Thank you for visiting my blog. It’s not always up to date, but feel free to scroll through the archives. I’ve shared plenty here over the years.
When I meet someone new, inevitably the conversation goes like this, “What do you do?”
“I’m the author and illustrator of children’s books. ...Mostly I’m an illustrator, I’m illustrating my [bla bla] book.” (I’m up to number 39 right now.)
“Oh. Any books I know?”
So here’s the moment I sigh. How am I to know what you know?
Maybe you saw Nana, What’s Cancer? on television. When it was released it was highlighted on CNN, THE TODAY SHOW, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, and pretty much every other network. The book’s authors, Beverlye Hyman Fead and her granddaughter, Tessa Mae Hamermesh, went on a speaking tour and received a lot of publicity for the book. (I also illustrated two other books for the American Cancer Society, Let My Colors Out, written by Courtney Filigenzi, and The Long and the Short of It: A Tale About Hair, written by Barbara Meyers and Lydia Criss Mays.)
Perhaps you or your child has bought books from the monthly Scholastic Book Clubs flyer, or a Scholastic Book Fair at your school’s parent teacher conference. Then you’ve possible seen my HUGE seller, Snakes: Long, Longer, Longest. When I learned the first million copies had sold I nearly fell out of my chair. Or you snagged a copy of Sharks: Big, Bigger, Biggest. Or you are a kindergarten teacher and have a copy of Icky Bug Shapes as part of your school’s math curriculum. I hear that all the time from teachers. These were all written by Jerry Pallotta, and are Scholastic Book Club original books. I’ve written blog posts about how I was assigned my very first picture book to illustrate, here’s one of the links. It’s an interesting story of how my son, Ryan, while as a high school senior met Jerry Pallotta and told him he should hire me!
Speaking of Jerry, I’ve also illustrated a couple of his alphabet books, The Eyeball Alphabet Book, and Not a Butterfly Alphabet Book. And a couple of his counting books, Ocean Counting: Odd Numbers, and Butterfly Counting. Butterfly Counting has a board book spin off, Butterfly Colors and Counting. That little board book is one of my biggest sellers. Check it out on Amazon.
Maybe you have a family member with Down syndrome. Then you’ve most likely come across a copy of My Sister, Alicia May, written by Nancy Tupper Ling. Years after it was released I still have people reach out to me to tell me how the book’s art touched their hearts, how true to life the art is. (In part because my own kid sister has Down syndrome. Read about that here...)
Then there’s the book I am the author of, Achoo! Why Pollen Counts. Since it’s release I’ve traveled the country doing book signings, school visits, and conferences.
Achoo! Why Pollen Counts is published by Arbordale Publishing. I’ve illustrated 16 books for Arbordale. Most have won awards, such as Once Upon an Elephant, written by Linda Stanek, which won the 2017 Children’s Choice Book Award. If you’ve been to the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, or The Marine Mammal Center in California, you would have probably seen a copy of the true story of Astro: The Steller Sea Lion, written by Jeanne Walker Harvey. The real Astro, who resides in Mystic, is a celebrity. He was on The Today Show after he left the water, climbed up on land and joined in on a Walk-a-thon with school children. (Read the book and you’ll learn more!).
I’ve also illustrated books for small publishers, even European ones. So my books truly are world-wide. The best way to reach me is to dm me on Twitter @ShennenBersani or Instagram @ Shennen14. I no longer use gmail, and I’m rarely on Facebook. Please note I am not an affiliate, wherever I share links to my books on Amazon I do it for your ease, I do not receive Amazon money from your clicks or purchases. Whenever possible I’d rather you purchase the books from their publishers. But I understand the simplicity of purchasing from Amazon. Lastly, check out www.thechildrenspollenbook.com to find some fun puzzles, crafts, and coloring pages. You might even learn something new about pollen. It’s that one sneezy thing we all love to hate, but is necessary for our food chain.
Finally, this A PART OF SERENDIPITY post sums up my career up to 2015. A project I’m working on now will be adding to my life’s strange, quirky serendipity.
I’ve pinned this post to the top of my blog. Continue on to read more posts. Recent posts are linked to the right, as well as an archive button. And as for the art portfolio tab, it’s not very up to date. Hopefully I’ll get to that task this summer!
Lastly, stop by my YouTube channel, drawerofmanythings It’s just budding, subscribe and watch it blossom and grow!
Comments