LEAP gets a second star!

I was floored last week to hear that my upcoming pic book, LEAP BACK HOME TO ME, received a second starred review! This one from our friends at Kirkus. Thanks and congrats to my pal and collaborator, LEAP's author, Lauren Thompson, for writing such a beautiful story (it'll bring a tear to any loving parent's eye)! Thanks very much, Kirkus, and go, go, go little froggies! Here's what Kirkus has to say:

Veteran picture-book author Thompson teams with Cordell to create a deceptively simple instant classic.

Little frog and his mother share a warm lily-pad embrace on the cover. Then comes the action: "Leap frog over the ladybug. Leap frog over the bee. / Leap frog over the prickly clover, / then leap back home to me!" As the little amphibian takes each ever-more-ambitious jumping adventure, his mother happily welcomes him back. The rhyming text creates a loving refrain that young ones will enjoy repeating. Sound effects for alternating excursions add to the interactive fun, as frog goes, "PLIP! … SPROING! … WHEEEEE! … WHOOSH!" over clover, splashing beavers, rocky hilltops and roaming clouds. Cordell works his magic with pen, ink and vibrant watercolors to not only perfectly complement the text but also show little frog's growing confidence and sheer glee at each accomplishment as the day progresses. Mama frog patiently awaits her little one with smiles, crayons, a storybook, dinner and, finally, another hug as he does a "Leap frog over the sun. / Leap frog as high as you please. / Leap frog out to the farthest stars… / when you leap home, here I'll be." A sure delight to present to a preschool group or share one on one.

Hop to it and make sure this is on your shelf! (Picture book. 2-4)

PICKLE hits 7-Imp!

Please take a moment and head over here to one of my all time fave kid book blogs, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Today, the most excellent Jules Danielson has graciously invited Julie Sternberg and me to come together and talk about our new book, LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE. Ms. Sternberg does a very fine behind-the-scenes, followed by my extensive show/tell of how the art came together.

Please head over to 7-Imp and leave a comment, if you would, to let us know you've dropped in!

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matthewcordell.com--fresh! new!

Friends!

After much procrastination and after lots of work, I can now say I have a fully updated and overhauled website!

You know... It's weird. The website used to be the primary marketing tool here on the web. But now, for me, with the blog and Facebook profile, the website had sorta taken a back seat. It's just easier to maintain the blog and FB. But it's still important to keep a lively, professional online presence and portfolio via the website.

So, I've polished the design and added new sections for my books (reviews, acclaim, etc) and bio and artwork. I even figured out how to add a "favicon"! (the little icon that displays in the browser address bar and on tabs) This is all simple yeah, yeah. But I'm self-trained and it's me suffering through this junk, man. Please, please head over there and click around so all this hard work (and complaining) is not for nil!

http://www.matthewcordell.com

Of course.

Happy b-day, PICKLE!

Happy birthday, dear PICKLE. Happy birthday to you.

Today my middle-grade novel with author Julie Sternberg, LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE, is out, born, and released to the world!

Very exciting. Here is the book (a super-cool size) and a few of my drawings to get us up and running. Let's go, PICKLE!