've been toying with the idea of doing an Art Director AMA in the new year since I think a lot of folks who've found me here know me as an aad. Is that something people are interested in/is that beneficial? I certainly don't have ALL the answers, but after a decade in publishing I know SOME things!

Stylish but illegal Ikea monkey

Hey #kidlit illustrators, I'm a children’s publishing #art director. To celebrate Bluesky’s recent 20M user milestone I’d like to gift a FREE one hour Zoom portfolio-review/coaching-session. 1. Reply w/ your art. 2. Random winner. 3. No DMs please. I will look closely at every reply! 💙❤️

It's Khakis. He's just khakis.

*Al Roker Voice* What's that? I'm being told that Harold the Iceberg is now making his way down 42nd Street. This larger than life lettuce is eight stories tall, and roughly the size of 540,000 heads of iceberg! We're gonna need a bigger bowl for this Stressed Salad!! #kidlit #illustration

Are you even living if you don't have a goofy Pirate story in development at all times?????

Howdy new followers!! I'm Becca, and I'm an associate Art Director in children's publishing (picture books, middle grade, and YA). I'm also sometimes an Illustrator. I don't post often, but I'm always lurking and liking! I'm so happy all of your amazing talented creatives are here!!!!!🩷🩷🩷

#illustrators I am currently looking for a stellar middle-grade illustrator whose work skews toward spooky/horror without being scary. Would love to see you drop your portfolio below (not currently taking DMs) 🖌️

Protein is an important part of a healthy diet, and can be found in all sorts of unexpected places!!! Edamame is a tasty, fuzzy little green way to add some extra protein to your snack time!! (And, of course, don't forget to care for your emotional and mental health too!!!)💚🥦🥬🥗

HAPPY HAROLD DAY!!!!!

I HAD TO

Harold's next adventure comes out in a little more than a month!!!! Are you ready for this Super Story?!?

Breaking News: HAROLD THE ICEBERG MELTS DOWN is a longlist selection for the 2024 Green Earth Book Award!! It's an honor to be a part of such a meaningful list with so many other incredible creators!!! Just Wow!!! 🥬🥦💚

yeeeeaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! 🎳⚡

I would 100% still love you if you were a worm. Worms are our friends, and play a very important role in composting! 🍎🪱

Helmping

This frazzled Harold is one of my absolute FAVORITE spots from Harold's first adventure. As we approach the spring pub of "Harold the Iceberg is not a Super Food", I'm so excited to share some treasures from book 1 you might have missed! Do you have a favorite moment from Harold's first book?💚🥬

What goes into making a book cover? Lots and lots of sketching! Here's a little behind the scenes of what went into our cover making process for Harold's next adventure, HAROLD THE ICEBERG IS NOT A SUPER FOOD. I wouldn't recommend vectors for sketching haaa!