Protect Your Sparkle

This is an image from our book PLANT A KISS (published by Harper Collins) written by my sweet friend and collaborator, Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The whole book was an absolute  joy to create, but this is one of my favorite pages in the book. 

It reminds me of Amy. 

She was famous for her yellow umbrella and her magical way of motivating people to share their own magic. 

 Amy passed away from cancer in 2017. It was a sudden and tragic loss.  Only a few months before she left us, I was helping her plan a family trip to Argentina (my father, Keith Hamilton Reynolds was born here and I have lots of family there).  The world discovered how sick she was on March 3rd, 2017, when they read her moving words in The New York Times: You May Want to Marry My Husband. 

I encourage you to visit the Amy K. Rosenthal Foundation site to learn more about who Amy was, and how her mission continues - and how you can get involved. Her husband and daughter are carrying the torch forward. 

 https://www.amykrouserosenthalfoundation.org

Note: My studio, FableVision is animating a version of the story for Vooks. 

I'll blog about that soon.

For information about the book, please visit www.thedotcentral.com 

When I sign PLANT A KISS books now, I add a little heart 💛 below Amy's name. I know she'd like that - knowing I can reflect some of her heavenly magic into a copy of our book. 

Collaborating with Cat Stevens

 

Hopping on the Peace Train

One of the first albums I ever bought was Cat Stevens' Teaser and the Firecat. 

It was 1971. I remember placing it on the turntable and as the vinyl spun, my twin brother, Paul and I feasted on each song. 

Fifty years later, Cat Stevens reached out to ask me to illustrate his song, "Peace Train." 

Pinching myself, I realized this was not a dream, but it was a dreamy aligning of the stars. 

Before even getting the contract to sign (from publisher, Harper Collins) I had already played the song dozens of times - sounding as fresh as ever, but with a new urgency.  I kept listening, closing my eyes and watching the "movie" that began emerging in my mind. 

I printed the lyrics and began jotting the visual ideas down alongside the words. 

This was all happening during the pandemic, so our collaboration was done through Zoom video chat and e-mail. Seeing Yusuf's face the first time was a wonderful experience.  Warmth, wisdom, wit. He shared some very kind words about my work and I shared my own admiration for his work and my early connections to his music. Then we got rolling. The book flowed out. I conjured up my little musician, inspired by Yusuf as a boy, and of course, the Train - the other "main character."

            Making this book, I felt that I was on stage with Yusuf, harmonizing. 

In a few months we were done. 

I had the pleasure of also connecting with Yusuf's son, Yoriyos, who is also a great musician and creative human.  Getting to know him, the song, "Father and Son" came to mind and I smiled.

I mentioned to Yusuf that when I listen to his songs - I turn them to books in my head. 

"Well, I have quite a few songs, so you'll be busy." 

Within a month, I had a contract for our next book, "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out!" 

Yusuf Islam, born Steven Demetre Georgiou, is commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens. 

I now get to call him my friend and collaborator. 

For more information about the picture book, Peace Train, or my other books, visit: https://www.thedotcentral.com/peterhreynolds and Yusuf/Cat Steven's work: www.catstevens.com 

To see how you can support the Peacetrain Foundation https://catstevens.com/peacetrain/