Author Site Extras

Have you met Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast? They are a Josh Funk/Brendan Kearney creation and they are adorable. Too adorable to eat. Maybe.

When I was looking up favorite picture book writers and illustrators for the bookstore, I realized that many beloved creators have EXTRAS on their sites. I thought I’d list a few in case you missed out.

Josh Funk’s site has coloring pages, activity packets, character sheets and more. Including the NYC public library lions from his Lost in the Library and Where is Our Library? picture books illustrated by Stevie Lewis. Yes, we have read many, many picture books featuring lions because Little Lion went through a lion phase. (Hence the nickname.) Funk also has a section for writers—I definitely need to check that one out.

Speaking of Little Lion, one of our most viewed videos from when the blog started is of six-year-old Little Lion reading Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs Bedtime, another Bookworm family favorite series. So, of course I had to check out Shea’s site and he did not disappoint. He has drawing instruction videos, including how to draw Dinosaur!

And finally, I can’t help but add Scott Campbell’s site. Campbell has illustrated some of my favorite picture books, including Zombie in Love (written by Kelly DiPucchio) and Hug Machine (written by Campbell). If you follow him on Instagram, then you already know his Great Showdown series and his lovely, watercolor style. He has some great activity sets, encouraging kids (and adults) to stretch their creativity with drawing faces and creating characters.

Kids, if you’d like to win one of these authors’ or illustrators’ picture books, have your grown-up send me a copy of one of these coloring pages or activity sheets that you’ve done. At the end of the month, I’ll put all entries in a random generator to pick a winner. (Contest not affiliated with Instagram or any of these authors or illustrators. Only open for U.S. residents. One entry per child.)

Bonus announcement (not an ad): I just saw that Dog Man the Musical is coming to Long Beach in January. That’s so cool! I know a lot of little ones who would love to see it.

Dinosaur versus Poppy: Dinosaur Wins!

Little Lion’s read-aloud of Dinosaur vs Bedtime.