Take Your Octopus to School Day,
written by Audrey Vernick, from Alfred A. Knopf
Art Direction: Sarah Hokanson
Released Fall, 2018
Order from your local bookstore here.
"Schoenbrun’s appealing, cartoonlike illustrations feature a multiracial group of students enjoying school while Vernick’s straightforward text delivers the story clearly with gentle humor. A cheery tale that highlights the importance of friendship, confidence, and working together."
—Kirkus Review
"Line and watercolor illustrations have the friendly vigor of Susan Meddaugh’s Martha books with an amiably hectic classroom vibe. Schoenbrun adds a multitude of jokes to the art, so kids will want to pore over them to catch details such as the enthusiastic participation of the class hamster and the teacher’s tactful amendation of the celebration to “Take Your Cephalopod to School Day.” —The Bulletin
Process
I started with loose character designs of Thurgood the octopus.
There were lots of preliminary sketches for the cast of classroom kid characters.
Early book dummy sketches were placed with the text.