Book Birthday!

Coat of Many Colors, written by Dolly Parton, illustrated by me, and published by Grosset & Dunlap, was released yesterday.  I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this lovely story!

You can order a copy here or pick one up from your local independent bookstore.

Painting...

Dolly Parton!!

COAT OF MANY COLORS, written by Dolly Parton and illustrated by me, comes out next month.  Hooray!  Also, this (!!!!!!!!)...

Publisher's Weekly announcement (Hooray!!!)

A travel update...

Last year, my husband and I traveled around the country in an RV named Daisy.  We promised to keep a blog documenting our travels, and while we did do a few posts, I'm afraid said travel blog never quite got off the ground.

Before we headed out on the road I imagined lots of free time spent sitting around nightly campfires, learning to play my ukulele, working on cross-stitch projects, and writing lots of fun blog posts with photos and descriptions of where we'd been, what we'd seen and experienced, and where we were heading next.

In reality we had maybe 3 campfires during our ten months of travel.  I did manage to eke out one small cross-stitch project and learn a couple of new chords on the ukulele, but all in all, the free time I imagined was mostly non-existent.

Between keeping up with work deadlines, trying to post once in awhile on my own blog, researching new places to stay every few days, navigating new towns and grocery stores, trying to find good dog parks, dealing with RV maintenance stuff, and general exploring, there wasn't much time for blogging.  Also, it turns out that navigating a career change for Bill, learning to work in a tiny space for me, and sort of just figuring out what a marriage looks like when you squeeze it into less than 100 sq. ft. with two bouncy dogs, all felt kind of private.  

Our awesome black lab, Domino, wasn't able to finish the trip with us.  While we were in Oregon last summer our eternally gung ho girl finally succumbed to three years with cancer.  She was the coolest and we miss her a lot.

So, I guess the super short version of our RV travels is that it was wonderful and hard and I'd totally do it again IF I had a very light work load or was going to take a break from work all together.

Last October, with several new projects and tight deadlines rolling in and some health stuff to take care of (everything is ok now), we headed home to Colorado where we settled into Bill's parents' cute little cabin near Rocky Mountain National Park, which is where we're still living (since our house is rented out).

Eventually we'll move up to Washington State and occasionally we talk about heading out in the RV for a month or two, but for now we're enjoying summer in the mountains and having some free time to sit around campfires now and then.  

Here are a few snapshots from our trip, but for great photos of some of the places we visited and the wildlife we saw, head over to Bill's photography website: www.WHughesStudio.com

Here's to big adventures, well loved dogs, and safe trips home!

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Spring & baked goods!

This is an illustration I did for a new agency mailer.  Each illustrator was asked to choose a season to illustrate and after watching The Great British Bake Off over and over on Netflix (when will they add another season?!?!!?) I opted for Spring and baked goods.  Anyone for a slice of Princess Torte?  In other agency related news, a big congratulations to my wonderful agent, Marietta Zacker!  Nancy Gallt Literary Agency is now Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency!  Huzzah!

HENRY WANTS MORE! in the wild...

Hooray!  I finally spotted HENRY WANTS MORE! (written by Linda Ashman and illustrated by me) out in the wild and among friends.  :D

Monday hello...

I've been deep in a drawing/painting/deadline cave for the past several days and will have to stay there for a few more weeks.  But, I thought I'd pop out for a quick second to say hello (hello!) and to share a post from Picture Book Builders in which the wonderful Linda Ashman interviews me about our book, Henry Wants More!

In other news, I'm super excited to get my hands on a copy of Julia Denos' new book, Swatch, which came out on March 15th.

Also, if you happen to be in Seattle on March 26th, check out my friend, Jessixa Bagley's, reading at Mockingbird Books where she'll share her latest picture book, Before I Leave.  

Ok, now it's back to the cave for me.  See you in a little while! :)

More kitties...

Kitties...

Mice...

Book Birthday!

HENRY WANTS MORE! comes out today!

Henry Wants More!

Henry Wants More! written by Linda Ashman, and illustrated by me, comes out next Tuesday.  Hooray!  Our dear Henry has received some lovely reviews.

"[A] multiracial, intergenerational family whose appeal is universal and warmth apparent." - ★ Starred review, Booklist

"A wonderful illustration of the exhaustion and joy that is life with a toddler." - ★ Starred review, School Library Journal (full review below)

"[A] knowing, good-humored tribute to the tirelessness of young children." - Publishers Weekly

"This toddler... will charm readers of almost every age." - Kirkus

Also, Henry Wants More! is among wonderful company on the Children's Book Review list of best new books.

I had so much fun working on this book (and especially enjoyed working on this cut-away house spread) and I feel so honored to have had the chance to illustrate Linda Ashman's wonderful words.  Huzzah for Henry!  

 ASHMAN, Linda. Henry Wants More. illus. by Brooke Boynton Hughes. 32p. Random. Jan. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780385385121.

PreS –Henry never wants the fun to end. When Papa throws him up in the air, he begs for more. He can’t get enough of his sister tickling his toes and playing pat-a-cake with him, either, or of his brother pulling him on rides in his little cart, or of Grandma singing. He demands “more!” again and again—his poor family is wiped out. When he finally falls asleep on Mama’s lap while she’s reading him his fourth book, they can hardly believe it but gingerly put him to bed and each give him a little kiss and leave the room. But wait…Mama can’t stop herself and goes back…for more! Perfectly complemented by Hughes’s colorful cartoons, which portray an insatiable little boy in an interracial family, Ashman’s story is told in rhymes whose rhythms are just right for bedtime. VERDICT A wonderful illustration of the exhaustion and joy that is life with a toddler.–Etta Verma, Library Journal

What I'm working on today...