It’s Official! (But Whatever Happened to That Hat?)

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Somewhere between the first blush of inspiration and the final published book, there’s “the announcement.”

Agents, in particular, love the announcement. It’s the best advertisement they can feature. Because if you can sell a James Preller book, you can sell anything!

This ran in PW, I believe. As an author, I’m firmly in the camp that doesn’t particularly follow “the business.” I can see how having a handle on what sells and what’s hot can be good information. But, yeah, I’m not really into “industry news.”

I do, to varying degrees, at different times, try to stay abreast of the best books.

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The folks at PW have been using this old photo — gotta be 15 years old at least — in every announcement. Boy, do I miss that hat! It was a wonder! It used to sit right on top of my actual head!

And, yes, that actual head is a little weather-beaten these days. The Irish eyes have gotten smaller, the lips thinner, the hair grayer. The whole thing just, collectively, worse. Such is life.

So, yeah, fine. Keep using that ancient photo, folks!

Nonetheless, here is the latest nugget of good news. I’m very impressed by illustrator Fred Blunt, though I’ve only seen the process that led us to the cover. He has a loose, energetic style that feels just right for the story. It’s actually a little book about verbs but it’s been decided, probably wisely, not to tell readers that.

“Hey, Kids! I know you’ve all been clamoring for more books about Parts of Speech!” 

Maybe keep that on the down low. 

Anyway, I’m very glad to be publishing again for emergent readers. I first broke out in 1994 with Hiccups for Elephant and Wake Me In Spring, and I’ve long had a special affection for the easy-to-read genre. Tricky to write, or to get right, and the pay isn’t great. Now with my “. . . and a Moose!” series — the third book is coming out in 2027, Two Astronauts and a Moose — I feel like I have some good, new, inexpensive books on school visits for the PreK-K crowd o go along with the new “Bigfoot and Dodo” series, Jigsaw Jones, Scary Tales, the upcoming “Survival Code” books, plus the assortment of middle-grade titles I’ve done over the years: Blood Mountain, Bystander, etc. 

Just wait until you see my upcoming picture book, What Dogs Don’t Know. I’m really, really happy with that one! Illustrated by Laura Sandoval.  That’s coming in 2027, too.